Good day dear friends.
Our text for today comes from John 17: 6 I spelled out your character in detail To the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place; Then you gave them to me, And they have now done what you said. 7 They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, That everything you gave me is firsthand from you, 8 For the message you gave me, I gave them; And they took it, and were convinced That I came from you. They believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world But for those you gave me, For they are yours by right. 10 Everything mine is yours, and yours mine, And my life is on display in them. 11 For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world; They'll continue in the world While I return to you. Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life That you conferred as a gift through me, So they can be one heart and mind 12 As we are one heart and mind. As long as I was with them, I guarded them In the pursuit of the life you gave through me; I even posted a night watch. And not one of them got away, Except for the rebel bent on destruction (the exception that proved the rule of Scripture). 13 Now I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing So my people can experience My joy completed in them. 14 I gave them your word; The godless world hated them because of it, Because they didn't join the world's ways, 15 Just as I didn't join the world's ways. I'm not asking that you take them out of the world But that you guard them from the Evil One. 16 They are no more defined by the world Than I am defined by the world. 17 Make them holy - consecrated - with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. 18 In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. 19 I'm consecrating myself for their sakes So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission. (The Message)
Yesterday I missed my Mom terribly. She's been gone now for nine years. I am blessed with a wonderful wife whose mother also has been gone now for more years than mine, and she misses her on Mother's Day as well. But what I miss about my Mom was that she was, during my college years, the one I could call and ask for specific prayer requests that I had. I knew she would share those with my Dad and that both of them would pray for me. This in the days of long distance charges, mind you! Those charges would get larger during the ends of semesters; I wonder why... I know some of you are saying, couldn't you pray for yourself? Yes, I could and did. And I had others praying for me, but to know your Mom is praying for you is special. Since I met and married Nellie, she's my Chief-Prayer-Person, and she prays for me all the time and I am blessed as a result. But this passage is about Jesus praying for me and praying for you.
This passage is Jesus' long prayer. He taught us the Lord's Prayer, but John 17 is a passage about Jesus sharing openly and painfully that which was on His heart as His date on the cross approached. The care and compassion for you and me is reflected in that prayer. The purpose of His earthly ministry is shared there, and His desire for us to carry on is also shared that. And I believe it is a prayer that never stops. Jesus' love for you and me knows no end and neither does his prayer for us.
May we be blessed with new strength and hope knowing that we are prayed for. Nothing can come against us, we cannot be preyed on if we're prayed for, especially by Jesus! Live accordingly!
PRAYER: Loving God, may the words of Jesus' prayer bring blessing to me and those who read this prayer as their own today and all days. Many are the times we find ourselves weak and in need of receiving that which only You can provide. Give us strength and hope to live lives that transform others; in the name of He who prayed for us, Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
