John 14

—John Chapter 14—

Memory Verse:

“Let not your heart be troubled;

you believe in God, believe also in Me.

(John 14:1)

 

John, as pastor at Ephesus, surely must have preached his share of funerals. John Chapter 14 is used in times of mourning. John, last of all of the living disciples, likely felt lonely. It wasn’t just the disciples he had seen die, but he had heard of thousands of Christians being put to death for the gospel’s sake. He had seen the temple burned and destroyed along with countless fellow Jews.

But John 14 is not for the dead but for the living!

The night before Jesus died, his Lord comforted his disciples with these words. Jesus did not leave them orphans. Though John felt lonely, he was not alone. He had the comfort of the Holy Spirit of Christ living within him.

The sixth “I AM” statement of “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me” is one of the strongest statements of Christ being the only way to God. It comes after Thomas’s question, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” and is linked to the miracle of the nobleman’s son (John 4:46–54).

The nobleman believed but insisted twice that Jesus “come down.” Jesus said, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you (plural) will not believe.” Like the nobleman, Thomas would later learn that believing is not always seeing.

Day 30: Morning

Love Revealed Through Faith!

 (John 14:1–6) 

Someone asked me on Facebook what I would tell my younger self if I could. I said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Jesus was about to leave this world and told the disciples, “Don’t sweat the big stuff.” Well, not exactly in those words, but He told them there were hard times ahead. Then He says, “Don’t let your heart be troubled.” And just how are we supposed to do that? Typical of Jesus, He tells us how in John 14.

Peace of Christ “Let not your heart be troubled.” Jesus said this as He was soon to be crucified. You too can have peace.

Place of Faith “you believe in God, believe also in Me.” What are you trusting in? Finances, friends, abilities, power? Seek God’s kingdom first, putting your faith in Him.

Personal Place “In My Father’s house” Heaven is not on a cloud or a quiet boring place. Jesus related it to a personal, family home, where you can find rest and peace.

Plentiful Place “are many mansions” Do you think there may not be room for you? Jesus has prepared a large, plentiful place for those who trust Him (see Revelation 7:9).

Promised Place “if it were not so, I would have told you.” People may be dishonest, but you can trust Jesus. He not only told the truth, He is the truth.

Prepared by Christ “I go to prepare a place for you.” Our place in Heaven is not a cookie cutter house; it is prepared uniquely for you, custom-built by Christ himself.

Preceded by Christ “I will come again and receive you to Myself” Isn’t it good to follow a guide who has already been there. Jesus will personally come and take us there.

Presence of Christ “where I am, there you may be also.” Some translations call the “mansions” as “dwelling places” or “apartments.” I don’t care as long as Jesus is there.

Passage provided “where I go you know, and the way you know.” This is not a hope so, think so, maybe so. We can know where we are going and how to get there.

Perplexing questions “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Do you have questions? That is okay. We know He has the answers.

Powerful answer “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Drop the microphone.

Provision by Christ “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Don’t trust in people, or other faiths or even yourself. Trust only in the work of Christ on the cross.

By keeping these heavenly perspectives, we can remember that even the big stuff is small stuff for Him. Just remember, Jesus sees the big picture. 

Pray this prayer to God: “Jesus, thank You for being the Way, the Truth and the Life. Give me a heavenly perception so that nothing would trouble my heart. Amen.”

Day 30: Evening

Love Revealed Through Jesus Christ

(Read John 14:7–14)

This morning we saw that love was revealed through faith. But faith alone is not enough. Love and faith must be placed in a trustworthy person. In chapters 13, 14, and 15, the word “love” is mentioned more than 20 times, more than anywhere else in three consecutive chapters of the gospels.

When Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled,” He is speaking to His disciples, but He is also speaking to us today. The best way to keep our hearts from being troubled is to know the love of Christ.

It is innate within all of us to have a “troubled heart” at times. Even Jesus was on occasions “troubled” in His soul (John 12:27) and in His spirit (John 13:21). Because of this tendency within all of us, Jesus commands us to strive for our hearts to not be troubled nor afraid (notice He repeats this phrase again in John 14:27).

How can we keep our hearts from being stirred up, anxious, disquieted, and not at peace? The antidote is found in 14:1: Belief/Faith/Trust.

Belief, faith, and trust all mean that we have to put our confidence in Someone else (Jesus and His Father), rather than ourselves. “Trust God…and Me.” Jesus commands us to trust Him in verses 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. We trust that Jesus went to His Father’s house, is preparing a place for us, will come again to take us there, and is the only way to get there.

Kyle Idleman wrote a book entitled Gods At War, with its title meaning that there are many gods who are at war to take your attention away from the true God. One of the chief false gods in this world is the god named Worry.

The third disciple Jesus called was Phillip (John 1:43), yet still he did not understand that Jesus Christ was the bodily manifestation of the Heavenly Father. Even though he and the rest of the disciples had been personally taught by Jesus Christ Himself over the past three and a half years, Phillip and Thomas still had questions.

When we have questions, the answer ultimately will be to believe (verse 11). It is not to be sincere or do your best. The answer is to believe that Jesus is the only way to get to God the Father. Jesus is not “a way” but “THE way.”

Pray this prayer to God: “Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing yourself to us through Jesus Christ. Help me to trust You and Your love for me more. Thank You that whatever I pray in Your Name, according to Your will, You will do. Amen.”

Day 31: Morning

Love Revealed In Obedience

(Read John 14:15–24)

Have you truly and completely trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you trust Him with the salvation of your eternal life, which is far greater than anything in this temporal world, should you not also trust Him by obeying Him in your actions while you are here on earth?

There is a problem we all have with people who say with their mouths that they have trusted Jesus for salvation, and yet they do not keep His commandments. (John 14:15, 21, and 24).

James, the half-brother of Jesus, did not believe in Jesus as Savior until after His resurrection. Later, however, he would write that “faith without works is dead,” meaning that a person is not truly a Christian who only professes faith but has no actions to back it up. Believers are proven to be righteous not only by what they say they believe but also how their life is lived as a result of their faith (James 2:24).

The love relationship between God and His children is not a one-time profession with no change in behavior. You don’t simply pray a prayer, and everything is all finished! True love is shown by how we are changed. We do not change our ways and obey God’s commands to receive God’s love. Our response to God’s love is to first love Him back.

“This is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins…We love Him because He first loved us.” 

(1 John 4:10, 19).

If we have truly received the God of the universe into our lives, we have received the very essence and manifestation of God (John 14:21, 23–24). With that essence within us, we cannot help but follow in obedience. That is the proof that we truly love God.

Can you explain that God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit of Truth all three will dwell in your life? (See John 14:17, 21, 23).

We as Christians aren’t the only ones who reveal our love in obedience. Look at John 14:31. Jesus doesn’t ask us to do anything He hasn’t already done. Jesus demonstrated His love for His Father in His obedience, “as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.”

Pray this prayer to God: “Dear God, I confess I have received You into my life. You are my Lord and God, not just for my eternal salvation, but also for my life here on earth. Help me keep your commandments in my life. In Jesus’s name. Amen.”

Day 31: Evening

Love Revealed In The Holy Spirit

(Read John 14: 25–26)

 For two days now we have been discovering how love is revealed to us and in us. When you receive God the Father into your life, you receive God’s Holy Spirit. When you receive Jesus Christ into your life, you receive the Spirit of Christ.

Love is revealed in us through the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, and Christ’s Spirit.

⁹But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.                                                                                          

Romans 8:9–11

Paul later reveals that having “Christ in you, the hope of all glory,” was a mystery throughout the Old Testament and is revealed in the New Testament through the Holy Spirit (See Colossians 1:26–28).

Jesus in John 14 calls God’s Spirit in us the “Comforter” or “Helper,” and is also translated as “Advocate.” John later uses that same word “Advocate” in describing Jesus in Heaven. It is as though that God’s Holy Spirit is doing the same thing for us on earth (Helping, Comforting, Advocating) that Jesus is doing at the right hand of the Father.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, and accomplishes the following things:

1)    Abides in us forever and

2)    Cannot be received by the world

3)    Teaches us all things, bringing to our remembrance Jesus’s words

4)    Is better for the Spirit to dwell in us than for Christ to be here on earth

5)    Convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment

6)    Guides us and speaks to us into all truth

7)    Glorifies Jesus Christ by declaring things from Christ

Being a Christian is more than saying a prayer, agreeing with Biblical truth and having a good answer to God’s question of why He should let you into heaven. It is having the living Christ dwelling in you.

Pray this prayer to God: “Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me. As I have received Your Spirit, teach me to walk in the Spirit, live in the Spirit and worship in the Spirit. In Jesus’s Name. Amen.”

Day 32: Morning

What Can The Holy Spirit Do For You?

(Read John 14:26–27)

 I have shared with children that if you make a home in your heart for God, He will make a home in His heaven for you when this life on earth is over. Like a child who hosts a sleepover or a birthday party at his house, and then later gets to go spend some time with his friends, Jesus promises His Spirit will stay with the believers and equally promises He will come back for them to bring them to His Father’s house.

When we are saved, we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. When we are controlled by God, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Helper. But perhaps the greatest thing about the Holy Spirit is that He is at home in our hearts.

Jesus is trying to give peace to His disciples by telling them of all of the good things he is going to prepare in heaven, while still giving reassurance that until He comes to bring them home, they will not be left as orphans. Both the Father and the Son will come and make their home within the believers. How? Through the Holy Spirit. As you grow, ask the Holy Spirit to teach you all things and to also keep them in your “remembrance” (verse 26).

This passage here teaches one of the most profound and hardest to understand truths in Scripture: The Trinity. We as Christians believe in one God, but He is manifest in three personages: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When Christ lives in you, that entity inside you is the Holy Spirit.

However, just because we have the Spirit, and just because the Spirit will help us and teach us, all of those things will not mean we will understand everything. In those times, Jesus promises us peace, but not externally in the world, but internally in the heart.

Jesus promises peace, but He does not promise peace from the things in this world. In fact, we will not feel like we are at home until He returns for us. The ruler of this world at this time is not Jesus, nor His Father, but of course the great Satan, to whom God has temporarily given partial control of the world. When humanity fell, God purposely let the devil rule here on earth temporarily as a consequence for our sins. (We will see more of this in the next devotional and in John 17).

But even so, God is still in ultimate charge. And He gives us His Holy Spirit to make a little Heaven for us on earth.

 Pray this prayer to God: “Lord, there are things I just do not understand. There are things that happen that just don’t make sense. In those times, let me long for Your return for me to take me home. Let me never get used to being here. In Jesus’s Name. Amen.”

Day 32: Evening

We Are Not At Home In This World

(Read John 14:28–31)

  Do you feel a little uneasy in the world? Are you longing for something, but you can’t quite put your finger on it? Don’t worry and don’t fear. Jesus is coming back to take us to a home that we have never been to before.

How can it be home if we’ve never been there? Because our Father, our Savior and our spiritual family of brothers and sisters are there. Jesus said to the disciples that they should rejoice that He was going back to the Father (John 14:28). I understand how the disciples felt. I have been to many a funeral and while I know my loved ones are now in heaven with our Savior and loved ones, I know I am going to miss them and to be honest I don’t always feel like rejoicing at a funeral.

And that is okay. Jesus, as you may recall, wept at Lazarus’s funeral. It is not a sign of lack of faith or even a sign of lack of joy for them. It is a sign of our love on how much we will miss those who have gone on to glory.

But I also think that sadness at a funeral is a sign that we are not at home in this world. If death is so natural, if dying is a part of life (the last part, that is), then why don’t we shrug our shoulders and move on?

The Father is greater than we are, and He really does know best. When death comes to pass, whether it was the death of Jesus as foretold in John 14:29, or in our own lives when loved ones die, we can mourn and miss the departed. When the cruelty of this world and its ruler, Satan, seems to have solidly taken charge of this earth, we can say with Jesus, “He has nothing in me.” Why? Because, as the old saying goes, “the world didn’t give it to me and the world can’t take it away.”

Maybe Jesus said it better with His words in Matthew 6:20. “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Makes you a little home-sick, doesn’t it? 

Pray this prayer to God: “Dear God in Heaven, my heart and my spirit are with You, hidden in Christ’s heart at Your right hand. Help me to have a heavenly perspective on this world. When I get weary by the world’s wicked ways, let me remember this is not my home. In Jesus’s Name. Amen.”

Fourth Utterance from the Cross: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

 (Matthew 27:46) 

Third Utterance from the Cross: Woman, behold your son ... Behold your mother.

 

DAY 2, MORNING

“Woman, behold your son… Behold your mother.”

(John 19:26–27)

The third utterance from the cross is a word of care. It is spoken quietly, almost gently, in the midst of the most violent scene in human history. While the world raged around Him, Jesus turned His attention to His mother and to the disciple whom He loved. In that moment, He revealed the depth of His compassion and the importance of relationships within the family of God.

²⁶ When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” ²⁷ Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

As Christ hung on the cross, He did not forget the people whom He loved. He remembered the needs of His earthly family. Mary carried Him, raised Him, and treasured the promises spoken about Him. As she watched her Son suffer, Jesus saw her grief and entrusted her to John.

This teaches us that love is not only expressed in great acts of sacrifice, but also in the quiet responsibilities of daily life. Jesus was fulfilling the greatest mission the world has ever known, yet He still honored His mother. He still cared for her needs. He still provided for her future.

This caring word from the cross reminds us that the family of God is not limited to biological ties. Jesus formed a new spiritual family at the foot of the cross. Mary would find comfort in John. John would find purpose in caring for her. Their relationship would be shaped not by blood, but by the love of Christ. In the same way, believers today are called to care for one another. We are called to bear one another’s burdens, to support one another in times of sorrow, and to walk together in faith.

In the humanity of Jesus, we see He felt the weight of His mother’s sorrow. He understood the pain of separation. He knew the cost of obedience. He entrusted His mother to the care to John because He knew His earthly work was done. His earthly love did not keep Him from fulfilling His mission. But His mission did not eclipse His love.

Christlike love is attentive, compassionate, and responsible. It sees the needs of others even in moments of personal suffering. Love, Christ’s love, builds relationships that honor the heavenly Father. The love of Jesus creates a fellowship of comfort where there was once only grief.

Pray this prayer to God: Lord Jesus, thank You for showing compassion even in Your suffering. Teach me to care for the people You have placed in my life. Help me to honor my relationships and to build a community of love within Your family. Give me a heart that sees the needs of others and responds with grace. Amen.

Second Utterance from the Cross: Today, you will be with Me in Paradise

 

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

(Luke 23:43)

The second utterance from the cross is a word of assurance. It is spoken not to a crowd, not to the religious leaders, and not even to the disciples. It is spoken to a dying criminal who had nothing to offer Jesus except a humble request for mercy.

⁴² Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

This man had no good works to present. He had no life of obedience to point to. He had no opportunity to make restitution or prove his sincerity. He had only a confession of guilt and a plea for grace. In response, Jesus gave him one of the most beautiful promises in all of Scripture.

⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

This promise reveals the heart of salvation. It is not earned. It is not achieved. It is not the reward of a lifetime of religious effort. It is the gift of God to the one who turns to Christ in faith. The repentant thief had nothing but need, and Jesus met that need with divine assurance.

The word “Paradise” was used to describe a garden or a place of rest and delight. It is the same word used in Revelation when Jesus promises the overcomer access to the tree of life. Jesus was telling this man that death would not be the end. It would be the doorway into the presence of God. The thief would not enter alone. Jesus said, “You will be with Me.” Salvation is not merely the removal of sin. It is the restoration of fellowship with God.

This moment also reveals the compassion of Christ. While suffering the agony of crucifixion, Jesus still heard the cry of a sinner. He still extended mercy. He still offered hope. Even in His final hours, Jesus was doing what He came to do. He was seeking and saving the lost.

Jesus’s promise reminds us that salvation is immediate. He did not say, “Someday you may be with Me,” or “After a long process you might enter My kingdom.” He said, “Today.” The repentant thief would close his eyes on earth and open them in the presence of Christ. There would be no delay and no uncertainty. The grace of God is not slow. It is ready to meet the sinner who turns to Him in faith.

This second utterance teaches us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. Salvation is not based on our past but on Christ’s promise. The door of grace stands open until the final breath. The heart of Jesus is always turned toward the repentant.

Pray this prayer to God: Lord Jesus, thank You for the promise You gave to the repentant thief. Thank You that salvation is by grace and not by works. Help me to trust Your promise and to rest in the assurance that those who turn to You in faith will be with You forever. Strengthen my heart with the hope of Paradise and the joy of Your presence. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

First Utterance from the Cross: Forgive Them

DAY 1, Morning

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

(Luke 23:34)

The first words Jesus spoke from the cross were those of a plea for forgiveness. They were not a cry of pain or a plea for rescue. They were not words of anger or accusation. They were a prayer of forgiveness that revealed the heart of the One who came to save.

³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.

The word Jesus uses for “forgive” is the Greek word aphiēmi. It means to release, to let go, or to send away. It is the same word Jesus used when He taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” This forgiveness is not sentimental or shallow. It is a deliberate act of releasing someone from the debt they owe.

Jesus is not declaring universal forgiveness for every person standing at the foot of the cross. He is not excusing their sin or pretending that their actions are harmless. He is revealing His heart. He is showing them that His love is strong enough to release them if they would receive it, even those who are actively harming Him.

The soldiers who nailed Him to the cross did not ask for forgiveness. The religious leaders who mocked Him did not repent. The crowd that blasphemed Him did not understand the magnitude of what they were doing. Yet Jesus prayed for them. He released the debt into the hands of His Father, the only One who judges perfectly.

Forgiveness begins in the heart of the forgiver. It does not begin with the worthiness of the offender. Jesus is not minimizing the evil done against Him. He is choosing to place the burden of justice into the hands of His Father. This forgiveness frees the soul from bitterness. This forgiveness refuses to let hatred take root. This forgiveness does not require reconciliation with the unrepentant. No, this forgiveness entrusts justice to God.

When Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them,” He was revealing the heart of the Father. God desires to release sinners from their debt. He yearns for repentance rather than destruction. He opens the door of mercy even while the nails are still being driven in.

As we begin these seven devotionals on the last words of Christ, we begin where Jesus began, with forgiveness. Forgiveness does not deny the truth. Release does not say wounds do not hurt. Forgiveness does not enable sin, nor does it remove healthy boundaries. Forgiveness releases the debt into the hands of God. This is the forgiveness that reflects the cross. This is the forgiveness that looks like Christ.

 

Pray this prayer to God: Lord Jesus, thank You for praying for Your enemies even as they wounded You. Teach me to release the debts others owe me. Help me to entrust justice to the Father and to walk in the freedom that forgiveness brings. Change my heart to be more like Yours. Amen.

The Last Words of Christ before His Death

 

1. The Love of Christ results in …

…Release of Enemies

aphiēmi = release; Matthew 6:12

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

- Demonstrates Jesus' selfless love and His commitment to forgiveness, even in suffering. This reflects Jesus' boundless forgiveness, even for those who crucified Him, embodying His teachings on love and mercy.  Jesus' final words express His trust in the Father and His willing surrender, marking the culmination of His earthly life. It is the same forgiveness Jesus used in the Lord’s prayer, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” It means to leave alone. It was NOT a blanket forgiveness of all sins for all time, nor was it given to all who were there. It was exemplifying who Jesus truly was and exemplified His forgiving love. For those who were gambling for His clothes; for criminals on either side of Him; for the crowd who was blaspheming Him.

…Relations on Earth 1 John 3:1

“Woman, behold your son! … Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27)

- Reflects Christ's care for others, showing His attention to relationships and community. Jesus entrusts His mother, Mary, to the care of His disciple John, symbolizing the creation of a new spiritual family among believers. 

2. The Humanity of Christ fulfills Scripture in…

… Sorrowful Separation see Psalm 22:1, Hebrews 13:5

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34)

This reminds us that even in our darkest moments, when we feel utterly alone, we are not forsaken. Jesus in His humanity was separated from His Father so we would not have to be. When we have questions, God has answers. In moments of despair, we know that Jesus understands. It also calls us to reflect on the magnitude of Jesus' sacrifice and the hope it brings for redemption and eternal connection with God.

… Symbolic Sacrifice see Psalm 22:15, 69:21, Exodus 12:22

“I thirst!” (John 19:28)

- This highlights Jesus' humanity and fulfills Scripture, showing His physical suffering and His role in fulfilling God's plan. Emphasizes Jesus' humanity and fulfills Scripture. This fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 69:21, which says, "They gave me vinegar for my thirst." It highlights Jesus' humanity and the fulfillment of Scripture.

…Submissive Surrender see Psalm 22:19, 31:5

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)

- According to Luke, these are Jesus’s final words, which show His ultimate trust and surrender to the Father, even in death. This echoes Psalm 31:5, where the psalmist entrusts their spirit to God. Jesus uses these words to express His trust in the Father, even in death.

3. The Deity of Christ provides Salvation in …

… Divine Providence, see Revelation 2:7

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

- Highlights the assurance of salvation through faith and repentance. Spoken to the repentant thief, this assures salvation through faith, emphasizing grace over works.

… Divine Permanence tetelestai, Hebrews 11:2

“It is finished.” (John 19:30)

Tetelestai is a single word, which can accurately be translated as “It is finished,” but it was also used in financial sense when a debt is completely paid. This single word was stamped on a deed or a financial note, meaning paid in full. Judicially,  this word was also used in a legal when a judgment or a verdict had been fully served and completed. Tetelestai. Militarily, this single word was also used that the battle had been won. The Spiritual war is over and the enemy defeated.

HOW DO WE KNOW It is finished? 

Because Sunday morning, the stone was rolled away. The soldiers fell asleep as dead men. 

Because Sunday morning, The women heard the angels say He is not here He is risen. 

Because Sunday morning, Peter and John ran and saw an empty tomb. 

Because Sunday morning, Jesus said to a weeping woman, Go tell the disciples I am ascending to MY FATHER…

Because JESUS promised in John 14 that if I go away, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am you shall be also.

 

Turning Pillows to Pillars

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of Jacob (who was later named Israel). It wasn’t because of my current preaching series on Joseph, Jacob’s son. No, I was thinking about the phrase, “Jacob used a rock for a pillow.”

It’s not unusual for me to think theological or biblical thoughts in the middle of the night, or middle of the day or even the middle of my watching the Olympics. But it wasn’t a theological prompting.

It was literally my pillow. Not THAT "My Pillow", but one of those decorative pillows that you put on the bed during the day and then take off during the night then put back on the following day. At least those of us who make up the bed almost every day.

(Notice Melissa, I said “us”). Don’t be shocked but Melissa almost always makes up the bed but occasionally so do I, hence the usage of said word “us”.

But back to Jacob and more importantly my pillow. Apparently, I fell asleep with the wrong pillow as I found My Pillow on the floor in the middle of the night, and the modern-day equivalent of Jacob’s pillow under my head, but not quite as hard as a rock and certainly more decorative.

Now, I am sure that there must be a book or a theologian out there somewhere that explains why Jacob used a rock for a pillow, but I have never read it and never even seen it but surely there is a 40-day Bible Plan on YouVersion on “Rock Pillows”. Still, as I couldn’t go back to sleep, I started thinking about why God would include that explanation of Jacob using a rock for a pillow.

I knew the story. I have written and forgotten about the lithified, igneous excuse for a cushion beneath the prophet’s head. But in the middle of the night, I was thinking of Jacob’s dream and his vision of a ladder and angels ascending and descending on that ladder or stairway to heaven.

The patriarch awoke and said, “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place,” or something like that in Genesis 28.

There are a number of applications to this biblical story, but I think the greatest is that the house of God is not a certain geological location, nor are His angels confined to a certain place on earth, but rather wherever and whenever we seek Him. His angels were already present before the ‘in the beginning’ of Genesis 1:1. Angels are mentioned 72 times throughout the book of Revelation.

God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere, but He also has His heavenly messengers to come down from heaven to minister, give spiritual encouragement and protection to His people. An angel heralded Jesus’s coming to Joseph before Christ’s birth and also gave warning to Joseph of approaching danger after his birth (see Matthew 1:20 and 2:13).

God occasionally speaks to us in dreams, and for the most part, He blesses us with sleep. Psalm 127:2 says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.” Proverbs 3:24 says, “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.” And Psalm 4:8 says, “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Even Jesus slept on a cushion in the midst of a storm. 

Jacob rose from his sleep, took the stone that had been his pillow, set it upright, and made it the foundation of a pillar.

So, as I lay awake last night, thinking of Jacob and his rock pillow, I thanked God for a mattress, covers, and exchanged my decorative pillow for My Pillow. I didn’t go straight to sleep, but I felt the reassurance of God’s mercy, love, and care for me.

Maybe there is something in your life that feels as hard as a rock, something that brings headaches or heartaches and keeps you awake at night. If you will give it to Him, God can take what feels heavy and transform it. He can turn your pillows into pillars, your ashes into beauty, and give you a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3).