Have you heard people quote John 14:13, You can ask for anything in my name and I will do it? (NLT). Many a disappointment has come when the well-meaning Christian has asked for something in the name of Jesus, but it didn’t come to pass. These words are often quoted as if they might be a magical incantation to “poof!” bring us what we want. However, the whole of the verse must be quoted; and importantly, it must be taken in context of the passage.
For example, further up in vs. 12 we read the words of Jesus, I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. Now, this doesn’t mean our works will be more magnificent than Jesus ever did; rather, because He was about to leave earth for Heaven, we would collectively, as His church, do a greater amount of works than He did during His short time on earth. After all, Jesus left us with the command to go into all the world, telling others the Good news of salvation through Him and Him alone. By the power of the Holy Spirit He uses us to do works as Jesus did in order that others see the reality of Jesus in our lives; thereby, desiring to know Him also.
Jesus goes on to say in the next verse, we can ask anything in His name and He will do it, but don’t forget the rest of the verse. We often leave out the second half. Verse 13 in its entirety is: You can ask for anything in My name and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Do you see the wonder of what Jesus is saying? He is revealing that you and I, each of us who has received Him as Lord and Savior, are going to be used to the works He designs for us in order that the Son may bring glory to the Father. What an honor and privilege that Father’s plans include the likes of you and me to do the same works as Jesus, throughout the world, in order to bring glory through the Son to the Father.
I love the verse in Jeremiah 29:11, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Our loving, Heavenly Father, has wonderful plans for our personal lives, caring for us, comforting us, empowering us, providing for us, and in it all, He also plans to greatly use each one of us to tell others of Jesus, to let our light shine that others see Jesus in us, to enable us to do great works, all in the precious name of Jesus.
The better we understand what it truly means, to have the holy privilege of asking anything in His name and He will do it, the greater our own peace and joy will be, no matter any calamity or grief that falls upon us.
As the song by Bill Gaither says, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about that name. Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that name.”
Have you ever had one of those days where one thing after another went wrong? Maybe you woke up believing your day held a particular plan of what you already knew would be taking place; but plans cancelled, and other situations you couldn’t have imagined happened instead. It’s an emotional shock to the system. Unexpected occurrences of pain and sorrow in our lives dulls our joy, perhaps sinking it completely into a sea of vast worry. Inner peace? That goes out the window, and thoughts of anything producing hope seems but a faraway, fanciful dream. We’ve all experienced these unwanted, unsuspected events that steals away treasured serenity like thieves that break through and steal. But wait! That is exactly what has happened! The thief himself has come in uninvited to kill our joy, steal our peace, and destroy all hopes of anything getting better (John 10:10). What can we do?
I was mulling over these thoughts when Psalm 9:1 came to mind: I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things You have done (NLT). Praise is the antidote to worry and shattered peace of heart. Notice David wrote in this verse, I will tell of the marvelous things You have done. That’s a particular secret to rebuilding lost joy and shattered hope. When we deliberately take time to remember what the Lord has done for us in our yesterdays, and that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), those truths begin to ease away worry. Feelings of despair are replaced with certainty of hope. The key? Praising. Praising makes us remember how much our Father loves us. Praising keeps our thoughts concentrated on all God can do, rather than upon the present hurt that is taking place. Praising produces holy hope; this kind cannot be destroyed.
You have heard the saying — an apple a day keeps the doctor away. It’s true in our spiritual worlds, too — a praise a day keeps the worry away. Despair has to flee in the face of praise. Demonic forces must cease their lies that cruelly whispers “all hope is gone; give up!” Praise maintains proper focus on The One who loves us beyond measure. I wonder what the following exercise might produce for us — When one worry pops into your mind; counter it with one praise. Write down the worry and write down the praise. After a month, look over your list. I wonder if this praise diary would prove useful in future assault upon your joy and peace? Satan and his demons never cease to try and bring us down! Therefore, praising is a must!
Whatever burden seeks to torment you today, counter-attack with a praise. This post comes with a prayer for every reader to make a habit of praising. It builds strength and grows hope. It’s a worry buster. Blessings of praising be yours.
Difficulties of life come to us all; no exceptions. They are not our choice. Often they arrive unexpectedly. Trials, grief, assorted troubles may weave into our relationships, our health or sickness to someone we love, finances, or work. In a wider circle we may be affected by problems in our community, churches, with neighbors. Again, no one is exempt. James said in 1:2, Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity of great joy. We may read that and want to shout, “What?!? Are you kidding me!” It may be especially daunting when we take note the verse says “when,” not “if.”
Are we truly to be glad, rejoicing when bad things happen? Of course not. That is a misinterpretation of the verse. It is not suggested here that we are to be happy because something terrible came our way. Rather, it is assuring us that as a result of the problem, we will be made stronger; therefore, rejoicing in the peace and strength, and yes, joy that will come to us. Choosing to trust God in the fire of our burdens, grows our faith until we truly know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:29 NKJV). Songwriter Andrea Crouch wrote a song with the words, “If I never had a problem, I’d never know God could solve them.” How can we know the truth of Luke 1:37, For with God nothing is impossible, if we never see Him work miracles of His comfort and peace in the most dire of circumstances?
Have you ever watched someone use a blowtorch? The piece of metal being worked upon is torched in the fire to be bent and molded into something useful and beautiful, fit for purpose. In the fire it may be beaten with a hammer or fused to fit perfectly in place. This is what happens to us when we are thrust into unexpected fires of sorrow and turmoil. Our Father is with us, controlling the blows, speaking words of comfort and instruction to, “Press on! press on! You will obtain the prize of peace and joy, unexplainable to the world, but intimately shared between you and Me for all your days on earth, and vast, unmeasured jubilation in Heaven” (Philippians 3:14 paraphrase mine). Keeping our eyes focused on our Father no matter the pain; especially in the pain, increases our faith in Him, and grows our love for Him.
Our Father’s love never changes toward us, but our love is wishy-washy, so often depending on outward circumstances. That is not true love. Growing into perfect love which is unhindered by the world’s burdens, is an intimacy worth developing. Love shared between you and your Father cannot be compared to any other for it is unbreakable for eternity. Therefore, let us ask the Holy Spirit’s help when unexpected troubles land in our path. He will always answer our call for help, and He will always be our everything to get us through anything. The results of such trusting? Joy unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8).
In Exodus 16 we find the story of the children of Israel being led away from captivity in Egypt. They had to cross the Red Sea, which God parted so they could walk over on dry land, and then they had to make their way through the desert. You can imagine the hardship of traveling through a barren land, but the Lord promised to provide for them. We read in Exodus 16:4, The Lord said to Moses, ‘Look, I’m going to rain down food from heaven for you. Each day the people can go out and pick up as much food as they need for that day.’ What an interesting promise, with much for us to be reminded of today.
First, the Lord promised to provide, but there was also a requirement for the people. He would give the needed food; they had to pick it up. It’s the same in our spiritual worlds. He has provided all the spiritual food we need to face all the hardships of life — but we have to go get it. We have to read and meditate upon His Word. We have to call upon Him and listen for His answer (Jeremiah 33:3). We have to seek the Holy Spirit for understanding of God’s Word, and for strength and peace (Matthew 7:7, John 14:16 & 17). God didn’t spoon feed the Israelites in their hour of need, and He won’t spoon feed us either, but He always provides.
Second, the Lord gave the people what they needed for that day. Again, it’s the same in our spiritual worlds. We face a difficulty today. We want direction, courage, strength, and peace. Our loving Heavenly Father will provide those things — today. Tomorrow He will provide what we need at that time. I have met Christians who share they prayed for specific needs, were blessed with what they needed, but in days following they found themselves in need again, and were surprised. They had assumed a provision today would last for all their days on earth. Our Father will indeed provide each day, but we must seek Him each day, too. Why? Lest we forget.
Our frail minds and self-centered hearts are naturally prone to give ourselves credit when needs are met. We can so easily pat ourselves on the back, our ego filled with praise at what we have done, forgetting so quickly, but for the provision of the Lord we would have nothing. It’s true He gives rain to both the godly and the ungodly (Matthew 5:45). Both the Christian and the non-Christian have food and clothing and shelter. So, what’s the difference? The difference is in knowing your Father. We are not orphans seeking to make our own way in life. We have a Father to whom we may go, and are urged daily to go to Him for all our needs. Our daily requirements are not confined to bread and water. We also need strength and wisdom to deal with demonic influences, spiritual enemies seeking always to kill our peace, steal our joy, and destroy our hope in Jesus (John 10:10).
Never forget, whatever you need today — you are free to go and get it. Go before your Father. Tell Him what you need. Yes, He already knows, but He desires you remember from where your help comes. Why? Because continued focus on Him is key to maintaining daily strength, joy, peace, and insight for all you do — everyday.
What is your need today? Father will provide. Go and get it.
I read something this week that made me smile yet again in the goodness of God Almighty. All through nature the themes of God’s truth can be found. In the first book of the Bible we read, The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters…Then God said, ‘let there be light,’ and there was light (Genesis 1:2-3 NLT). In the very last book of the Bible, regarding a description of Heaven we read, The city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, the Lamb is its light (Revelation 21:23 NLT).
In our spiritual world we are born into darkness; we are empty, the void to meaning in life often deep and disturbing. Then comes Jesus, the Light of the world. He said to His listeners in John 8:12, I am the Light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the Light that leads to life (NLT). Until then, there is struggle, the darkness of our carnal nature is at war with our new nature of the light of God within us. The Apostle Paul wrote about this in Romans 7:22-25, I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord (NLT). I am encouraged in knowing that someone like Paul struggled with the battle of sin vs. holiness.
What can we do today? Throughout God’s Word we are reminded that keeping our eyes on Jesus, purposing in our hearts to focus on the Light, is the only thing that will give us victory over the darkness of sin. Everyday of our lives, demonic forces are warring for the attention of our minds. It gets tedious and discouraging, but let us be reminded also that, practice makes us stronger. No athlete ever reached their goal without practice in their sport. It is no different as we run our spiritual races, eyes on the finish line when one day, we will leave the darkness of sin behind and live eternally in the Light of Heaven where no temptations of sin may ever enter our thoughts again.
May our every moment of our every day be filled with the purpose to, let your Light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16 NIV). I encourage us all, never stop running your race. One step in front of the other gets us closer to the finish line. Let us cross from earth to Heaven in courage, that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we have done our utmost in our love for Jesus to, let our Light shine. We surely don’t want to enter His presence in shame, the first time we see His face, to be filled with remorse that we didn’t purpose to run our race, to let the Light shine in our words and deeds.
John encouraged us well in this matter when he wrote in I John 2:28, And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when He returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from Him in shame (NLT). Did you see the key? Remain in fellowship with Christ. Never stop talking to Him. Never stop listening, Never stop reading His love letter called the Scriptures. Just never stop. When you fall, confess your sin and get back to running the race. When you are discouraged, tell Jesus all about it, and keep on keeping on. Just never stop. Remain in fellowship with Him. Keep on running. The Holy Spirit will be your strength as you purpose in your heart to keep on running your race, letting your light shine.
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