Hosanna Restoration Church

It is a lie of the devil that says everyone has to stumble and fall. To listen to some people talk, you would think that normal Christianity has to include failure. There is no arguing with the fact that there are a multitude of opportunities for failure and in fact sin is always knocking at the door, but to say that we have to answer the door or that there is something abnormal about standing strong is crazy.

Jesus left us with the example and the tools to help us to overcome and to stay on top. We would do better to plan for success than failure! Jesus began this chapter in John telling them that He gave them all this good information so that they would not be made to stumble. This warns them that there will be lots of opportunities but they don’t have to fall.

If you read the previous chapter or two, you see Jesus telling them that all they will need to do is ask. He promises them peace. He promises them that they will do even greater things that he has done. He promises that the Holy Spirit will come and lead them into all the truth, and the truth is that they will receive power to overcome.

He reminds them that He and the Father are one and that they will all be one with Him and the Father in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. He tells them that if they will just abide in Him, they will succeed. He warns that those who do not believe are going to hate them, but with God revealing Himself to them and through them, many will come to the knowledge of the truth.

Then when they declare that they understand, Jesus warns them once again that the hour is coming when they will all be scattered. (vs. 32) Did Jesus tell them this because He wanted them to scatter? Could they have been on the look out for this and refused to scatter? Just because they did, does that mean we should plan to scatter and fall on a regular basis?

No! He did not want them to scatter. Yes they could have remembered the warning and held fast to their faith. No! We should never plan to fail. God has said He plans for us to succeed, so we should agree with His plans.

They had not yet received the Holy Spirit. They were still one package short of a load and that final package contained all the keys for their success. Once they finished their load, they were ready for all of the truth. Nothing could stop them from completing what the Lord had begun in their lives, and nothing can stop us either; if we will believe. If we will take the example that Jesus provided, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth just as Jesus promised, we will see that this was not intended to be an up and down roller coaster ride. We don’t have to stumble. If we do; we can hit and roll and pop right back up! However, the best plan is to stand.