These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33, NKJV
Take Heart (or Be Of Good Cheer, depending on the translation)
Jesus didn’t need to remind His disciples that trouble was coming. They had already experienced plenty of it—rejection, opposition, persecution. They had been shouted at, spat on, and chased out of towns for following Him.
Yet, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus still told them: Trouble is coming. Not just tomorrow, but in all the days ahead.
He wanted them to be prepared. He wants us to be prepared.
But look closer at what else He said: “Take heart.”
Why? Because peace is possible.
The gospel of John is full of Jesus’s most intimate, hope-filled words. He speaks of the Spirit’s presence, of His love for us, of His prayer on our behalf. There is peace to be found in what He says.
But even more than that—there is peace to be found in Him.
Jesus didn’t speak these words with hesitation. He knew what Friday would bring. He knew the weight of the cross. But He also knew that Sunday was coming. That death would not hold Him. That His victory was sure.
He has overcome. He is overcoming. He will overcome.
Your troubles are real—but they are not your master. Jesus is. And He has overcome the world.
Note after sharing the devotional: my prior church said one year: "we are [Resurrection Sunday*] people living in a Good Friday world."
[OK - what they actually said was "we are easter people" - there are aspects of my former church that I disagree with, on the grounds that while they do preach the Bible a lot of the time, they also slip in some worldliness, even in their messages. I have chosen to stick with calling it "Resurrection" Sunday because that's what it is, Biblically speaking. I still love people who call it "easter" Sunday (many of whom are family and close friends), but I wish to try to not take up the names of false gods on my lips.]
Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer,Nor take up their names on my lips.
[Years ago, when I used to be a regular customer at Panera, I used to regularly order their chicken cobb salad. Then, they suddenly changed its name to the "green goddess" salad. I still called it the chicken cobb salad, 1.) because that's what it was, and 2.) I was not going to ascribe some other false god to something that I was going to eat!]
Now, where was I before I got sidetracked? ... Oh, yes: "we are Resurrection Sunday people living in a Good Friday world." Those of us who are saved serve a God who is alive. We serve a God who died for us (by laying His life down, and not because the Romans successfully killed Him), and then turned around and conquered death by rising again to life on the third day. In doing so, He freed us from the bondage of sin.
But the world doesn't think that way. The world is run by the devil, after all, who doesn't want God to win, and has delusions that he can somehow stop God from winning by trying to deceive as many individuals as possible. But here's the rub: on Good Friday, Jesus hadn't yet resurrected. As such, everyone in the world was still subject to the Old Testament law. People had to live perfectly, believe perfectly, and never ever err. And if they did err, then they needed to immediately confess, repent, return, and do a full-blown series of rituals to prove that they did indeed confess, repent, and return. And they had to do this every single time they sinned. That is a Good Friday world. All God wants is for everyone to have a relationship with Him so that they can spend eternity with Him as well. But because of The Fall (see Genesis 3), everyone has to be perfect in order to do so. But through Biblical history, all the Law did was to prove how nearly impossible it was for anyone to receive eternal life.
5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
The above passage shows that, prior to Jesus's arrival, even God's people were prone to sin and needed something in addition to the Law. And this kind of thing kept happening over and over and over again.
Hence the necessity for Jesus:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:14-15, NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16, NKJV
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32, NKJV
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10, NKJV
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6, NKJV
who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6, NKJV
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Galatians 2:16, NKJV
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9, NKJV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17, NKJV
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10:4, NKJV
The above is what matters. Not, how much money you had, or how good a career you had, or how much power you had, or how much of the world you got to travel and see and experience, or even many times you've engaged in intercourse with however many different individuals. After all,
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:16, NKJV
Not only doesn't it matter, but it will be counted against you when you meet the Lord face to face after death:
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Hebrews 9:27-28, NKJV
The point is, the same "Good Friday" world is the one that tries to tempt us. Only those who have surrendered and submitted their lives to Jesus Christ as their King and Savior are able to withstand temptation. Jesus provides what is known to all believers as The Armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-20), with which we can put on. Additional, since He is also the way-maker, He provides a way out of temptation:
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV
We just need to be careful not to rely on our own abilities, because even Jesus promises that that will fail, if we do not rely on Him to provide us that strength:
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12, NKJV
And as promised in His word, He will:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13, NKJV
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV
He will provide that strength if we wait on Him:
But those who wait on the LordShall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings like eagles,They shall run and not be weary,They shall walk and not faint.
This therefore also applies to trials. This earth is not heaven. Thankfully, it's also not hell, but it includes glimpses of each. That's what this life is.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12-13, NKJV
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:16-17, NKJV
Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. 1 Peter 4:19, NKJV
Prayer: God, I believe in You. No matter what comes my way, I believe You have overcome the world. Even though trouble is ever-present, You are my constant source of peace. You surround me and protect me. Nothing is too difficult for You to accomplish. I will praise You because You are the One in whom I trust -- You are in control. Amen.
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