John 14

http://www.esvbible.org/John+14/

Jesus tells the disciples that His Father's house is very large, and that He is preparing a place for them up there. Then, He will bring them back into His presence because they know the way. When Thomas tells Him they don't know the way, Jesus responds with another famous verse from John. He says that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody gets to the Father without going through Jesus. That's it. There is no other way. You can't do enough good deeds to get to heaven if you don't accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The only way to spend eternity with God is to go through Jesus. Philip just asks Jesus to show them the Father, so the disciples can be satisfied. Jesus says that the Father is in Him, and He is in the Father. Then He continues to say that the Father will do anything we ask in Jesus' name so that the Father will have glory through the son. That's a big deal. If we pray for something to be done in Jesus' name, the Father will do it. So unbelievable! Jesus also takes that opportunity to tell the disciples that He will send the Holy Spirit after Him to guide all people of Jesus. Up until this point, the Holy Spirit has lived in the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments, and a few other objects from the Old Testament. The Ark lives in the Holy of Holies in the temple. Only the priest is allowed to set foot in there, and if anyone else attempts to do so, they will be killed. It is the place where the priests talk to God. Jesus, however, says that He is going to change this, so that the Holy Spirit will live in each believer. He calls the Holy Spirit a helper who He will have the Father send. He says that the Holy Spirit will guide us and remind us of everything Jesus has ever taught us. As we go through this world, we don't have to do this on our own. The Holy Spirit actually communicates with us when we accept Christ, and He helps us with everything we do.

I'm sorry, but I am going on a weekend retreat with my campus ministry, so I will take notes on my quiet times while I am there, but my next few blog entries may be lacking, and they will all come on Monday.