Good morning everyone and welcome back to another mornings with the masters.

We were to devote ourselves to the Lord daily with you.

We were picking back up with new morning mercies and it says this.

As I've said before I really do love the honesty of the Bible. I don't need vague

religious platitudes that delude me into thinking that life is better than it really

is. I don't need a form of faith that requires that I deny

pieces of reality in order to have peace of heart. I don't want to be in the

position of having to close my eyes to things and make believe

that they are not there. If it is anything the Bible is honest. The blood, guts, and

dirt of the fallen world stain its every page.

filled with brutally honest stories of flawed people and marked with stinging analyses of the brokenness of the world,

the Bible requires us all to be honest as well.

John 13 through 17 recounts Jesus' last hours with his disciples before his crucifixion.

He is preparing them for life without his physical

presence. He is warning them of the things that they will face in this broken

world. This passage is way more than, Goodbye I Love You. It is honest to the point of being scary. Jesus

says if they persecuted me they will also persecute you. He says the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

He says, behold, the hour is coming. When will you be scattered? It is not a very bright picture of the

disciples future. His words are probably enough to make the disciples panic, but

that is not all that Jesus says. This passage has also died with amazing grace. This

grace is form-fitted for everything the disciples will face and everything that we

will face too. Again and again he reminds the disciples of his presence and power.

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