With You

Read Luke 22:14-38, John 13-14, Matthew 26:22-25
 
John 14:18-19 “No, I will not abandon you as orphans. I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.” 
 
JESUS’ promises abound, don’t they? John here records two of several pledges our Savior affirms to his disciples in John 14:12-19.
   The first promise is to know he will not leave us as orphans! What joy this is! Consider an orphan’s circumstances. An orphaned child is without parents and has no sure home. There is no one to model good behavior and true obedience. An orphan can be aimless, very uncertain of her place in the world. Orphans often feel unloved because they are. They experience loneliness and have no purpose. Easily an orphan is often victimized for another’s gain.
   I was talking with a neighbor here in our Tennessee town, and she told me of having to suddenly help a 12-year-old girl whose mother had died. Because her mother had been sick for a long time, the girl had received no proper parenting. The girl knew nothing about right and wrong, social manners or essential self-care. She needed a helper to teach her right living. Many of you around the world deal with these orphan issues daily.
   My neighbor wanted to show Jesus to this child. So she committed to not leaving the child as an orphan. She helped the girl learn how to live under rules and a constant love. As a result, the child’s life was transformed when her helper, her new mother, taught her. The orphan learned and became a daughter of the family.
   Are you unsure of truth, of life, of your own worth in God’s sight? Jesus promises he will send his Helper, the Holy Spirit for you. He wants to help you overcome your sin nature that rejects God’s ways, so you will live joyfully in God’s household. How sad it is that we in the church often act as if God has left us to struggle on our own. We think God is “up there”, and we are “down here” without aid. We are prone to reject Jesus’ promise the Helper is with us because we know too little of God’s great love for us.
   Jesus’ second promise here is, “Since I live, you also will live.” Jesus is the Living Lord, who promises you will have a good life to live while on earth. And you will never die because he lives in heaven awaiting you. I know you’ve heard this often, but do you really believe this? How quickly doubts and fears will vanish as you trust Jesus’ eternal life promise!
          Dear Christian, be assured in Jesus’ promises. You are never alone. You have life in him. The Holy Spirit, Jesus’ Helper,  helps you to know Jesus. When you truly believe and know, you will see him as your help to experience a full life in Jesus’ resurrection power.