The Gospel of John, 8/28/15
John 16:1-33.  Jesus is telling the disciples that He is leaving soon, but that's a good thing, because He has to go away in order for the Holy Spirit to come.  The Holy Spirit is omnipresent, capable of living inside of you, me, and everyone around the globe who trusts Jesus as their Savior.  He promised us that.

The Christian life cannot be lived in the energy of the flesh, though it is commonly attempted.  If our goal is to truly live lives that glorify Christ, we absolutely require the influence of the Holy Spirit.  If we are about glorifying ourselves, then all that is needed is this old, selfish bag of flesh and bones.

Life and relationships influenced by the Spirit are filled with life and light.  There's a huge difference in reading the Bible in your flesh as just a book of words and the Word coming to life to inspire you.  Studying the Word by the power of the Spirit also stimulates a true prayer life.  I believe our prayer lives may need an overhaul.  There's just too much prayer in the flesh, asking for things not in the will of God.  Check out James 4:1-10.  

This chapter ends the Upper Room Discourse.  We have learned we should love one another.  This is a real rebuke to us that He would have to command us to do that.  It shows we aren't nearly as attractive as we think we are.  We need supernatural help to love others.  When we identify with Jesus, the world will hate us.  The Lord always prepares us for what lies ahead?  You believe that?  That's interesting, considering how we are so often surprised and devastated when bad news or drama comes calling.  Remember promises like Psalm 112:7, "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.  His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes."

Many Christians allow one experience to embitter them for life.  I'd have to say even non-believers allow this.  Someone does somebody wrong one time and they hold a grudge forever!  Sometimes just one big disappointment overwhelms them and they quickly turn away, as if burned out.  That's exactly what sent me spiraling when injury ended my baseball career.  Some folks lose loved ones and just remain in constant sorrow and mourning.  The Lord didn't intend life to be lived out this way.  

We've come a long way in this journey through John.  Right off the bat, Jesus stuns us in John 1 with a question that may be the question of all questions, "What do you want?".  Answering that question involves your heart, motives, intentions, purpose, faith, trust, belief, philosophies, responses, relationships-your life now and where you will spend eternity.  One theme presented was the fact that Jesus is Life and Light.  He promised that we can have this same Life and Light in our lives today, while we are still yet in the manure here on Earth.  He was gracious to give us warnings about the difficulties we will face so we will not fall away and so that we can have peace in the middle of it all.  Another major theme is that we are allowed a choice whether to live for His glory or our own.  There is a giant difference between living in the flesh and living in the Spirit.  And it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can accomplish living for His glory.  And oh, how the Spirit wants to help us do this!  His job is to point to Christ!  It's amazing how resistant we are to living for His glory.  I know I am continually surprised at how deeply selfish I am.  I'm also surprised at how easily distracted I can be from proper focus on His presence with me.  Lastly, I believe we are missing the mark on the mystery of prayer.  There's just too much selfishness to muddle through.  Pertaining to the "asking" component of prayer, it seems Jesus is describing prayer as submitting in agreement, "Here is my situation, Father.  I want what You want and I trust You with the result."  The result is the truest answer to our prayers.  We may need to explore and expound on this in future studies.  We are about to enter into John 17, one of the most profound passages in the whole account of John.  Jesus is about to pray for you and me ahead of time.  Then He's going to the cross.  Amazing.