Day 14 of 21 Day Challenge

This is a day late. I realized late last night that I never wrote on my blog about what I learned, but I was too tired to write then. I figured it wouldn't make much sense so I waited until this morning. I apologize to anyone who might be reading my daily blog that I didn't get this written yesterday.

John 14 was filled with many promises. Jesus knew that He would be dying soon. He wasn't concerned with how He was feeling. He wanted to encourage His disciples. He told them to not let their hearts be troubled and to trust in God and in Him (verse 1). He told them He would come back and take them to be with Him (verse 3). He told them they could ask Him for anything in His name, and He would do it (verse 14). He told them He was leaving them with His peace, and He told them again to not let their hearts be troubled and to not be afraid (verse 27). Did you notice He told them twice to not let hearts be troubled? He knew they would soon be facing their worst fear: Jesus would be crucified and die. I'm sure their hearts were troubled! We know how it all turns out though....Jesus rose from the grave! They didn't know that was going to happen, even though He had told them. They didn't understand His words until after He rose from the dead. How often do we focus on the situation instead of relying on what we already know. God is always with us. There is nothing we need to fear! Don't let your hearts be troubled when you are in a difficult situation. Trust in God!

Proverbs 23:23 says "Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline, and understanding." When you ask someone a question, do you want that person to lie to you? Do you expect to be lied to? Of course not! You want the truth. Now for the hard question: Do you always tell the truth? What happens when you think the truth will hurt someone's feelings? Do you still tell the truth? This verse shows us how important the truth is. We should always have it, along with wisdom, discipline, and understanding. These other three help to show us how they all work together with the truth, and why it's important to have all four. Wisdom helps us know whether or not we need to say something. Discipline helps us to not say say things we shouldn't because we know the consequences. Understanding helps us to see how our words could affect the other person and how they would feel if they hear us say certain things. Yes, we always need to tell the truth, but we need to use wisdom, discipline, and understanding to help us know how to say things in a way that isn't hurtful.