6th Easter
John 14: 1-31
“Let
not your hearts be troubled. Trust in the power that leads you to the Fatherly
Ground of the World and to me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it
were not so, how could I have said to you, ‘I go there to prepare a place for
you’? And when I have gone and prepared
a place for you, I will come again and take you up into the realm of my being
and working, so that where I work, you also may work. And you know the way
where I am going.”
Then Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How
can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I myself am the Way—the Truth— and the Life. No one
finds his way to the Father but through me. If you had really known my Being,
you would have recognized my Father as well. From now on you do know him and
have seen Him.”
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| Aivazov |
Then Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father; that would satisfy
our deepest yearning.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know
me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us
the Father’? Does your heart’s voice not tell you that I am in the Father and
the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. But the
Father, who lives eternally in me, continues to do his works in them. Build
your faith on the power of my Being that lets you know: I in the Father, the
Father in me. Or at least learn to trust through looking at the works
themselves that have arisen.
Truly, truly I say to you, whoever trusts in my Being will also do the
works that I do --and greater deeds will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask for in unity with
me, I will do it, so that the deeds of the Father may be revealed in the
working of the Son. When you turn to me in prayer in the power of my name, I
will be the Creating One in all your works. If you truly love me, you will
share in my spiritual goals. And I will ask the Father and He will send to you
another Counselor, who will stand by you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth.
The earthly world cannot receive this Counselor, for it cannot perceive his
working and does not recognize him. But you know him, for he will live with you
and will work in you.
I will not leave you desolate—I will come to you. Yet a little while,
and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live,
you will live also. On that day you will truly know what it means that I am in
the Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever bears my spiritual goals within himself, and brings them to
revelation in his working, is one who truly loves me. And whoever truly loves
me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to
him.”
Then Judas, (not the Iscariot) said, “But Lord, how is it that you will
reveal yourself to us and not to the people who are in the world?
Jesus
replied, “Whoever truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him
and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an
eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the
spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of
the Father who sent me.
These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the
health-bringing Spirit, the Counselor whom the Father will send in my name, he
will teach you everything and will bring to your remembrance all that I have
said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I
give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled nor let them be afraid.
You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’.
If you loved me you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for
the Father is greater than I am.
I have told you now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may
find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the ruler of this
world is coming. He has no power over me.
But I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted
to me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Do the same. Arise,
let us be on our way.
6th Easter
May 25, 2014
John 14: 1-31
The surface of a lake can be choppy or calm. When the
surface is covered with high waves, their movement arouses excitement, or even
fear. When the surface is calm one can see the reflection of the heavens.
Our souls are deep
lakes. We float on their surface with our awareness. In times of storm our
souls are agitated; we feel anxiety and fear. Yet always with us in the ship of
our life is Christ. He may seem ‘asleep’, that is, we may have to awaken our
awareness to His presence.[1] Or
we may see Him walking toward us on the waves.[2] In
either case once we are aware of his Presence, near or far, the storm subsides.
The waves of agitation flatten and we can see the calm majesty of heaven’s
purpose reflected in the surface of our lives, in the calm surface of our own
soul.
For He said, ’Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in the
power that leads you to the Father and to me.’ John 14:1 One of those powers is
the ability to find the calm center within ourselves, as quickly as possible
after experiencing fear. In our efforts to pray, to calm ourselves, we awaken
Christ within us. Through awakening Him in our souls, we come to an awareness
of the higher purpose of the events in our lives. We come to an awareness of
the deeper currents propelling our lives. And we can come to the conviction of
how Christ is the Pilot, the calm and purposeful center within us. We
experience what He says of Himself: I myself am the Way the Truth and the
Life….Arise, let us be on our way.
