Tuesday, February 10, 2015

John 14  Twice in this chapter Jesus tells the disciples, " .. Let not your heart be troubled..."  ( v1, 27)
He knows that they are about to be overwhelmed, scattered, tried, and shocked... but He wants them to have peace through it all, His peace, which "passes understanding".   How could they have that kind of untroubled peace?  He gives them these Truths to cling on to and believe:

The Father has a house that Jesus is going to prepare for them. ( v2)
He is coming again to take them to be with Him. ( v3)
They already know the "way" - for He is "the way, and the truth, and the life..." (v4-6)
To know Him is to know His Father, to see Him is to see the Father. ( v7-9)
Because Jesus is in the Father and His Father is in Him; because His Father abides in Jesus and does the works that He does... believe.  Because Jesus goes to the Father, we will also do these greater works; we will be able to ask Him anything in His name and He will do it.  Because Jesus is going to the Father, He will send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth to help us, to abide in us and with us; to teach us and remind us of all that Jesus taught.
For these reasons, our hearts should not be troubled either. 

v15 " If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
V21 " He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father; and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him." 
v 23 " If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him , and make Our abode with him." 
v24 " He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."
v28 ".... If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the  Father; for the Father is greater than I." 
v31 " .. but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.."

Loving Jesus and doing what He has commanded us to do - love one another - are 2 sides of the same coin.  You can't have one without the other.  We can't "love" Jesus or the Father and not obey His command to love.  We cannot "love" enough or obey the commandments without loving Jesus and our Father.   If we don't love Him, we won't do what the Word says.  If we do love Him, we will "keep" His Word - We will guard it, fulfill it, keep our eyes on it, preserve it, and DO it. 

And we won't be on our own .. we can't do it on our own,  but we will have God abiding in us and with us - The Father and the Son will come and "make their abode with " us.  The Spirit of Truth will abide with us and in us.  Let our hearts not be troubled!  No matter what we are facing, we can also have His Peace by believing and clinging to these Truths. 

Father in heaven, thank You for Your Word.  Thank You for loving us and giving us Your commandments, for giving us the Lord Jesus to bring us into the Way, Truth and Life ; and thank You for sending Your Spirit to help us and teach us all that Jesus said.  We willingly obey Your Word and put our trust in You, Jesus.  We await the day when You come for us to take us to where You are that we might abide with You forever.  Until that day, help us to abide in Your Word and to keep Your commands.  We ask this in Your Name. Amen.

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