Thread by @glprater

#GeraldsDevotional
God in Us – Keeps Us from Stumbling
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John chapter 16 is an excellent picture of the important gospel message that the “Lord is always with us.” Up until this point in His ministry, Jesus had been pouring into His disciples after getting their attention and calling them to follow Him. He had shown them clear evidence

that He is God, He was with them, and that they had no reason to be afraid.

But at this point in His ministry, Jesus had begun to tell them about bad things that were going to happen. In the previous chapter He had just told them that He is the Truth (the true vine) and because

of that, the world would reject Him. He had been gently telling them for a while that He would eventually be betrayed, attacked by the world and killed. But He had also told them that these things had to happen and were part of God’s plan to save them and many others.

But when the disciples heard these words, they only focused on the negative parts of what Jesus said. They didn’t hear the good news about how this all would eventually end. They focused on the bad things and did not want any of them to happen. They wanted to avoid suffering

at all cost.

So here in John chapter 16 near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus spends some time encouraging His disciples with this gentle reminder that He will always be with them. The world would throw everything at them in order to get them to become discouraged,

to compromise what they believed and to stumble. But throughout this chapter He promises them that He would always be with them no matter what the circumstance. Even though at times it would seem like the world system had control and was winning, the truth would be that He is

always in control and has already won.

In today’s reading at the beginning of John chapter 16, Jesus warns His disciples about how they will suffer personally because of what they believe. He is telling them these things so that when they eventually do happen, His disciples will

be able to remember that He had fore-told them and it will strengthen their faith and give them more boldness. The word of God is filled with many examples of this type of Bible prophesy (especially between the Old and New Testaments) where He reminds us that He has always been

in complete control.

So now let’s read and ponder the words of Jesus in the first four verses of John chapter 16 as He begins to encourage them as well as us today so that we won’t stumble and compromise with the world.

Jesus Warns and Comforts His Disciples
1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to

you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. - John 16:1-4
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