"This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
John 17:3
If you truly want to know who Jesus is and who God is, study John 17. Here we are allowed to listen in as Jesus speaks with the Father and reveals His heart for us. Five times in this prayer He refers to His followers as a gift from the Father to Him. (2,6,9,24) The love of God and Jesus is intimate, not stale, cold knowledge of scripture, hymns, and spiritual songs. Jesus defines eternal life for us in verse three. We the believers must KNOW the only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ. He is not referring to a head knowledge that has not penetrated the heart from deep within. Because we know all about a person factually doesn’t mean we know them; only we have extensive knowledge about that person. That means we can teach about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and be worship leaders, soloists in the choir, play the hymns about Him, teach Bible studies, pastor churches, and write books, but that doesn’t mean you are a Christian. The American church has come to believe that, due to listening to the teaching of men, rather than the Word of God. Most sermons today have a few scriptures, and are easily taken out of context to mean whatever the preachers and teachers say is true. Many are sincerely deceived from attending seminaries that have taught them to build big congregations, now called mega churches. That now defines success for the American church.
We have truly lost our way. Jesus is the only way, and a life of obedience to the Word of God, according to Him. He is the ultimate authority in all things. He alone is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Humanism cannot improve upon the spiritual truths hidden in God’s Word. These truths can only be attained spiritually. That requires the help of the Holy Spirit referred to as our Helper and Teacher in scripture.
I feel the following deception must be addressed that is prominent in our society. A large percentage of people claim they are Christians because they believe in God. James 2:19-20 declares:
"You believe that God is one, You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?"
Believing there is a God and He had a Son, Jesus, and acknowledging the Holy Spirit, is not the same thing as believing in them. Jesus made it clear to be a Christian you take on His name. You represent Him to others. It is a huge responsibility, and the most important one you will ever fulfill. To be a follower of Jesus you must live as He lived before us when He came to earth. He did the will of the Father who sent Him, always denying Himself to please the Father. This obedience led to the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension.
It accomplished salvation for all mankind, but it does come with a great cost. You must give up your will on a daily basis to perform the will of the One who created you, which leads to life more abundantly here, and eternally.
I have my share of troubles on this earth, but I also live an amazing quality of life due to the Lifegiver, my Lord and Savior. As scripture says in losing our lives for His sake we gain our life in Christ. Matthew 16:25 proclaims:
"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. "
Let’s allow the Old Testament to define the decision you must declare to belong to the God who created you:
"You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in His ways, that you will keep His decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey Him."
Jesus exclaims to us in John 14:21:
"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me, and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and I will disclose Myself to him."
Perhaps at this point we should pause and re-read and meditate as we allow the Bible to define to us what being a Christian is. Do we have His commandments? If we do have His commandments, and we love Him enough to obey them, He promises to disclose Himself to us! What greater reward than that is there?
But how can we obey what we do not know? How can we share and teach what we don’t know? Allow Jesus to speak to us from John 17:6-8 as to what we are to teach:
"I have manifested 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 kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything 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."
As I have shared before John 17 was my guideline for mothering my four children. I want to encourage parents to adopt the standard Jesus had in disciplining His disciples, which I perceived as His children. God showed me what He wanted me to teach my children from this chapter. We have the role Jesus had with the disciples with our children first and foremost, and then to whomever He chooses to place in our lives. No other book has been written that can improve on what has been written in our Bibles that our children need to know for now and eternity. We are to become a conduit to our children from God. This should be our main priority in the child rearing years when you control what your children are exposed to. That means our day must begin with time alone with the Holy Spirit, prayerfully searching the Scriptures. Afterwards I would share with my children what I got.That determined how life went in our home on a daily basis.
As they got old enough to read and write, they were taught how to enter into His Presence with their Bibles and journals. They were given time to pray and listen. Then they learned to journal what they received. Afterwards everyone had opportunity to share, and we ministered to each other. Because of that training, they ministered freely as children not only to other children, but adults as well. That practice made their childhood rich and full of things money could not buy.
However when children get older they must choose their own values. We all have a free will and must choose to honor God’s authority over all else in our lives.
Jesus tells us in verse 14:
"I have given them your Word and the world has hated them , because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world."
Can we say the same as Jesus? Are we giving the Word to the people we love and those who God places in our lives? Can it be said of us we are not of this world, or do we blend in with this world? If so, can we truly say we belong to Him? We can not. Then He prays:
"Sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth. As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I santify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth."
These verses are such treasures to me and I hope they will become the same to you. Truth is so rare today. The airway is filled with lies. Our society is filled with liars, and there is no conviction. Sadly the ones speaking lies have more courage than we who hold the truth. It has become a way of life for most. We think nothing of not fulfilling commitments, and keeping our word. But we must keep ourselves in the truth to be truthful. The Word of God is what sanctifies us. We must have it daily. Jesus said He sanctified Himself for our sakes, and we must sanctify ourselves for His sake, and for our families to remain families, and for all others if we are to remain a Christian civilization.
He concludes the chapter with these words:
"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with You where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You, and these have known that You sent Me, and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
Dear friends, this is the answer to our problems. All of them. Another long devotion most will not take the time to read. That is our problem. We aren’t hungry for truth. We just want what we want. Please read John 17 and listen to the beautiful words of Jesus. What an honor to truly have all these revelations directly from Him as He prayed to His Father, and ours, for us! You cannot spend your time doing anything more profitable for you, both now and throughout eternity. Get your focus off this world, and prepare for the one we do belong in if we are truly His. The only way for you to know if you are truly His is to ask Him sincerely, and to seek His Word for your answers. Please don’t miss the only thing that matters in life for the temporary things this world has to offer that is quickly fading away.
In His love.
Teresa Roberts
Masterpiece Fitness
276-237-6680
Treasures from a long distance run this past week from home. How rich I am! The nut is a chinkapin! They fall this time of year to the ground. They often have to be removed from their prickly shell, but delicious!
