John 14:22
This concept, the manifestation of God, is almost incomprehensible. Even those literally sitting at His feet could not understand. But He promises to reveal Himself to those who love Him. What if we claim this? Expect it to be true. Spend our moments looking to see God. He is all around us; He is in us. Are we missing seeing Him because we don’t believe Him when He promises to show Himself to those who believe? The mark of a disciple of Jesus: they see Him when the world doesn’t. They hear Him when the world can’t. He offers us the gift of this fulfilled promise every single day. But, seeing only from the fleshly perspective, Judas, much like us, is trying to wrap his mind around a differentiation between the kingdom of God and the world. Jesus was talking about another differentiation: those filled with the presence of God, able to experience Him, and those only filled with the knowledge of Him. Jesus keeps giving us clues about how to be in the group of those who experience the presence of God.
John 14:23
Actions overflowing the state of the heart. God‘s law reveals sin in our nature; it is up to us to choose to fall in love with Jesus and follow His commands out of love and respect. Jesus doesn’t command us to do anything—He gives us His truth, His words of life, and patiently waits. No command. No law. No doctrine. Just His words of Truth. And when we reach out to His nail-scarred hands, we are flooded with the love of the Father. Once we feel that love, joy, and peace, we long to abide in Him, as Jesus did. Accepting grace opens us up for Almighty God and His Holy Son to dwell in us through the person of the Holy Spirit! His power enables us to keep His commands, creating a beautiful cycle of dependence on Him. From this place, we live out our faith through actions and, in doing so, see more of Him and are filled more fully with Him.
John 14:24
Those who don’t keep His teachings don’t truly love Him. Jesus did not say this with judgment, persuasion, or condemnation; He was stating truth from the Father. As Jesus’ followers, we are called to speak the truth of God’s Word into the darkness. But we are called to do more than speak the truth; He calls us to walk after His teachings. It’s so different than just following the letter of the law. It is possible to follow the law with an uncircumcised heart; the test of our devotion comes in obeying His teachings. By our own power, this is impossible; our flesh will always get in the way, but through the power of God living in us—Jesus’ teachings become a way of life. The new life He builds in us.“ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…” John 13:35.
John 14:25
The Presence of the Holy One. Learning to acknowledge His presence, to open myself up to it, to request it, and crave it… How many times a day does He try to reveal His Presence while we are distracted? He still speaks, but we can only receive in stillness, with outstretched hands and open hearts. Judas missed this conversation in the upper room. He had already left the Presence of Jesus to pursue his agenda. Too many times in the past, I’ve left the room like Judas. I was pursuing my life, unaware I was missing an intimate conversation with my Lord. Ignorant of His Presence, while He was waiting for me, I rushed out the door… I see things differently now, and I’ve chosen to stay in the upper room. To listen to all I can, soak it up, let it sink into my soul. Through simplifying life, I’ve made space to hear Jesus speak and discover His presence. When I took a break from the self-induced chaos consuming me, I found True Life buried underneath it all. We must make space for the Presence of God. We can’t hear His words if we aren’t present with Him. When was the last time you were present with Jesus?
John 14:26
I love how Jesus introduced us to the characteristics of the Presence of God—Comforter, Advocate, Helper (depending on the version), and Spirit of Truth before giving us this name, Holy Spirit. I think so often we do the opposite. We know the name, Holy Spirit, and use it interchangeably with Holy Ghost. We build our opinions based on this, never really understanding this beautiful life-changing gift Jesus asked of God on our behalf, and He becomes so vague, just a concept. I’ve spent time developing a relationship with God the Father and Jesus, His Son, and have overlooked this One of the Three. The One that makes God’s Presence in the here and now possible! This is our life source! The Holy Spirit is the Presence of God. This realization has completely changed the way I am reading the scriptures. Jesus is describing here that having the Holy Spirit is to always have His Presence abiding in us. We must follow Jesus’ instructions on how to receive His Presence within to understand His Word; His Presence is to be our only guide and interpreter of scripture (John 16:13). We cannot leave the interpretation of God’s Word up to our church, parents, friends, and teachers (Mark 7:6-9). Through time alone in His Presence, we are to uncover and develop our beliefs and standards.… According to Jesus, He is to be our only Teacher. We must slow down enough to learn His voice and to hear it; otherwise, Satan will keep us blind as we go through the motions (Matthew 13:15-17).
John 14:27
Isn’t this what we’re all searching for? Unexplainable peace. But we can’t receive this kind of peace by handing over everything we are white-knuckling to a stranger. To receive this kind of peace, we must know and fully trust the One to whom we are handing our troubles. When we accept these words of Jesus, in every moment and circumstance, life changes. When we are filled with the Presence of God, moments of peace flood us when we least expect. Jesus promises peace, but we have to do our part. We can’t cling to control and expect to receive His peace; we can’t have both. This kind of peace only comes from full release.
John 14:28
Jesus is teaching us a heavenly, eternal perspective. If you truly love Me, you will be glad and see beyond the physical and into the spiritual. In the spiritual, where My death is necessary to defeat the enemy! In the spiritual, where you will experience My Presence through the Holy Spirit, forever. Trust me. He always asks us to take our faith one step further, one layer deeper than we can comprehend. He keeps calling us to see from His perspective, to show our love for Him by truly trusting Him and learning from Him how to be a reflection of the Father. Jesus knew what they were getting ready to endure, yet He told them to rejoice—because He knew the heavenly perspective. What if we trusted Him enough to be joyful in all circumstances? Trusting and fulfilling the Father’s Will in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18, 19).
Learning to Abide
Through reading and reflecting on these words of Jesus in John 14 daily, I hope you are beginning to uncover for yourself what it means to abide—discovering what it means to experience life in the Presence of God. Jesus’ words were not meant only for His disciples walking Jerusalem with Him. He has extended the same invitation to us through the power of His Spirit living in us (John 13:35, 15:8, and 17:20). It’s up to us to be open, Ephphatha, and receive.
Starting Now
If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late! I suggest reading all of John 14 daily and then reflecting on one verse a day starting on day one today and moving through a day at a time for the next 31 days. You can follow these links to my blog posts from the previous two weeks.
Discovering John 14: The First Week
Discovering John 14: The Second Week
Discovering John 14: The Third Week
Connecting
And I would love to hear what you are discovering as we go! Feel free to share in the comments here or on Instagram, where I am doing daily posts.