"Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You, just as You gave Him authority over all mankind, so that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth by accomplishing the work which You have given Me to do. And now You, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed.
I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your word. Now they have come to know that everything which You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on the behalf of those whom You have given Me, because they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer going to be in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. Just as You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word," John 17:1-20 NASB
Did you know and realize that Jesus prayed for you? Read that last sentence from John.
Read through that passage again. How many times did you see the word sanctify?
When our prayers involve God's sanctification in our lives answers to prayer certainly become more powerful and are answered faster than others.
We read in the news the battle over the unborn. It's not some matter of choice! Satan's been murdering from the time of Adam and Eve. When Jesus was born he put it in the mind of Herod to kill babies to try to get to Jesus.
Read what Jesus says of the importance of children in Matthew.
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him among them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. So whoever will humble himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!
And if your hand or your foot is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or without a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell.
See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 18:1-10 NASB
Look further at the words of Jesus speaking to the will of God concerning children.
"“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go and search for the one that is lost? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven for one of these little ones to perish." Matthew 18:12-14 NASB That last line...what is not the will of God.
God's Will isn't that He be your chauffeur. It isn't that He become your personal Genie, to grant you your wishes, your every hearts desire. It isn't even really to make every day perfect.
God's Will is for believers is the same now as it was in the beginning of the Church. Our sanctification. If your life isn't what is reflecting that, then honestly, what in the world are you doing? If groaning to God all the time is what you want to do but don't? Why? Why aren't you pouring out your heart to God? Why aren't you seeking sanctification in your life?
I know of many believers who don't pour out their hearts to Jesus, complain about their life's problems, yet would rather wallow in their misery than find out what God can do about it.
There's excuses to not ask. Fear of what changes God might do. Really?
When we came to Christ Jesus for salvation we told Him we would listen, we would go, we would do, whatever He wants us to for His Kingdom because of all He did to save us.
There are no exceptions nor exclusions. We pray what He prayed, His Kingdom come, His Will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven. Sounds pretty simple to me.
The words of Jesus in praying for our sanctification seems straightforward enough.
Coming to Christ as a child seems straightforward enough.
Putting His Will before ours seems straightforward enough.
We read of the Will of God in bearing one another’s burdens.
We read of the will of God in reconciliation of believers back to living in God's grace and mercy.
We read...ahhh...there's the point. Are you reading your Bible or have you been avoiding it because you know what it says?
If you are saved and are reluctant to ask God to intervene in your life for your sanctification, your most important question that I would ask you is "why?". You trusted Jesus with saving you from the penalty and power of sin and death. Why aren't you trusting Jesus for how your life pans out?
Why don't you help those in need? Why do you keep to yourself rather than meet with other believers to grow in Christ? Why do you stress about life rather than go to Jesus to give your situation to Him to deal with? Do you pray for the unborn who are important to God? Do you seek His Will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven? Do you try to live life seeking your own pleasure and desires or do you at all seek what Jesus is after?
My greatest struggles were actually and are actually fighting against the Will of God.
Jesus said that the Spirit would teach us all things. Teaching is one thing, but what good is teaching if you don't practice it?
Our lives are not our own. Jesus paid for them with His very blood.
We don't have to look far to see what God's Will is. We just need to do it.
We need to gripe less to others and take our problems to the One who can do something about it.
We need to show the world more Jesus in us than us in us.
Being doers of the Word and not hearers only.
God empowered the Church to be able to pull back people from the gates of Hell by the power of God.
God empowered believers to live the Will of God by the power of the resurrected Christ Jesus.
Bemoaning your life rather than choosing to DO God's Will for it will change it for the good, forever. Seeking your own sanctification in Christ Jesus will transform your life, not leave it in the muck of this world. Your rewards in Heaven are based in obedience to the Will of God, never on what you did for you.
Start today in seeking first the Will of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment