Jesus Promises His Victory
How aligned are you with the One who is and will always be victorious?
Verse of the Day
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Today’s Devotional
In the context of today’s verse, Jesus is telling the disciples that they will soon be able to pray directly to the Father in the name of Jesus. Mere men, not priests, can directly approach Almighty God in prayer. He goes on to tell them that the Father loves them because they loved Jesus and believed that He came from the Father. He tells them that they will abandon Him and go back to their homes, but that He will not be alone because the Father is with Him.
Being told that I am soon to betray and abandon the Messiah does not seem like something that would bring me peace. Being told that I will face suffering doesn’t invoke a sense of calm. Being told to be courageous doesn’t necessarily make me brave.
But let’s look at it this way. Someone you really love and trust tells you that something bad is about to happen. You don’t question how they know, and even though you understand their words, you don’t really grasp the meaning.
Imagine being told: “You are going to be diagnosed with cancer. It will be scary and the treatments will be painful. It will be a long and tiring process. But you will survive. And because of this difficulty, you will learn things about God and about yourself that you never could have learned otherwise. After it is over, your whole perspective about life, death, and God will align with truth in a way that you cannot understand today, on this side of the journey. But I’m telling you this so that you will have peace and strength, knowing what will happen on the other side.”
Part of me wants to believe that Jesus was doing something similar, albeit much more significant, for His disciples. “Things are about to change. The way you approach the Father will be different and new because of Me. God really does love you, and he is delighted that you believe in Me. You will fail, and you will think that the Father and I are disappointed. But We know you, and We love you no matter how you mess up and get it wrong. Just keep praying and loving each other and telling others about Me. I’m telling you this now so that you will remember that I knew that you would mess up, but that didn’t stop Me from dying for you. Know…down in your bones…how much I love you. When things are hard, which they will be, remember Me and be brave. Be brave in loving Me and the people in your life. Love them so much that you have to share My story with them. And never forget that I overcame pain, suffering, death, and evil…all for you.”
The promise that we must stand on is that Jesus has already won. He paid dearly for each one of us, in a war for our souls. So today, do we focus on the little battles in front of us? Or do we KNOW that we are dearly loved by the One who already won the war?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Does Jesus’s victory give you peace?
Does His presence in your life and assurance of your salvation change your perspective about your day today?
How can you be brave today?
If Jesus was in front of you right now and said, “Take heart!” or “Be brave!”, how would that affect your day and what would He be referring to?
How can you focus on the war that has already been won instead of the battle in front of you today?
How aligned are you with Jesus today?