John 14:23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

What other scriptures say that God will come to man?

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

God came to Adam and Eve before the fall. They did not have to seek God, He came looking for them every day. Place these scriptures in context and we can see that if anyone loves Jesus and keeps His Word, God will again come to man and restore the relationship they had before the fall.

So how do we fall in love with Jesus? 

Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

You cannot love someone you do not know.

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

To know Him we must hear from the Spirit of God. How can we hear Him?

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

So to hear the “good news” we need more information about what it takes to get Jesus to send us the Holy Spirit. Nothing is as simple as  just hearing there is good news.

Colossians 1:27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

2 Chronicles 9:6 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; you surpass the report that I heard.

Hidden within Old Testament passages we will discover important hints of the nature of our audience. Who will believe our reports?

When I gave my life to Jesus those who knew me saw me change. That allowed me to explain how and why I changed. It was easier for them to believe that Jesus changed me because they saw me change.

What of people who have no knowledge of what we were in a previous life and only know us for who we are now? A measure of trust has to be established or else they will leave and go their own way. This means that we have to invite people into our lives. We have to make room for them.

Matthew 9:10-13

And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

We don’t get to sit and eat with people we insult. Jesus answered the Pharisees about their judgments, not His own.

John 12:47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

Wisdom says a drowning man will not cry out for help until he fears for his life.

2 Chronicles 9:6 …. half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me; ….

We cannot make them ask and they will not ask us if they do not trust us. They will not trust us if they believe we are judging them.

When Jesus ate with sinners He remained who He was in character and nature. He is our great example in how to act while we sit with sinners at table. We cannot allow them to influence us. Be who Jesus has made us to be. Perhaps then they might ask what is so different about us..