PRAY

Loving Father, may I have the power to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19).

READ

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so,
would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to
myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
John 14:1-3

Jesus is on an incredible mission. He comes from close to the Father’s heart to take us close to the Father’s heart. Jesus promises in today’s Scripture to prepare a dwelling place for us with the Father, “so that where I am, there you may be also.” John’s Gospel begins with the revelation that Jesus comes to us from close to the Father’s heart: “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” (John 1:18). And Jesus takes us close to His Father!

New Testament scholar Robert Whitacre throws light on Jesus’ unimaginable promise to His followers:

“Therefore, he prepares a place for them by his death, resurrection and ascension, for these enable them to be united to him and, in him, with the Father; his going to the Father is itself part of the preparation of a place for them. Heaven is experienced even now through the believer’s union with the Father and the Son and the Spirit.” (Robert Whitacre, Commentary Series: John)

Jesus takes us with Him into an intimacy and closeness with the Father known only by Him and the Holy Spirit. It is a closeness symbolized in the Upper Room by John leaning on Jesus’ breast, or literally, “close to His heart” (John 13:23). With Jesus’ promise to take us where He is “We become aware that we live in a relationship similar to that which exists between God the Father and his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.” (George Maloney, God’s Community of Love)

Every time you pray, you are as close to the Father as Jesus. Every time you stumble and fall, you are still as close to the Father as Jesus. The position Jesus has secured for you with the Father never changes. So, do not let your heart be troubled. Don’t let anything throw you! Keep on trusting in the Father and trusting in Jesus!

REFLECT

• How much thought do I give to being close to the Father’s heart?
• What will help me to live in greater awareness of being close to the Father’s heart?
• Take a few moments to thank Jesus for bringing you close to the Father’s heart.

O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may I know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly, day by day.
Richard of Chichester (1197-1253)