HisStory
John 14
(upbeat music) - Hey, hey, hey, hey. Yeah, have we passed? All right, all right. How's everybody doing? (upbeat music) - That's being cursed, being encouraged. (upbeat music) - If nobody's told you you can, you can't. If you can hear his voice, you can follow his will, you can follow his will. Your journey can get a little bit better. We're gonna do our part. Try how to get to the end. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - All right, all right, all right. Welcome back to his story, his story. Again, you're gonna hear many stories, but his is the one that matters the most. So today we're gonna read John 14 continue our study inside of John. I wanted to share something before that. And what I wanted to share was I had my personal study again. One of the thoughts that was coming up in my mind was when we face challenges, right? Or have enjoy in the midst of personal death. And what I mean by that is that when you're challenged and you're really having to lean on the word of God. You know, it's a practical thing. It's like practical things happen inside of life. And you really are met with what do you really believe, right? Because when you're met with those challenges, do you just throw everything that God's been teaching you right out the window, right? If you do, then my question to you or my challenge to you is, you may want to go back, check the word and see what you believe. Because when God says things, we have to actually apply them and believe them in the midst of whatever circumstances, whether it's good or whether it's a challenging day or a challenging week or a challenging month or maybe it's challenging years. But you being faithful to what you know and convicted. We talked about conviction on the last podcast, where your conviction is really lying. So one of the things that came to me in my study, when I was studying, I thought about stability, right? It's, you know, having the foundation that is stable, ensure Christ talks about it when he talked about the house being built on sand or being built on a rock. When it's built on sand and then the storm came, then all that that was built, it looked good. So the house looked good, it looked strong, the personal looks strong. The storm came and it blew the house over. There wasn't able to withstand the storm. As opposed to building your house on the rock and Jesus in this metaphor is the rock, right? And when you build your foundation, your stability, your dependency, your no matter, you know, through held in high water, what happens, he's your default. And as he has then become your rock and you are stable, ensure no matter what storm comes, you come out and your houses is unmoved. So I was just thinking about the stability. One of the things I wanted to read was a second Peter chapter three, and pretty much the whole chapter is not very long, you know, 16 verses or so. But what the language I want you to listen to as I'm reading it is think of stability, right? And typically, when we read it, we're, you know, we read the scripture, we're thinking about the Lord coming back, right, his return. We're thinking about the scoffers, but I want you to tune your ear to listening to the stability that's behind your faith in Christ, no matter what. Right, it doesn't matter if it's another 100 years, build for 100 years, but live as if Christ is coming back tomorrow. So, second Peter chapter three, verse one, if you have your Bible turned there, and then it says, I've been a marine out of ESV. And this is now the second letter, Peter's, this is Peter's letter. This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I am stirring you up in your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and savor through your apostles. Knowing this, first of all, the scoffers will come in the last day with scoffing. All things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation, for they deliberately overlooked this fact, right, they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water, the word of God. And that by means of these, the world that then existed was covered by a flood, it was deluged with water and perished, but by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire being kept into the day of judgment and destruction of the young godly. Stick with me. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slow, slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will be like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with the roar and the heavenly bodies will burn up and be dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people are you to be? What you ought to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening, right, looking for the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt away as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth which righteous, which righteousness dwells. So here we go. Final words, therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace, right? Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you, according to the wisdom that was given to him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks to them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand which they ignorant and unstable twisted their own destruction as they do to all the other scriptures. You therefore, beloved, know these things beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to him be the glory now and to the day of eternity, amen. So the thing that I want you to hear out of it, it's the stability, the endurance, but the stability, right? You already know there's scoffers, whether it's talking about the Lord's return or just God's period. I mean, you already see that. You also see how there's an instability of those who take God's word and twist it, right? And so you know that that's there. So these things come to try to challenge your stability in Christ as you're getting to know God, as you're walking with God, this year, next year, 10 years from now, 15 years from now. But my encouragement to you is to keep your foundation. God has your back. He's going to teach you. As you seek for Him, He'll give you truth. You'll teach you how to filter through the things that are not Him and to be able to see the things that are Him. So keep yourself steady, steady your feet. I encourage you to do that. One thing I'm thinking about is like when I used to practice martial arts, one of the things inside of the martial arts I was practicing was your foundation, your stance, right? They have this thing called like a horse stance or your solid. So even if something pushes you, it may move you, but you never lose your stability. You never lose your being able to control the ground being under your feet to where you fall over. So you keep your feet steady. You're always finding your stance. You go back to the Word. You go back to things that God has taught you before. You go back to talking to God. There was many times I'm thinking about Christ when He went off on His own to the mountain, talked to the Father, and He came back. Sometimes you need to do that. And there's other times where it's just like in the midst of with brothers and sisters, do the same thing. Pray. Make your feet steady. Redirect your emotions when challenges come up. When you're reading the Word, believe God. Don't just read it. And when I say that your emotion might come in one day, you're feeling down or one day you're feeling upset or one day, you know, your emotions can be all over the page. You got to be able to look at your emotions and know which one is valid and which one is not because sometimes the enemy tries to fluctuate the emotions to throw you off your stability, right? The throw you off your stance. Your steady mean of your feet as your journey with Christ. And you got to be able to tell the thing. It's like even if something's making you feel down, you got to be able to tell the thing, "Hey, you know what? I don't accept that feeling. What I do accept is that God said the joy of the Lord is my strength." God said, God said, this is what God said. And believe that over what you're feeling in that moment, that's one way to steady your feet. Even as you're going through your days, some days are mundane, some days are up, some days are down, but you're steadying. You know, you're making steady your journey. Believe your Creator, right? So I'm encouraging you. Keep your foundation. Keep the simplicity of the gospel. Even as you're eating deeper things of God, keep your foundation. Steady your feet. Redirect your emotions when challenges come up. Believe your Creator. And overall, you know, within, and I will say, and in addition to all, keep the faith. You're doing good, right? You're blessed. And blessed is not external. It's internal. It's an internal existence, right? Or an internal being. If you have Christ, you're blessed. Keep the faith. All right. Okay, so let's go ahead and go over to finish. Let's go to John 14. We'll read this, and then now we'll see you on the next podcast here. But not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, and believe also in me. This is Jesus talking. In my father's house or many rooms, if it were not so, would I not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. It will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I'm going. And Thomas said to him, this is one of the disciples, says, Lord, we do not know where you're going. How can we know the way? Question. And Jesus said to him, I am the way. I am the truth. And I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father. And it is enough for us. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long? And you still do not know me, Philip? Question. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the authority who dwells in me does his work. Believe me that I am the Father, I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works for themselves. Truly, truly, I say unto you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If He asks me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. I will ask the Father and He will give you another, a helper, to be with you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither seen Him, it cannot see Him, nor does it know Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you, it will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you, yet little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me, because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in the Father, and you and me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, He, it is who loves me, and He who loves me, will be loved by my Father. And I will love Him and manifest myself to Him. Judas, not as scary, said to Him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" question. Jesus answered Him, "If anyone loves me, He will keep my word, and my Father will love Him, and we will come to Him and make our home with Him. Whoever does not love me, does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Fathers who sent me." These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all these things, and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you. The peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, "I am going away, I will come to you, and if you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I, and now that I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, he has no claim on me, but I do, as the Father is commanding me, so that the world may know that I love the Father, rise, let us go from here." [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]