July 6, 2015 YOUR PRESENCE IS DESIRED
John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou has given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou has given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.”
This verse removes any doubt as to whether or not God, and His Son, loves us and cares for us. Jesus expresses His heart in a very personal way as He tells the Father that He desires for us to be with Him! How awesome! John 17 describes in great detail the relationship that Jesus and God have and the relationship that we have with Jesus and with God. The love that the Father and the Son have for us is what led Jesus to the cross where the ultimate price was paid so that the relationship described in John 17 could be reality. You and I are a gift from God, given to Jesus---a truth that should settle forever any doubt about our self- worth. John 17:6: “I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou givest Me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.” The fact is that we were known by the Father long before our physical birth and God knew even before our creation that we would need a Redeemer-and Jesus became our redeemer. The salvation that we have guarantees heaven, but it also includes the power to live on earth in such a way that it pleases the Father. The overriding them in John 17 is that of unity-Jesus in God, God in Jesus, and us in them so that we may be one, and this unity will be seen by the world. John 17:21: “…that they all may be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may also be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.” The world is full of dis-unity, division, conflict and confusion with man doing whatever is right in his own sight. On the contrary, in God’s kingdom we find unity, clarity, purpose and love that honors others and blesses others. As you read the words of Jesus, it becomes obvious that He enjoyed the unity that He had with His followers even though His followers may not have fully understood this unity to the extent that Jesus did. Perhaps we also do not yet fully understand the priority and the blessings of the unity to the extent that Jesus did, but Jesus prayed to the Father that we would indeed come to know and experience the same unity that He and the Father enjoyed. Unity with the Godhead is not something reserved for heaven, but is available to us in the here and now. At the conclusion of Jesus’ life on earth, Jesus made it abundantly clear that His desire was that those who received Him would spend eternity together with Him and His Father—and eternity has already begun.
John 15:15: “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
John 17:22-23: “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou has given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou has given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.”
This verse removes any doubt as to whether or not God, and His Son, loves us and cares for us. Jesus expresses His heart in a very personal way as He tells the Father that He desires for us to be with Him! How awesome! John 17 describes in great detail the relationship that Jesus and God have and the relationship that we have with Jesus and with God. The love that the Father and the Son have for us is what led Jesus to the cross where the ultimate price was paid so that the relationship described in John 17 could be reality. You and I are a gift from God, given to Jesus---a truth that should settle forever any doubt about our self- worth. John 17:6: “I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou givest Me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy word.” The fact is that we were known by the Father long before our physical birth and God knew even before our creation that we would need a Redeemer-and Jesus became our redeemer. The salvation that we have guarantees heaven, but it also includes the power to live on earth in such a way that it pleases the Father. The overriding them in John 17 is that of unity-Jesus in God, God in Jesus, and us in them so that we may be one, and this unity will be seen by the world. John 17:21: “…that they all may be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may also be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.” The world is full of dis-unity, division, conflict and confusion with man doing whatever is right in his own sight. On the contrary, in God’s kingdom we find unity, clarity, purpose and love that honors others and blesses others. As you read the words of Jesus, it becomes obvious that He enjoyed the unity that He had with His followers even though His followers may not have fully understood this unity to the extent that Jesus did. Perhaps we also do not yet fully understand the priority and the blessings of the unity to the extent that Jesus did, but Jesus prayed to the Father that we would indeed come to know and experience the same unity that He and the Father enjoyed. Unity with the Godhead is not something reserved for heaven, but is available to us in the here and now. At the conclusion of Jesus’ life on earth, Jesus made it abundantly clear that His desire was that those who received Him would spend eternity together with Him and His Father—and eternity has already begun.
John 15:15: “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
John 17:22-23: “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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