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The Word of God says:

Ephesians 3:10-13 (NIV)
¹⁰ His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
¹¹ according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
¹² In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
¹³ I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

My reflections on the Word of God:

The mystery of the church has a profound impact upon the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. These heavenly beings stand in awe and amazement at what God is doing in the church through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 3:10 (NLT)
¹⁰ God’s purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church.

God’s plan of salvation for sinful man is a great and glorious plan, and through Jesus Christ, God purpose is to show His love and wisdom to the whole universe. The heavenly beings are getting the opportunity, during this time when Christ is building His church, to observe what is going on.

Romans 11:33 (ESV)
³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 14:11 (ESV)
¹¹ for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV)
⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I praise and thank You for the greatness and the goodness of Your divine love and wisdom that You have demonstrated by what You have done to provide the means of our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is no wonder that Your glorious grace causes the heavenly beings to look with awe and amazement at what You are doing in building a temple with Your own hands and for Your own glory.

2 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)
⁹ It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus.

The Word of God says:

 John 17:25-26 (NASB77)
²⁵ “O righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee, yet I have known Thee; and these have known that Thou didst send Me;
²⁶ and I have made Thy name known to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.”  

My reflections on the Word of God:

Today, we come to the end of our walk together through the high priestly prayer of Jesus for himself, his disciples, and for all of His future followers. A review of some of the key verses will reveal the priorities of Jesus.

John 17:24 (NASB77)
²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.

John 17:17 (NASB77)
¹⁷ “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.

John 17:11 (NASB77)
¹¹ “And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.  

In these key verses we see the priorities of Jesus for His believing children. He prayed that they might participate in His glory. He prayed for their sanctification. Lastly, He prayed for their perseverance and unity.

The prayer is so rich with the things that we need most in our lives to be pleasing to our heavenly Father. This prayer is sure to be answered, and so will our prayers if we pattern them after the prayers of Jesus. Oh that the priorities of my prayers would become the priorities of His prayers for me.

 John 11:42 (NASB77)
⁴² “And I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me.”  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I praise and thank You for the rich treasure of truth that we find in this high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus. Father God, I pray that the priorities in the prayer life of Jesus for me would become the priorities of my prayers for others and for me.

1 John 5:14 (NASB77)
¹⁴ And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Blest Be the Tie That Binds (Click on link below for lyrics and midi):

 Blest Be The Tie That Binds - MIDI and Lyrics - Sacred Hymns - Bible Study Charts.com - Free MIDI Hymns

The Word of God says:

 John 17:25-26 (NIV)
²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
²⁶ I 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.”  

My reflections on the Word of God:

Today we will reflect upon the last of the four testimonies that Jesus spoke of with His heavenly Father as Jesus concludes His high priestly prayer. One of the previous testimonies that we pondered was the testimony of Jesus that He knew God. Today we shall ponder the testimony of the faithfulness of Jesus.

Let us look at what the scriptures says about the faithfulness of Jesus. First, read again verse twenty six in our focal passage. In this verse Jesus said, “I have made you known to them”. Jesus was faithful to declare and reveal God.

 John 14:6 (NIV)
⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  

Looking again at our focal passage and verse twenty six we see the faithfulness of Jesus and His purpose for coming into the world, which He reports to the Father by saying, “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”.

The purpose of Jesus during His earthly ministry and today is that people may know the love of God, and have the love of God dwelling in them.

 John 17:23 (NIV)
²³ I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I praise and thank You for the faithfulness of Jesus. It is no wonder that what You said about Him as He launched His earthly ministry continued throughout His earthly ministry.

 Mark 1:11 (NIV)
¹¹ And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  

Great is Thy Faithfulness (Click on link below for lyrics and midi):

 http://www.biblestudycharts.com/SH_Great_Is_Thy_Faithfulness.html

The Word of God says:

 John 17:25-26 (HCSB)
²⁵ Righteous Father! The world has not known You. However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me.
²⁶ I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them.  

My reflections on the Word of God:

We have been examining the four testimonies that Jesus used to conclude His high priestly prayer. Today our focus is on the third of the four testimonies. The testimony of the believers of every age said Jesus to His Father in heaven, “These have known that You sent Me”.

This is not the first time that Jesus has mentioned this truth. Earlier we have seen that He prayed for Himself, for His disciples, and for all believers by extension.

 John 17:5-8 (HCSB)
⁵ Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.
⁶ I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
⁷ Now they know that all things You have given to Me are from You,
⁸ because the words that You gave Me, I have given them. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me.  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I praise and thank You that what Jesus reported to You about His believers knowing where He came from, can also be said about me because I believe the testimony of the Word that the Father sent the Son into the world to do the will of the Father who sent Him.

Father God, help us by Your divine power to share with others the goodnews that the Father sent the Son into the world to do the work of the Father.

Freely, Freely (Click on link below for lyrics and midi):

 http://www.viadecristo.lv/eng/brivi1.html

The Word of God says:

 John 17:25-26 (HCSB)
²⁵ Righteous Father! The world has not known You. However, I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me.
²⁶ I made Your name known to them and will make it known, so the love You have loved Me with may be in them and I may be in them.  

My reflections on the Word of God:

Today we continue to look at this passage that concludes the high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. We noted yesterday that Jesus concludes his prayer not with a request, but with a testimony. There are four aspects to this testimony, and today we will look at the second aspect to this testimony.

The first testimony is the testimony of the world, which we focused on yesterday, and today we look at the testimony of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is that He knew God. He was eternal and had always existed with God. Jesus was the Son of God. He was then, He is now, and He shall always be the Son of God.

 Matthew 11:27 (HCSB)
²⁷ All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal Him.  

John 7:29 (HCSB)
²⁹ I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

John 8:55 (HCSB)
⁵⁵ You’ve never known Him, but I know Him. If I were to say I don’t know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word.

John 10:15 (HCSB)
¹⁵ as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep.

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I praise and thank You for the testimony of Jesus that He knew You and that He came from You. I praise and thank You that Jesus knew You, and that You knew Him, and that because of Jesus, I can say that I know Jesus and I know the Father because of Him.

The Word of God says:

 John 17:25-26 (NASB77)
²⁵ “O righteous Father, although the world has not known Thee, yet I have known Thee; and these have known that Thou didst send Me;
²⁶ and I have made Thy name known to them, and will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou didst love Me may be in them, and I in them.”  

My reflections on the Word of God:

Jesus concludes His prayer not with a request, but with a testimony. There are four aspects to this testimony, and we will look at each one of them starting today, and for the next three days.

The first testimony is the testimony of the world. Jesus reported to the Father that the world did not know God the Father. The world should have known the Father because Jesus was the revelation of the Father.

 John 14:9-10 (NASB77)
⁹ Jesus * said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
¹⁰ “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.  

All who saw Jesus saw God. Yet the world rejected Him, and refused to know Him. Notice how the scripture speaks of the world’s rejection of Jesus and the Father.

 John 15:24 (NASB77)
²⁴ “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.  Romans 10:3 (NASB77)
³ For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Ephesians 4:18 (NASB77)
¹⁸ being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, I praise and thank You that You have provided for us and for the whole world the revelation showing who You are through the life and death of Jesus, and through Your holy and divinely inspired Word, the Bible. Father God, I pray that the world will come to know You through Your Word, by Your Spirit, and by the testimony of believers.

The Word of God says:

 John 17:24 (NASB77)
²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world.  

My reflections on the Word of God:

Today we come to this third and last request that Jesus made for future disciples. He prayed that future believers would be with Him in glory. Yesterday I mentioned “genuine believer”, and these are the ones who Jesus is praying for. Only genuine believers will be with Jesus in glory. This morning I came across this passage that describes these believers. I notice in the bible that belief matters. However, I notice also that behavior matters.

 Titus 2:11-13 (NASB77)
¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
¹² instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
¹³ looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus;  

The genuine believer in Christ, who has Jesus and the Father living in them, will seek diligently to please Christ and His Father by living sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

I am so glad that no matter how difficult and trying circumstances may get in my living in this world that I have the blessed assurance that this world is not my home, I’m just a pilgrim down here and I am on my way to glory. This make me want to shout. Glory Halleluiah!

 John 14:2-3 (NASB77)
² “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
³ “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, I praise and thank You that every genuine believer in Christ has the blessed assurance that one day our troubles and trials that we face in this world will be over, and that we will enter our heavenly home in the Father’s house. Glory! Hallelujah!

O That Will Be Glory (Click on link below for lyrics and midi):

 http://www.biblestudycharts.com/SH_O_That_Will_Be_Glory.html

The Word of God says:

 John 17:23 (NASB77)
²³ I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me.  

My reflections on the Word of God:

This verse provides a confirmation and an indictment of the church. The confirmation is that dwelling within the believer is the power and the capability to have unity in the Body of Christ.

First, let us look together at this verse and at some other verses which provides the confirmation. The concern of Jesus in His prayer is, “that they may be perfected in unity”. The “they” in His prayer is all future believers, and that includes us.

 John 17:20 (NASB77)
²⁰ “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;  

The source of unity that Jesus desires in His children is the indwelling presence of the Father and the Son in the believer. When you have Christ indwelling your life you also have the Father living in you. Jesus said it in His prayer, “I in them, and Thou in Me”. The believer actually partakes of the divine nature of God.

 2 Peter 1:4 (NASB77)
⁴ For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.  

What we have looked at up to this point is truly a blessing that should cause us to continually offer up the highest praise to our wonderful God.

However, there is also an indictment of the Body of Christ. The sad truth is that millions have died in their sins because they have not heard the gospel of Christ. The indictment is that the church has not been united enough to penetrate the world with the gospel. The problem is our love for one another.

We can conclude in view of what Jesus prayed is that the greatest need of the church is for the believer to be perfected in unity. The lost world needs to see a unified sacrificial love among believers. The world needs to see Jesus and God in us.

 John 13:34-35 (NASB77)
³⁴ “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
³⁵ “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I praise and thank You that every genuine believer is a partaker of the divine nature because they have God the Father, and Jesus, the Son of God living in them.

Father God, I know that You have enough love and enough power in Your divine hands to make the prayer of Jesus become a practical reality in the lives of believers today.

So, I ask by faith, that in these last days that there would be a world-wide demonstration of believers loving one another that would usher in a great harvest of souls coming to know that God sent the Son into the world to save the world.

John 3:16-18 (NASB77)
¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
¹⁷ “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.
¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The Word of God says:

 John 17:20-22 (NASB77)
²⁰ “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
²¹ that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
²² “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;  

My reflections on the Word of God:

Today our focus is on the last verse in our focal passage. Yesterday our focus was on verse twenty one, where we saw that the relationship of the Father and the Son was the standard for unity, and that the purpose of unity was that the world may believe that the Father sent Jesus into the world.

Now we move to verse twenty two. In this verse we see that the source of unity is the glory of God. It is the glory of God, which the Father gave to Jesus, and that Jesus has given to us for the purpose as expressed by Jesus in His prayer, “that they may be one just as We are one”.

 Galatians 3:28 (NASB77)
²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  

God has made His people one, but we as believers must endeavor to make that spiritual unity a practical reality in our daily walk in this world with all of its evil. Satan’s scheme is to make us believe and act like other believers are our enemy. Another of his divisive schemes is that He uses believers who want to have there own way. As believers we should resist these schemes of the evil one. The Apostle Paul’s encouragement to the church at Ephesus would serve us well in our endeavoring to maintain unity among believers.

Ephesians 4:1-3 (NASB77)
¹ I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,
³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

  Ephesians 6:10-11 (NASB77)
¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.
¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father I praise and thank You that You and Jesus in us have provided for every believer all that we need to have unity in the Body of Christ. Father God, I thank You that the Word says in Galatians 3:28 that believers are, “all one in Christ Jesus”. Father God, in faith, I ask that You help us by the Holy Spirit of God’s power to maintain unity in our daily lives.

The Bond of Love (Click on link below for lyrics):

 http://www.pwarchive.com/song.aspx?SongID=614&v=1&f=10&b=0&c=0&s=1&sc=0&ss=1&k=G

The Word of God says:

 John 17:20-21 (NASB77)
²⁰ “I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;
²¹ that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.  

My reflections on the Word of God:

The burden of the prayer of Jesus for future believers was unity. The standard for this unity was the unity that existed between God the Father, and Jesus (“even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee”).

 John 10:38 (NASB77)
³⁸ but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

John 17:11 (NASB77)
¹¹ “And I am no more in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name, the name which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, even as We are.  

In addition to the standard for unity, we see in the prayer of Jesus the purpose for the unity of future believers (“that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me”).

John 8:42 (NASB77)
⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

John 7:29 (NASB77)
²⁹ “I know Him; because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

John 10:10 (NASB77)
¹⁰ “The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.  

My prayer in response to the Word of God:

Father God, my dear Father, I pray that as Your dearly beloved children, we who are members of the Body of Christ, will be unified in purpose, in love, in obedience to God, and the Word of God, and in faithfully carrying out the Great Commission. Father God, help us by Thy power to keep the main thing the main thing.

 John 3:16 (NASB77)
¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 14:6 (NASB77)
⁶ Jesus * said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.