John 16:13 and John 17 - The Holy Spirit and Jesus' Prayer Before His Betrayal

In John chapter 16 there is further teaching on the Holy Spirit, the Comforter of all those who believe on Jesus.  One verse in particular stands out:

V12-13 "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever  he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."

It is a precious truth that the Holy Spirit is the best teacher of believers.  He will teach all truth, he will not speak of himself, but of those things which Christ taught, and which are taught in all the Bible.  He will show us things that God will reveal, but not the things of which we have no need to know.

Chapter 17 is the great prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane just prior to his betrayal and arrest.  Some people think the Lord's prayer begins "our father who art in heaven" but that prayer was taught to the disciples by Jesus, as how they should pray.  John 17 is Jesus true prayer to his Father.  As his disciples lay sleeping, Jesus first prays for himself, then for the disciples that were with him, and finally for all those who will believe on Jesus through all time until he comes again.

V1-5 Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent......and now O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."

These are huge verses.  Jesus says that the Father has given him power over all flesh, that all who will have eternal life were given Christ by the Father.  And eternal life of believers is found in this: believing in the true God and the Lord Jesus Christ who the Father sent to redeem his own.  Then Jesus prays of the time when he was with the Father before the world was, and asks that he be glorified with the glory he had then.

Being Thankful for Three Small Things

Today I am thankful for small things that happened yesterday.  None of them are spiritual, but they are all in answer to prayer.

The first one is that it is raining today..  after a very hot and dry July and August with hardly any rainfall and extreme fire conditions, we had a good rain yesterday and today, with more forecast.  Praise the Lord!  

The next one is that one week ago my trusty old computer froze up.  I was upset, didn't want to buy a new one, thought it was the end of my blogs.  But my husband thought it was worth it to take in the tower and see what was going on.  We found out that the hard drive was toast, and my old XP had seen the end of its days.  But yesterday I got my tower back with a new hard drive and Windows 7 installed, its a little different from what I was used to, but it is so much faster, and best of all, was $100 cheaper than we thought it would be to have it repaired.

The last one is that we finally saw one of the elusive Roosevelt Elk that inhabit the town of Youbou at this time of year.  We have driven there many times and have only seen hoof prints down by the waters of Lake Cowichan.  But yesterday we tried again, and I prayed a little prayer for one animal sighting.  Husband drove down a road we had never been on before, in a residential area, and there was a bull elk standing in someone's front yard.  He looked like he had recently shed the velvet, and was carrying some netting on the edge of one of them.  As we watched from the car, he walked up to the front door and proceeded to eat the flowers in a planter box, then he headed down the driveway towards our car on the street and walked right past the car.  It was thrilling to have him so close.  Here are some photos. 

 

The Child of God Walking in Darkness

The Child of God Walking in Darkness - Psalm 55

King David wrote Psalm 55 when he was betrayed by his son Absalom

Focusing on V22 "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."  What is this psalm about?  What experiences does this psalm delineate and explain to the child of God?  "Betrayed"..  This psalm was written by King David when he was betrayed by his son Absolom.  It was written at the time of rebellion among God's covenant people in Jerusalem.  We see in this psalm an expression of the broken heart of King David.  We see the great anxiety and stress and pain which David's heavy burden thrusts upon him.  "The child of God walking in darkness."  How relevant is this, because God's people do not live every day in sunshine.  Sometimes the sun of the Christian life is hidden by the clouds of a storm.  This psalm helps those who are at the extremities of experience.  This man of God is in extreme anguish of soul.  Have you ever felt like this?

1. Condition of God's child.  V1 "Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication."  God's child wants to be listened to..not primarily talked to, but listened to by God.

2. V2 "Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise"  Mourn means overcome, restless.  Make a noise means distraught.  Moral is very low, he is overcome and driven to distraction.  Serious anxiety and depression.

3. V4-5 "My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.  Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me."  He has inward emotional pain.  Fearfulness has come upon him.  Depression has come upon him.  Deep emotional pain, overwhelming feelings have come upon him.

4. V6-8 "And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!  for then would I fly away, and be at rest.  Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.  Selah.  I would haste my escape from the windy storm and tempest."  I wish I was a bird, I would fly away from all problems, a desire to avoid the burden of the trial.  These verses teach that the psalmist wants to flee from the problem he was faced with.  It doesn't bring peace, the problem is still there.

Lamentations: the Church's Funeral Lament

Lamentations 1

How, says Jeremiah, has it come to this..

Lamentations, a lament or wailing, the occasion was the destruction of Jerusalem in 588BC, the dissolution of the Jewish state, both civil and ecclesiastical.  The judgment and chastisement of the old testament church. Jeremiah warned of the destruction that was coming for 40 years. The predictions of ruin were mocked by false prophets and not believed and scorned by God's people.  Everyone mocked Jeremiah's message.

Church historians say that the fires that destroyed Jerusalem burned for 3 days.

To properly understand the message of Lamentations we must sit in the smoking ruins of the old covenant church.  We must smell the stench of the thousands upon thousands of rotting corpses. And then we may say, How has it come to this. Even though Jeremiah knew the answer even before he commenced his ministry because God told him that the old covenant church would not listen to him.  When the judgment comes, Jeremiah still weeps for the church because he cares for the church, one of the very few people that does care.

A Lesson Learned, Speak Not Foolish Things

There has been a story on our local news for the last two days concerning a man whose dog was grabbed by a cougar.  The man chased after the cougar and was able to save his dog..  this story reminded me of a terrifying experience that took place almost 20 years ago which has never and will never leave my mind.  This piece was written while the events were fresh in my mind.  it is long but I hope it will be a lesson for others who might happen upon it here.

A Lesson Learned - Speak Not Foolish Things

Hebrews 12:6 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

Proverbs 15:2 "The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.”

This devotion is about how the Lord greatly chastened me for making a very foolish statement.  I will never forget it as long as I live.

In 1996 near a town located in the mountains several hours from us, a woman was killed by a cougar.  She had been horseback riding with her three children, and the cougar grabbed her youngest child.  She drove the cougar off, and sent her children for help.  When they returned an hour later with a man, she was dying from the injuries the cougar inflicted on her.  Her dying words to the man were "Please tell my children that I love them."

For some foolish reason at that time I said that it would be very exciting to be eaten by a bear.

In August of that year, my husband and I planned a vacation to Jasper National Park with a friend and her three children. Our friend's husband was staying home, and we used her van and trailer for the trip, plus our tents and camping supplies..  Before the trip, I prayed for lots of animal sightings, as Jasper at that time was full of animals, and it was my fervent desire that my friend and her children would get to enjoy them as we had in our visits there in the past. My friend and the children would sleep in our large tent, and my husband and I would sleep in our small tent. "Junior and Senior" as the tents were named..

We headed to Lake Louise to spend a couple of nights in Banff before our trip up the Icefields Parkway.   That night we set up camp next to the washroom at my husband's insistence.  The site was on a hill above  a grassy area.  That night I awoke to hear an animal in the area below us, but it didn't come any closer, so I didn't worry about it.  My friend heard it too, and in the morning she said "I think we had a visitor."  Lake Louise has grizzly bears visit that campground regularly, but I don't know what kind of animal it was.

God's Faithfulness in Little Things

Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah...

Jonah 2:10 "And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land."  (KJV)

I love the story of Jonah for showing our Sovereign God in control of everything.  Because of God's control, I am in the habit of praying for needs that some might find a little strange.  Such was my prayer for today.

For the past 15 years I have been taking care of my son and his family's cats when they are on vacation, going to their home every other day, leaving enough food and water to last, always seems to be more food than necessary.  There have been several cats over the years, and they have two right now, a 6 year old and a 6 month old.   The 6 year old has always been a wild child, wanting to be outside since she was a kitten.  I am sure that she has spent more time out than in.  When they are away she stays in the house where she is not very pleased to be in.  She is always ready to be fed and then cries mournfully, begging to be let out but alas, in she stays until my son and his family are home again.

Yesterday my son, daughter-in-law and grandaughter left for a week away, and this is the first time that the 6 year old cat did not come into the house by the time for them to leave.  The kitten was taken to a kennel to avoid conflict between the two of them home alone together should the older cat come in.

This morning I received two text messages saying that the cat was out, that the neighbour was going to try and bring her in, and could I come this evening to feed if the neighbour was able to catch her.  I said that I would and that if she was not in the house I would leave food and water outside for her.  And then I prayed "Lord, please bring Misty home,  In Jesus name I pray, believing that with you all things shall be possible."