Jesus wanted
His disciples to have peace—not to turmoil as they faced the tough times ahead
of them. He was trying to prepare them not only for His own death, but for
theirs as well. In the passage of John 16:1-33 Jesus promises His disciples
that the Holy Spirit will come to them, after He goes to heaven to be with the
Father. Are these promises of peace and courage that Jesus gave His disciples
applicable to us, too? Yes! If we love Jesus and follow His commandments (John
15:10-11) these promises are ours. I’ll take peace and courage any day over
trials, uncertainty and fear. How about you?
Paul on his
trip to Rome was told by an angel of God that they would lose their ship in a
storm—but that no one would lose their life. The ship was in a fierce storm for
two weeks and then went aground—but just as God had promised, no one died. Read the whole story in Acts 27.
Training Tip – Take small bottles of paint—or a box of watercolor
paints—and demonstrate mixing colors. Red and yellow make orange. Red and blue
make purple, yellow and blue make green. Then say that just as these colors are
mixed, Jesus mixes His love, peace and courage into our lives. Without the other
color, we are just plain old red, yellow or blue—but with Jesus’ help we can
courageously be green, orange or purple.
Lord Jesus, just as you taught Your disciples and as
Paul had courage before his shipwreck, we will be strong and trust in You for
courage and answers to our prayers. “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for
I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.” Acts 27:25
All
scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise
noted.
© 2013 by Mickey
M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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