Live Free with Josh Howerton - Trust the Reliability of God | Ep. 296 | Monday, March 25, 2024

Episode Date: March 25, 2024

Join us this week as we look at some of the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples. In John 14, He told them, “Trust in God, and also trust in me.” He knew that what was coming would be hard for His disciples, and He wanted them to trust in the reliability of God. Jesus calls us to trust Him with every trouble we face in life, knowing that He will always be with us. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive. My name is Mike Bro, and I'm excited to start this week with you as we head toward Easter. We've been walking through the Gospel of John since the beginning of the new year,

and this week we will look at some of the last words Jesus said to his closest followers. And the things he says to them and to us are so full of tenderness and affection, so full of authentic emotion, so full of life-changing truth. So we're just going to unpack some of those words this week beginning here, with chapter 14. Now the setting again is a borrowed upstairs room. They've just eaten the Passover meal together. Jesus has washed the feet of the disciples. He tells them that he was leaving, that where he was going, they couldn't follow him. He tells them that one of them was going to betray him, and Peter Brax about his resolve to never betray Jesus, and then Judas slips out into the

dark to do what was in his heart. Lots of confusing emotions swirling around this room. And it's ended this scene that Jesus says these now famous words. He says, Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Also trust in me. Because only their faith, only their trust, would get them through what was about to happen.

They would have to lean on the incredible things they had heard him say, the amazing things they'd seen him do, the unmistakable evidence that Jesus really was the bread of life, the light of the world, the good shepherd, the Messiah, that he was God in the flesh. They would have to trust in all of that. This concept of trust was not out on the fringes of Jesus teaching. It was at the heart of everything.

In fact, out of all the commands that Jesus gives in the Gospels, which one do you think he gives more often than any other? 21 times. Three times as much as the one in second place. Yep. Some form of do not be afraid. Take heart. Be of good cheer.

Don't panic. Take courage. Don't let your hearts be troubled. which tells me, having lived in our skin, that he knows that fear is a real struggle. And it tells me that he cares about our fears. He knows that they can paralyze us, so he's always calling us to a deeper trust. And in this passage, when he uses the word trust or believe, it's written in what's called the imperative form, which means it's a command.

He's saying, if you want to make it through trouble in this world, you have to believe in me. You have to trust in me and my father. I've had this written in the margin of my Bible from Brennan Manning's little book, Ruthless Trust. I've had it written there for several years. It says to trust is to be convinced of the reliability of God. To trust is to be convinced of the reliability of God. And so as Jesus prepares to go through an excruciating few days, he himself would have to lean hard into the absolute reliability of his father.

And he's telling them they're going to need to do the same. See, Jesus never promised a life without trouble. In fact, just the opposite. But he pointed to trust in the only one who can give us an untroubled heart in this world full of trouble. So he says, don't let your hearts be troubled. There's more than enough room in my father's home, he says. If this were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? Now, a couple of things here.

First of all, when he says, I go to prepare a place for you, I believe he was talking about where he was going in the next few days to a cross, and that cross would be what would prepare a place for all of us. And the fact that Jesus uses the words, I go, means that no one took him there. He would go. He voluntarily went to that cross to prepare a place for us. And also, Jesus didn't live with a hope that heaven might be real.

He knew it was real. He came from there. So he speaks with full confidence about a reality that just is. And the word used here is the same one he uses. Over in chapter 15, we're going to get there tomorrow, when he says, remain in me. The word for remain is minnow, which means to dwell, stay, or abide. So he's telling them, Anna, us, trust me, you have a permanent place to stay in my father's house. I don't know about y'all, but every time I hear about another mass shooting, another bombing, another missing person,

another cancer diagnosis, another natural disaster, another person abused or trafficked, I long to go live in my father's house. And I know people talk about getting a quote-unquote mansion in heaven someday, just to roam in my father's house enough for me because he will be my true drilling place. And being in his presence without a hint of evil, pain, heartbreak, or disease, it's going to be permanent, and I can't wait. But until that day, I just want to be a light, and I want to live my life with an untroubled heart. in this troubled world.

Jesus continues, verse 3. When everything is ready, I will come and get you so that you will always be with me where I am. Now, I think that Jesus, because he knew the entire plan of God, was talking here primarily about his resurrection, and the coming to the Holy Spirit

to always be with them. In fact, he talks about that later on in this chapter, and you can read that all for yourself. And he's talking also about a second coming, the gathering of all believers for all time in heaven. You see, Jesus could see all of that. And he wanted them to know that even though he was leaving, he would not be absent. He would, in fact, be back in a few days, and he would always dwell in them, and they would always

be with them every day of their life on into eternity. Verse four, he says, and you know the way to where I'm going. And I just love how it's Thomas, who breaks the silence of the group by just honestly blurting out, no, we don't know, Lord. We have no idea where you're going, so how could we, like, know the way? We don't know where you're going, what city, what direction, when are you going, how long you stay in there. You told us we couldn't go where you were going, but now you say you're preparing a place for us to come join you and that you'll come and get us. I'm so confused.

Hey, you just got to love this guy's honesty. Then Jesus responds with these now famous words, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Now, to sum, this is kind of exclusively offensive. They say, you're saying that Jesus is the one and only way to God? Well, actually, Jesus said it. And you know, when you are the creator of the universe, the eternal word, the light of the world, the bread of life, the lamb of God,

who takes away the sins of the world, when you are the great I am, the maker, and the lover of the souls of men and women, you can make that claim. He's saying the way to God, Doesn't include religious rituals and temples. It's not about certain practices in holy days. It's not about animal sacrifices and striving to be perfect to appease God. He says, I am the way.

Jesus doesn't say, I will show you a way. He says, I am the way. He doesn't say, I will teach you some truth. He says, I am the truth. He doesn't say, I can offer you the secrets of life. He says, I am the life. So today, if you're kind of wandering and you don't know which way to go, don't let your heart be troubled.

Jesus is the way. If you're confused with all the live your own truth stuff that's floating out there these days, don't let your heart be troubled. Know that Jesus is the truth. If you're feeling empty like your soul is parched, feeling like you're kind of dead on the inside, don't let your heart be troubled.

Jesus is the life. Follow him. Trust in him. Build your life on him. This week is the very week where two, thousand years ago, Jesus went to the cross to prepare a place for us. And because of his death and resurrection, we have a place to stay. Walk grateful for him the day. I'll see you back tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online

live weekend services on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard For more information, visit lakepoint.church slash daily drive.