John 14:18–20 and 26, New Living Translation

“No, I will not abandon you as orphans— I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative— that is, the Holy Spirit— he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

It’s love that keeps us going in the midst of struggle… In the midst of discouragement… In the midst of life’s battles. When you truly experience Jesus and His powerful love, you know there’s no other explanation for how you made it through the struggle, the discouragement, the battle.

Jesus came and He won the victory for our souls… Our salvation. When He ascended to the right hand of the Father, He did not leave us alone. John 14:18–20 and 26 (NLT) Jesus said, “No, I will not abandon you as orphans— I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. But when the Father sends the Advocate—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

It’s important for us to know God’s word. It’s important that we keep it in our hearts. In those moments of struggle, discouragement, and like battles, the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth!

What is the truth? That we are God’s masterpiece created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). We have redemption in our forgiven through the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7). We are chosen in God’s special treasure (Deuteronomy 7:6–8). These are just a few of the truths we need to remind ourselves of. And there are many more that can be found in the word of God, and that the Lord has spoken over each of us.

We may not know exactly what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow, and we know who holds us, Jesus! Our Lord and Savior!

We have an enemy that wants to take this away from us. He wants us to believe the worst about God, to put the blame on him for everything that goes wrong in our lives. Why? Because he knows where the strength in our Hope comes from… Jesus! Our Lord and Savior!

I believe our enemies are so focused on self, and the negative things happening in our lives, that we don’t see the good, we don’t remember the good. We are what we dwell upon. I don’t know about you, but I want to reflect the image of Christ: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There are moments where it can be a challenge for us to manifest these fruits in our life. But remember, we don’t do it by ourselves, but with Christ in us. Like David, who gave a wonderful example to us, all said, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart? So sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior, and my God! (psalm 43:5, NLT)

Jesus is so worthy of our praise! If you are in a struggle, or fighting, discouragement, or in a battle, praise Him! You and I were saved by His grace, because He wanted us! He chose us! That means He has a plan for us! And if you really believe with all your heart, you know that it is good! And while you are praising our Lord, remind that dirty old devil that he is defeated by the King of kings, and Lord, of lords, and because you are a child of God, he is under your feet! I would even take it a step further, and stomp your foot on him! Don’t let the devil steal your joy, or your peace!