Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a video of the group Third Day singing … Blessed Assurance, … declaring God’s promise that we can be assured that our Lord will be with us FOREVER with His Spirit residing in our heart as Christians.
Highlight Passage: John 14: 16 [NKJV] …
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
… Jesus’ promise of the “paraklete” to be our comforter when He is back on His throne.
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Highlight Context – John 14: 15-21 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… As Jesus was relating his impending death to His disciples at the “last supper,” He tries to give them His promise of the coming “comforter” to quell their separation anxiety.
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Reference Passage #1 - Psalm 37: 4, 34 [NKJV] …
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. … 34 Wait on the Lord and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land …
… Solomon declares the antidote for disappointment and discouragement … and that is trusting in and waiting on the Lord.
Reference Passage #2 - Proverbs 3: 5-6 [NKJV] …
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 6 Acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
… Anxious? … Discouraged? … Well, God’s prescription is to take a big dose of trust and patience with His Spirit in our hearts to quell our fears.
Reference Passage #3 - John 16: 33 [NKJV] …
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
… Jesus speaks peace to His disciples who were terribly discouraged over what He was telling them the night before His trek to the cross; and His promises of His Spirit extend to believers today.
Reference Passage #4 - 1st Corinthians 10:13 [NKJV] …
13 No temptation (trial, test, or tribulation) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
… God promises to be with His faithful in the midst of any/all discouraging trials.
Reference Passage #5 - 2nd Corinthians 12: 9 [NKJV] …
9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
… Jesus’ promise to Paul [and to all Christians] of His ever sufficient grace to deal with the fears and pains of life.
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread author, Keila Ochoa, reminded her readers (me) today of experiencing the separation anxiety of a young child (as in the attached photo) when he/she feels that mama is going away. Any parent or grandparent reading here has likely seen that fear in their little ones.
Well, Jesus’ inner disciples experienced that kind of separation anxiety in the upper room the night before Jesus was led away to the cross. Here was THE ONE Whom they desired to be their Messiah saying that He would have to leave them … to die; … and the anxiety, even a strong believer like Peter, had to be manifest that night.
But Jesus promised to these believers (and to us now, as Christians) that He would send a “comforter,” … i.e., His Spirit … to reside in their/our hearts to give us the grace we need to deal with anxious or threatening situations. Most certainly we tend to have fear/anxieties when we’re confronted with threatening circumstances. For sure such are all around us in the world today. But when we can surrender our fears to our loving Lord, He will give us His ever sufficient grace to deal with those threats.
Please meditate on all the Scriptures above, many repeated from my blog yesterday; and go forth with God’s Spirit in our hears, and God’s promises from His word, to lift us up and quell our fears and anxiety. Certainly the promise sung by Third Day (linked above) should help us move forward to become our story as well today.
My Prayer Today: Oh, dear Lord, … You are our Blessed Assurance; and You are all we need. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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