When someone tells you to “believe” them, it often indicates that you may have some reason to doubt that what they are saying is true. In our world today it often seems appropriate to have what some call a “healthy skepticism” about almost anything you are told. Social media has “fact checkers,” but who is checking them? People in positions of power tell lies and the news media twists the truth to change its meaning. And even in the church there are many who either misinterpret Scripture or intentionally distort the meaning in order to lead people astray. Peter warned the early church by saying that there were things in Paul’s letters “that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures” (II Peter 3:16). All of this is troubling to those who need solid ground on which to stand. Whom do you believe??? The answer Jesus gives His disciples is, “Believe ME!” As Jesus is about to go to the cross the disciples are filled with fear and anxiety. While Jesus was with them they saw His power and wisdom. They had learned to trust Him, but they still didn’t understand what He was about to do and what their role in God’s plan would be. Now their hearts were troubled and they wanted/needed some answers. Their beloved Teacher was going to leave them. These were not educated men who were prepared to lead a “movement.” What would Jesus say to prepare them for what lay ahead? “Believe ME!” John 14-16 should be read all together, as these three chapters record for us the words Jesus spoke to His disciples to calm their troubled hearts and to teach them truths that would equip and empower them for all He was sending them to do. In these words, Jesus speaks to all who believe Him, and He offers the assurance that He is with us, and all we need to live for Him in this world is ours through faith in Him! Do not let YOUR heart be troubled today. Jesus is saying to YOU: “Believe ME!”