A New Commandment Song

I found a familiar New Testament verse in the Old Testament, so it was not that new, it has been around for awhile.

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. – Leviticus 19:18  ESV

So when Jesus said it was a new commandment, what was so new about it? For one thing, it would seem that this new commandment would let others see in me that I am in fact a disciple of Jesus.

• I am to love my neighbour now includes to love one another
• The degree of love moved from the love I have for myself to the love Jesus has for me
• This is where we leave the Old Testament map – there is no reason given as to why we are doing all this loving – Jesus lays it out – so that the world may know that I am His disciple

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. – John 13:34-35  ESV

 Acts chapter 10 gives me an idea of what that means put into action.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. – Acts 10:38

Dallas Willard puts words into play that are so meaningful to me.  He has the ability to put on paper what  I feel in my Spirit but do not have the collection of words to express. He calls being a disciple of Jesus an apprenticeship. Here is one thought he shares about how people will know I am a follower of Jesus.

I am learning to exercise the power of the kingdom—of Christ in his Word and Spirit—to minister good and defeat evil in all of the connections of earthly existence. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38) Apprenticeship to Jesus means that, in tiny steps, we learn to exercise this power seen in Jesus. Growth in character is primary, for power requires substance of character if it is to be used for Christ’s purposes. Christ had no character problems, but we do. Prayer, in its aspect of training for Kingdom life, is primarily a matter of learning to exercise power in a way that is both profitable and safe. Through it, in the usual case, we take our first steps in “receiving abundance of grace” and “reigning in life by One, Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 5:17) So character is more important than power for us, but it does not replace power. The fruit of the Spirit (thoroughly Christlike character) flourishes only in a context of regular communal manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. And this manifest power of the Spirit in life is not something restricted to “church services.” In this matter also, Jesus is our example and our teacher. He acted with the Kingdom wherever he was. The “rivers of living water” which, as he said “shall flow from the center of the believers life” (from his “belly,” John 7:38), will continually flow from us, as it did from him, wherever we may be.

This is so insightful – love operating in the power of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit wherever I am.  How would the Psalms speak into that?

I found Psalm 13 speaking into the more human side of the life of a disciple. It speaks into our honesty with ourselves and possibly with others that at times we might feel alone, maybe abandoned by God, definitely distant. When we do, Psalm 13 is a great encouragement. While love, prayer, character, and power are all great signs of what a disciple of Jesus looks like, praising God always seems to be the one that brings His Holy Spirit right into my life to heal me so I can be like Him.