DAILY READING
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REFLECTION
Is Evil Winning?
by Mary Alice McGinnis
When you look around at your current circumstances, does it seem like you can’t get a break? Maybe it’s an illness, financial hardships, rejection, strained or broken relationships, a loss of a loved one, or even the threats of evil or death are knocking at your door.
Maybe you are feeling discouraged because wherever you look, it seems like injustice, hate, violence, greed, all the forces of evil are winning. The threats of evil feel overwhelming.
Take heart, my friends! Jesus has a Word for us today!
In John 7:7, Jesus stated that the world “hates me because I testify that its works are evil.”
The Pharisees were among those who hated Jesus. They were threatened by His influence, and their anger against Him rose to desperation. In their pride, they schemed to use all the worldly power, resources, and authority at their command to find Him, seize Him, and eventually kill Him.
With calm confidence, Jesus responds to them, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the One who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
In essence, Jesus was telling the Pharisees they have no control over Him. He will not be retrained by them. Their threats mean nothing to Him. He will be here among them only a short time.
John 1:14 says Jesus, the is the One “who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” He tells them He is going back to God the Father, who sent Him. And nothing they can do will stop Him.
Did you notice the change in the verb tense in last phrase of His response?
“. . . and where I am, you cannot come.”
He didn’t say, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” He said where I AM!! Jesus identifies Himself as the great I AM, the one “who is, who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8) Even though He was physically standing with them right then, He was also simultaneously seated on the throne at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus transcends even time.
We who are God’s children, those who put their trust in Jesus, can hold on to this same sure and certain confidence.
“Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)
Let the Holy Spirit speak to your anxious heart today. Let Him fill you with the bold confidence that though we face trails and tribulations, our lives are simultaneously hidden with Christ in God. We have received a Kingdom that cannot be shaken!
PRAYER PRACTICE
Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in say, “My life is hidden.”
As you breathe out, “with Christ in God,” offering to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work.
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