He is Here

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HE IS HERE

John 14:25-27

25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace 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.

NIV

Three in one, that is what we have here, not just the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but we have the Counselor, we have the peace Jesus gives and we have no reason to be afraid. Although it is true they are one, they are also three, and the Father is in heaven, Jesus was on earth but now is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and now it is the Holy Spirit who is here. So in one sense, and that is not a pun they have come to make their home with us, as Jesus had just said previously, but in another sense it is the Holy Spirit, who is the one of the three, who is actually making his home with us now. He is our teacher, for he will guide us into all truth, and he will remind us of all that Jesus has said, all the God has said, that is all of scripture, but of course that implies we first must read it. Secondly we can rest assured of living in the greatest peace a person can ever know. Sometimes we try to create our own sense of peace. This word peace has a wide range of applications, the most common in those days was prosperity, which is spiritual in this case, but could be used as material since Jesus made the distinction between his prosperity and the prosperity the world can give. But, Jesus could have been referring to, at least particularly to the Christian concept, which is our tranquil state of being assured of our salvation through Christ Jesus and thus fearing nothing from God and content with our earthly lot of whatever sort that is. But it is doubtful his disciples knew of that definition, nor did Jesus mean that application. It is possible Jesus meant the freedom from the havoc of war, not world war, but the war which can wage within us. If we have the peace of Christ then we should be at peace within, our hearts and minds settled, at peace with God, at peace with ourselves. If we have the peace of Christ, we do not need to look for peace of mind the world has to offer, which in the context of his words, would be prosperity, or financial security, which seems to be the most sought after form of peace of mind in the world. But we should not allow that to infiltrate our lives, as we have the peace of Christ and therefore there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to be troubled about anything, nor is there any reason to experience fear. If God is for us who can be against us? We have the Holy Spirit making his home with us, dwelling within, reminding us daily we can have peace of mind no matter what, and we do not have a troubled heart. We can live a life of tranquility, a life of joy, a life filled to the brim; we can stand, run, leaping for joy, praising God without being crippled by the ways of the world for they are here.