John 14:1


Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me ~ John 14:1

In the calendar year, we are drawing closer to Ascension Sunday, the day when Jesus left His disciples and this earth for the heavenly kingdom, where He would stand at the right hand of the Father. It is His disciples He is addressing now, to give them hope, and to not lose courage. They had not yet received His Holy Spirit, so the men spoken to here were still weak in their own confidence and power. Jesus is asking them to expect the utmost from God, through their confidence in God as Father, and through Jesus, who would stand as their mediator and protector. These men had seen Him suffer, die, and now, as the Resurrected Christ they will witness His leaving them, though promising them a spiritual and heavenly inheritance. Their hopes for a secular kingdom had been lost to them only to find there was a better kingdom waiting for them. They experience sadness and fear and joy all mixed together. But do not be troubled that I am leaving you, Jesus said to them. These words come to us as well. When everything about us is confusion, the affirmation that Jesus and God are one, the comfort that Jesus stands beside the Father as our mediator, that He as the Son of God is the object to which we direct our faith, all make it possible for us to ward off any assault which may come at us. Heaven waits for us as well. What a comfort that is to know, as we walk a path of difficulties in this life.
Devotion by Pastor Julia

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 8:26

Image
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans ~ Romans 8:26 Many days, many times, I have the words for prayer. It comes forth and flows fairly naturally as I converse with my Lord God. I hope in the God I worship to hear me, and to receive my words, as I pray in the name of Jesus and believe in Him, my intercessor. He is my Living Saviour, my High Priest, standing at the right hand of God the Father. But there are times when my pain has been so deep that my words will not come. There are times when my agony is so piercing that what words I may speak would not be enough. And so, in my deep, black moments, I come before my God and let my darkest emotions erupt in sounds that only He can understand. The Holy Spirit within me cries out in my stead, and He becomes my second intercessor. It is not that He is not there with me in all my prayers, but there are times wh...
Read more

Proverbs 18:2

Image
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in sharing their own opinions ~ Proverbs 18:2 If we are going to understand something, we must fully digest it so that when we speak, we speak with wisdom. When we have only half truths in our mind, our words become empty and senseless. We then puff out air rather than understanding when we speak. A wise person will want to improve their mind through learning in various ways from the world around them. A person who delights in spiritual understanding will find peace and enjoyment in reading the Word of God on a daily basis, and in participating with God’s people in a learning and praising environment – the church! We come together in corporate worship with the understanding that not one of us knows all things, but we bend our mind and heart to learn what God has to show and say to us. A foolish person makes a show of what they “know” to please their friends or to save face in front of them. More often a wise person will hold t...
Read more

Isaiah 43:19

Image
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert ~ Isaiah 43:19 When we meet a challenge, we are often found discouraged, lost, even hopeless. Nothing is working, everything seems to be against us. We do not know how to move forward, so we remain curled up in a ball. Then, a glimmer of light shines through! Hope is regained and movement is stirred within. Don’t we become excited when we begin to feel it? God moves like that. We cannot see our way around it, but He can and does. And He makes a way for us out of the calamity of our fears. It is the feeling of springtime after a long winter, or the smell of fresh cut grass. Life stirs within and we move and we see what God saw all the time – the answer to our dilemma. Our desert place becomes an oasis, and we can do what we are called to do. Something totally unexpected happens, something unheard of, but it begins in our life, and we feel the...
Read more