Jesus Prays for All Believers

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Scripture: John 17:20-26

Focus Verses: “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you and they know you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and I will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:25-26

               Here Jesus prays for those who will believe in Him in the future—you and me.

He asks the Father that we be unified in love for one another. Here again, in today’s world we have many different faith groups, each with its own view of the way to worship God. William Barclay tells us we should love and respect one another.¹

               Jesus prays that those future believers (we) receive future glory in proportion to our temporal suffering while on earth. Yes, we will suffer for Jesus while we live for Him as we dwell on earth. Did you notice? He speaks, not of his crucifixion, but of his glorification. The cross would bring Him glory.

               My uncle had a friend who met an untimely exit from this world. He breathed his last as he tried to rescue people from a house that was on fire. When I was a young teen, a neighbor and friend of ours lost her first husband as he acted as a volunteer firefighter in the small own where he worked. He held the ladder for some of the others to go up on the roof of a burning building. I believe the ladder fell and those on the roof looked down and saw our friend lying on the ground. He had a heart attack and passed on while working to help others.

               Both these men reached out to others and tried to help them. I believe the families and anyone who heard these stories were thankful for the efforts these men made.

               In our 21st Century, we see a lot of selfishness and false pride take over people’s lives and actions. When our son planned to move back to Indiana, I asked him to do his mother a favor. I asked him not to move to Indianapolis. Whenever I turned on the news broadcasts, they reported at least one new shooting every day. He likes the small town he chose. He has always liked the area. Right at a year later, he is happy with his choice and so am I. My concern stemmed from my love for him. All those shootings came out of false pride.

1. Daily Study Bible, the Gospel of John, Vol.2, p.217 ©1975 Westminster Press, Philadelphia

Jesus Prays for the Disciples

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Scripture: John 17:6-19

Focus Verse: “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name yoou gave me—so they may be one as we are one.”

John 17:11 (NIV)

               This is a passage full of Jesus’ deep thoughts about His disciples.

               Jesus prays that He knows God gave Him these men and that they obeyed the Father’s word. The Master prays for them because they belong to God. All things belong to God and to Jesus.

               The Master prays they not be taken out of the world but they be protected from the enemy. William Barclay states, “He never prayed they find escape; he prays they find victory.” ¹

Jesus prays for their protection and their unity. “so they may be one as we are one.” (Verse 11c) Barclay states, “Where there are divisions, where there is exclusiveness, where there is competition between churches, the cause of Christ is harmed and the prayer of Jesus frustrated.” ²

               I once heard a pastor tell a group at a prayer meeting there would be no people of his denomination in heaven. I was confused. Then some of the people in the groups responded, “Just believers.” I learned a lot in hearing that one reply.

               Some friends we worshiped with several years later sang a song with their two sons. In the song, it said something like “there aren’t corners labeled with (denominational names).”

               I wonder what God thinks when He looks down at earth and sees so many denominations and then groups that claim to have no ties to any denomination. In addition, what does God think when He sees so many theological practices?

               Please do not get me wrong, we have relatives and who attend churches of other denominations. Some very close friends have family members who belong to another denomination than the rest of them. These friends belong to different faith groups than the one to which I belong. However, we do not talk about our differences in our beliefs. I am thankful that we all worship the one true God.

1.            Daily Study Bible, the Gospel of John vol.2 p.215 © 1975 Westminster Press, Philadelphia.

2.            Ibid p.215

Jesus Prays for Himself

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Scripture: John 17:1-5  

Focus Verse: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (NIV)

               In this chapter, Jesus spends time in prayer. He sets an example for us. Here He is; His time is getting short and he takes time to pray.

               He begins by praying to the Father for himself. This is a very intimate time between Him and the Father. William Barclay states this intimacy between Jesus and God can only happen because of Calvary.1 He describes the cross as the gateway to everlasting glory.2

               We realize Jesus obeyed the Father by going to Jerusalem; he could have turned back at any time. When Jesus spoke to the disciples he used harsh terms as he prepared them for what lay ahead for them all. Here Jesus speaks of His being glorified and returning to the glory he had before the world began.

               When Jesus speaks of His being ‘glorified’, He is speaking of his being crucified. “For Jesus life had a climax and that was the Cross. To him the cross was the glory of life and the way to the glory of eternity.”3 “The Cross was the glory of Jesus because it was the completion of His work.”4

               Children of God observe and reflect on the crucifixion as when Jesus became sin for us. Had He not chose to be obedient to God; none of us would be deemed sinless and would not be allowed to enter heaven.

1. Daily Study Bible, The Gospel of John, pp.206-207, Westminster Press, Philadelphia © 1975

2. Ibid. p. 207

3. Ibid, p. 204

4. Ibid. p. 205

Abide In Him

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Scripture: John 15:1-17

Focus Verses: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:7-8 (NIV)

               The following lines comprise what the disciples might have thought as Jesus shares with them.

               “Abide with him?”

               “What does he mean?”

               “We have followed him all these months and assisted in his teaching. Yet he says he can now call us friends.

               “I don’t understand where he is going with this.”

               These thoughts show the confusion the disciples felt when they heard Jesus talk about his soon-coming death.

               We who live in the 21^st Century collectively have doubts about what goes on around us—either temporally or spiritually.

              

               Jesus tries to prepare his disciples for what lay ahead of them. He also shares moments with us, his children, today as a way of making us ready for what will enter our lives, as a way of giving us strength.

               Does our abiding with Jesus cause circumstances we would rather not have? I believe it does. However, our abiding (remaining) with Jesus gives us strength to withstand many difficulties that come our way.

Dear Father God:

We give thanks to You for allowing us to experience Your grace and mercy. We appreciate Your going before us and being beside us whenever we face difficult and trying circumstances. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen   

HolyGround

The Counselor Will Come

Scripture: John 16:5-17

Focus Verse: “But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7 (NIV)

               Jesus’ message brings more confusion to the disciples. Their thoughts could have been like the following:

               “What is Jesus saying?”

               “He keeps telling us he is going away. Now, he tells us he will send someone else in his stead?”

               “Do we need someone else, why can’t he stay here?

               “”This new person will guide us?”

               “He will convict the world?”

               “Why does what he says not make sense to us?

               Could the disciples be like many 21st Century people? Did they think their group would be together forever?

               Several years ago, we had a situation in our family. A young man died from a terrible disease. Most of us knew his outcome would not be what we wanted. His sister drew into herself. I found myself asking her why she seemed so saddened. Her answer—“I just knew the doctors would find a cure for his illness.”         This sister was not a believer; therefore, I chose not to tell her that maybe God did heal her brother by taking him home to heaven. Today, I believe she did not realize that we only have a certain God-set time on this earth.

               The disciples began grieving as they heard these words from Jesus. They probably could not focus on the words spoken about the Father, “he will never leave you or forsake you.” Deut. 31:6 (NIV)

               Another relative grieved prematurely when her older sister was in the hospital. That sister had undergone two Cancer surgeries in less than 10 days. The patient was not rallying. The doctors said she was doing well, in spite of what we saw. The older sister lived nine more years.

               The disciples received something we do not always receive about the end of someone’s life. Jesus tried to prepare them for his departure. We don’t always get to prepare ourselves when a loved one passes on to heaven The part we initially find strange is they could not grasp what He was telling them.

Persecuted by The World

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Scripture: John 15:18-16:4

Focus verse: “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘ No servant is greater than his master’. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”John 15:20 (NIV)

               “What is the Master saying?”

               “He speaks of people being persecuted because he chose us from the world. Why?”

               “They hated him without reason? Who would do that?”

               The disciples are hearing things they don’t understand. They hear him speak of hatred, persecution, shunning and killing of those who believe in Him. Questions arise in the disciples’ minds. Jesus’ words pierced their hearts, bringing grief to the forefront.

               In our 21^st Century world, we should look closely at these words and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and strengthen us. 

              

Back just before the Super Bowl, I read where an automobile company would have a a commercial about their product. What I read offended me. The message I received from that company was, “We cater to the young. We think older people (read senior citizens) are not the people we want purchasing our cars.” My original thought was: When did older people become personae non grata? As I read this scripture, I understand why businesses do not treat older people with the respect they deserve. They don’t look at the people as who they are but for what those people can give. (Please forgive my rant.) 

                   

Book Review: I Hope it’s not Hereditary, by Jedidiah Hartley

               Jedidiah Hartley writes a series of stories about his father, Evangelist Bob Hartley. This book tells about his father and many antics that Bob Hartley performed as a child growing up, as a young adult on his own, and an adult during the years as Jedidiah grew up.

              

               The tales this son shares with his readers remind me of stories one would hear around a kitchen table. A son would say something like, “Do you remember when,” or “Let me tell you about my dad.”

While Jedidiah Hartley shares stories from his dad’s life, some rather embarrassing, the reader will get the feeling that this son is proud of his father in spite of the crazy antics, Bob did.

               I usually choose to review books that deal with spiritual growth. There was some spiritual growth in this collection of stories. This book starts out like a biography and changes toward the end to a memoir.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy stories about families and those members who have come through times brought about by their own choosing.

There was a drawback to my really liking this book. The title on the Book Club Network site read, “Hope it’s not hereditary.” The actual title of the book was “I Hope it’s Not Hereditary” I found this misleading.

               I received this book from Whitaker House publishing via Book Fun and Book Club Network free of charge. All they asked of me was an honest review.