LEARNING DAILY

 

John 16:33, “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.“  Jesus

 

This might be a continuation of a thought Dr. Ed Newton, Lead Pastor at Community Bible Church spoke in his message this past weekend, He said, “You will never know peace until you know grace and you will never know grace until you know Jesus”!  In the verse from John, Jesus said, “in Me you may have peace”. I mention this so you see the progression of the blog.

 

There are two promises. One, you will have tribulation in the world. Two we are to be of good cheer because even though there is tribulation, Jesus gives us peace because He has overcome the world.

 

Becoming a Christian does not mean life suddenly becomes one without trials, tribulations, and difficulties; life does not become suddenly easy! That’s probably an understatement. Jesus made this pretty clear in the opening verses of John 14. There isn’t a person alive that has not experienced trouble(s) of some sort. Difficulties come, often unexpectedly, stay too long, and are often difficult to forget and move on from. Jesus is telling His disciples about His coming arrest, His rejection, and His crucifixion. He does not want them to be under any misunderstanding that their coming ministry would be easy and comfortable, without their own trials. It needs to be understood that He wants His followers today to know that very same thing. Many followers of Jesus Christ around the world are experiencing difficulties and hardships beyond what Believers in America can comprehend. “America is resource rich and commitment poor” (Dr. Ed Newton). In America we have all the excuses why we do not walk the walk the Lord Jesus Christ wants us to walk. Think about that for a few minutes! We are familiar with the world system’s attempt to draw us away from living the life of Christ. Temptations are growing greater all of the time, the flesh continues to try to overcome our desire to live pure lives, and Satan continues to work in those areas of weakness we have. Worldly fears of how we are going to survive inflation, all the viruses that are around us, and just all the “stuff” we cannot control us. We are facing perilous times! What do we do?

 

Jesus gives us the answer in the second promise in this verse – “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world“. Born-again Believers are to remember what Jesus Christ has done for them; they are “in Christ”, and they are to be encouraged! Why? Because Jesus Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice, obtaining the ultimate victory, and nothing in the world can change that! Yes, difficult time will come, but nothing takes Him by surprise. When those times come, we are not to react in fear or confusion because we know God is in control of all things. We can trust Him and have the peace He gives because we can know the experiences He brings to us are part of His greater plan. Because He has experienced every difficulty and trial we face, we walk with Him through all we face with courage and trust in Him. We do not have to overcome the world because He already has.

 

Life is difficult; the Christian walk on the narrow way can be more difficult. The Bible does not promise the prosperity that many preach about. Jesu told us the narrow way would be difficult. But His promise is to walk with us through the difficulties we experience and to give us His peace. What we learn from John16;33 is that we can count on trouble. I don’t look for it but it comes. But we are also promised that we can take courage in the fact that Jesus is with us; He has overcome the world. Don’t be surprised when trouble comes. Instead, we take courage in the assurance that Jesus Christ is with us; our courage is not with ourselves but in the presence of Jesus!

 

What a promise! What a hope (our expectation and assurance) we have that our home, our true home is in Heaven.