Your Journey

October 20, 2016

Read: John 14:15-21
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 59-61; 2 Thessalonians 3

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.—John 14:18

I grew up in the rebellious 1960s and turned my back on religion. I had attended church all my life but didn’t come to faith until my early twenties after a terrible accident. Since that time, I have spent my adult years telling others of Jesus’s love for us. It has been a journey.

Certainly “a journey” describes life in this broken world. On the way we encounter mountains and valleys, rivers and plains, crowded highways and lonely roads—highs and lows, joys and sorrows, conflict and loss, heartache and solitude. We can’t see the road ahead, so we must take it as it comes, not as we wish it would be.

The follower of Christ, however, never faces this journey alone. The Scriptures remind us of the constant presence of God. There is nowhere we can go that He is not there (Ps. 139:7-12). He will never leave us or forsake us (Deut. 31:6; Heb. 13:5). Jesus, after promising to send the Holy Spirit, told His disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18).

The challenges and opportunities we face on our journey can be met confidently, for God has promised us His never-failing presence. —Bill Crowder

Loving Lord, thank You that You not only know the path I take, You walk it with me. Help me to rely on Your presence, help, and wisdom every day of my journey through life.

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

INSIGHT: Imagine how the disciples must have felt when the Master they had followed for three and a half years said He was going away. How could they cope with the loss of their Teacher, the one from whom flowed the words of life? But Jesus said He would not leave them alone, for He would send them “another Helper” (John 14:16 nkjv) who would be with them forever. The word translated “Helper” is paraclete, which means “encourager, exhorter, comforter, and intercessor.” It denotes someone who is called alongside to help. The Spirit of Christ would now dwell within them and be their helper and comforter. Dennis Fisher

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