"Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!" Hebrews 12:28-29 MSG
God has blessed me with two wonderful sons. Peter is 14 and Joey is 11. We are not overly rich as far as finances go--but God makes sure that our needs are covered. So, there are times that the boys will ask for something that is really out of our budget. And even though I would love to be able to get it for them, I have to tell them that we just cannot afford it at this time. And then at times, that causes them to grumble. "So and so, they are able to get it." "It would be so cool to have it."
While these grumblings don't happen all the time, when they do, I feel led to remind them that while we may not have the funds to be able to buy material things, we have the things that truly matter--a solid, God-fearing family, parents who love each other & them, a warm, secure home, faithful and grounded friends and a good home church. These things are not to be taken for granted. These things some kids would give up all their toys and material things for.
So, when I read this passage, I can relate with my Heavenly Father. I know how when my children grumble to me or about me, how I feel. How much more intense is it when I do the same with my Heavenly Father? This is the Father that created Heaven & earth for me. This is the Father that sacrificed His only and beloved Son for me--just so I would have a Bridge that covered my sin in order that I would be able to be with Him forever.
Please, let's remember that we need to have a grateful heart. We need to keep our focus on Him and His desires for us. We need to keep Him as the one and only Desire of our heart. That is the only way that we will ever have complete peace in our life.
Your Heavenly Father has blessed you with so much and He loves you more that you can and will ever be able to comprehend. Let go of the grumblings! Seriously, life is too short! Does it make you feel better when you grumble? Does it produce anything that is positive? No. It only leads to more dissatisfaction. More unhappiness with your life and your situation. Live daily, moment by moment with a grateful heart and spirit.
How do you keep yourself from those grumbling moments that we all experience from time to time? How do you keep a grateful heart? By having daily talks with your Father. By spending time in His word. By Spending time in His presence--daily.
Cultivate a thankful heart, for this glorifies Him and fills you with joy--His joy!
"Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!" Philippians 4:4 MSG
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Walk
"Peter turned and saw the follower Jesus loved very much walking behind them. (This was the follower who had leaned against Jesus at the supper and said, 'Lord, who is it that will hand you over?') When Peter saw him behind them, he asked Jesus,'Lord, what about him?'
Jesus answered, 'Maybe I want him to live until I come. That should not matter to you. You follow me!'” John 21:20-22 ERV
This conversation was between the apostle Peter and Jesus. It was in fact the last conversation that he and Jesus had in the book of John.
What I found interesting was that--like today--there was that comparing one thing against another issue going on. That even though Peter was one of Jesus' closest companions, he was still comparing his walk with his friend, John's. Was it jealousy? Was it insecurity? A little of both? After all, he had just denied Jesus three times to the those in the high priest's courtyard. But Jesus had also just entrusted Peter with "His lambs".
How did Jesus handle this? Jesus rebuked him by basically saying, you don't need to worry about John's walk with Me. You need to only worry about your own. You take care of your walk, your relationship with Me. John's and Mine relationship is between us.
How many times do we do that? How many times do we compare our walk with those we observe around us? We see someone that looks like they have it all together with their Master and then we look at ourselves and think, "Wow, I wish that my walk was like that person's". Or it could go the opposite. You observe someone that looks as though they have messed up everything and you think, "I'm so glad that I'm not in that person's shoes. They are really messed up." And in reality, they are not.
I think that there is a double-edged sword to this "keeping up with the Jones" in the spiritual walk category. On one hand, it can inspire you to go the distance. To check and make sure that you are where you should be. It could be used to challenge you. But the down side is that we tend to think that if our walk doesn't seem as secure as the other person's, that ours didn't take. That we have been abandoned by our Heavenly Father. That there is something wrong with us and we haven't made the grade.
Nothing could be farthest from the truth! Our Heavenly Father has a very special walk that is just between you and Him. It is like no other. So, no, you can't and shouldn't compare your walk with anyone else's. For yours is one of a kind. The treasure of a lifetime. You are unique and so is your walk.
So, yes, be constantly making sure that you are in His will. Be looking for ways to be closer to Him and bringing your walk closer. But also, be able to recognize and embrace your uniqueness and the uniqueness of your walk with the Lord.
How do we do that? Get into the Word and prayer. Quiet times with Him in prayer and word daily are more valuable as time go on. As the world gets crazier, those quiet times get more and more precious. My advice--don't slack on them.
Our God is an AWESOME God!
"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day."
Psalm 139:13-14 MSG
Jesus answered, 'Maybe I want him to live until I come. That should not matter to you. You follow me!'” John 21:20-22 ERV
This conversation was between the apostle Peter and Jesus. It was in fact the last conversation that he and Jesus had in the book of John.
What I found interesting was that--like today--there was that comparing one thing against another issue going on. That even though Peter was one of Jesus' closest companions, he was still comparing his walk with his friend, John's. Was it jealousy? Was it insecurity? A little of both? After all, he had just denied Jesus three times to the those in the high priest's courtyard. But Jesus had also just entrusted Peter with "His lambs".
How did Jesus handle this? Jesus rebuked him by basically saying, you don't need to worry about John's walk with Me. You need to only worry about your own. You take care of your walk, your relationship with Me. John's and Mine relationship is between us.
How many times do we do that? How many times do we compare our walk with those we observe around us? We see someone that looks like they have it all together with their Master and then we look at ourselves and think, "Wow, I wish that my walk was like that person's". Or it could go the opposite. You observe someone that looks as though they have messed up everything and you think, "I'm so glad that I'm not in that person's shoes. They are really messed up." And in reality, they are not.
I think that there is a double-edged sword to this "keeping up with the Jones" in the spiritual walk category. On one hand, it can inspire you to go the distance. To check and make sure that you are where you should be. It could be used to challenge you. But the down side is that we tend to think that if our walk doesn't seem as secure as the other person's, that ours didn't take. That we have been abandoned by our Heavenly Father. That there is something wrong with us and we haven't made the grade.
Nothing could be farthest from the truth! Our Heavenly Father has a very special walk that is just between you and Him. It is like no other. So, no, you can't and shouldn't compare your walk with anyone else's. For yours is one of a kind. The treasure of a lifetime. You are unique and so is your walk.
So, yes, be constantly making sure that you are in His will. Be looking for ways to be closer to Him and bringing your walk closer. But also, be able to recognize and embrace your uniqueness and the uniqueness of your walk with the Lord.
How do we do that? Get into the Word and prayer. Quiet times with Him in prayer and word daily are more valuable as time go on. As the world gets crazier, those quiet times get more and more precious. My advice--don't slack on them.
Our God is an AWESOME God!
"Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day."
Psalm 139:13-14 MSG
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Joy Gift
"You are sad now. I will see you again and then your hearts will be full of joy. No one can take your joy from you." John 16:22 NLV
Dear brothers and sisters, have you ever been there? You wake up, your day is going just fine, you're humming along, things feel good and then all of a sudden, something or someone does something and BAM--the joy that you had been enjoying all morning long is suddenly not so joyful--in fact, depending on what happened or what state of mind you are in--the whole joy feeling is just plain gone.
Well, sometimes I do let that happen. And I get so upset with myself because I don't want to let someone or something have that much control over me. I know where my joy comes from and I shouldn't let anything or anyone take it away from me and neither should you. That joy gift--that is from our Father and only He should be the one that has the power to take it away if He wants to do that--which of course--He wouldn't. He's not that kind of Father.
So, I just wanted to encourage those of us that are going through this, don't give up! Don't get down on yourself for allowing this to happen. I do. But then I have a special godly sister that reminds me that it took me a long time to learn how to let others or life circumstances steal that joy, it'll take a little time to unlearn that trait and replace it with God's strength, grace and wisdom.
Ah, the joy gift is so valuable. Let's protect and treasure it with prayer and His words from His Book.
"'I have told you these things so you may have peace in Me. In the world you will have much trouble. But take hope! I have power over the world!'” John 16:33 NLV
Dear brothers and sisters, have you ever been there? You wake up, your day is going just fine, you're humming along, things feel good and then all of a sudden, something or someone does something and BAM--the joy that you had been enjoying all morning long is suddenly not so joyful--in fact, depending on what happened or what state of mind you are in--the whole joy feeling is just plain gone.
Well, sometimes I do let that happen. And I get so upset with myself because I don't want to let someone or something have that much control over me. I know where my joy comes from and I shouldn't let anything or anyone take it away from me and neither should you. That joy gift--that is from our Father and only He should be the one that has the power to take it away if He wants to do that--which of course--He wouldn't. He's not that kind of Father.
So, I just wanted to encourage those of us that are going through this, don't give up! Don't get down on yourself for allowing this to happen. I do. But then I have a special godly sister that reminds me that it took me a long time to learn how to let others or life circumstances steal that joy, it'll take a little time to unlearn that trait and replace it with God's strength, grace and wisdom.
Ah, the joy gift is so valuable. Let's protect and treasure it with prayer and His words from His Book.
"'I have told you these things so you may have peace in Me. In the world you will have much trouble. But take hope! I have power over the world!'” John 16:33 NLV
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Knock It Off!
"5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT
What's keeping you from truly knowing your God? Is it pride? Is it distrust? Is it past hurts or hangups? Fear? Seriously, have you ever just sat and thought about it? What is keeping you from the only one true good thing that you can always--and I mean always--depend on?
If you would only allow yourself a moment to truly see your God the way He wants you to see Him--it would be worth it's weight in gold. "Just wait a minute!" you may be saying. "Only a moment? It surely would take more than a moment and I don't have the time or energy to spare!"
I have to ask you--do you NOT have a moment to spare? Are you happy with the life you are experiencing now, this very minute? When you wake up in the morning, are you dreading your day? Do you have any joy or happiness? Do you have what I call the "Eeyore" approach--"Oh well, it's going to be a bad day anyway." "Oh, well, if something is to go wrong today, it will be with me."--to life?
Excuse my bluntness, but knock it off! Your God is just a moment away and He wants to bless you so badly. He is just waiting for you to ask Him. You need to capture those negative thoughts, thoughts that say, "God doesn't really care. If He did, He would have taken care of this already." "I'm a lost cause." "It'll hurt too much." "I will have to give up too many of the things I love." "My life is too full now, I just don't have the time." These are just excuses. These are the lies of the wicked one who wants to keep you in bondage with him. He doesn't want you to be set free. He doesn't want you to have a live, warm, growing relationship with your Heavenly Father. No! He wants you to shrivel up and become dead--break it! In the power of God's holy and blessed Name--break the chains so that you can be set free to be the beautiful creation that God has already designed you to be.
"11 And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail." Isaiah 58:11 ESV
Our God is not dead--He is ALIVE! He wants you to be alive IN & with Him. Are you ready for the journey of a lifetime? Just turn around and cry out to Him--He will be there in an INSTANT! And then just praise Him. You're going to have a blessed day!
What's keeping you from truly knowing your God? Is it pride? Is it distrust? Is it past hurts or hangups? Fear? Seriously, have you ever just sat and thought about it? What is keeping you from the only one true good thing that you can always--and I mean always--depend on?
If you would only allow yourself a moment to truly see your God the way He wants you to see Him--it would be worth it's weight in gold. "Just wait a minute!" you may be saying. "Only a moment? It surely would take more than a moment and I don't have the time or energy to spare!"
I have to ask you--do you NOT have a moment to spare? Are you happy with the life you are experiencing now, this very minute? When you wake up in the morning, are you dreading your day? Do you have any joy or happiness? Do you have what I call the "Eeyore" approach--"Oh well, it's going to be a bad day anyway." "Oh, well, if something is to go wrong today, it will be with me."--to life?
Excuse my bluntness, but knock it off! Your God is just a moment away and He wants to bless you so badly. He is just waiting for you to ask Him. You need to capture those negative thoughts, thoughts that say, "God doesn't really care. If He did, He would have taken care of this already." "I'm a lost cause." "It'll hurt too much." "I will have to give up too many of the things I love." "My life is too full now, I just don't have the time." These are just excuses. These are the lies of the wicked one who wants to keep you in bondage with him. He doesn't want you to be set free. He doesn't want you to have a live, warm, growing relationship with your Heavenly Father. No! He wants you to shrivel up and become dead--break it! In the power of God's holy and blessed Name--break the chains so that you can be set free to be the beautiful creation that God has already designed you to be.
"11 And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail." Isaiah 58:11 ESV
Our God is not dead--He is ALIVE! He wants you to be alive IN & with Him. Are you ready for the journey of a lifetime? Just turn around and cry out to Him--He will be there in an INSTANT! And then just praise Him. You're going to have a blessed day!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Battle Lines
5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:5 NIV
Consecrate. That's not a word you hear much today. But back in the days of Joshua, consecrate was used frequently, usually with reference to faith.
What does it mean? Well, what it means is to set aside. To make clean--holy. To purify.
So when Joshua told the people that, what did they do? They went home, took off their clothes and washed them and then bathed themselves. For you see, in those days, they didn't wash their clothes or themselves everyday. Water was hard to come by--a precious commodity. And what water they had was used for drinking. They may go weeks without washing. So, to go home and do that was a form of honoring. It was also a form of sacrifice. Because in order to do the washing, they would have had to give up their drinking water. And then they would abstain from everything that would take their focus--their thoughts--off of their God.
How this verse spoke to me today was this--I--we--need to consecrate ourselves every day to be ready for our Lord. Every day we should spiritually clean ourselves, set ourselves apart for the glory of God--to be ready for His return. We allow so much to contaminate our bodies, spirit, heart and mind. We need to set ourselves apart from this world. People should be able to look at us and even if they don't know us, know that we are different. Know that there is something about us that is not of this world. That it makes them want to come up to us and say, "Hey, whatever it is that you have, I want it. Please share it with me."
Joshua was instructing his people the above verse right before they were going to go into battle. We need to prepare ourselves to go into our battle. Every day. Every day we are battling for our consecration. For our purity. For our holiness. The world--Satan--loves to take it from us. But we can't let him. Time is too short. We don't know when Jesus is coming back, but we need to be ready. We need to be ready so when that day, that hour, comes, we can say, "Welcome Lord! Hallelujah! I've been waiting for this day forever!" Instead of saying, "Please Lord, not today. I've been dreading this day. I'm totally not ready."
Every day is an amazing day. Every day is a gift from the Lord. Use it and treat it as such. If someone gave you a gift, would you leave it out in a place that it would get dirty or broken, or forgotten? No, if you truly treasured it, you would place it somewhere where it would be protected, a place of honor. Doesn't God deserve the same?
Will there be some sacrifice in doing this? Yes, there will be. But my prayer for you today is that you assume the heart and spirit of the people of Joshua. That you will not let fear to take away your birthright. That no matter what, you will keep yourself holy and pure. That the fear of the Lord, is greater than the fear of this world.Our God is a mighty General! A fortress that no evil can EVER topple.
"13 Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.'” Exodus 14:13-14 NIV
Consecrate. That's not a word you hear much today. But back in the days of Joshua, consecrate was used frequently, usually with reference to faith.
What does it mean? Well, what it means is to set aside. To make clean--holy. To purify.
So when Joshua told the people that, what did they do? They went home, took off their clothes and washed them and then bathed themselves. For you see, in those days, they didn't wash their clothes or themselves everyday. Water was hard to come by--a precious commodity. And what water they had was used for drinking. They may go weeks without washing. So, to go home and do that was a form of honoring. It was also a form of sacrifice. Because in order to do the washing, they would have had to give up their drinking water. And then they would abstain from everything that would take their focus--their thoughts--off of their God.
How this verse spoke to me today was this--I--we--need to consecrate ourselves every day to be ready for our Lord. Every day we should spiritually clean ourselves, set ourselves apart for the glory of God--to be ready for His return. We allow so much to contaminate our bodies, spirit, heart and mind. We need to set ourselves apart from this world. People should be able to look at us and even if they don't know us, know that we are different. Know that there is something about us that is not of this world. That it makes them want to come up to us and say, "Hey, whatever it is that you have, I want it. Please share it with me."
Joshua was instructing his people the above verse right before they were going to go into battle. We need to prepare ourselves to go into our battle. Every day. Every day we are battling for our consecration. For our purity. For our holiness. The world--Satan--loves to take it from us. But we can't let him. Time is too short. We don't know when Jesus is coming back, but we need to be ready. We need to be ready so when that day, that hour, comes, we can say, "Welcome Lord! Hallelujah! I've been waiting for this day forever!" Instead of saying, "Please Lord, not today. I've been dreading this day. I'm totally not ready."
Every day is an amazing day. Every day is a gift from the Lord. Use it and treat it as such. If someone gave you a gift, would you leave it out in a place that it would get dirty or broken, or forgotten? No, if you truly treasured it, you would place it somewhere where it would be protected, a place of honor. Doesn't God deserve the same?
Will there be some sacrifice in doing this? Yes, there will be. But my prayer for you today is that you assume the heart and spirit of the people of Joshua. That you will not let fear to take away your birthright. That no matter what, you will keep yourself holy and pure. That the fear of the Lord, is greater than the fear of this world.Our God is a mighty General! A fortress that no evil can EVER topple.
"13 Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.'” Exodus 14:13-14 NIV
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Rope Tugging
"Nothing, you see, is impossible with God." Luke 1:37 MSG
Do you recognize this verse? I discovered it again this morning in my devotional time. The angel was sharing with Mary that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus and of course she had voiced her reasons why that wasn't possible and then the angel told her that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy even in her old age because, "Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."
I don't know about you, but I have read and heard that story so many times. And it is a beautiful story of stepping out and up in faith. But what hit me this morning though was the fact that with my God, nothing, NOTHING is impossible. Do you notice that the angel didn't say, "Some things, you see, are impossible with God," or "Hardly anything, you see, is impossible with God."? No, he stated that "NOTHING".
Wow! What a powerful God you, I serve. What a powerful God that loves you, me. What a powerful God that wants to have a relationship with you, me. What a powerful God that receives you, me so unconditionally.
So please have hope. Know that no matter what the circumstances are that you are in, your God is greater. No matter what lie Satan is telling you, your God is greater. No matter how long you've been under attack, your God is greater.
All you have to do is remember to cling to Him. Cling to His word. If you can visualize this, His word is like a really thick velvet rope, kinda like they use to have in the castles, that when the king or queen needed a servant, they would tug on this huge rope and the bell would ring somewhere and all of a sudden, there was the servant.
Well, when you need to have the Lord come to you--for praises or groanings--all you have to do is tug on that rope that connects you to Him, and He will come. He will come in person, or in Spirit, or with His holy Word, in visions, in dreams--oh, He has many forms. Just know He will come. Nothing is impossible. He is the God of the POSSIBLE. And then, remember, to PRAISE Him.
What's keeping you from tugging on the rope?
"1 Don't think that the Lord is too weak to save you or too deaf to hear your call for help!" Isaiah 59:1 GN
Do you recognize this verse? I discovered it again this morning in my devotional time. The angel was sharing with Mary that she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus and of course she had voiced her reasons why that wasn't possible and then the angel told her that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy even in her old age because, "Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."
I don't know about you, but I have read and heard that story so many times. And it is a beautiful story of stepping out and up in faith. But what hit me this morning though was the fact that with my God, nothing, NOTHING is impossible. Do you notice that the angel didn't say, "Some things, you see, are impossible with God," or "Hardly anything, you see, is impossible with God."? No, he stated that "NOTHING".
Wow! What a powerful God you, I serve. What a powerful God that loves you, me. What a powerful God that wants to have a relationship with you, me. What a powerful God that receives you, me so unconditionally.
So please have hope. Know that no matter what the circumstances are that you are in, your God is greater. No matter what lie Satan is telling you, your God is greater. No matter how long you've been under attack, your God is greater.
All you have to do is remember to cling to Him. Cling to His word. If you can visualize this, His word is like a really thick velvet rope, kinda like they use to have in the castles, that when the king or queen needed a servant, they would tug on this huge rope and the bell would ring somewhere and all of a sudden, there was the servant.
Well, when you need to have the Lord come to you--for praises or groanings--all you have to do is tug on that rope that connects you to Him, and He will come. He will come in person, or in Spirit, or with His holy Word, in visions, in dreams--oh, He has many forms. Just know He will come. Nothing is impossible. He is the God of the POSSIBLE. And then, remember, to PRAISE Him.
What's keeping you from tugging on the rope?
"1 Don't think that the Lord is too weak to save you or too deaf to hear your call for help!" Isaiah 59:1 GN
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Messages
"I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17:20-21 NIV
This is an amazing prayer that Jesus is praying. What stuck out to me was the word "will". Jesus is praying for all believers and then says this:"I pray also for those that "will" believe in Me through their message..."
The "their" He is referring to at that moment was His apostles. Today it is us. He has commissioned us to be His apostles of today. So it is our message that will bring more believers to Him.
Our message isn't just our words, No, our message is a whole lot more. Our words are a very important part of that message, but if we just focus on the words, we only have an incomplete package. No, in order to have it complete, people would need to see His message act out in our life style, our actions and ourselves.
Jesus was very earnest in this prayer. If you read on, He prays, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." WOW! Did you pick up on a very important fact? Please, reread the verse. "...have loved them even as you have loved me." Jesus is telling us that His Father--our Father--has loved us--you, me--as much as He has loved Himself!
Isn't that mind boggling? With all my warts, short-comings, failures, my Heavenly Father loves me as much as He loves Jesus--my Brother that is beyond perfect? That is amazing! So humbling amazing!
How does that make you feel? What are your thoughts? Does that help you realize and receive the fact that your Father in Heaven loves you so unconditionally? That you can't earn His love? That He loves you ever so completely.
In case you need further proof, verse 24 states this:"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."
Jesus wants you! He wants you to be in Heaven with Him. And again,"because you loved me before the creation of the world." And what did we learn a couple of verses before? That our Heavenly Father loves us as much as He loves His Son. So now we learn that He has also loved us since the beginning of time.
Can it get any better? I think not.
"Praise be to the Lord,
For He showed His wonderful love to me." Psalm 31:20 NIV
This is an amazing prayer that Jesus is praying. What stuck out to me was the word "will". Jesus is praying for all believers and then says this:"I pray also for those that "will" believe in Me through their message..."
The "their" He is referring to at that moment was His apostles. Today it is us. He has commissioned us to be His apostles of today. So it is our message that will bring more believers to Him.
Our message isn't just our words, No, our message is a whole lot more. Our words are a very important part of that message, but if we just focus on the words, we only have an incomplete package. No, in order to have it complete, people would need to see His message act out in our life style, our actions and ourselves.
Jesus was very earnest in this prayer. If you read on, He prays, "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." WOW! Did you pick up on a very important fact? Please, reread the verse. "...have loved them even as you have loved me." Jesus is telling us that His Father--our Father--has loved us--you, me--as much as He has loved Himself!
Isn't that mind boggling? With all my warts, short-comings, failures, my Heavenly Father loves me as much as He loves Jesus--my Brother that is beyond perfect? That is amazing! So humbling amazing!
How does that make you feel? What are your thoughts? Does that help you realize and receive the fact that your Father in Heaven loves you so unconditionally? That you can't earn His love? That He loves you ever so completely.
In case you need further proof, verse 24 states this:"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."
Jesus wants you! He wants you to be in Heaven with Him. And again,"because you loved me before the creation of the world." And what did we learn a couple of verses before? That our Heavenly Father loves us as much as He loves His Son. So now we learn that He has also loved us since the beginning of time.
Can it get any better? I think not.
"Praise be to the Lord,
For He showed His wonderful love to me." Psalm 31:20 NIV
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