Forgotten Promises Resurrected, John 14:27

John 14:27, Jesus said

“I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”.

We Are At War

I look across the bow of this ship we call life and the older I become, the more I see, hear and experience the more I thank God for his grace, mercy and love. I have to admit, I simply do not have it in me to love as much as He does. I see the selfishness, the entitlement attitude, the self righteousness and the corruption that permeates through our communities, states, and countries of the world. And, only knowing what I know, not at all like God who knows all, I can’t imagine how in the world he puts up with this world.

I remind myself of Ephesians 6:12 on a daily basis and sometimes multiple times a day, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. I know I’m suppose to live and pray in the spirit. I know my thoughts and actions should reflect just that but I also know it's easier said than done. Paul said in in Galatians 5:16-18, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” It’s easy to choose the carnal or fleshly way to react to any situation because we live in a fallen world and we can see and hear things that can anger us if we aren’t totally aware all the time. That’s why I quote Ephesians 6:12 on a regular basis because it helps me ground myself and bring me back to reality of who I really am and who bought and paid in full for me and that I’m not my own. I thank God for his grace, mercy and love everyday even though I don’t totally understand it. I see how the world operates without Him and I count myself blessed beyond measure that He chose me, even before I chose Him.

It's not For Me to Judge

Really and truly I have no valid reason to judge or complain because there was a time where my life was an abomination to God. As good as I thought I was in my own eyes didn’t even come close to God’s standards. The Bible mentions this in Roman’s 3:23-27, “for we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.”

Nothing is Too Small or Too Big for Jesus

Jesus fulfilled the law and paved the way for each of us to follow Him to Heaven. It doesn’t matter what you have done, it doesn’t matter who you have wronged or how bad you think you are. Jesus can take all that away from you right now if you let Him. There is nothing too small or too big for Him to handle and handle with ease. The hard part is kicking your pride and arrogance to the curb and repenting of your sins and wholeheartedly meaning it. Tremendous things happen immediately upon redemption, your eyes and ears are opened and wisdom is available to you just for the asking. What was confusing before starts to make sense. 2 Corinthians 3:4 proclaims, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them”. When you repent and ask Jesus into your life the veil is removed and you can see, hear and understand the gospel like never before. It all boils down to that we all were born into spiritual warfare, and in large we were not taught how crucial and detrimental this war is to us individually or communally. In essence, we were born deaf and blind and have to rely on somebody or something in the world to share the truth with us. So, if you have heard about Jesus but He’s not your personal savior and you don’t have a relationship with Him, this is your wake-up call to remedy that. Jesus is the way.

Know, Believe, and Live by God's Promises

This brings me full circle to the promise in John 14:27, Jesus said, “I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”

Repent

If you truly repented and asked Jesus to be your personal savior then you have no reason to fear. He has bought and paid for you and you belong to Him. He loves you more than you’ll ever know and He is with you every second of every day. No matter what the world thinks of you, no matter how the world condemns you, no matter how the world persecutes you, if Jesus has made you free you are free indeed. Stand tall, and go forth courageously to glorify God!