John 14:1-6 –  “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there may be also. ⁴ And you know the way where I am going.” ⁵ Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the word “abide” captured my consciousness.  The word “comfort” also kept surfacing. Not just an abiding comfort but an abiding that results in comfort.

Jesus spoke to troubled hearts in John 14.  If they were not experiencing a measure of confusion, He would have had no reason to address that.  He would have had no reason to speak of heaven as an abode.   He would have had no reason to make His promise to return.  They were conflicted in their hearts.  Their religious mindset, which included a political Messiah, conflicted with His revelation.  They saw His departure as defeated, and it produced a measure of hopelessness.

John 14:6 – Jesus IS access and provision. In a sense, having Jesus in the heart is heaven.

John 14:12 describes Christianity 101.  In John 15:1-3, He unveiled the reality that failure to bear fruit is evidence of not abiding.  He revealed that those who bear fruit will be pruned and that the pruning cleanses, and it comes through the Word (abiding in us).  The abiding Word transforms.  The abiding Word equips.  The abiding Word challenges, teaches, reminds, and comforts.  The Holy Spirit (Comforter – Helper) makes the Word alive and applicable.

John 15:5-7 is powerful.  Abiding releases fullness and life.  Failure to abide produces defeat and death.

John 16:22 is incredible. Seeing the resurrected Jesus (in the Spirit & Heart) produces unalterable joy.  But if we stop seeing Him, that Joy departs.  Do we have JOY?  That’s the key to most spiritual problems – seeing or not seeing the resurrected Jesus!

If we see Him, we can ABIDE in Him, and in that abiding state, we have COMFORT. From that condition, we become His instruments and representations in this world with His power.  John 16:33 – Peace is in Jesus! He has overcome the world, and we have no reason to be afraid.

Lord help us to experience the Abiding Comfort of Your Continual Presence in our Lives!