– Secret Place Insights –
Dear One, I was reading in John 17 where Jesus prayed for Himself, His disciples, and then for all believers as He prepared for His arrest and crucifixion. As I read it, I was deeply touched by the intimacy of Christ’s prayer. I was so taken by His words that I found myself mentally breaking them down as I have here.
Jesus Prays for All Believers: John 17:20-21
John 17:20a
“My prayer is not for them alone…”
I liked thinking that Jesus was not just praying for His disciples, the ones who had walked with Him, and whom He had taught to share God’s Truth. He prayed for others.
John 17:20b
“…I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (21a) that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.”
Jesus prayed for us “…for those who will believe.” I had to just sit back and picture that. Jesus came, taught the disciples, the disciples taught others of the Truth of God, others taught others, again, and again, and finally you and I were taught…from Jesus, to others, to us. Wonderful. And He prayed that we, you and I, would be one in the faith, loving those with whom we worship while growing in our love and understanding of God. I see that happening year by year. It is a continually expanding blessing. And Jesus prayed that prayer for us over 2000 years ago.
And even now, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father interceding (pleading) on our behalf.
John 17:21b
“May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”
“…that the world may believe…” If we had not taken Jesus as Savior, we would have nothing of eternal value to share with anyone. And what would be eternal for us? It would be eternal separation from God. That is just too awful to think about, but sometimes we must. Then Jesus added, “…that the world may believe that You (Father) have sent Me.” While thinking about the Lord’s love for the world, and His desire that all would come to believe, I wondered how many such requests Jesus had made to His Father, our Father. Such an excellent reminder of the importance of prayer.
That’s as far as I went at that time, not many verses, but such a great deal to think about. Since then, I have gone back to reread that section a number of times.
The Bible, God’s Word, closed on the shelf, looks like most any book, but opened, and read with a heart surrendered to God, through Jesus Christ, it is like none other. In the reading, and the observing of its teachings, it becomes the greatest of all material treasures.
In my directions for those who will prepare me for burial, I have requested that a new Bible be placed in a zip-lock, freezer bag, and placed inside my casket. I know that it will be of no use to me, for as a believer, I will be in heaven. But even in decay, I do not want my body separated from God’s Word. And when the time comes that all Bibles are being destroyed, and that will likely happen, someone, somewhere, may remember where one is buried. The Bible from which I learned to love God is in pieces. I will leave it, and my new, twenty-five-year, old Bible, with all its notes, to family.
“For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Blessings,
Susanne
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