Thursday, May 22, 2008

The Intercession of Jesus

John 17 is one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. It speaks of the oneness Jesus has with the Father, and how he wants us to have that same oneness with them. It is Jesus' prayer to The Father for you and me. I'll start with verse 8:
"I have revealed to you those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 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 you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one.
(vs 15)"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one."
(vs 24)"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 foundation of the world".

If you are going through a solitary way, read John 17, it will explain exactly why you are where you are - Jesus has prayed that you may be one with the Father, as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or have you some other end for your life? Since you became a disciple you can't be as independent as you used to be.
God allows things in this world to happen for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler men and women; or they are making us more captious and fault-finding, more insistent upon our own way; it depends entirely upon the relationship we are in to God.
Jesus prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself as He was one with the Father. God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him, because Jesus prayed that we may be.
Jesus' whole reason for leaving Heaven to come to earth was for US! His entire life was faultless and sinless, and for this reason, he was able to make the sacrifice for our sins. His love for us goes far beyond what we can completely comprehend, but this chapter in John reveals to us his enormous love for us - we were a constant thought in his heart, and his intercession to the Father on our behalf shows without a doubt his selfless act of love when he hung on the cross, to be raised to life again three days later, then return to Heaven with the Father to prepare a place for us.
My prayer today is that if you don't know Jesus, but want to know Him and let him reveal this deep love to you, just tell him that's not only what you want, but what you NEED! He'll come to you immediately and change your life!

1 comment:

Lily said...

Beautifully said. Blessings, Lily...