Jesus Made Room: Finding Peace and Belonging

Advent invites us to “make room,” but that can feel less like tidying a closet and more like rebuilding the whole house. I walked us into John 14, not to add pressure but to anchor us in the prior reality: Jesus has already made room for us. In the Upper Room, with betrayal, denial, and danger in the air, Jesus tells anxious disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He grounds this calm not in technique but in Himself: the Father’s house has many rooms, and He is preparing a place and personally returning to bring us home. The way is not a map; the way is a Person.

Thomas’s confusion is our own. We want directions; Jesus offers relationship. “I am the way and the truth and the life.” To make room for Jesus is not to build a shrine; it is to know Him, to let Him know us. Jesus extends that intimacy by sending the Spirit—Advocate, Helper, Counselor—so our journey is not powered by grit, but carried by presence. Even His “If you love me, keep my commands” is not a threat but a description: obedience is the natural expression of a love that already exists. Love precedes the words “I love you”; love precedes the works that say “I belong to You.”

This is why we can repent, reorder our schedules, and reorient our lives: not to earn God, but because we already belong to God. Perfect love drives out fear. Doubt may linger on this side of heaven, but a fuller seeing awaits where the union Jesus describes—“I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”—is felt without remainder. Until then, remember L.I.S.A.: the Lord initiates, sustains, and accomplishes. He makes the room, keeps the room, and walks us to the room.

I told two stories—37 roommates and a quiet conversation; floaties and learning to rest on the water—to say the same thing: intimacy grows in small spaces, and sanctification feels less like frantic paddling and more like Spirit-buoyed rest. So lay down the lies and the hurry. Make room—because you have a place, a Host, and a Helper. Your heart can be untroubled.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus makes room for you In the tension of the Upper Room, Jesus speaks like a host preparing a home. He promises many rooms, a prepared place, and His personal return to bring us there. Our confidence to “make room” rests on His prior, concrete hospitality toward us. This is not sentiment; it is promise. [54:16]
• 2. The way is a relationship Thomas asks for directions; Jesus answers with Himself. The Christian life is not primarily navigation but communion—knowing Christ as the Way, trusting His truth, receiving His life. When you feel lost, ask not “What’s the route?” but “Where is Jesus—and how can I be with Him?” [54:57]
• 3. Obedience flows from existing love “If you love me, keep my commands” is not a divine scoreboard; it’s a description of how love behaves. We obey not to trigger love but to express it, the way a heart already captured starts to reorder desires. Let obedience become testimony, not transaction. [69:33]
• 4. You are not left alone Jesus not only prepares a place; He prepares a Companion—the Spirit of truth. The Advocate is presence for the road, power for weakness, counsel for confusion. Discipleship is not solitary striving but shared life with God who abides. [64:00]
• 5. Doubt now, fullness later awaits Jesus acknowledges a coming day of realization, implying that partial sight is normal now. Don’t panic at the tinge of doubt; carry it into the relationship and keep walking. Hope leans toward the promised clarity where union is unmistakably known. [66:36]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:20] - Kids and Make Room recap
• [01:15] - When making room feels overwhelming
• [02:30] - 37 roommates: intimacy in chaos
• [03:45] - Jesus makes room for us
• [04:30] - John 14:1-7 Reading and Prayer
• [06:00] - Upper Room context and tension
• [07:20] - Many rooms; a prepared place
• [08:40] - I am the way, truth, life
• [10:00] - Making room is relational, not ritual
• [11:20] - If you love me, keep my commands
• [12:30] - The Spirit as Advocate and Helper
• [13:50] - Love precedes obedience: Haley story
• [15:10] - L.I.S.A.: Lord initiates, sustains, accomplishes
• [16:30] - Closing prayer and benediction

1. In John 14:1-3, what sequence of promises does Jesus give to calm troubled hearts? Name them in order and notice how they build on each other.
2. In John 14:6-7, how does Jesus connect knowing Him with knowing the Father?
3. The setting included “after Jesus warns of a betrayal” and “predicts Peter’s denials.” How does that context make “Do not let your hearts be troubled” stand out? ([56:48])
4. According to the teaching on John 14:16-18, what titles are used for the Spirit and what will He do for the disciples? Consider the phrases “another advocate” and “the Spirit of truth.” ([01:04:00])

1. If “the way is not so much a path… but a relationship” ([01:00:45]), what does that change about how a person seeks guidance from God day to day?
2. What does the “many rooms” picture (John 14:2) reveal about God’s welcome and hospitality? How might that confront the fear of not having a place or not measuring up?
3. “We don’t obey to love God. We obey because we love God.” How does this shift “If you love me, keep my commands” from a threat to a description of love at work? ([01:09:33])
4. If “that tinge of doubt is normal” on this side of heaven ([01:06:36]), how should present doubts be handled in light of promised future clarity and union?

1. Where is your heart currently troubled? What would it look like this week to pause and hear Jesus say, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” and then name one concrete fear to Him? ([57:40])
2. Think of one place you feel lost. Instead of asking for a route, how will you seek to be with Jesus as “the way” in a specific time and place this week? ([54:57])
3. Choose one command of Jesus you’ve been avoiding. How could you practice it this week as an expression of affection rather than a scorecard—remembering, “we obey because we love God”? ([01:09:33])
4. Where can you create a “small space” for intimacy—like the “little quiet moments… one-on-one intimate conversations” in a crowded house? Name the space and the time. ([52:45])
5. Name one area where you’re frantically paddling in your spiritual life. What would Spirit‑buoyed rest look like there—trusting that “the Spirit… is there lifting you up”? Be concrete about what you’ll stop and what you’ll receive. ([01:18:26])
6. Bring one current challenge to L.I.S.A. How will you act this week assuming “the Lord initiates, sustains, and accomplishes”? Identify one small next step you’ll take. ([01:12:22])
7. Who is one person you can make room for because Jesus has made room for you? Consider a specific act of hospitality that mirrors “I will come back and take you to be with me.” Decide what you’ll do and when. ([58:23])