Monday 6 Aug 2012

Monday Reading: John 14:25-27

Key Verse: John 14:27
27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Devotion:
When Jesus started telling the disciples about the fact that He would not always be with Him, they chose to ignore the hints that He was passing on at the time because they had a great comfort in knowing that Christ Himself was with them and that they could count on His teaching, experience and generally a lot of personal attention.  Jesus already knew this and did not press them hard knowing how they would feel if they would suddenly have to face the truth – instead He chose to give them peace at that time and not to have them taxed too much until they could count on the Comforter being with them.

Christ had just promised them that He would pray to God The Father to make sure that they were not left alone and that the Holy Ghost would be with them to give them that comfort when He could not in person. What love and commitment He has shown all of this time that we have remained sinners!

If you have ever found someone in your life that allows you to feel loved and wanted then you have found someone who will bring some sort of peace into your life. That peace and that comfort that you can get from them is something very special and should never be ignored. I can look back in my life and wonder at the fact that I could not see this simple fact when I was younger. I can look back and see so many times when I was given opportunity but wasted it because I was looking to the world and worldly ways instead of looking to God and to His ways. When we look at worldly ways we will not find that same peace as we find when we look at heavenly ways and with Christ’s help.

No matter how much we do get from and earthly relationship it will never be the same as what we can gain from our personal relationship that we can have with Christ. That relationship will not run out from God’s side, will not be found wanting from God’s side and it will never end from His side. We are the ones that break things down, destroy things and generally look to earthly fixes instead of looking to Christ and His ways. I now strive to search out God’s ways and those ways don’t always line up with what I would like – but I know Christ’s ways are perfect like the peace He will give me!

Points to Ponder:
Do you count on Christ’s promises?

Are you receiving His peace?