John 14:23
If anyone Loves me,
He will keep my Word,
And my Father will love him,
And We will come into him and make Our home with him.
This verse speaks of the remarkable three-in-one aspect of God: The Son says that in exchange for loving Him, His Father will return the Love, and "WE will come into him", which is the Holy Spirit that enters in. So through reciprocal Love, God in all his aspects makes His home inside of us. The profundity and evocative qualities of this truth are difficult to write about, as words seem so insufficient. But the foundation of this statement by our Savior is that of Love.
It may seem at first glance that Jesus is presenting sort of a demand - because that's what a human relationship might require - a sort of IF/THEN exchange: "If you love me, then you will do the dishes;" "If you love me, then you will buy me flowers for our anniversary." But Christ does not use the word THEN. Christ is saying that the love we experience in and for Him COMPELS us to read his Word - it's a natural extension of our Love for Him, as if we could hardly keep ourselves from doing it. Christ IS in fact His Word, so if we truly love Christ, we will want to enter into relationship with Him as deeply as we possibly can. That would naturally drive us toward reading and contemplating His Word.
So is there anything the Lord does require of us? Micah 6:8 says:
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
The three requirements listed here harken back to the Trinity. When we Love Christ, Jesus tells us that's when the Holy Spirit abides within us. The Spirit will naturally provoke us to act justly; when we are able to receive God's love, we appreciate his mercy; and when we are in the Word, we are walking humbly with Him.
If any of this is a struggle and feels like a burden, that's a sign that we are not experiencing the love that Christ is waiting to exchange with us. We are out of alignment with one or more of God's aspects and emanations of love.
The Trinity allows us to access all aspects of God from and through one another. Therefore, if any emanation of love is out of alignment, you can use one to pull you back to the rest. If you are not acting justly, remember God's infinite grace and mercy, and you will certainly be humbled back into right action ("The Lord has shown you what is good..."). If you are not feeling inspired by the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to stir within you, and the scripture will once again come alive. "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45). A couple other verses touch on the same:
Ephesians 2:4 " But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions..."
Micah 3:8-10 "8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might..."
Notice how in both of those verses above, mercy and justice are mentioned too!
Jesus said the greatest commandments are Loving your neighbor as yourself, and Loving God (Mark 12:30-31). This, again, is not some sort of a demand, but is the key to the indwelling of the Trinity. His command is not an ultimatum, but a gift!
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Find your way into Love, that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit may find Their way into you!