He was preparing to step away from the earth. Return home. He was praying for His beloved disciples. He was interceding on their behalf to His Father in heaven. His Father and their Father too. Our Father. The creator. The One who sent Jesus to lead us back home. Show us the way.
Jesus loved them. He had lived among them for about three years. He ate with them. He taught them. He showed them, by example, how to live lives with God at the center. He assured them that a comforter was coming to fill the void His leaving would cause. The Holy Spirit would remind them daily, of the way to walk. He would comfort them in sorrow. Intercede when they couldn’t find the words to pray.
The task that lay before them was going to be very difficult. They were going to be hated and mocked for their belief in Jesus. They were going to be tortured and die because of their unwavering belief that he was the Messiah. Hatred is rising and mockery to a degree. The torture and suffering up until this point has been in distant lands, but friends, it is coming. Believers were recently murdered sitting around a table praying over one who came to the prayer table dressed in sheep’s clothing. Evil sat down before godly people and did evil. Here. Here in our homeland.
He wasn’t praying just for those first disciples and converts. His prayer took in every believer from the moment He began His ministry until the moment that He returns for His children. If you are a believer in Christ this morning, then His prayer was for you. If you are not, He is waiting for You to let Him in.
Be ready to give testimony of the difference Jesus made in your life. There are people wandering in the wilderness who are going to become weary and hungry. Like the prodigal son, they will get a dose of the world that will leave them yearning to return to the Father’s love. He will run to meet them. Rejoicing will begin for the one who has come home.
~Thought For Today~
Jesus doesn’t know the hour of His return. That is God’s business. But He knows just about everything else. He sees us now. He sees the labor of our days. He knows what troubles us. He sees our sorrow. He can relate to criticism. He can relate to mockery. He can relate to torture. He came because evil was here. He came to give notice that folly, revelry and sin will have a time to show itself but an end will come. That was settled on the cross. He wins! Because He wins, believers in Christ the world over will win.
We might be a bit more convincing if we didn’t squabble over the small things and unite with the one thing we have in common. Jesus Christ and His shed blood. There is no salvation without Christ. His desire, as He prayed, was that we may all be one. There is strength and power in numbers. Satan figured out a long time ago that division causes weakness.
~Scripture For Today~
John 17:20
20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. (NASB)
~Prayer For Today~
Hello Father! We pray for hearts that love. We pray for interceding prayers against the evil in the world. Father, we pray for those who find themselves in a difficult situations this morning. Jesus is the answer. Forgive us of our sins. In Jesus’ name. Amen
©2015 Kathy Ledbetter. All Rights Reserved.