John 14 - God is with Us

Jesus said, 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the 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. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever 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."

Wow, isn’t God great? What love and sacrifice Jesus has given us! As Jesus says in these verses, the rest of the world is at a loss. They can’t (or wont) accept the Holy Spirit because they don’t see or know him. They ask us for “proof”, because they cannot see, touch or know the Spirit. However, for those who DO KNOW Jesus, feel the Holy Spirit within them, talk, walk and follow the guidance of God through the Holy Spirit, there is NO DOUBT, Jesus LIVES within us. Hallelujah, praise God. We are not alone. We don’t have to face the world unprepared or unequipped. We are not left orphaned for Jesus is with us! As Pastor Rusty would say, “that’s shouting ground”! So take heart, you are not alone, I know that better than most. For the time that I have been away from my family, my church family, surrounded by non-Christian “strangers”, in an environment that is unfamiliar, yet I took heart for God is with me! I feel His presence, I hear His guidance, I feel the prayers of His people, and I stand tall and firm, complete in my faith that God has not forsaken me, quite the contrary, He is there to guide my every step, if I will just listen and obey. Amen!