day 16
Closer to Jesus
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📖 read JOHN 16
📖 read JOHN 16
1 ‘All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.
2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.
3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.
4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,
5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, “Where are you going?”
6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 about sin, because people do not believe in me;
10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 ‘I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.’
The disciples’ grief will turn to joy
16 Jesus went on to say, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’
17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What does he mean by saying, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,” and “Because I am going to the Father”?’
18 They kept asking, ‘What does he mean by “a little while”? We don’t understand what he is saying.’
19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, ‘Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me”?
20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
22 So with you: now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no-one will take away your joy.
23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25 ‘Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.
26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.’
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, ‘Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.
30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.’
31 ‘Do you now believe?’ Jesus replied.
32 ‘A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’
When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, he witnessed the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remaining on Him. Even before that, John said: "I baptize you with water. But One Who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of Whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” That is why, throughout Jesus’ ministry, there was the expectation that He would eventually give the Holy Spirit to those who followed Him
Nobody knew when and how that would happen. The disciples must have forgotten about that. On the day Jesus told them it was good He was leaving because He would send them an Advocate, they were filled with grief. They had no idea that in less than two months, tongues of fire would come down from heaven on each of them and fill them with unimaginable power. They were full of fear and confusion and scattered, leaving Jesus alone to endure the cross. Yet Jesus was not alone. The Father was with Him. So He kept encouraging His fearful friends to take heart because He knew He would overcome the world. Indeed, just as Jesus predicted, the Holy Spirit came. The disciples’ grief turned to joy, and they became witnesses who testified with boldness in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Dear friend, whatever trouble is stealing your peace, remember Jesus’ promise. The Holy Spirit is with you and in you. Ask for His comfort and guidance, and it will be given to you. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
Where and how have you experienced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Praise Him for His work in you and through you. Is there any trouble that is causing worry and fear? Pray according to Philippians 4:6,7. Ask Jesus: ”What do You have in Your Word for me today?” Listen and pray.
📖 INTERCESSION
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
🙏 PRAYER
Pray for a bold preaching of the Gospel to reach the big cities worldwide. Pray for breakthroughs in the Digital Space.
Pray for new open doors for the Gospel in the 10/40 window.
Pray for people confessing the main religions of the world – Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age, and other indigenous religions to have their eyes opened and see Who Jesus is.
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