Jesus's Prayer

John 17
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

To sanctify something means to make it clean and even "holy". How on earth does one acquire holiness? You get it into you through the WORD. That's how. You don't have to say, "Hail Marys" or beat yourself on the back with a whip or fast for forty days. Just read the Word. Then, you'll be HOLY.

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Think of sanctification like a dish that needs to get washed. You're the dish and you need to be washed and set aside for future use. Once you sit down and feed on the Word, your soul gets washed a little cleaner. The light shines in there and you start to see areas you need to improve on. God speaks to you through his Word.

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Finishing up Chapter 16 of John

John 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

It's interesting to note here that God loves us because we love Jesus and believe He is from God. That must mean that our own personal faith can actually draw God's love to us. Yet, at the same time, our own personal faith comes from God, if we ask Him for it!

28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

It may not seem like it to you. It may not seem like it to your physical existence, but Jesus has overcome all the wiles of the devil/Satan/Lucifer and all his little minions. They have no power before the name of Jesus Christ. They fall down and blow away whenever we praise God or say, "hallelujah".

"We walk by faith and not by sight." We walk by faith. Faith is so important. It is a gift from God, that's true, yet we must willingly make the decision to accept it and use it. We must decide to put our faith in God. Make sure you have chosen the correct God of gods and Lord of lords and King of kings. Accept no substitutes!

Then, once you have received Jesus as your very own personal Saviour and King, ask him for faith for greater things. God is only limited by our faith or lack thereof. There is no limit to what God can do if we will let Him! With God all things are possible.

Do you believe it?

Legalism

It's easy to fall into legalism, especially if you're human. Remember when you were a kid on the playground at school and everything had to be "fair"? It had to be fair according to your standards, right? It seems to be part of a kid's duty to make sure everyone is being fair. Kids are outraged and shocked by cheaters. They are appalled by liars. They can hardly even comprehend dishonesty.

Somewhere along the line, time causes a blur in the fairness barometer and the 'truth' becomes a bit cloudy. We make a lot of compromises growing up and learn how to excuse our mistakes.

"I was stuck in traffic." or "Tell them I'm not home." Our human condition is such that we find it necessary to prop ourselves up from time to time with a little "white" lie.

Then, suddenly we become born-again. We find the Truth. We are examples to the world of what a true Christian should be. In our zeal to uphold our Christian example, we allow self-righteousness to take over.

Instead of throwing ourselves on the mercy and righteousness of God, we try to pull ourselves up by our own boot-straps in order to present an unblemished picture of Christ to the world. Without realizing it, we allow the devil in through legalism and self-righteousness.

It's hard to know when we are doing it. Legalism seemed to be the curse of the pharisees who went to great lengths to make sure that they were giving ten percent of their herbs to God but failed to have love and mercy on their congregation.

Today I was talking to a friend about prayer and he insisted that one had to be taught the "proper" way to pray. He said that you had to say certain words first and "get in the spirit" or "bring down the spirit" before praying together.

Things like that that prevent you from freely talking to Jesus, as you would talk to one of your best friends, is an example of legalism. There are no rules for praying. Just do it. Talk.

He also mentioned that they'd taught him at his church how to read the Bible: one word at a time.

Well, that may be fine for you, but, to me, that's just too much. Yes, meditate on what you're reading. Think about it and digest it, by all means. But, if legalism is hampering you from opening up your Bible to freely read it, skip the rules!

If there are rules about "how to pray" and "how to read the Bible", then why didn't Jesus tells us how?

When His disciples asked Jesus how to pray, He gave them the Lord's Prayer. That's a wonderful prayer that generally covers everything. But, our relationship with God requires more than a memorized prayer.

Just talk to Jesus. He already knows your heart. He knows your thoughts before you even speak to Him.

Just read the Bible. It has words in it that form sentences and each sentence forms a thought. Don't struggle in the flesh, trying to squeeze deep meanings out of one single word at a time. Be blessed by it. Be fed by it. Get a good dose of it to keep your spirit satisfied throughout the day.

The enemy of our souls has lots of tricks up his sleeve and I bet he'd do anything to keep us from talking to God and from reading the Word. He wants to make it complicated and shroud it in mysterious legalism, making you think you have to go to Bible college for four years before you can begin to understand how to pray or how to read the Bible.

Give. Me. A. Break.

John 16 continued...

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you,
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
17 Than said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?
20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Several times, in the book of John, Jesus tells us to ask. He wants us to ask for stuff. He wants us to ask for answers, for healing, for wisdom, for the Spirit, for knowledge and for all of our needs. So, make a list and check it twice. Whether you're naughty or nice, you will get your prayers answered according to your faith and how much you keep asking!

Suit Up!

A previously Muslim believer who has become a follower of Christ, told us his story of how a man from his country chased him down and threw petrol over him with the intention of setting him on fire. Thankfully, his enemy's plans failed as a Policeman came on the scene.

This particular man hasn't even really gone all the way over into the Lord's court. He's sort of on the fence. And, let me tell you, that's a very dangerous place to be.

Once you do make a decision for Christ, don't be surprised to discover that you have joined the Lord's Army. It's not a piece of cake. Christians don't get to sit around eating cake all day. -- Oops, you saw a bunch of Christians sitting around eating cake? Hmmm...

It's not that cake eating is totally forbidden.

But, what I'm trying to emphasize here is that, becoming a believer in Jesus means you have become a soldier. There are spiritual battles to fight. In fact, every day is a battle. Every day, the enemy of your soul is sitting on the edge of your bed, waiting for you to wake up in the morning so that he can throw everything he's got at you.

Having said that, let me just say this: He has absolutely no power or weapon against you that cannot be struck down instantly by the powerful name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. The devil's only power is in fear.

"Well," you say, "Fear is powerful, isn't it?"

No! Not if you don't accept it. Let it roll off you like water off a duck's back. Wanna know how to get a duck's slippery back?

THE WORD.

Yes, folks, the devil's only power is in making you believe he has power. Therefore, don't listen to him. Don't let him scare you or bluff you. He has no power at all in the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.

You are saved. If you are a believer, you have eternal life. You are covered by the blood of Jesus. The battle for your soul has been won. The devil is totally defeated. He just won't accept the truth, that's all. He wants to convince you that he still has influence over you, but he does not.

Still, the war is raging in the spirit world. If you're sensitive at all in the spirit, you'll feel it. But, know that the archangels are leading their legions into the victory that they already know is theirs. Hard to understand?

Why do we need to fight if the battle has already been won?

We fight because there are others of our brothers and sisters out there that haven't heard the message yet. There are others, too, who haven't made a decision for Christ. Some are in bondage to the dark lies of the devil. Some are listening full blast to the preachments of Satan. Many more are deceived. We must set them free.

Now that we know the truth, it's our duty to pass it on. That's what the "punk" is trying to prevent you from doing. He hates it when you share your faith. So, keep sharing your faith, because we love to torment Satan.

A Legal, Binding Contract

The Bible is God’s contract with us. - With you. He has put your name at the beginning and signed His name at the end. He is legally bound to you to fulfill His part of that contract.

For the most part, His part of the contract has already been fulfilled. He has fulfilled His obligation by dying on the cross for your sins. It’s up to you to claim the rights written in your contract. You might call it the “fringe benefits”. They are all yours to claim.

What is a contract?

In business, two businesses or two people draw up a legal document which stipulates their duties to each other. Party number one agrees to deliver such-and-such at such-and-such a time and place under certain conditions, etc. If the duties are not fulfilled, there are conditions within the contract to be followed. It is advisable for both parties to fully read all the “fine print” to make sure they are in agreement with all the conditions they sign up for.

Now, in the case of our contract with God, since God is our business partner, we are obligated to Him as well as Him being obligated to us. In which case, don’t you think it would be wise to read the contract? Wouldn’t you want to know what it says? - What your part of the deal is?

The Bible says, “The Word of God is quick (alive) and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword!” (Hebrews 4:12a)

This contract has the power to change your life and the life of all those around you. Do you believe it? When you enter into the contract, you put your life on the line and you get a new life in exchange!

Not your usual business contract, is it? Who would you say benefits the most? Well, in order to find out for sure, I guess you’d have to read the contract.

Some of us are afraid to read it for fear of what our obligations might be. We may be called on to take the Gospel to China or Africa. We may be asked to give of ourselves and our income. There may be arduous and harsh demands put upon us.

On the other hand, we willingly throw ourselves into slavery and harsh demands for money. We lay down our lives to earn a living to support our family. We get up at the crack of dawn, spend time in traffic, donate our entire day to someone else (sometimes without seeing the sun all day) and return home exhausted and drained. And, for what?

Meanwhile, Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Do you see the difference? What employer ever says that to his employees? Are you friends with your boss? (Or, if you’re a boss, are you friends with your employees?)

Jesus said, “I have called you friends, for whatsoever I have heard of My Father, I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15)

We, little old humans, are God’s friends! The Creator of the entire universe is our Friend. Can you even begin to imagine how vast the universe is? It boggles the human mind. Just as the greatness of God boggles our finite minds. How can a finite mind fathom the infinite, eternal God, Who lives everywhere at once? (He can do that because He is not bound by time or even by space in the way that we are.)

Don’t try to wrap your puny mind around God or ask the childish question, “Who created God?” Come on. Haven’t we gotten past all that by now? Do you really expect to fit the answer to that question inside of a human, fleshly brain that was built by God for use in this earthly existence?

Come on! Your brain wasn’t made for grasping eternal concepts. Can you even understand how a computer works? We haven’t even scratched the surface of how the human body works and these are things within our “realm”.

“Infinity and beyond” is a math concept. You have to stretch your imagination to even believe that there is such a thing as eternity. I’m pretty sure the idea came from God. So, it must be true.

Back to the contract. There are agreements within the contract. You are not obligated to enter into the contract at all, if you choose to ignore it. However, since the universe is guided by God, it would certainly be wise to go into business with the Provider of all things, the Father of us all, the King of Kings, the Bread of Life, the Great Creator and the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Lord. Wouldn’t it?

You can just make a onetime transaction for your own salvation, if that’s all you want. You can claim the saving grace of the blood of the Lamb, say, “Thank You very much,” and walk away. You can do that.

It would be weird. It would be like falling in love with someone and then being satisfied with only one kiss before leaving them behind. But, you can do that, if you like.

On the other hand, you might want to consider first what you’d be walking away from. If a business partner offered you a profit of two million dollars per annum, would you walk away? You might, depending on the requirements, but I think you’d at least take a look at the offer, wouldn’t you?

My advice is: Shake hands with your Maker.  Accept His free gift of salvation. Read the contract. And sign on the dotted line.

What have you got to gain?

Got Faith?

According to the Bible, a lack of faith is sin. It’s not just a choice we are allowed to make that doesn’t carry any consequences. Our unbelief is actually sin. I think it must be like slapping God across the face to say that you don’t believe in Him!

Non-believers, evolutionists, atheists and agnostics may think it's crazy to have faith in God. But, in God’s eyes, it’s the other way around. 

In fact, it’s correct to say that the non-believer is “insane” because the word “insane” means: “off center”. Therefore, without God as your “Center”, you are insane.

I’m not trying to offend anyone. I just think it’s time to look at things the way they really are. The way things really are:

We are born. We live. We die.

Now, everybody will agree to the first two concepts. It’s the final one that’s hard to accept. Death is when you cash in your chips. You give an account of your life on this planet. You trade in your skin for whatever you hope to get “on the other side”, right?

I have heard people say that Christians only believe in God because they want to believe there’s something after this life. Part and parcel with a lack of faith in God is the lack of faith in the after-life.

Personally, I find it astounding that anyone could believe that there is nothing after this life. You are squashed like a bug. You are “gone”. Everything you ever said or did just ends here. You are finished. Flat. Poof. No more. Adios. (Whoops! That means, “Go with God”, so I can’t even say that!) You’re zero.

Oh, but, you can become part of, you know, a plant or a tree, perhaps even a blade of grass. Your physical body will contribute its decaying ash to the continuation of life here in this “reality”. (OMG.)

Ok, but seriously, who can believe that there is nothing after this life? How (dare I say) insane is that?

In order for there to be nothing, it would systematically mean (to me anyway) that there is no purpose for “being” here. There is no reason to learn anything. There is no reason to keep any of the “rules” or order of things, to maintain decency or credibility in any form or on any level in any dealings, business or personal. In fact, no reason to stay alive for another day!

Life without an afterlife is a joke! In fact, it’s a bad joke. What would be the purpose for life, then?

I’m talking about non-believers who have no faith whatsoever that a God exists. They throw out their faith. It’s of no value to them. They refuse to believe in anything they cannot see, touch, hear, taste or smell. To them, faith is silly. It’s for children.

Speaking of children: what’s wrong with children? What’s wrong with being like a child? Kids are great! Look around you! Take a look at the world around you and tell me,

“Who can you trust? Who is having the most fun? Who are the most honest, down-to-earth earthlings there are?”

Try, if you will, to remember what it was like to be a child. Does the phrase, “don’t worry, be happy” come to mind? For many of us, childhood was carefree, upbeat, fun and full of new, exciting experiences.

And, whoever you are now, I bet you dollars to donuts that you had faith when you were a child. All you unbelievers, scoffers and so-called “atheists”, you all had it! You needed it to survive your childhood.

But, as time went on, you discovered that you were pretty smart. You learned the ropes. You learned how to provide for yourself. You put yourself to sleep at night (without a bed-time story). You got yourself off to work in the morning. You learned how to drive a car.

To you, all this could only mean one thing: there is no God!

Pffftt!

Whenever I have asked the "non-believer" why we are here, I get the craziest answers. If they even have an answer for the question, it's usually something like,

"It just happened." or, "We evolved."

Ok, if we "evolved", what is the purpose of having evolved? Why families? Why survival? Why right and wrong? Why friends and relationships? Why years and years of learning? 

If anyone can honestly say that they do not believe in God, what is their purpose for living? 

"The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." Psalm 14:1