Today’s Scripture: John 16:9, NLT- “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.”
In John 15:25, Jesus said “This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’ (NLT) Jesus was referencing Psalm 69:4 where David wrote “Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head. Many enemies try to destroy me with lies, demanding that I give back what I didn’t steal.” (NLT)
We must accept that the world has always refused to believe in Jesus. We can turn away from the hate of this world and choose to believe in Jesus and His love for us. When we only fear God we do not fear the hate-mongers. You do not have to look far today to see the hostility and rage of the godless.
God and His Son Jesus Christ are our rescue that David called for in Psalm 69:14, “Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.”(NIV) The great news is that our LORD sent Jesus to us out of the goodness of His love for us and great mercy that is our rescue from this world.
We are called to believe that Jesus was born into this world of hate, was crucified, and rose again. Do we simply know about this story, or do we believe? How deeply do you believe? For centuries we can read about the persecution of Christians. I am not talking about words that hurt feelings, I am speaking of believers being fed to wild animals for sport and even being dipped in wax to be burned to light the gardens of the Roman Emperor Nero.
Persecution around the world continues. Our focus must be on Jesus and not the haters. As Jesus was speaking with His disciples at the last supper in John 16:13, He did make the promise to them and us that “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” (NLT)
Our future is Jesus. The spirit of hatred is with those who do not believe and will be here until Jesus returns. Jesus promises in John 16:15 “All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (NIV)
The Spirit has many ways to make things known to us. Sorry to gross out you non-cat people but yesterday I awoke and felt compelled to tell Jesus I loved Him. I was kneeling in the dark in my prayer closet and suddenly, I heard the purr of a cat and felt her in my ear. I had not been aware of her presence.
“Snowflake” came so close that she moved across my prayer bench, between my bowed head and folded hands. She seemed to not be able to get close enough to me. I immediately wondered to myself how close do I desire to be with Jesus?
I sensed there is a deeper love and a deeper spiritual connection we can experience. The Spirit of Truth that Jesus promised is real and deep, inside of us even. We can shut out all the other noises. We do not have to be concerned about haters. Simply crawl up close to Jesus and rest in the Spirit of Truth where we find safety.
Do you believe you can get closer to Jesus?
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, I love You and believe everything You said to us. Thank You Lord for coming to earth, allowing for the sacrifice of Your body, and for being resurrected by the Spirit of God so that we can also rise with You. Thank You for Your example of prayer. Help us to fully grasp the depth of Your relationship with the Father. We welcome the Spirit of Truth. We only fear You LORD. Facing the hatred of this world, I am choosing to believe in Jesus. In the name of our risen savior, Amen.
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