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21 Days of Prayer; a Devotion on JohnSample

21 Days of Prayer; a Devotion on John

DAY 16 OF 21

John 16 | In this world you will have trouble… But

To be a Christian is to be a person devoted to the word - ‘but’. Jesus is under no illusions about the cost of discipleship. They will be thrown out of the synagogues, they will mourn and be mocked, they will be scattered all around the world. “In this world you will have trouble” - how comforting it is that Jesus does not water down the reality of living? The disciples were facing down the barrel of losing their friend and teacher Jesus, the person they loved more than anyone else in the world, and it was dawning on them that their lives would not be the impressive life of governing kings and kingdoms in a grand Messianic nation but that they would live lives of service, humility, and persecution – in other words, a life of trouble. Into this shock and anxiety, Jesus speaks a most beautiful word - but. There is always a but with Jesus - “but if I go, I will send the Holy Spirit to you… You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy… In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” Faith this side of eternity is to look out at a broken, weary world and say: ‘But Jesus.’

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