The Gospel of John, 9/30/15
John 17:20-26. Jesus is still praying. This time He is praying for us. To Him, time means nothing because He already knows the future. He knows we are coming into the family one day, adopted as sons and daughters. He is praying for you, friend. He is praying for me, just as He prayed for Peter when Satan asked for him to sift. He prayed for his faith to stand strong. This is a truth like in John 16 when Jesus said He was telling us all these things so we wouldn't fall away when they happened. He is preparing us for what is coming ahead and He is praying we continue to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power ( Eph.6:10).
Everyone should remember the time in their life when Jesus saved them. The time when we accepted the truth that we were indeed sinners that were desperately in need of a Savior to bring them life eternal. As life happens, it's easy to let wounds and jadedness dull the memory of the best day of our lives. Read Psalm 51:10-12 again and again. Let it be your prayer to Jesus today. Restore the joy of our salvation today, Lord. Forgive us when we forget what You have accomplished and given us. May we be in touch with your grace. Let us walk as forgiven, accepted children of God. Remind us of your great love for us. Thank you for saving us, Jesus. Thank you for praying for us.
This unity thing is deep. The same Spirit that unifies Jesus and the Father is available to unify us believers. The lost world should see this spiritual unity. It should reflect the glory of our relationship with God. Remember, we cannot orchestrate or manipulate this unity. This is a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit. Individually, when we each submit to the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, one of the fruits is true community. Within that word is the word unity. It's oneness of mind and heart. It's not uniformity, where we all look alike, sound alike, dress alike, do the same things. God is big enough to bring together a very complex body, complemented by many different types of body parts. He used our own body parts as examples. It's His miracle and it brings glory to Him!
Jesus loves people. I've got work to do in that area. He wants the world to know that the Father sent Him to save them. He wants the world to know that He loves them. He wants His believers to be with Him in heaven. He wants them to see Him in glory. It must be a sight to behold. One that must inspire life. He wants to reveal the true character of the Father. Many people have a distorted knowledge about the Father's character and it hangs them up. It keeps them from trusting Him and allowing Him to love them. But oh, the joyous freedom when one discovers the truth of grace and how good the Father really is! He wants us to have a relationship with Him. This relationship is defined by love. Pure love. He wants the same love that is present between himself and the Father to be evident and present in our own lives. In fact, He wants to dwell in us personally. It's not weird or cooky, but a real miracle accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. We should be a people that walks as if it's true. He is in us. He is with us. He is ahead of us. He is behind us. He is praying for us. Amen.
