John 18:1-7

John 18:1-7 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Since first breaking bread with his disciples at the Passover meal, Jesus' actions and his words pointed continually toward this moment, the time when He would no longer walk freely among the people. No more would He escape arrest by slipping into the crowd. All along, He knew the time was drawing nigh, even before the passover meal, John records these words: Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. As Jesus gives them a new command, saying: Love one another. As I have loved you, so must you love one another; He also tells them He will be with them only a little longer. (See John 13:1 & 33-34) Then when He sees their troubled hearts, He tells them not to fear because He is going to prepare a place for them that they might be with him there. When their anxiety continues, as He knew it would; He lets them know He will not merely show them the way or make a way to the Father: He is the way and the truth and the life; no one approaches the Father except through the Son. Finally, Jesus questions his disciples lack of faith when they ask him to show them the Father, asking them if they have forgotten all He has said and done among them. After all this, He asks, Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Again He says, I am going to the Father, but He gives them a tremendous promise. He tells them they will do greater things than He has done to bring glory to the Father. He promises the Holy Spirit who will abide within: If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. (See John 14:1-6, 9-10, & 11-17) Throughout all of Christ's words to his much-loved followers, his message consistently states and restates his love and the love of the Father--one love for a lost world. Yet He also reminds them to follow, to listen and to obey. This message is a message to us.

Now the moment of his arrest arrives, and Jesus has left his time of prayer to the Father and crossed the Kidron Valley to an olive grove, a place where oil originates, cooking oil, eating oil, anointing oil. This is a place where death begins for Christ and the possibility of eternal life for all people takes a sharp upwards turn. Judas the betrayer followed Jesus there with his band of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They carried torches, lanterns and weapons. Since Judas knew Jesus and his disciples represented no military threat, they did not need to mount a sneak attack under protection of darkness to catch Jesus and his "soldiers" unaware. Perhaps they came at night because they feared the reaction of those who followed Jesus. Perhaps they in the dark because they loved darkness more than light and John wanted that recorded because of Jesus said: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:16-10) Here we see Christ's words played out on the world's stage, with each real life actor playing his part: choosing the darkness or the light, death or life. We see this every day of our lives.

Jesus asks these night-time marauders, Who is it you want? When they answer, Jesus of Nazareth, He simply says, I am He. In the presence of the glory of the Lord, the I Am, the beginning and the end; they drew back and fell to the ground. They could not have remained standing had they tried with all their might. Jesus understood their purposes, the evil intentions of their hearts. The Holy Spirit revealed all wisdom, knowledge, and truth to Christ as He walked this earth. Jesus did not need mere men to tell him anything. He was looking ahead to the cross, the resurrection, and the joy set before him: victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. He knew this small group of soldiers and religious leaders had no power over him except what God yielded to them according to his divine plan. Jesus looked ahead to a day John describes in his vision in Revelation. John writes: I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." (Revelation 21:2-4 & 6) For this, Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” Today, He says, What is it you want in your life, my daughter, my son? What is it you seek? I am He, the Alpha and the Omega, the Way, your way. Follow me, and old things will pass away and all things will become new. May we listen, live, and walk in the light of his love!

John 17:24-26

John 17:24-26 “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. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples' ministry on Earth and for their position in the family of God. Then He expands the vision to include God's salvation plan for all who will believe as we read in the last breakfast when He said, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their (the disciples') message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. Jesus explains this unity shows how God sent Jesus because He loved the world even as He loved his Son from the beginning of time. As Jesus walked this Earth, He showered the love of the Father on his followers and all who called upon him as Lord that they might be one as the Father and the Son are one. As Jesus said: I in them and you in me. (See John 17:20-23) In today's verses, Jesus explains the inexplicable, the exceeding abundantly marvelous aspects of God's redemption plan. As this plan unfolds throughout his prayer, He utters words we find hard to comprehend even now: 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. Just as He will soon offer himself as the propitiation for the sins of all people for all time, Jesus speaks words of light and life in the presence of his dearly beloved. He desires to open their eyes and ears to their hope for the future. He knows the disciples will answer the call to action when the Holy Spirit comes upon them after his death and resurrection and reminds them of all He told them and empowers them to go forth with this message. "Hear me!" He says from his heart of love. He wants them to understand his prayer: "I know the Father. He knows me and sent me; for we are one. I introduced you to him and will make your love relationship with him secure forever; for I am alive in you through his love, and I have shown him to you through my life and my words."

Through Christ, we see the triune God is inseparable. Jesus and the Father are one in everything, all they do: You are in me and I am in you. The Spirit, Breath of God, intrinsically binds all the Father and Son do in Heaven and on Earth. When the women found an empty tomb after Christ arose from the grave, the news spread quickly. Astounded and upset, the chief priests paid the soldiers who guarded the tomb a large sum of money to say, His [Christ's] disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. (Matthew 28:12-13) Such lies did not thwart God's plan then, and they do not stop a move of God now when people listen to God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. After the resurrection when the disciples obeyed Jesus' instruction to go to a mountain in Galilee and wait, they saw him and worshipped him there in truth and power. His words that day came forth as clearly as when they heard his prayer to the Father on their behalf before He went to the cross. We know beyond any doubt when they saw and heard the resurrected Christ, they remembered his words. They recalled his passionate pleas to Father God for their protection by the power of his name, for a full measure of joy, for complete unity, and for the love of the Father given before the creation of the world.

When Jesus met them on the mountain, He would give very important instructions: a divine commission for all who would follow after him. He would not tell them to go back to their fishing or to resume tax collecting or to do whatever they might like to take up for self-satisfaction and contentment as new creatures in him set free from the strongholds of the enemy. He would not say, "Seek self-fulfillment as the happiest people on Earth, rejoicing because I am sending you back to your hometowns to relax and to enjoy peace and harmony with no more problems or stress." No! He said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20) And we know He said this with the same passion as when He spoke with the wealthy young man who asked how to inherit eternal life. Jesus loved this fellow and looked upon him with compassion; yet knowing his heart, He said, One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me. But he [the man] was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21-22 NKJV) Something else other than God was his treasure, his lifeline, and his source. Following Christ has to be Everything!

As Christians, we experience the love of the Father for the Son that Jesus describes so fervently. We do not represent ourselves before the Father: we come in Christ's name, through his atoning sacrifice, clothed in his robes of righteousness. The Father loves and accepts Jesus his perfect beloved Son: therefore, He accepts those hidden with Christ through the cross. Jesus alone paid our way into the Father's house, forever. We are now with the Father because Christ is the Way, and his blood covers our sins. His resurrection from the grave stands for all time as our resurrection because his word is true: I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. (John 11:25-26) As resurrected beings, we show forth the nature of Christ to others. No longer citizens of this world, we look for the world to come while serving Christ here. Alive unto Christ, we no longer function as mere finite beings. That life belongs to the unbeliever, the unrighteous pagan who has not tasted the good things of God. We are created in the image of God, cleansed by the precious blood of the Lamb, and perfected day by day by the loving Holy Spirit. If that were not so, we would stumble in the darkness and perish in our sins. In Christ, we ask the Spirit to help us to listen and to obey as Paul encouraged the church in Philippi: Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life. . . (Philippians 2:14-16) All that Jesus did fulfilled the Father's plan, revealing God's heart of love that we might have the fulness of God revealed in us just as Christ prayed to the Father. Today, rest in the knowledge that God, the Father, loves you with an everlasting love in Jesus' name. Go forth in by faith, believing in God's grace and mercy; and make disciples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

John 17:20-23

John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. 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.

As Christ expands his prayer for his disciples to include those who will believe in [him] through their message, He reveals the Father's plan to save all people. He has asked the Father to protect [the disciples] from the evil one; now He makes clear, as He has on other occasions, the inclusiveness of his loving kindness and tender mercies: My prayer is not for them alone. Lest his disciples think Christ is setting up a hierarchy with a chosen few at the top to rule in his name; Jesus prays for all who will believe in his message. He lets the disciples know this is the Word of Life they will impart to the world as He tells Father God: I have given them the glory that you gave me, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. Later on through the unction of the Spirit, Paul will also speak of Christ's sacrifice for all people and this ministry of reconciliation, assigned first to the apostles and then to the entire body: For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. . .Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 & 17-19) Jesus asks the Father for the mantle of oneness He wore on Earth to fall upon his ambassadors of love that the world may believe that you have sent me. Again we see the repetition of his words as He says: 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.

Jesus prayed for unity for the disciples and unity for those who would accept their message, so they would know that God loved them even as He loved his only begotten Son. The essence of Christianity remains unchangeable: faith in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross makes us eternally alive through the power of the Holy Spirit, acceptable to God forever. Christ's shed blood as the perfect Lamb ushers us into his family where we bear his name and share in his inheritance despite our former condition as prisoners to sin and death. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7) Through Christ, we come to know the Father, to believe the truth of the Word that they are one; consequently, we are NOW the Children of God, full of his grace and glory, standing in his perfection. Knowing all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), we do not come through our own good deeds or human attainments. We walk by faith because Christ's righteousness is our righteousness, his perfection replaces our imperfection. We tell a world lost in sin, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. . .But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:1 & 5-6) We do not look to people, traditions of men, or institutions for hope or for validation. Christ alone presents us blameless, HOLY, and acceptable to God!

Faith expressing itself through love takes on as many forms as there are members in the body of Christ. Everyone speaks of love; yet our actions and reactions often negate our words. Believers sometimes engage in foolish talk and spew outright vitriol at people or groups with whom we disagree or want to attack without apology. Did someone decide to blot out, Let your gentleness be known to all men (Philippians 4:5) because we can no longer agree to disagree peaceably? Are we feasting on God's Word or bitter fruit? John wrote, test the spirits to see whether they are from God. . .love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:1 &7-12) The Bible is consistent from the Old to the New Testament on loving our neighbors as ourselves. A neighbor is whoever God sends our way. Do we love our enemies, those who take advantage, hate or abuse us? Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18) LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman. (Psalm 15:1-3) We have received so much and have so much to give in return.

Jesus said: You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48) Though debased, humiliated, tortured, and forsaken; Christ died with loving words on his lips: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) Some believers shake their fists in the air, write angry letters, and utter all manner of evil against duly elected officials, knowing full well the Bible says honor those in authority. We seem to care more about ourselves than the poor and the needy, and we speak horrendous words against the alien in our midst when our forbearers all came from somewhere else. The LORD told his chosen people: Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt. If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you (Exodus 22:22-23 and 23: 2 & 9; Leviticus 25:35) Countless scriptures confirm God is love. Therefore, Paul writes, Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32) Yes, this is a strong breakfast, dearly beloved: strong food for strong soldiers of the cross.

John 17:13-16

John 17:13-16 I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

When Jesus, by the unction of the Holy Spirit, emphasizes an idea by saying it more than once in a brief time period, we should take note. He says, the world hates them because they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. Twenty-one words later, He repeats this phrase: surely the Father did not lose track. By talking to the Father, Jesus informs his beloved followers: This world is not your home: you are strangers in a foreign land. This describes your existence because you are not of the world any more than I am of the world. He does not ask the Father to deliver them from the world but to protect them from the evil one and to sanctify them by the truth, his Word! Jesus offers himself as the only Way to the Father, for He is the One who declared: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus completely fulfills the words of John the Baptist as he ushered in Christ's mission: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . .For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14:17) Jesus says what He must say while He is with his disciples that they might go forth with in the power of the Holy Spirit with the full measure of all the joy He has in him within them. He knows they are unprepared for the hatred they will face. Jesus knows they will overcome only through the power the Father has to bestow upon them as He fulfills his plan to take his the grace and truth to a fallen world in need of a Savior.

Christ's prayer to the Father should stir our hearts anew today as we ask ourselves: Are we truly in the world BUT not of the world? Do our actions and reactions, our words and activities, our time commitments and loyalties testify to that reality? Do our friends, relatives, and co-workers know we have a blessed hope burning in our hearts as we look for the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ? (Titus 2:13) Jesus, the Son of God, did not bring the Word of God: He is the Word. The Everlasting Word, the personification of the Father who was with God from the beginning, emptied himself and walked among human beings to reveal completely the divine nature and true perfection our Holy Father who loved us from the foundation of the World. Jesus, the man, demonstrated and expressed the truth of God (his reality, nature, and existence) by his words and his works, by always listening to the Father's voice and doing the Father's will. God sent the Son not only to forgive sin, which would have been beyond human imagination indeed; but also to bring us into an amazing faith relationship with him through Christ.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He [Jesus] had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

(Hebrews 1:1-4 NASB)

Faith in our risen Lord, the truth personified, sets us free from sin and death, allowing us to share our freedom with others since He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. (1 Peter 2:24 NASB) Jesus said, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36) We were not meant to clasp our deliverance and adoption into God's family as a secret. We should shout from the housetops: I AM FREE! Our spirits are no longer totally subject to carnal thinking and the evil dictates of this world any more than Jesus was of this world while He lived here. Jesus listened to and obeyed the Father's voice in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we wonder at the many complaints of American Christians as we overflow with blessings and benefits, even in our worst calamities. Under house arrest in Rome, Paul wrote: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) Paul arrived in chains in the city where he had hoped to move freely as an apostle; yet his letters overflow with joyful praises and encouragements to hear the truth and to walk as believers risen with Christ. Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4) Despite any temporary trials, WE WHO ARE IN CHRIST LIVE NOW AND FOREVER BECAUSE HE LIVES. As Christ truly sanctified himself to the Father, by his grace we should shine for him as living testimonies that God's Word is truth! We may stumble, but we should quickly arise, for we are not helpless or blind. As Paul told the Corinthians, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. (1 Corinthians 9:26) We must stand fast as committed children of God, sold-out to him, not wishy-washy, not faint-hearted. In truth we pledge: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)

John 17:1-12

John 17:1-12 “I have revealed you to 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. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

As Jesus continues speaking to the Father, he actually speaks to his disciples, restating obvious realities: He tells the Father what the Father most certainly knows, for He designed the plan and controls every element of Christ's existence. He does not require a reminder from the Son that everything Jesus received came from him. Father God knows Jesus gave people his words and they accepted them, knowing with certainty that Jesus came from God. Therefore, they believed God sent him. He knows everything Jesus is going to say about his disciples because Jesus and the Father are one, and God is omniscient, knows the beginning and the end: so why is Jesus praying this way at this time? He prays for the benefit of his disciples, the ones He is preparing for service. He wants them to realize the depth of his relationship with Father God and by extension, the depth of his relationship and his abiding love for them: I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. He is committing his beloved ones into the Father's hands and establishing the oneness between them and him: 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. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me.

Jesus name means Savior, God with us. When Mary was found to be with child by the power of the Holy Spirit, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream to reassure him, saying, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21) As Jesus asks the Father to protect his dear disciples, his words clearly reveal his mission to bring those who accept and follow him into oneness with God through the efficacy of his name: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13) Only Judas did not accept Jesus as the Son of God. He must have at least viewed Jesus as a good man, a miracle worker, or a prophet. Maybe he followed him as a chance to success or power in this life; whatever his reasons, he did not follow Jesus as his Lord. How could anyone sell the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver? Three years with Jesus did not open Judas' eyes to the divinity of Christ; yet he cared enough to experience bitter remorse and to take his own life after his terrible deed. After Jesus' death, resurrection, and the Day of Pentecost, the disciples experienced the fruit of Christ's loving prayer of commitment to the Father. We see them performing miracles, doing good works, and the phrase in the name of Jesus appears 13 times attached to their actions in Acts alone. One of our favorites: Then Peter said: Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. (Acts 3:6)

Far removed from the days of Christ, we still must believe in Jesus alone as our Way: our Way to peace and harmony with God and victory in our lives. Jesus alone is perfect, divine, holy, set apart, high and lifted up, at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us, as the gatekeeper to God's domain. Jesus revealed God's power, wisdom, and knowledge to the disciples. Eleven of them believed Jesus was from the Father: they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. They accepted Jesus' words: He knew the Father. However, in their fleshly state, without the promised fulness of the indwelling Holy Spirit, they lacked full awareness and complete understanding of the way of salvation, the cross, and the resurrection. After Pentecost, the Spirit opened their blind eyes to understand Christ's sacrifice on the cross, the price He paid for them that they might come alive in him with victory over sin and death, to arise in newness of life forevermore: HIS NEW CREATION! While Jesus was on Earth, He was the apostles' umbrella of protection. As He obeyed the Father completely, they were under his wing. Subsequent to the cross and the resurrection, the apostles came under the auspices of the Holy Spirit with amazing freedom from captivity to their former defeating fleshly weaknesses. The Holy Spirit lead his followers through their journey on Earth as they yielded to God's call. Under the Spirit's authority, we are no longer limited by our human abilities: we have power and authority through Christ in us by the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in grace in him, to come alive to serve him.

Do we struggle with insecurities, inclinations to do wrong; do we face trials, temptations? Yes! Does this mean God does not help us or protect us? No! He never leaves us, never forsakes us; we have an eternal everlasting protection; nothing can ever take that away. Jesus lost none of his disciples except Judas, who chose death over life. Storms of life happen to the just and the unjust: Jesus is in the boat. He is with us and the still small voice constantly guides us. All the disciples came under persecution for their faith. All but John probably lost their lives through acts of violence against them. Yet they could say with James, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4) And if we truly understood Christ's meaning when He said do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4), we would worry less about chance and happenstance, the cares of life, and be much more concerned about the Father's business, the ripe harvest field, hurting people in need of our help. We must believe the memory verses we quote and feed upon them as the bread of life, trusting the LORD with all our hearts, leaning not on our own understanding as in all our ways we acknowledge Him. Then He would be more free to direct our paths. We pray this in the powerful and precious name of Jesus. May He abundantly bless you today and perfect the good work He has begun in you, for we who are IN CHRIST ARE NOW ONE WITH GOD because of the Spirit's work in us!

John 17:1-5

John 17:1-5 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

In the days before his death, Jesus has been building a strong foundation of faith in his disciples' hearts. He tells them several times not to be afraid. Jesus says He is going to prepare a place for them and in his Father’s house are many rooms. When they ask where He is going, He says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He shows them the way to live victoriously through faith as the way to the Father: If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He tells them He will send the Holy Spirit to give them power and authority over sin, to bring all that He has taught them to fruition in their lives, and to fill them with resurrection life: When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. Jesus came to glorify the Father by bringing many children to his household. Therefore, He also tells them He understands they expected him to rule and reign as head of an earthly kingdom giving them positions of power in the present age, but He came as a sacrificial lamb to offer himself for the sins of all mankind. And He asks his disciples to forsake all else and to follow him to the cross, to become his love servants, soldier of the cross who would face tribulations for the sake of the gospel: They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. He knows they will leave him for a little while at the time of his death because they lack strength in themselves to resist the evil one, so He warns them ahead of time. They cannot believe such events will happen, and even though He is frustrated with them at times, He comforts them, saying: But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (Re-read John chapters 14-16 for these scriptures.)

Now in the last moments before He goes away, Jesus turns his face to the Father, the One He serves, the One He loves above all else, the One He obeys and gives all his allegiance to in all He says and does, saying, Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. All who believe in Jesus up to this very day believe in the Father God as Creator of all things, and all who believe in Jesus as the Christ have eternal life because Christ obeyed the Father. Just as Jesus turned to the Father and sought his will, so do we. We look to the Father, for where else would we go for the words of life? HE IS OUR LIFE: He gave us life THROUGH THE SON. The salvation message starts and ends with the Father who sent his only begotten Son that just as Jesus said: he (Jesus) might give eternal life to all those you (God) have given him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Jesus received authority from Father God over all men SO that WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM might have eternal life. No man can have eternal life with the Father outside of Christ's redemptive work on the cross. Faith in Jesus and his fulfillment of God's new covenant with his creation makes us one with the Father and unites us with Christ in his death and resurrection. As his blood-bought children, we are adopted into God's family; subsequently, we cry Abba Father, and as children of God we accept his holy calling upon our lives. We gladly yield to his will and follow him.

All who believe in Jesus as their Savior find assurance in God as their Father. Since He is our Father, we have confidence He hears and answers our prayers and petitions in the name of his Son. Jesus is glorified in the presence of God because the Father honors his salvation work and accepts his sacrifice for all sin forever. Many scriptures confirm this relationship. We have read Christ's own confirming words throughout John, but we find evidence of our security in Christ throughout the Bible. We often point people who are struggling to Romans, especially chapter eight. People often quote, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but to make those words our own, we must also believe: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:1 & 35-39) As Mom likes to say, "We know what a conqueror is, but through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit alive in us, we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS!" That puts us in the category of radical faith, sold-out believing, no whining, no but's added, no questions or doubts attached: I have decided to follow Jesus, and I am not turning back. I am going to say to God, "May my life glorify you!" I am going to pray this prayer in faith by the power of the Spirit at work in me: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21) Bless you beloved of God!