Believing Hearts We often speak of our hearts in very fickle terms. We speak of “falling in love” and say that people or things “make us mad.” Our heart, when being used in this figurative sense, is the core of our emotions. Love, hate, happiness, anger, and real sadness are felt in the heart. In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled. It seems that Jesus is saying that there is a way that we can affect the state of our hearts. This way that we can affect our hearts is through believing in the Father and the Son. I don’t think Jesus is saying to just believe and that will make everything alright. This is especially true in the midst of real pain. Grief and sadness are right, appropriate, holy, and good in these times of true struggle and loss. Even the Lord Jesus wept at Lazarus’ death all the while knowing that He would raise him from the dead. But Jesus is instructing His disciples that there is a genuine benefit and hope found in believing in the Father and the Son. He has told the disciples at many points what is coming in Jerusalem. He is about to tell them again but still they do not seem to understand. Often the greatest pain comes in the midst of the most unexpected times. Jesus is going to give them precious promises to cling to in the hard hours and days from His arrest to His resurrection but before those promises can do them any good, what Jesus must press on them is the necessity of believing the Father and the Son. Without faith in God the promises of God do not bring hope, comfort, or peace. But with faith, even these seemingly impossible realities are possible. Prepared Peace After exhorting His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled in light of what is coming, our compassionate King tells them about the spacious places that He is going to prepare for His people in His Father’s house. What I have never been able to get over is the reality that for every believer in Jesus there is a prepared place in the presence of God! In this holy real estate, around the throne of Almighty God, there exists a place prepared for all the saints! Once again, Jesus never meant for this reality to take away all the grief of His cross and death, but to sustain them for the resurrection to come. In verse 6, Jesus reassures them (and us) that He is the way, the truth and the life. Because Jesus is the way to this prepared place, there is a real reason for hope for everyone who believes in Jesus. Because Jesus is the truth, there is a real reason for comfort for everyone who believes also in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). Finally, because Jesus is the life, there is a real reason for everyone who believes in Jesus to have the peace that passes all human understanding (Phil. 4:7)! Prayerful Plea I want to end this week’s blog asking everyone to continue praying for the Hannah Housley family. Scott & Brandi, words are insufficient for the moment, but I am praying knowing that our God is able to comfort where our words are not.
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AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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