John 14:1-14. The disciples just learned Jesus would be leaving them soon and Peter would deny him three times. This is ground shaking news. Fear and anxiety would be welling up. Jesus responds, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Evidently, we can overcome or master our heart feelings. How? Trust. Simple, yet powerful trust. "Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."( Prov. 3:5-6.) We are going to have feelings in response to circumstances, but we don't have to allow those feelings to tempt us into sin or allow them to sprout into seedlings of worry, fear, and anxiety. Oh, how we must give up the quest for control of situations. We must begin to get more comfortable with us not being in control of everyone else, but recognizing God is sovereign over all situations and He promises to work out everything for the good of those who love Him. ( Rom. 8:28)
If we aren't going to allow worry, fear, or anxiety into our circumstances, then we should have....peace. This is what we and the world so desperately seek amongst the chaos of life. How do we have peace? Where do we get it? Jesus is going away to the Father. He promised to send the Comforter-the Holy Spirit, to be the miracle of the Trinity, and dwell inside us. We are to operate in this world, no longer under the desires of the flesh, but under the influence of the Holy Spirit. One of the fruits of the Spirit is...peace. It makes sense, considering Jesus is the Prince of Peace. And this isn't referring to Him bringing peace to the kingdoms of this world in the way we wish He would. We can have peace with God, right now, because we are receiving Jesus as our Savior, no longer acting as His enemies. We can have the peace of God in all of our situations because we are now trusting Him with the outcomes.
Jesus is going away to prepare a place for us. Here is the ultimate carpenter, building mansions for us in heaven. That's a strong assurance for our futures. That should be an element to help ease some of the tension as we struggle through trusting Him in our situations. Ah, and how we should long for His coming back to take us there. I hope He comes back in my lifetime, don't you?
We can be thankful for Doubting Thomas. If he hadn't asked his question, our Lord may not have stated one of the most profound quotes in all of the bible. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." There is no error in translation here, for it is accurately interpreted to mean exactly what it says. Jesus said earlier in John, He didn't come to the earth to judge, but that His very words would judge. This is what He's talking about. We stand in judgment and don't have access to a relationship with the Father if we don't follow Him as the only Way, and draw from Him as the only source of Truth and Life. We that are now His believe His words. We agree with their exclusionary qualities, for there can be no other way, truth, or life aside from Jesus. We agree that Jesus is who He says He is. We agree the bible is infallible and divinely inspired. We agree His word is magical-a living and active book-applicable and relevant in our present-day culture. We agree the ultimate goal of life now is to "know the Father". (v.8). Paul said this later, "I consider everything else a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." (Phi.3:8)
Skipping down to v. 13-14, we see a major stumbling block of confusion for Christians. Prayer is difficult to describe and understand, but I want to consider this angle: praying 'in His name' means to pray for His glory, asking for whatever He Himself would desire in our situations. We have to be about living for His glory, not ours.
Jon Courson commented on a poll that was taken in America where 72% believed in heaven. 75% of those believed they are among those going to heaven. Hmmm...If that were indeed true, perhaps we would see a culture that wasn't obsessed with eternal youth, plastic surgery, fitness, health, life support for the dying, and plush caskets for the dead. Perhaps crime wouldn't be increasing and only 1/1000 perpetrators get caught and convicted. Perhaps the culture wouldn't be about being healthy, wealthy, and prosperous so much, where life is about the here and now. I'm not so convinced that these numbers are accurate! Ha!
So why aren't we living as if we are going to heaven? We, as His disciples, should be more heavenly minded, remembering Jesus' promises, knowing where we are going, and not holding on to this life as if it is our ultimate existence. This world is not it, folks! We do not reach our potential here. This place is falling apart and in need of redemption by Jesus to welcome His millennial kingdom. We have need to elevate our thinking as we walk. C.S. Lewis said if we live for heaven, we get the benefits of this life thrown in. If we only live for this life, we will end up quite miserable.
Today, ministry is pressured to preach to the times-to be relevant to the popular culture. Society is pressured to have heaven on earth-pleasures, riches, comforts, and products. Advertising plays on our desire to have all that we want. We buy things we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't like! Seems like we are on a crazy-busy merry-go-round without the "merry". I don't see merry people out in the world. I see more anger and unhappiness than ever before. Why aren't people happy?
