Called to Love / Day 13

Called To Love

Day 13 of 21 A Place for Me - Believe and belong This passage is written in the context of Jesus preparing His disciples for His death and resurrection. The disciples couldn’t fully comprehend what He was telling them except for the loving repetition of their Master saying their sorrow will soon turn into joy. These verses are especially poignant since they mark Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit for His disciples. As much as the physical absence of Jesus must have been felt after His ascension, the promise of the Holy Spirit and the eventual outpouring that happened at Pentecost was more than worth it. Today the Holy Spirit is with each of us, all of the time, at every place and in every situation should we invite Him into our lives. He is our Comforter, Counselor, and Guide. What an awesome feeling to know that as I begin my day asking the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and strength, He ministers to a woman deep in the recesses of the Amazon jungle, to an orphan on the edge of survival in Africa, to an elderly destitute in the crowded streets of China, and to the hardworking, stressed-out single dad somewhere in downtown LA. The magnitude of what it is the Holy Spirit does blows my mind and then makes my heart fill up with joy for I know I can ask Him for anything, for anyone, anywhere, at any time, and He will do it according to His perfect will. Prayer - • Lord, grant us joy despite the circumstances we may go through • Help us be aware of your presence, your counsel, and your guidance Thanksgiving - • Thank you, God, for the gift of the Holy Spirit • Thank you, God, for always being with us and being all powerful in our lives John 16:16-24 John 16:16-24 NKJV 16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’ ; and, ‘because I go to the Father’ ?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’ ? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’?  20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. 23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  24Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.