Jump Start # 3322

John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

The troubled Jesus was telling His disciples not to be troubled. Three times in the earlier chapters, Jesus is said to be troubled.

• Jn 11:33 when Jesus saw the weeping sisters of Lazarus, he was deeply moved in spirit and was “troubled.”
• Jn 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled…”
• Jn 13:21 “When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit…”

The troubled Jesus telling His disciples not to be troubled. What Jesus was experiencing was the coming betrayal and death. Knowing what was happening troubled Him. But for the disciples, the words of Jesus ought to bring comfort and hope. The promise to be with Jesus would drive out the fear that might come their way.

Do not let your heart be troubled…great words for us to focus upon.

First, the “do not” part, means that there is something that we can do. We can keep our hearts from being troubled. This is not beyond our control. We are not riding in the backseat of life and are taken where ever life takes us. No. We are in the driver’s seat. We cannot stop what happens on the outside, but we can certainly keep the outside from coming inside. Do not let your heart be troubled. In the great sermon on the mount, Jesus said, “Do not be anxious.” Much too often we allow the winds of adversity to direct our moods, attitudes and behavior. We say, “We can’t help it.” Jesus says otherwise. Yes, you can help it. You don’t have to be miserable. You don’t have to be grumpy. You don’t have to be negative. You don’t have to complain about everything. Those things are choices. We must stop hiding behind what happens to us as an excuse for poor attitudes and sour spirits. Do not let, powerful words.

Maybe if we spent less time with the news and more time with the Word, then a peace and calm would fill our hearts. The peace of God surrounds our hearts and protects us, is what the Philippians were promised. We choose what we will focus upon. We can see all that is wrong or all that is right. We can see what needs to be fixed or we can see what blessings we have. We can pout and be upset or we can be thankful. Our choice. Let not your hearts be troubled. The circumstances are not what troubles our hearts, but rather, it is ourselves that trouble our hearts by focusing upon the things that are troubling.

Second, unlike the Lord who walked alone to the Cross, we have the Lord with us. Our verse today leads to this great promise, “I will come again and receive you,” and, “where I am there you may be also.” Together with our Savior. Together with the One who loves us so much. Together with the One who has done so much for us. Jesus has done what no one else ever could.

Why be troubled? You have the Lord. Take it to the Lord in prayer is more than the words of a hymn, but they are the means to settle our hearts and give us the peace that God wants us to have.

Third, our passage today, builds upon faith. It’s much more than, “don’t be scared.” “Don’t be afraid.” Don’t be troubled, because you believe. You believe in God. You believe in Jesus. Faith and troubles don’t work well together. The greater the faith, the less the worry, fear and troubles. The less the faith, the greater the troubles.

The best way to deal with troubles is to build your faith. A strong faith sees through the storms. A strong faith realizes that God has opened the doors of prisons, shut the mouths of lions, conquered strong armies, parted seas, stopped the sun, and sent food from Heaven. Now, He might not do those things to you personally, but He is the same God that has. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

Gloom and despair ought not to be the things we carry in our hearts. They lead to a faithless worship and a doubting of God’s goodness. Troubles will chase us, but we do not have to be troubled. We do not have to be conquered by the things of the world.

Let not your heart be troubled…believe. That’s the answer. That’s where we need to get to.

Roger

Jump Start # 2644

John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

Troubles—they also seem to follow us. I like the expression, “The guy who says all his troubles are behind him, drives a school bus.” His troubles are filled in all the seats of that school bus. Don’t be troubled, is what Jesus is saying. Jesus understood the trouble that troubles cause. Troubles make us worry. They put us on edge. They steal our sleep and rob our appetite. Troubles make us take our eyes off of the Lord. All we can see and all that we can think about and all that we talk about are the troubles that we face.

Some troubles are personal and only you experience them. Health issues are this way. Financial problems are this way.

Some troubles are experienced by many people. A hurricane will impact everyone in it’s path. Church troubles can effect everyone in the congregation. This pandemic has changed so many things. You may not have had Covid-19, and you need to be thankful if that is the case, but in some way you have seen disruptions in what “normal” once looked like for you. Working from home. Worship from home. School from home.

There are two central thoughts that this text shows us:

First, one cannot stop troubles. There were major troubles facing the disciples when Jesus first spoke these words. He was going to leave them. The process of that was going to be His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. The leader was going to be killed. It would seem that Rome was winning. The disciples would be scattered later on. Persecution would chase them the rest of their lives.

And, for us, troubles are always there. Some are big things that are beyond our control. We can’t stop a hurricane. We can’t stop wars, turn the economy, or improve the weather. Some troubles are small. When they happen they don’t seem small. You are in a hurry to get out of the house and you can’t find the car keys. On the way to the daycare to drop off the little one, and she spits up all over your outfit and you don’t have time to go home and change. A wreck on the road and traffic is backed up for miles. The internet is down and you can’t get any work done. It’s hot and the air conditioner quit working. The kids are fighting, the dog won’t eat, your mom complains that she hasn’t seen you in a while, the frig is empty, the store requires a mask and you forgot yours and it’s just a Monday. You wonder, can things get worse? And, the answer is always, YES. Troubles come.

Jesus had troubles, lots of them. The Jews were ready to kill Him before it was time. His disciples were fussing about who was the best. The Pharisees were abusing every word He spoke. The line wanting miracles was long. The apostles didn’t seem to understand the basic core principles that Jesus was teaching. Troubles come. Troubles will be there. As long as we have breath in our bodies, there will be troubles.

Second, troubles do not have to find their way into our hearts. That’s the point of Jesus’ words in our verse. “Let not your heart be troubled,” is what He said. He didn’t say, “Don’t have any troubles,” because you will. But don’t let the troubles trouble you. Keep the troubles on the outside. Don’t allow the troubles to come into your heart.

By using the words, “Let not…” Jesus shows that we are in control of what enters our heart. Sure there are troubles, but those troubles do not have to trouble you. Let not, means you are in control. You are not along for the ride. It seems that we tend to forget this. We tend to allow troubles to take over and suddenly we are no longer at the helm of our ship. We allow troubles to be the reason we can’t do things. We allow troubles to be a ready excuse that keeps us from worship and keeps us from walking with the Lord. “Oh, you know I’d be there if I could, but I’ve got all these problems and troubles in my life,” is so easy to say. And, with that, the troubles run and then they ruin our lives.

Let not your heart be troubled. There are plenty of reasons to be bothered, but you won’t be. And, Jesus gives us two valuable ways to keep those troubles on the outside.

First, faith. Believe in God, He says, then believe in Me. Faith. God loves you. God is in control. Greater is He who is in you, than He who is in the world. When the ten spies reported to Moses and Israel what they saw in the promise land, their words were marked with fear, doubt and uncertainty. The ears heard those words and their hearts melted. Their hearts were troubled. Faith was lacking and they couldn’t take their eyes off of the problems.

Second, personal promises. Where I am, the Lord says next, there you may be also. You. You can be with Me. His words were spoken to believers. They are spoken to us. Jesus will take care of you.

Have you noticed how fearful, angry and upset folks are on the evening news. It’s dooms day. Things couldn’t be worse, is how it is often presented. And, then my mind goes to this verse, “Let not your heart be trouble.” Say a prayer. Read some passages. Turn off the TV. Shut the door of your heart. Get the bad stuff outside.

Troublesome times has not caused trouble in our hearts. Peace and calm are the people of God.

Roger

Jump Start # 446 

John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.” 

  The traveling salesman in the Music Man declared that there was trouble in River City. He got the town riled up because they had a pool hall and that was the beginning of decline for all the young people. Trouble abounds.

  This expression of Jesus actually means do not become discouraged. Discouragement is a “heart” condition. When things aren’t right, we don’t “feel like doing anything.” We say, “my hearts’ not in it right now…” Heart problems.

  The cause of the heart problem in our context was the announcement that Jesus was leaving. He had an appointment at Calvary. He understood. The disciples didn’t. He spoke these words to “build up” their hearts.

  Many things can discourage us. Sometimes the very things that OUGHT to encourage us actually discourages us. Family get togethers over the holidays can be stressful and trying. Home for the holidays isn’t a welcome thought for many people. With the mashed potatoes and green beans, there always seems to be a heaping of guilt, and words of disappointment—often from parents. That discourages. Our jobs can discourage us. More work and less pay. We tell ourselves that Lincoln freed the slaves, but we begin to wonder. Even church services can discourage. The preacher loves to remind us of our failures. He stacks on layers and layers of things we ought to be doing, which we are not. The pressure, guilt and disappoint mount. Small crowds can discourage.

  There is much that can give us heart problems. We don’t really need a lesson in what causes them, we know. That’s easy. What we need to know is how to keep these things from getting the best of us. Notice how this verse is structured. Jesus says, “Do not let your heart be troubled…” This statement does more than imply, it shouts that we are responsible for our spiritual heart condition. We are responsible for how things affect us.

  You might think, what about those grown kids? Or, that boss of mine? Or, the church services? Those are out of my control. I can’t do anything about those things. True. But you do control how those things will affect you and how they will trouble your heart.

  Discouragement is just a few steps away from depression. We tend to give up when the dark clouds hang over our heads. We give up on finding a job. We give up on the marriage. We give up on losing weight. And often, we give up on God. Jesus is saying, “Don’t do that.” Believe in God…believe in Me.

  What follows in this passage are thoughts of Heaven. Jesus goes and then He comes. He takes us to His Father’s home—Heaven. These thoughts help. Jesus hasn’t forgotten us nor given up on us. He’s coming—for us. Hang in there…keep trusting.

  Prayer helps a bunch when you’re all knotted up on the insides. “Take it to the Lord in prayer,” is powerful. Tell God your problems. Talk to the Lord. Read His word, especially the Psalms. Listen. Think. Talk. Chew on things a while.

  Don’t let a troubled heart stay that way. It’s not good. It tends to get worse. Seek the help of good brethren. Find ways to strengthen yourself, as David did when his men and King Saul all had turned on him. There was no one else. He encouraged himself. Raise the blinds. Get out of the house. Get to worship. Be around others. You’ll find many of those thoughts in the life of Elijah when he was hiding in a cave, scared of Jezebel. God’s ways works. You won’t feel like doing them—if you did, you wouldn’t have a troubled heart. So you go to church when you don’t feel like it. You read when you don’t feel like it. You talk to God when it’s hard to do. In time, your heart gets stronger and you’re back to your ole’ self again. This time, you have something to be thankful for—God, once again, has helped you. He doesn’t give up on you when you’re hiding in your cave, nor when you simply don’t feel like doing things. God won’t do that.

  Let not your heart be troubled—Ok, Lord, I won’t. But help me when, I forget!

Roger