John 14 Today

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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John 14:1-31 -
Jesus, the Way to the Father
1"Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. 2There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. 3When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4And you know where I am going and how to get there."
5"No, we don't know, Lord," Thomas said. "We haven't any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is. F70 From now on you know him and have seen him!"
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied."
9Jesus replied, "Philip, don't you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking to see him? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of what you have seen me do.
12"The truth is, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. 14Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15"If you love me, obey my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, F71 who will never leave you. 17He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19In just a little while the world will not see me again, but you will. For I will live again, and you will, too. 20When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of them."
22Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, "Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?"
23Jesus replied, "All those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and live with them. 24Anyone who doesn't love me will not do what I say. And remember, my words are not my own. This message is from the Father who sent me. 25I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. 26But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative—and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you.
27"I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid. 28Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, because now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. 29I have told you these things before they happen so that you will believe when they do happen.
30"I don't have much more time to talk to you, because the prince of this world approaches. He has no power over me, 31but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let's be going.
FOOTNOTES:F70: Some manuscripts read If you really have known me, you will know who my Father is. F71: Or Comforter, or Encourager, or Advocate. Greek Paraclete; also in 14:26.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living TranslationCopyright © 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved. For more information about the NLT, please click here.

~ Lena’s Journalin’
Sometimes isn’t it just good to say, “Ok now, what is this whole thing about anyway?” and then get a brief summary for a refreshed start, a re-centering?
So let’s once again ask, “What is all of this about?” This life, This Christianity, This timeframe we live in, etc.
It is all about reconciliation of what was lost between God and man. The eternal unhindered fellowship. God is Father, we must find our WAY back to the Father through His Faithful Son, Jesus Christ.
I mean everything is about that, every breath, every day, every trial, every decision, everything.
So Jesus says He is preparing a place for us to come and stay. It is an eternal place with the Father. Someone once said that all of our decisions here on earth are sending building materials heavenward for the builders to build our staying places of eternity. I expect that that picture is taken from the scripture that states wherever our true treasures are, so will our hearts be.
No matter what our heavenly homes would look like, we who believe in Him will move there after we’ve served our time here. We’re in but not of this world and its “ways”, but only IN it for a time frame to do the will of the One who sent us here.
Jesus had 33 years, How many do you have? Have you already had? Let’s all “get in the boat” Jesus rode in here on earth and serve our Father well, while we still have time left here.
Why greater works? Greater is of quantity. There are more of us, there was one human man of Him. He was here 33 years, we may be here longer. In this lies “greater”. There will be more accomplished with those who will get on board.
Have you seen the Son? Then you’ve seen the Father. Show forth the Son, show forth the Father. Show forth Love and you’ll have seen and shown the Father and Son! Everything is about “seeing” and seeing is believing, but it is not natural sight we believe with. It is spiritual light, spiritual understanding. This is not even found in the mind-man, but in the spirit-man. It is the heart of understanding, the truth found in the heart of man.
So, do you know the Truth? The Truth is not a principle or a great ideal. It- He is a person, THE Person of Jesus Christ!
Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit lives with them now, and later on will live in them. Cool, huh? The spirit in man being filled with the Holy Spirit of God! Hey, we know about possession, and none of us would willingly desire to be filled with anything evil. We wouldn’t want to be controlled by an evil presence, would we? Knowing that, we cannot equate the Holy Spirit the same as a demonic force of evil and refuse Him living inside of us, because we don’t want to be possessed.
Hey, if you have to be possessed (or ruled) by someone, wouldn’t it be God’s spirit? If God’s spirit isn’t alive and in full active duty in us, who is? Us? If so, there is room for other spirits, if we are not on guard and awake. Having God inside of us is a guard against the evil forces.
A lot of people don’t want to “be controlled”, so they have a hard time receiving God’s spirit. There is no faith then if we struggle with the reception of Gods spirit. This is God we are talking about here.
If a person “sees” they’ll believe, to refuse is to not have seen. It would even be better for God to be alive and active in me than having my old self life alive and active in me. If he is truly Lord, as I have confessed, I want Him alive in me. I’ve lived in error for years, untaught, uncultured, disordered and unmannerly. He has come to knock on my door to teach me otherwise, to advise me as I walk through life. How could I ever live for God here without Him?
Trust is a fruit that comes from faith. Trust is gained yes, but with God there is no proving necessary. We all know He is faithful, He is true, He is Great, Almighty, etc. There is no excuse, except selfishness, and unwillingness for change. We MUST Trust God!
Trust Me, Obey Me, Love Me Obey Me, Follow Me Obey Me.
There’s not a whole lot of slack or options there. Everything outside of this is a struggle, a contest, a battleground on the lowest level of rank.
Obedience to the Word of God is the evidence of faith and trust in God. Disobedience, means we have not yet seen, and it is imperative we see. There will be no excuse, step out into the light, remove the dark clouds, shoo away intruders, put on kingdom glasses, something. It is seriously a time to be seeing as never before. God is not responsible to make us see. Yet we must see to believe.

Daily Repetitive Verses:

Isaiah 58:12 You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again. THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language