I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  – John 14:16-18

The Disciples are slowly beginning to understand. They are beginning to realize that Jesus is going to be taken from them. They will no longer have him with them with his words of strength and comfort and they were beginning to feel that.

That is why Jesus begins John 14 with, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Now he is explaining why they shouldn’t be troubled. He said “yes, I am going away, but you will not be left alone. The Father is sending you another to comfort you, to guide you and to give you strength.”

He used an interesting Greek word to describe the one who would come to them. It is parakletos. This word literally means called to one’s side, or to one’s aid. It was used in court referring to legal counsel. It is also used to denote one who is offering aid, assistance or counsel.

Jesus seemed to be saying that I have been with you as comforter, or counselor, but now I am going. However, you will not be left without comfort. He was not referring to another who would walk with them, but he was referring to the one who now walked with them but who would then live in them.

He was relating an entirely new relationship. Jesus was with them, but the one who would come, though in a different form, would be the same as the one who dwelt with them, except now he would be in them.

When Jesus said, “I will not leave you without comfort but I will come to you he was revealing that physically he was gone, but his Spirit would come to them. He would be in them.

 Prayer:  Thank you Lord for returning to live in me. Grant me the wisdom to accept the wisdom of the counselor. Amen.

Principle: Jesus was with them, but the one who would come, though in a different form, would be the same as the one who dwelt with them, except now he would be in them.

Affirmation:The comforter/counselor has come and I am comforted by his presence. I also turn to him for guidance and He is my comforter.

 Reflection: Jesus is teaching an interesting concept. He had been their comforter, their confidant. Now he was leaving them, but he wouldn’t stay away he would return, not to be with them but to be in them. Now we do not need to go to another for Christ himself abides in us.

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When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

Jesus and the New Testament writers contrast light and dark in many passages. The concept is that light is good and darkness is evil. In one passage Jesus said, “Men love the dark because their deeds are evil” (John 3:19). Walking with Jesus is walking in the light – walking in the world without Jesus is walking in the dark.

What makes one way of life dark and another way of life light? Light is truth and darkness is deception. When we walk in the truth we walk in the light and are not deceived by the darkness. When we are not walking in truth we may try to convince ourselves we are in the light but the effect of our walk is that we are in darkness.

The deception of darkness is that it keeps promising what it can’t deliver. It promises peace and prosperity at the expense of truth and integrity. It promises friends and pleasure but delivers loneliness and pain. Darkness is the perception that we don’t need God and that we can achieve all that we desire all by ourselves.

Jesus was telling the world that the message he preached was true and that the way of life he promoted would not only lead to being right with God but it would also lead to peace and prosperity.

If this is true, then why are there still so many people trying to do it on their own? It is the deception of darkness. In John 1:5 it is written, “The light shines in darkness but the darkness has not understood it.” The spirit of darkness tells us the way of light is too hard for us and besides that we can achieve all that we desire on our own.

The truth is that man can achieve great things on his own. No other creature on earth has the creative capacity of man, but the ultimate truth is that all of those things will not answer man’s need for the peace that only God can give. Only walking in the light will give you lasting peace and contentment.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the light of Christ in my life. Help me to always choose the light of truth over the darkness of deception. Amen.

Principle: Jesus was telling the world that the message he preached was true and that the way of life he promoted would not only lead to being right with God but it would also lead to peace and prosperity.

Affirmation: Everything outside of God and faith in Christ is darkness. I am a follower of Christ therefore I walk in the light and not in the darkness.

 Reflection: Give some thought to the idea that the darkness promises what it can’t deliver. How has that affected your life before you became a Christ follower? How fulfilled were you when walking in darkness as compared to how fulfilled you are now as a Christ follower?

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If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. – John 8:7 Jesus had again gone to the temple to teach. The people were gathered around him to hear him when the Pharisees brought a woman before him that they had caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” The Pharisees were hoping Jesus would answer the question so they would have something with which to accuse him. Perhaps they thought he would just tell them to let her go, or at least give her a lesser sentence, after all stoning is rather harsh. But Jesus didn’t even answer their question. Jesus knew their heart and he knew that their righteousness was only a front and that they were indeed sinners just like the others who had gathered that day. Instead of answering them he just bent down and wrote something on the ground. No one knows what he wrote but some speculate that he simply began to list the sins that those accusers were themselves guilty of. His only answer was, “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Somewhere between what Jesus said and what he wrote on the ground he got through to these men who were quick to accuse this helpless woman and one by one they began to walk away. There are two things that stick out to me in this story. One is the question of where was the man who was participating in the adultery. The other is that Jesus never condoned the woman’s sin, he simply forgave her and told her to quit sinning. There is a very important lesson on grace and mercy here. Before we ever feel that it is our place to become judge and jury of others we must be sure that we ourselves are not lawbreakers. If Jesus doesn’t condemn repentant sinners, then neither should we. Prayer: Lord, I am grateful you didn’t judge me but took upon yourself my judgment that I might live. Amen.   Principle: Before we ever feel that it is our place to become judge and jury of others we must be sure that we ourselves are not lawbreakers. If Jesus doesn’t condemn repentant sinners, then neither should we. Affirmation: I am learning to judge myself before I ever think about judging others. I am not without sin so I don’t carry stones.  Reflection: What do you think Jesus wrote in the sand? He could have asked, “Where is the man?” Or he might have just been listing sins he knew the others were guilty of. What do you think? Then give some thought to how you feel about others who are doing some of the same things you do.

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer [and fasting],        – Mark 9:28-29

Peter, James and John were just returning with Jesus from the Mount of Transfiguration. As they approached the other disciples they saw a crowd around them and they were arguing with the teachers of the law. When the people saw Jesus they gathered around him.

A man in the crowd called out to Jesus asking him to heal his son of demon possession. In asking Jesus to heal his son he said, “I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” Jesus delivered the boy of the demons then went indoors with his disciples.

Once alone with Jesus the disciples asked why they could not drive out the demons. Jesus told them that the power needed to cast out demons required a life committed to prayer and consecration. We have learned that without prayer and consecration there is very little power to minister effectively in the kingdom of God.

What caught my attention about this passage is that while Jesus, with Peter, James and John, were on the mountain having a spiritual revelation these other disciples were down in the valley disputing with religious leaders. Isn’t that so much like us today? We enjoy discussing the fine points of our doctrine more than we enjoy spending time in prayer seeking the face of God.

The message of this passage seems to be that we are to be vigilant in our pursuit of the kingdom. We must not become sidetracked by those who would argue the finer points of the law while the spiritual work of the kingdom goes undone.

There is a great work to be done in the kingdom and we must commit ourselves to always being prepared to deal with the evil which is around us. That means we must set aside specific times of prayer and consecration so that we are synchronized with what the Spirit of the Lord is trying to accomplish.

Prayer: Lord, help me to realize the need to have a consistent prayer life so that I will always be prepared to do kingdom work. In Jesus name. Amen.

Get the most you can out of the Daily God Walk. Below is the main point of the devotion followed by an affirmation of the main point and some food for thought for personal meditation and for use as discussion starters in small groups 

Principle: We must set aside specific times of prayer and consecration so that we are synchronized with what the Spirit of the Lord is trying to accomplish.

Affirmation:I seek to be in synch with what the Spirit of the Lord is trying to accomplish today and I am committed to living consecrated and prepared to serve in whatever way he leads.

 Reflection: Are you committed being saved or are you committed to serving in the kingdom? Some ask, “What is the difference?” Give it some thought and see if you can figure it out.

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During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” – Matthew 14:25-27

 You can almost see the look on the faces of the disciples as they saw the figure of a man walking toward them on the water. With the wind and the waves he probably seemed to hover over the water like one might imagine a ghost would do. It was enough to create a good deal of fear in them.

Most of us have been in a situation where what we saw was not in fact what was there to be seen and our imagination conjured up all kinds of things. Unfamiliar dark rooms are good for giving us some fearful imaginations.

On this night the wind was blowing, perhaps it was also cloudy, and the spray breaking off the wind driven waves made for bad visibility to start with, then they saw this image coming toward them. Was it just their imagination? Was it a ghost?

Then Jesus speaks, “Take courage! It is I.” How often in times of peril have we heard Jesus speak to our inner person, “Don’t be afraid, I am with you. It’s going to be alright.”

I was in a place like that some time ago. The doctor was doing an investigative procedure on my heart because he was convinced that I needed some serious work done. The earlier doctor’s report was causing me to have a few fearful days, but through it all I knew that Jesus was with me and it was going to be alright.

After the procedure the Doctor’s report changed dramatically. He wouldn’t have to take the more drastic measures he originally thought and my condition was much improved.

In my storm Jesus came walking on the water and said, “Take courage – it is I; don’t be afraid.”

Are you struggling? Listen; he is saying, “Do not be afraid, it is I”

Prayer:  Lord, sometimes I see things that scare me and I need grace to trust you in those scary situations. In Jesus name, amen.

Principle: During troublesome, when we are seeing things as man sees them and not as God sees, and fear is gripping our hearts, the Lord speaks peace to us saying, “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

 Affirmation: I have been through many storms and in each one I sense the presence of the Lord going with me. I will continue to trust him even in the roughest storm because I know he is there.

 Reflection: How do you handle the storm? Do you draw back in fear? Make a desperate plea for help? Or do you continue on your journey with the confidence that the Lord is there watching and caring for you?

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