Page 13 - Living Light Spring 2024

THIS WEEK’S BIBLE INSIGHTS ARE BY:
Becky Harcourt and are based on John 17:20-26 (NIV)
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THIS WEEK’S MAJOR THEME:
John 1:1-16 & Philippians 2:5-11
20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one –
23I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Sunday March 10 - Jesus prays for us
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in
me through their message...” John 17:20
As we begin this week, I want to acknowledge that sometimes it can seem as if God is far away, and disinterested in us and our lives. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. God is close and very interested in every aspect of our lives, because we matter to him more than we realise.
One way we know this is true is that shortly before going to the cross, Jesus took the time to pray for us – for you and for me – and over the next six days we’re focusing on that prayer that John recorded for us.
Here we see that Jesus moves from praying for his disciples to praying for those who would believe in him through hearing their message. His primary concern is that we would be one, as he and the Father are one; that we would be united so that we can display Jesus’ glory, in order that others would also come to know that God cares about and is close to them.
That is why Jesus came to earth, after all – not to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17), and he wants as many to be rescued as possible. From every tribe, tongue and nation, across the generations, Jesus wants all to encounter and receive his grace, and that includes you and me.
Jesus, thank you for praying for me. Help me to grow in your glory and in unity with all your children across the world. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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