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mundane no longer has a place

Peace

Living John 14: The Completion

by Caroline on category , , , , ,

For the last ten days, I’ve shared my declarations and prayers corresponding to John 14:22-31 on Instagram and Facebook daily. This summary is meant to be read as a response to these verses. I hope you have joined me on this adventure, and I pray this exercise has helped you build on the reality of abiding in Jesus. (If you haven’t been following along, you can click here to start from the beginning.)

Begin

Read John 14:22-31, and then use the following words as a framework to build your response to Jesus’ words.

Verse 22

I have to acknowledge this reality; not everyone will see You. This gives me courage and peace in holding onto what I believe. Just because others don’t understand doesn’t make it any less real. Jesus, please keep showing Yourself to me. 


Verse 23

Jesus, I love You, and I know the Father loves me. Therefore, I hide Your Words in my heart. I keep them because they are my Guide in this mixed-up world. I have experienced enough to believe that You and the Father abide in me. 

Verse 24

I understand that regardless of what people call themselves, if they are not keeping Your Words, they don’t love You—a compass for Truth, Your Truth that comes only from the Father. 

Verse 25

Being present with You, Jesus, has changed everything for me. As I sit with You, I learn the sound of Your voice; keep speaking to me.  

Verse 26

The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, teaches me. Everything I know and believe has come from Him alone. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, You are my only Teacher. And I claim Your promise that as I abide in You, You will bring to my mind the Words You have spoken, as I need them to glorify You.

Verse 27

Jesus, Your Peace has become my anchor. The things of this world don’t come close, so today, I chose to rest fully in Your Presence and Your embrace—this place where my heart is still and free. 

Verse 28

Jesus, I love You, so even when I don’t understand the circumstances, I will rejoice because I believe You have ascended to Your Father in Heaven, and You are coming back for me. I trust that there is more than what I can see. 

Verse 29

Jesus, I believe that Your Words are Truth, and I have Peace resting in You, no matter what the future holds. 

Verse 30

Jesus, only through You abiding in me can I withstand the prince of this world—the prince of everything evil and dark. Because I am filled with You, he has nothing in me.

Verse 31

Jesus, I lay everything down at Your feet again today so that the world may know that I love the Father. And, as Your Spirit has taught me, even so I do. I am ready; use me. 

Making it Real


What do these final words of John 14 prompt you to declare or pray back to Jesus? Are you beginning to internalize and apply them to what is pressing on you today? As you have been soaking up these words, I pray they are starting to feel like a love letter from Jesus to you. He spoke these words so long ago so they could change your life here and now. That’s the whole point of spending time in the Word and sitting quietly with Jesus—to create a space where He becomes real.

As you discover Him and His words sink into your soul, you will find moments are no longer mundane. Every breath, every second, and every challenge becomes a chance to lean in and let Jesus hold You, to let His Holy Spirit speak to you, a chance to see the Father. From this place, you will begin to see another Kingdom. A Kingdom that will never be shaken. As you become grounded in this reality, the Peace of Jesus will be yours.

Just the Beginning

Determine to make internalizing God’s Word a daily habit; this month in John 14 is just the beginning! Use this as a framework, but make it your own. God has laid John 14 on my heart to reveal Himself to me. I pray that what I have shared has given you a glimpse of what it means to abide and a desire to learn more for yourself. Consider: What does God want to use to reveal Himself to you today?

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Living in the Reality of John 14

by Caroline on category , , , , ,

Declaring the Truth I have Discovered

The words of John 14, spoken by Jesus to His disciples long ago, are no longer just words to me. Through them, He speaks to my heart, and I’ve been learning to receive them, to internalize them, and to speak them over my life. As we are in another month with 31 days, I encourage you to read John 14 daily. I have internalized Jesus words spoken in John 14 and responded to them with a decalaration and prayer. Last week, I began sharing the day’s declaration and prayer corresponding to the verse on Instagram daily. This summary of last week is meant to be read as a response to the corresponding verse in John 14. I hope that this exercise inspires you to discover with me the realness of abiding in Jesus. 

Begin

Read John 14:1-7 and use these words as a framework to build your own response to Jesus’ words.

Verse 1

Jesus, I believe in God, and I believe in You. Today, I refuse to give fear, worry, and anxiety a place in my heart. 

Verse 2

Jesus, I believe that You are preparing an eternal paradise for Me. This world is not my home. 

Verse 3

Jesus, I believe You are in heaven preparing life beyond anything I can imagine and are coming back to take me there, to be with You forever. Knowing this, I have hope and comfort in this upside-down world. 

Verse 4

Jesus, You’ve shown me the way and already given me everything I need to experience this eternity. But I must choose daily to seek, search, and receive. 

Verse 5

Sometimes, I forget and complicate things; Lord keep teaching me. 

Verse 6

Jesus, I know You are the only Way to the Father. You are Truth and Life, the great I AM. 

Verse 7

From now on, I have no excuses not to know the Father. Through You, I have seen Him; I can know Him. 

Join in daily

I will continue sharing each day’s declaration on Instagram @discovering_sunrise; I would love to have you join me on this journey!

Discovering Unexplainable Peace in Surrender

by Caroline on category , , , ,

Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external circumstances at all, but on your relationship with God Himself. Worrying always results in sin.

Oswald Chambers

Recently, as I reflected on John 14:1, I wrote, “It all begins when we believe in Him—the antidote to a troubled heart. The acknowledgment of another Kingdom, one we see with our spirit resting in Him. So much of the way we live our lives is practical atheism. Our unbelief is robbing us of peace, His Peace. He promised it; we are the ones who, in our pride, refuse to believe it and receive it. Suppose we would only take Jesus’ words for Truth. Everything changed when I began internalizing these Words, receiving them, claiming them, and believing that what Jesus said was true. Everything.”

“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after Elohim: Elohim is not in all his thoughts.” Psalm 10:4 

The morning I jotted those words down in my journal, God allowed me to walk in His promises, a real-life chance to practice what He’s been teaching me, abiding in all things. 

His Interruption

Driving to work, I glanced down; something in the road caught my attention… Lord, You know how much I hate seeing animals suffer. I have never shaken the early memory of watching a Jeep speed around the corner in front of our house, leaving my puppy lifeless in the street; I didn’t want to look. That memory still floods my mind in these scenarios. But here, He speaks to my heart, to look beyond myself and stop.

My heart ached as I approached a lifeless kitten. As I bent down to move its tiny body from the road, its eyelids slowly opened, revealing slate-blue eyes. I bent down and lifted it off the road, surprised not to see any visible injuries. It was soaking wet, so I wiped it off with napkins from the glove box as I prayed over this little life. “Lord, I know you see the sparrow fall; help me help him…” I see a truck coming in the distance; it stops. The driver, my husband, looks at me with a look I know all too well, yet says, “I can take him home and put him in the carrier,”…the next logical thing.

As I drove to work, I refused to have a heavy heart, God, into Your hands, I submit my will, my time, my worries, and all that I hold dear. This was the beginning of all the God puzzle pieces that came together that day, leading to the place where I hold a tiny, fluffy, purring kitten this morning, a little miracle. 

Trust, Again

A few days later, I was given another chance to trust as I experienced a spontaneous retinal tear. As I think about the events that led to the diagnosis and complete restoration of my sight, I am in awe of all God is doing in my heart. Through the daily practice of surrendering my will to His, He again gave me His peace, this time as my sight was threatened. 

Training Ground

God is teaching me to abide in all things through my daily circumstances. I’m learning to pick up the pieces He places in front of me and although sometimes with a sigh, look up to heaven, Ephphatha, now what? As I stood on the road that morning, I realized there was no anxiety in the transaction, just childlike trust. Lord, You brought this to my path; now what? And as my vision was threatened, I surrendered asking Him, now what? I am learning as I place the pieces back into His hands, He faithfully reveals the next step. I am no longer trying to solve all the hypothetical problems and future outcomes. I’m learning to be in the now and abide in real life. Surrendering my will, my time, and my ambitions to the One Supreme Yahweh, my Elohim, one moment at a time. 

Transforming Mundane Moments

So often, we look for the big moments and trials to prove our faith. But, I’m learning it’s in the everyday circumstances, that I learn to trust Him and see His hand. Learning to surrender the day-to-day is where we train for the life-shattering. Recognizing His Peace and Presence transforms the mundane. 

“For I Yahweh thy Elohim will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” Is 41:13

Building on Surrender

I ache to share this newness of life that I have discovered. Abiding in His Presence is a place where unexplainable peace floods unexpected places (John 14:27). I am learning it all hinges on surrender. But the truth is, we cannot fully surrender to One whom we do not know. When I determined to know God through the lens of the Bible alone, He revealed Himself to me through Jesus (John 14:21). As I’ve learned who the Father is, through the life and death of the Son, everything has changed! It began with setting aside everything I had believed about God. I chose to allow His Spirit alone to teach me (John 14:26), and I began to see His Word in a new way.

Begin Living

I invite you to join me on this journey of experiencing the Peace only Jesus can give. It’s no longer just theory for me. I will keep sharing how He changes my life to encourage you to seek Him with intention. I’m confident if you give Him the chance, He will reveal Himself to you in ways you never imagined! He will bring life, joy, and peace into your everyday moments.

Treasure Life.

✕