Daily Devotional: Monday, Feb 1
Speaker: Paul Diaz
Theme: Joy & Peace
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Just the Same by Northwest University; Happy Day by Tim Hughes; How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin; Hosanna by Hillsong United.
Read: John 14:1-4, 25-31
Think: Pastor Paul continued with our series this weekend about the Fruit of the Spirit and focused on the peace and joy God provides as we stay connected to Him.
Jesus promised in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you." This was one of the last conversations Jesus had with His closest followers before His death.
Every word Jesus spoke was incredibly important but somehow these words seem even more so because they are, in a sense, His dying words. At about this same time Jesus also tells His disciples that He is ‘going away'. As you read the account you can almost feel their confusion and sadness. And then we see the care and affection Jesus has for His people as he comforts and reassures the disciples with the promise of peace... Real peace, lasting peace, unwavering peace.
One thing is evident in Jesus' words, ‘Peace I leave with you‘. While He was physically with the disciples He had been their comfort and their peace. His promise to them was that even though He was leaving them, He wasn't taking with Him the peace they had experienced.
Jesus said "My peace I give to you" - The peace that Christ gives is His own. He didn't have much earthly wealth, if any. In Luke 9:58 He says "The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head." He had no earthly estate or inheritance to leave to anyone, no gold, but what He did have to give was much more valuable: peace. And that promise holds for us today!
Do: What have you been looking to for peace- A relationship? A bank balance? A political outcome? Look to Jesus and Jesus alone and allow His perfect peace to fill you and comfort you. Pray: God, as we look around the world, peace is hard to find. But Lord as I look to You I see ultimate peace. Fill me with your Holy Spirit this day so that I can experience your peace deep within. No matter what I face today I can know You are with me and You are in control! Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church. |
