Thursday: W16, M2

Daily Reading:
John 13-16

1.) Facts:

• Jesus loved his disciples and He humbled Himself and washed their feet. He challenged them to do the same for others and to serve others with kindness and humility. Christ then goes on to predict his own betrayal and the betrayal of Peter. The time when Christ will not be with the disciples was coming and Christ warned them about the coming trials and how important it was to stay connected to each other and to the Father. Jesus told them about the coming of the Holy Spirit that would lead and guide them and that no matter what the world did to hinder them, that they would never be alone.

2.) Lessons:

• 13:34 - Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
• 14:6 - Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• 14:13 - And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
• 14:15 - If you love me, keep my commands.
• 14:23 - Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
• 15:5-8 - Christ is the vine and we are the branches, we must stay connected to the vine.
• 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
• 16:24 - Ask and you will receive
• 16:31-32 - Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
• 16:33 - I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world

3.) Applications:

• As Christians, we will face troubles of many kinds but we must take heart, for Christ has overcome the world. Christ is the vine and we are the branches, we must stay connected to the vine through daily reading and studying of His word as well as daily communication with God. If we love Christ, we must keep His commands. We can ask anything in Christ's name and it will be granted us, for the Glory of the Father, not our own glory. We are never alone, for Christ has sent the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us.

4.) Daily Meditation:

• 15:5 - I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.