John 15:17-27 ~ the Spirit of Truth

^{John 15: 17-27 (Today's New International Version)}

¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

¹⁸ "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Those who hate me hate my Father as well. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'

²⁶ "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

~ When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

What really is the most violent century ? The 20^th century is claimed to be the most violent century of human history. Over 100 million people were killed in two world wars. Smaller wars claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. An estimated 170 million civilians were murdered by their own governments. Places like Afghanistan, Rwanda, Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Chechnya, along with others, experienced unimaginable violence and bloodshed. Words like "holocaust, genocide, terrorism, abortion and mass suicide" became well-known in the 20^th century. The last portion of the 20th century witnessed a dramatic increase in violence, in America.

This is popular information, crime in the 20th century seems to more contained and yet explode in specific areas causing greater damage. The world is no stranger to violence and crime through out the centuries, highway robbers were as plentiful as pirates. Travel at the time of Jesus wasn't attempted lightly, inns didn't exist often and people tried to hide at night.

What isn't discussed, often, is that we can ask for and receive change. In our lives and in the world. Every 500 years, we see a renewal of the Holy Spirit. Now is the 500 year renewal, we see new churches forming, telling us Jesus Christ isn't a religion, but a relationship. When we really expect the Holy Spirit to show up, we see the darkness recede, the light of Christ and new hope emerge.

Christians are held in disdain in different centuries, but new love emerges and the light of Christ endures and brings life. Christian practices of prayer, hope and meditation are practiced in medicine, in healing from addiction, and in hospice facilities.

Whenever we feel alone, discouraged and overwhelmed, we are not alone in human condition, or in the history of the world. The true light of Jesus Christ continues to shine and provide the love we have enough of & to share with others.

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