May 15, 2018 Tuesday

““I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. “Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. “For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” (John 17:6-10 NKJV)

            Jesus who is the Living Word of God declares He has manifested God’s name to those Jesus has been given.  Jesus would declare to the disciples if you have seen me you have seen the Father.  We may struggle understanding how the Trinity works, how God can die or how God communicates within the Trinity but we can know in the life of Jesus we see God!

            The writings of Jesus as the Living Word were written by some of those given to Jesus and have become the written word we call the Bible.  Through the words Jesus passed on to us we receive not just the plan but the planner also.

             Then there is a statement which seems so unlike Jesus to us.  When Jesus promised to pray for those who come from God that may make us feel good but when Jesus refuses to pray for the world you may be astounded!

            How does this statement fit in with your view of Jesus?  The more certain we are about our view of God the more likely we are to be wrong!  As human beings we like to be able to understand, to know or even to “guestimate” but with God that is not possible.

            For though we desperately need a God bigger than us and our problems we still try to shrink God down to a manageable size or make God a “large” human being.  Could that be why many are disappointed with God and cannot really look to God for help and sustenance?

            Jesus does not pray for, but proclaims the unity of God and with us!  Those who are BC, or Before Christ, looked to God and those who came during the time of Jesus and after (AD or Anno Domini – year of the Lord) are united into one just as God is one!

            Where are you within this unity?  Do you belong to Jesus or do you belong to the world?  Are you seeking to unify yourself with God and other people who believe in Jesus or are you seeking your own way and cutting yourself off from the unity Jesus came to bring?