“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14, NKJV).

Jesus was not going to be with the disciples much longer. The One who had been their support and encouragement was going to heaven, and the disciples were beginning to feel confused and powerless. But though the disciples would not be able to see Him physically any longer, Jesus gave them a remarkable promise.

Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com

Read John 14:1-14. According to verses 13 and 14, Jesus promises to do for us “anything” that we ask in His name. Because of this, we almost always add onto the end of our prayers, “In Jesus’ name, amen.”

When we say this, what do we normally think it means? What does Jesus mean when He encourages us to pray like this? What clues are there in these verses that help us to understand the point He’s making?

When our request is “in the name of Jesus,” we can be certain that the whole machinery of heaven is at work on our behalf. We may not see the angels working all around us. But they are — sent from the throne of heaven in the name of Jesus, to fulfill our requests.

Sometimes when we pray in the name of Jesus, we open our eyes and expect everything to be different around us — but it all looks the same. However, while the power of God may come with dramatic effect, as when Jesus calmed the storm, it may also come in quietness, unnoticed, as when the power of God sustained Jesus in Gethsemane. Something dramatic may not suddenly happen, but that doesn’t mean that God is not at work for us.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

Amen!(1)

The post Monday: In the Name of Jesus appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/monday-in-name-of-jesus/

“If God really loved me, He would certainly do _______ ____________ for me!” I wonder how many times that thought has flickered through our minds. We look at our circumstances and then begin to wonder whether God really loves us, because if He really did, things would be different.

There are two rationales that often lead us to doubt God’s goodness. First, when we have a burning desire in our hearts and minds for something that we believe is good, the idea that God might want something different for us may seem ridiculous.

Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com

Second, we may doubt God’s goodness because our experience clashes with what we believe. If something looks good or feels good or sounds good or tastes good, then it must be good. And so we get angry with God when we can’t have it.

This is where faith comes into play. Faith comes into action precisely at those times we are tempted to doubt God and His goodness.

Romans 8:28-39 is a powerful passage that describes the goodness of God toward us. What can you find in the verses that helps to guard our minds against doubting God’s goodness?

In Romans 8:32, there is an important piece of logic that is extremely helpful in guarding us from becoming overwhelmed by our circumstances. “If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us?” (Message). How could we possibly think that God would send Jesus to die for us and then turn mean and stingy?

This means that the truth of God’s generosity to us, seen in the death of Christ, must have a stronger impact in our thinking than all of the doubts that the crucible may generate inside us.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(2)

The post Sunday: Our Father’s Extravagance appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-our-fathers-extravagance/