“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
John 14:15-21
Not Orphans
Daily Devotion – May 20, 2018
Devotion based on John 14:15-21
See series: Devotions
Put yourself in the place of one of Jesus’ disciples. You and your fellow disciples are gathered together with Jesus on the day before he died. Over the past couple weeks, he told you about how he would be betrayed, arrested, and put to death. Again, he tells you that he won’t be on this earth much longer. He will soon leave to return to heaven to God the Father. How do you feel about it? Fearful? Anxious? Confused? Maybe all of the above.
Perhaps the feeling of the disciples can be compared to that of an orphan child who would feel all of those things: fear, anxiety, and confusion. It seems he is alone on this earth. His parents are gone and it looks like there is no one to care for him. In these verses from John 14, Jesus made some wonderful and comforting promises to his disciples. And through these inspired words of John, he also speaks these promises to all his believers today. Jesus said that he will not leave us as orphans. We are not alone.
Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to us. What the Spirit does for us is nothing short of remarkable. He lives in us and gives us the eyes of faith to see Jesus even though our physical eyes can’t. Without the Holy Spirit, we couldn’t see Jesus. But because Jesus has sent him to live in our hearts, he has enabled us to see Jesus and all he has done and continues to do for us.
The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus’ cross and shows us that there our sins are forgiven. He points us to Jesus’ empty tomb and enables us to understand that because Jesus lives forever in heaven, so will we as his believers. Finally, the Holy Spirit lights a burning love for our Savior in our hearts. After showing us Jesus’ love for us, he works in us the desire to say “thank you” to Jesus by following what Jesus says. Yes, Jesus and his love can be seen in our lives through our obedience to him.
Jesus may not be physically with us on earth right now, but he has not left us as orphans. He has sent the Holy Spirit that we may continue to see Jesus through the eyes of faith. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, our lives are living testimonies to Jesus’ love for us. And one day Jesus will do just as he said, “I will come to you.” He will come back and take us to be with him forever in heaven.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving your life to forgive all of my sins. Thank you for rising from the dead to give me everlasting life in heaven. Continue to send your Holy Spirit to me that I may see you through the eyes of faith. Help me to live my life according to your Word. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, continue to strengthen my faith in you. One day, do as you have promised and come back to take me and all believers to heaven. Amen.
This devotion was selected from the Daily Devotion archive.
Devotions are brought to you by WELS and www.WhatAboutJesus.com.
Print FriendlyPowered by WPeMatico