John 14:1-3 (English Standard Version) 

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

On some days I discover a message to me from the Father. It often comes in the form of a verse of the day in my bible study application. I am not sure who chooses to use these words and more importantly, I do not know just how this verse of the day touches other people’s lives.

I hear what God has for me in just that first sentence, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Just before I sat down to study I prayed. I opened up my heart and told God what was troubling me and asked for His help. All that followed in the verse of the day held no specific meaning for me but perhaps it touched others. How I know that is in knowing just how God works.

I have been telling others that God speaks to us through His Word and some resist the notion because of their own personal situation. They are looking to be satisfied on their own terms and not God’s.

Sometimes God’s answer to our prayers is simply “Then don’t.”

I have been questioning my own decisions of late. My motive for making those choices has been love. Things have not turned out as I had hoped, but that hope was driven by fear not trust in God. Making choices because of love is God’s will. Our hope for the outcome of those choices has more to do with self interests than God’s will. We do not stop being human just because we are doing the right thing.

Lean into hope that is not based on God’s promises and we can expect to be disappointed. That is disappointing. That is why I began questioning my decisions.

God’s answer to that is, “Stop doing that.” 

Where do I go from here? Since praying my heart and looking to God to answer me in spirit and in truth worked this morning, then I will keep doing that.

• Psalm 3:4 I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
• Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
  Psalm 118:5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.

Isaiah 55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Anyone can copy and paste passages from the bible into a format to be shared via social media. So why should you listen to me?

You should not.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Without a reference to a book, a chapter, and lines of text, do you know if this is the Word or just something I have made up to make myself sound important?

Many who have studied the Word understand. They know in their heart because they have taken the Word to heart and in their heart, He dwells.

How do I know if that is true? By experience in my life, not yours. If it rings true for you, it is because He bears witness of Himself, not me.

Now take this idea to the next level. The ancient scrolls were not divided up into chapters and verses. Those scrolls were copied with exacting precision, word for word without one single error. Parchments were expensive and if a line was not copied accurately it was destroyed.

How do we know that for a fact? You cannot take my word for it because I have not been given access to all the ancient scrolls to validate those assertions. Others have and those men are long dead and all they have to leave us are their words. Can we trust them?

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Who is Lord? If you have opened up your heart to the Son of Man and let Him in, then open up your heart and listen to the only One who will not lie to you.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.