Read ~ John 14-16
These three
chapters are part of a sermon Jesus preaches to his disciples on the last night
of his life. Jesus promises the Spirit,
the Advocate ~ the One who is on your side to abide with you. Jesus talks in metaphor of building a house
in chapter 14 for God to abide with you and where you abide with God. Jesus turns to a second metaphor of rooting
our life in God in chapter 15 like a vine.
And being caught up in the Spirit in chapter 16 where our sorrow is
turned to joy. Or perhaps sorrow and joy
sit side-by-side simultaneously in our lives.
Three questions to
ponder: My question is often Philip’s question; how do we know the way to
God? When have you felt the Spirit of
the Advocate giving you strength OR connected to the vine of the One whose life
grows in you and connects you to others?
When was a moment recently when you felt a sorrow turn to joy or at
least turn toward joy/hope/reassurance?
As we wrap up and
wind down this first week, I want to connect today to Monday. We started off by talking about God
dwelling with us and in chapter 14, Jesus says God is building a home for us to
dwell with us. That home, I think is
not just a literal home and roof over our heads; or a spiritual home we get to
on the other side of this life; God dwells with us today. God dwells with YOU today. Or to quote the hymn, God abides with
me…and you…and us. John wants to
open us to God’s abiding presence. We
have heard that this week in Nicodemus’ questioning, the preaching and
proclamation of the woman at the well, the challenging to religious and family
systems that want to confine us, and God’s abiding presence even in the face of
death. You may want to read prayerfully
and slowly the hymn, Abide with Me, this is a major theme in John. John longs for you to know God’s presence
closer than your next breath. Hold these
truths to let them dwell in you and help you see your story through the promise
of the good news of the gospel.
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