SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2016 10:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Presence of the Son”
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 14:18-20
Message of the verses: “18 "I will not leave you as orphans; I
will come to you. 19 "After a
little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I
live, you will live also. 20 “In that day you will know that I am in My Father,
and you in Me, and I in you.”
We want to
continue to look at the presence of the Son in this SD by looking at verse
twenty. Now we must understand that the
Son is not only in union with the Spirit, but that He is also in union with the
Father. We read “in that day” which
speaks of after the resurrection and when the Spirit comes. What will happen in that day? You will know that I am in My Father. We must remember that Jesus was preparing His
disciples for the ministry that was given to them after He leaves and goes to
the Father, and in order for them to effectively do this ministry they will have
to receive the Holy Spirit. The ministry
that is given to them in a few short years will turn the world upside down as
the church will begin. Think about this
task or ministry that they have and think about who they are, the ones Jesus
chose to carry on after He has gone back to heaven. We have in this group a number of fishermen,
we also have a tax collector, and a zealot who wants to destroy the Roman
Empire, and how do you think that this zealot and the tax collector got along
as the tax collector was actually working for Rome. I have to say that they all needed a miracle
and as Jesus was preparing them for their ministry even to the last hours
before He would go to the cross to die for them He is telling them about this
miracle, in the person of the Holy Spirit, the Father, and Himself would come
about.
John
MacArthur writes “Though no human mind can fully understand the union, being
hidden in the mysterious depts. Of the Trinity (cf. Job 11:7; Rom. 11:33), the
disciples and all believers have recognized its reality. They would soon come to understand the truth that
baffled them at the present (cf. 14:8-9).”
As we
continue to look at verse twenty we see another astounding promise Jesus gave
to His disciples “and you in Me, and I in you.”
MacArthur writes “Through the indwelling of the Spirit, believers are
united with Jesus. (That union, of course, is not one of essence; believers do
not become part of the God-head.) Several New Testament metaphors depict the
nature of that union. Jesus is the vine
and believers are the branches (John 15:5); they are the body of which He is
the head (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15-16; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:19); they are
stones in the spiritual house of which He is the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20-22; 1
Peter 2:4-6); they are the bride and He is the groom (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph.
5:22-24; Rev. 19:7).”
Another way
that the Bible talks about this is the phrase “in Christ” which is used many
times in the New Testament to show our union with Jesus Christ. If one takes a concordance and looks up that
phrase it will be a wonderful study to see how we are in Christ.
Jesus is reassuring
His disciples that once He died on the cross and was buried and then
resurrected and then ascends to heaven that this would not be the end of their
relationship with Him.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have to go back to think about Thomas who
we call doubting Thomas, and how He would not believe in Jesus resurrection
until He saw Him. Jesus told Thomas that
the ones who have not seen Him yet believe in Him are blessed, and so I can say
that I have never seen Jesus physically as Thomas did but I know that He is
alive because He lives in me and so I am truly blessed.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Continue to trust the Lord as
I work on a prayer project for our churches “Greater Things Ministry,” that the
Spirit of God will guide me and those who help me so that Jesus Christ will be
glorified through our efforts.
Review of memory verses:
(Romans 6:5-6) “5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness
of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body
of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Delilah” (Judges 16:4-21).
Today’s Bible question:
“Which kingdom (northern or southern) was guilty of idolatry and its
attending evils, but with periods of religious revival?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/21/2016 11:21 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment