January 27 – A Gift Left For Us

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”  John 14:27  (NASB)

Jesus, when he was nearing the time of His arrest, illegal trials and Roman crucifixion demanded by the mob, spent some hours with the twelve who He appointed as Apostles. He promised them (and us) many things and taught them (and us) even more. He knew they did not yet comprehend and that soon they would flee in terror confused and deeply saddened.  So he says, I have something I am leaving with you.  It is my peace to settle your heart. It is like no peace you have ever found on this earth.  Peace is the third of the first three fruit of the spirit. Love, Joy and now Peace. Jesus is the source for all of those. When our lives demonstrate Love and Joy and Peace because of our obedience to His teaching we are producing the fruit of the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit of God within us that gives us the desire and the ability and the power to overcome the most difficult times and respond with Peace in our hearts.  Why? Because Jesus has left it there for us. He faced some very difficult moments soon after so He knew what He said. 

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December 12 – Feeble Hands, Shaky Knees

“Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,” Isaiah 35: 3-4a  (NIV)

A couple of days ago we saw the promise of eternal source of encouragement and today's verse shows us a way we are encouraged. These words are interesting because they mention feeble hands and knees that give way. But it is also clear that weak hands and shaky knees are caused by fearful hearts. So, what the Lord promises us is that He will come and He will strengthen our hearts so that we do not need to fear. When we trust him to help us not fear, that will make our hands and our knees strong. When we have needs like this in our lives our God is aware of them and He promises to come to help us. If we know that God will respond in this way, it encourages us to depend on Him and press on, whatever is ahead in our path.