Daily Reading: John 17
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word... For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them. (John 17.6, 8)
Devotional Thought: I love to hear passionate prayers! In John 17 we are able to listen in on Jesus - the most passionate pray-er ever! - praying. As Jesus prayed, he first reminded God what he had done. It is OK to remind God of what he already knows! One of the wonderful things of conversation is to tell and to hear the stories we already know!
Then Jesus said, "I have manifested your name." Not only did Jesus recount to God what God knew, he also revealed God to his disciples. If we want to know who God is, we need to look at Jesus Christ. God is holy love; he is sacrificing service; he is perfect friendship; he is compassionate service.
And just how did Jesus reveal God to his disciples? "I have given them the words that you gave me." Over the course of 3 years, he spent hours upon hours with the disciples, teaching and applying the Old Testament. The Word was not always easy to swallow. The Kingdom brought many unanticipated demands. But Jesus gave them the Word.
Finally, Jesus said that the revelation of himself was complete only as it was accepted: "and they have received them." The transaction of faith is not complete with simply hearing the Truth about Jesus. We must believe the truth, and as Jesus said in verse 6, obey the truth. Obedience and faith are two sides of the same coin, two expressions of the same reality. So many today want to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the way of salvation, but when it comes to obeying him they don’t want anything to do with that! It just doesn't work that way.
So, "Let us pray!"
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for being the perfect example of prayer, teaching me how I can communicate with God. And also, thank you for praying for me even now, making intercession for me at the right hand of the Father. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: 37.34-40
34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man, spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.
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