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The night before Jesus Christ was crucified was probably one of
the most fearful nights in the lives of His disciples.
And as they were seated around the table at the Last Supper, Jesus
began to talk to them about the events that were about to unfold and
begin to try to encourage them to get prepared for what was going to happen
but everything was moving toward an ultimate end.
There was an ultimate purpose in it.
In John 14, John tells us that Jesus looked at His disciples after He had just told them He was
going to be leaving them, after He had told Peter that he would deny Him.
Obviously their hearts were all upset and filled with anxiety and fear, and Jesus said these words,
'Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You believe in God
believe also in Me.' He says 'I am going to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again to receive you to myself
that where I am, there you may be also'.
He reminded them of the dwelling places in the Father's house, but He was going to leave but He would return.
Now obviously, in the context of all that, Jesus was making reference to obviously His second
coming one day, that He would return, He would gather His people into His presence.
He was also making reference to the fact that He would return to them post resurrection,
that He would come back to them again and be alive.
He was also making an inference concerning the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit of God
that He would begin to talk about in the ensuing chapters would come and dwell with them and be
in them and in that way He would return to them.
But I remember several years ago reading that passage of scripture.
And the Lord took it and made an application in my life that was different than anything I had ever had before.
I was praying about direction and guidance for some issues in my life
and this is what the Lord said to me out of that passage.
Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
You believe in God, believe also in Me.
Now He was telling His disciples to trust me because I am God.
You believe in the Father, I and the Father are one.
Believe me, I am God. Simply He was saying, trust me. Trust me.
And then He said 'In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so
I would have told you. And I am going to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you
I will come again'.
Trust me, I am at work. I am at work.
And then He said that I would come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also.
Trust me. I am at work. What is He at work doing?
Getting a place prepared for you. Where is that place?
Where He is, where I Am. I want to bring you into my best where I am at.
So as I read that passage that morning I remember really being excited
and jotting down in my journal, the Lord was saying trust me,
I am at work, even though you can not see it, I am at work and I am preparing a place for you
and that place is the place where I am at.
I am going to bring you to where I am. Where my very best is for you.
I was so encouraged by that. It was a promise that I have held onto many, many times since then.
I want to encourage you today. Maybe you are praying about decisions in your life.
Maybe you are seeking God about a move. Maybe you are trying to make some
big decisions. Maybe you are wondering what God's best is for you.
And the will of God is not like a bullseye that we are trying to hit.
God has given us His Spirit to guide us and He wants us to make wise decisions obviously
but one thing we can know as we walk with Him, He does want us to trust Him.
He wants us to depend upon Him and believe.
But what does He want us to trust? That He is at work.
He is at work in the circumstances of our life.
And as we walk with Him, He is our sheperd, He goes before us.
What does a sheperd do when he goes before his sheep? He prepares the way for them.
What is he doing? Preparing the way, getting the way
ready for them, to bring them where the best place is for them.
So today as you are seeking God, remember, He wants you to trust Him,
that He is working even though you may not be able to see it,
He is at work. And what is He at work doing? Preparing a place for you, His very best for you.
And that place is the place where He is. That you can experience
Him in a greater intimacy and a greater degree than you have
ever before because His desire for you is that you come to
know Him and fall more deeply in love with Him.
And in that vein, I encourage you today
spend some time beholding Him who is beholding you and smiling.