Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.

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Read

John 15:26-27, 16:12-15(NRSV)

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
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“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

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Reflect

When my son first started driving, he got a ticket for “refusing to obey an officer”—a very misleading charge. Leaving a football game, a police officer was directing out flowing traffic—on a dark night, at an unlit intersection, wearing a black uniform, waving a dim flashlight. My son did not willingly disobey. He simply could not tell which direction the flashlight was being waved. He thought he was being told to proceed. Apparently, he was being told to stay. The officer called him an ugly name and sent him to wait at the roadside until the traffic cleared.

We went to court to dispute the ticket. When the judge called up my son, I went with him. I was there to tell the judge that I had driven through that same intersection about the same time as my son. I had commented to a friend who was with me that the officer was going to get run over because drivers could not see him or tell what he was doing with that flashlight. The judge refused to listen to anything I had to say because I had not been in the car with my son. I tried to be an advocate and a witness for my son, but I did not get the opportunity.

Jesus told his disciples that as witnesses to the acts of God, they would be called upon to speak out about who he was and what miraculous things they had seen Jesus do. We can attest to the character of Jesus, to his power, and to the love he shows us. We have an advocate in the Holy Spirit, who will make sure our testimony is heard.

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Pray

Lord God, grant us the courage to testify of your loving acts of grace. Give us the words to witness to those who might not otherwise believe. Stand with us as we seek your justice for a world that is broken and hurting. Be with us as we stand up for the weak and oppressed. We take comfort knowing we do nothing alone because you are our advocate. Amen.

Go with God.