“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” John 17:13 NKJV
Today someone looked at me at a Bible Study and they said to me: “You must be really happy. Everything must be going your way. You just look so happy.”
I said: “I am not happy. I am in some of the fiercest attacks of my life and going through trials and struggling through the changes that God is bringing me through. But the joy of the Lord is my strength and as I worship Him in my life – His joy is fulfilled in me. This is not happiness – happiness is fleeting. This is joy, the kind that caused Paul and Silas to have a hymn sing in a prison.”
I pray in agreement with Jesus, that His joy is fulfilled in you!!
RELATIONSHIP:
In the beginning, God created everything, and you and me. He visited us in the garden and had a personal relationship with us, a friendship with mankind. The curse of sin, which has a price tag of death, came upon the earth thanks to the devil’s trickery and changed everything. Although nothing can separate man from the love of God, sin does physically separate us from God. God created us to commune with Him and the enemy knew sin would destroy that bond. So, God created hell to punish the devil and his demons. The enemy knows it is his punishment, but he plans to take as many humans with him as possible to continue to hurt God. Because God created heaven where he can be reunited with people. Well, people needed help to overcome the enemy so God sent laws and formulas for worship and sacrifice that should point people into a position of acting in love. And the enemy attacked it over time and twisted it until it became punitive. But God so loved us that He then sent His only son, Jesus, to break the curse of sin over mankind by bringing it down into the grave, paying the required price for it, and then conquering it by rising again! Jesus ascended to heaven after 40 days. So that we know through Him we can access a relationship with The Father. God made a way to reconcile with mankind and commune and have fellowship with them again! This is GOOD NEWS.
God also created us with free will. Just as we do not want to be married or in a relationship with someone who is forced and manipulated to be in the relationship (we do not want a partner who is chained and a prisoner to us), God also wants us to freely choose Him. Or we can choose to believe the devil’s lies and go to the devil’s punishment – hell. It is our choice.
I know this sounds like a children’s story. It is simple, moral, and almost imaginative. God made it simple so that even children can believe and be saved from the wrath to come. God wishes that no one parishes. He wants us to at least give a relationship with Him an honest try – and see that He is good. He says that if you repent and seek Him, you will find Him!
Now imagine if you will what it could be like to have your best friend be the creator of the universe, all-knowing, all-powerful, having all wealth, and super generous – not like a genie in a bottle granting wishes, but a friend with mutual respect and trust and love, who is willing to use His resources to help you. He is willing to talk to you can since he can see ahead, he can prepare you, position you, and protect you from all the craziness in this world. Oh, and all that crazy? It is the enemy knowing his time is short and working very hard to destroy people and distract them from being reunited with God.
It feels like just yesterday, I was crying laying on my floor, exhausted from trying to fix the mess I made. My sin and poor choices caused broken hearts and broken friendships and broken families and despair and death… yes, I made a huge mess of my life. As I lay there with no way I could fix anything, nor could I go on like that – God reached out to me and made me feel like He still loved me and was ready to help me through it. I had tried God before and it did not seem to work out the way I expected, how could He help me this time? As I thought I realized the last time I treated Him like a genie in a lamp and not as a loving and kind Father and Friend. So I looked up and shook my fists and said – fine! Ok! I surrender! I give up and will do things your way! Things can’t get any worse. BUT!! You MUST be a real God. You MUST be who the Bible says you are! You must be an ever-present help! You MUST be the I AM! You MUST be the God of fire shut up in my bones! I expect to see the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, demons cast out, and addiction destroyed in people’s lives starting with mine!!! I expect life and relationship!
It is now years later and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS! I have seen miracles. I have heard His voice. I have experienced Him personally. Oh, and I have to also put in the work because relationships go both ways. Not works like doing good things to earn heaven – that is NOT how this works. I have to put the work into the relationship, you know like talking to Him (because He talks back), spending time with Him (because we both enjoy being in each other’s presence), reading His word (I love learning about his stories and getting to know Him, He already knows me and this is how I can learn of Him), and worshiping Him (because He is faithful and just and worthy!) You know putting the work in as in keeping up on my side of the relationship.
In this world of lies – this simple truth is hard to understand. We can have a relationship with the Father through Jesus in the Holy Spirit.
Do you want to know the truth? Be able to discern lies? Know how to figure it all out in these confusing times and have peace? The Bible says Jesus is the truth. I have experienced it and it has changed my life. I was a whirlwind of sin, promiscuity, drug and alcohol use and so much more. I was lost and I could not find my way, or find a truth, I numbed it with bad choices. Then I found Jesus, and truth while lying on my floor crying that day. He challenged me to accept Him, trust Him and follow Him and I challenged Him to be who He says He is – I found peace and deliverance from sin.
If you want a relationship with God without truth you will get the counterfeit, hypocritical Christianity that has kept some of you away for too long. You need truth and a relationship. You need to be honest with yourself and God (including honest repentance) and the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to you. It becomes the two-way, interaction that your relationship with God is built on. This is why Jesus is called the truth because he is our only way to the Father.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grows and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus, I pray ~ Amen
If you have said this life-changing prayer and really want a relationship with God, please reach out to me. You can reach me in the comment section here (comments need approvals so you can use it as an email to me and I will not publish / approve it), or you can PM me on Facebook or DM me on Instagram. I do not always have instant access to my accounts, but I will respond when I check them. I would like to follow up and let you know the next steps to forming a healthy relationship.
BIBLE READING:
Dear Heavenly Father – Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of who you are, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is. Open the eyes of our understanding, please, so we may know the hope of our calling and the vast sovereignty and power of the grace of the cross. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. Lord, I pray that your Word prepares us and not scares us! We forbid the works and influences of fear over your Word and our sound mind. And please keep us, bless us, shine your face upon us, pour your grace over us, and give us peace! And we pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Thank you! – In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen
Today’s reading is found in the Gospel of John, chapter 17 verse 1 (embedded below for your convenience in the NKJV).
Jesus Prays for Himself
17 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He [a]should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together [b]with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have [c]manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep[d] through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them [e]in the world, I kept them in [f]Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is [g]lost except the son of [h]perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify[i] them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:1-26 NKJV
MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE:
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Luke 4:8 KJV
BIBLE DISCUSSION:
I did not want to break up Jesus’ prayer here in chapter 17, so today’s reading is a bit ambitious compared to how it has been. But also, this is Jesus’ prayer – it is perfect. I cannot add to it. So my commentary will be short! The only thing to say here is to learn how to pray as Jesus does!
We start with Jesus praying for Himself. It is the end of His time on earth (pre-death) and He prays that God’s plan works. This is NOT a prayer of doubt or worry. Jesus, being fully God and fully man knew God’s plan and that it WILL work. So you’d think He’d skip this prayer. But God wants us to ask anyway and Jesus, being fully man, is subject to this – if for no other reason than to teach us that it is imperative that we pray it through.
For example, we are promised our provisions – we also have not because we ask not. And when Jesus taught us to pray He said “give us this day our daily bread” meaning He wants us to ask for our provisions even though they are ours! We have the victory over provisions but we must also show up to the battle and speak prayer into the situation to assure our victory! And do we even remember to pray this simple prayer daily? I admit, I sometimes forget.
I can imagine that the human part of Jesus might have been freaking out a little bit! And His battle was not as simple in a human’s mind as provisions. But when you have $0 and no food and they are evicting you, then provisions are a bigger deal – but still not as big of a deal as facing the beating and death on the cross. Let’s look at how Jesus handles this prayer:
“1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
My time is not over like Jesus’ time was, and I am not facing death. However, do I pray that God is glorified in me? Jesus prayed for his own glorification and we are not God, we are not the Son, so we cannot pray for glory – but we can pray for humility.
It is a good challenge to wake up and pray this prayer daily. When examining myself I do pray when I walk into a situation where I need to minister, that other will see only Jesus in me and not me – and that I point to Jesus and He is glorified. And I do try to practice pointing to and glorifying Jesus daily – but I admit I fail to pray it daily, just like I fail to pray daily for my needs. Ironically, Jesus ALSO taught us to pray for the will of the Father and His glory in that same prayer I referred to earlier.
After praying for himself, He prays over the disciples. We aren’t Jesus and we do not have 12 men who will change the world. But we have children to raise and be an example for – our own or other people’s children who are always watching adults. We are also called to go and make disciples, and this process does not look like 12 men following you everywhere for 3 years while camping and living in a communal setting. But we still have people to whom we are responsible and people who are responsible to us – we are always students and we are always teachers.
So here we learn to pray that we only give them the words of the Lord and not our own added to it. And that we should pray that God uses that seed inside of them and protects it:
“6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.”
Jesus continues to pray for them, asking God to protect them and keep them as Jesus did. Which is beautiful. I have gone through periods without trials hitting me – I could see them around me and knew they were not able to touch me. I knew God was keeping me, as Jesus kept His small flock protected while He was here. We know from history that the persecution grew and 10 of the original disciples were martyred (Judas un-alived himself and John aged out). I think Jesus knew what was coming and prayed for their protection.
“9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.”
I have broken down this prayer into what I can pray for those I mentor and disciple. That includes many of you who read this on a daily bases and are mentored and discipled by this. Here is how I pray:
Dear heavenly Father in the Name of Jesus, I pray for those who You entrusted me to mentor and disciple. I plead that You help me to keep them lifted before You so that NONE of them is lost and that You keep them and keep unity in them. I pray that Jesus’ joy is fulfilled in them. I request that you help me give them the clean word. I pray that as the world hates them, they can trust You and find safety under Your wing. I implore You not to remove them from this world, but that You protect and keep them from the evil one – that they learn to be in the world, but not of it. I pray they are sanctified by the truth. And finally, according to the great commission, even as You have sent me to them, You help me encourage them to go and speak the truth to others and make disciples of them. I give them to you, in the name of Jesus ~Amen
Jesus then goes on in His prayer and prays for ALL Believers – the rest of those who believed back in that day as well as all who would believe throughout time! That includes you and me. THAT MEANS THAT before Jesus walked into the literal kangaroo court trials and the beatings and the walk to the cross and the death and the victory over death and the whole work of the cross – you were on His mind. I was on His mind. We were not even born but Jesus thought of us and prayed for us, showing quite matter-of-factly that the work of the cross was meant for you today (and for me today).
“20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
And the first thing He prays is that we experience unity and intimate relationship with God the Father and with Him – and we understand we are loved by them. That is the first, most important, and primary thing Jesus prays for us. Sadly, a relationship with Him is not always the first thing on our minds as we shuffle kids off to school activities and try to maintain normalcy while navigating the end of this age. The first thing so many people sacrifice is Bible reading and studying. I know, and this is why I publish these studies – to make it easier for you so you DO NOT neglect it. You can read a study by someone else and still get as much out of it as you would if you had the time and know how to do it yourself.
The second thing we sacrifice when we are busy is our prayer time. I cannot do this for you. My own prayer time is also a battle. I have notes and prayers that I pray based on scriptures and I say them meaningfully, yet read them, only so I do not miss praying daily for those things I need to be praying for. And I have my list of people I am lifting to God. I do these things to help make it easier to overcome the attacks from the enemy during my prayer time. I am able to worship and pray throughout my day and I listen for him throughout the day as well. But the intimate, undistracted, quality time with Him has always been a struggle and is always the thing I must fight hardest for.
And we should fight for that time with Him – because when Jesus had the opportunity to pray for us, He prayed that we would read and pray, developing that intimate relationship.
Jesus could have stopped there – but he elaborated on that prayer and included His disciples as well:
“24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
That we ALL have been given to Jesus by God. Before time, before the foundations of this world – we were thought of and known, and given to Jesus! Jesus prayed that we will behold His glory, that we get to know Him well, and God through Him, and love and are compelled to share and declare it!! Oh hallelujah! That Jesus would pray for me! For you!
Please join us tomorrow as we continue to discuss the Book of John.
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Thank you for reading in 2023 – a Year of Grace and Provision
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace. Walk in wisdom.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!
If Not For Grace 