4/3/14- Jesus' Prayer for Oneness

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. (John 17:20-23)

Thoughts: Jesus makes it clear He not only is praying for the disciples around Him who may be listening in, but He is also praying for those who will follow Him in the future (us).  His prayer is that we would be one.  Jesus answers many of our prayers.  We have the opportunity to answer Jesus' prayer by loving each other, and seeking unity beyond our differences in belief, differences in looks, differences in gender.  There are no caveats here.  Jesus does not say oneness except for when they are proud, or when they live in different places, or speak different languages, or believe different secondary things.  In the 21st century we are quick to divide the body of Christ as if we can cut off an arm.  Jesus separates the wheat from the chaff at judgment- we do not have to divide now (Mt. 13:24-30).  Jesus had said earlier (Jn. 13:34,35) that His disciples were to love each other, and He balances that love with His teaching on truth in the last chapters of John, He is the truth who calls us to love.  Oneness (unlike what "oneness" involves in some religions) is not being "one with yourself" but it is really being one outside of yourself- in one mind with God, and in one mind with others. 

Prayer: Lord, May your love and your truth abide in me.  Give me grace to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. 

  

3-15-14 The King's Procession

12The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna! ”“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

17Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (John 12:12-19)

Thoughts: John indicates that a lot of the excitement for Jesus' coming to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was because word spread because of Lazarus' resurrection.  Other gospels speak of the excitement caused by his "many" miracles (Lk. 19:37).  They called Jesus "King" which was bound to upset both the Romans and the Jewish authorities.  But Jesus was not that kind of king.  He rode a colt- the foal of a donkey into Jerusalem both in fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy about the Messiah, and as a sign of being a prince of Israel (for the princes rode donkeys- Judges 10:4).  Jesus is the King who saves us (Hosanna means "Lord save.").  He is our Savior, and He came to Jerusalem at Passover to bring the salvation that comes from being the sacrificial "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  He is worthy of our praise. 

Prayer: Lord, you are worthy of our attention and praise.  Thank you for being my Savior and King. 

2/23/12- The Fall of Human Beings

2- 2/23- WSC 13- Did our first parents stay as they were created?
A. Left to the freedom of their own wills, our first parents sinned against God and fell from their original condition.

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  ⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”  (Genesis 3:6-8)

Thoughts: Sin and temptation appear pleasing, but the consequences of it bite us in the end.  Once they had joy and real fellowship with God, but their sin broke their fellowship and ours as well.  They went from provision and joy to having to work by the sweat of their brow and fearing the presence of God.  This sin was the drop of poison in the bucket that made all the water bad.  God still asks us, “Where are you?”  He longs for fellowship with us, but now our natural inclination is to avoid Him or hide from Him.

Prayer: Give us grace, Lord, to resist the temptation we face.  Give us a deeper desire for you than a desire for sin.

(Adam and Eve Bible book painting- anonymous)

1986 MOD TRANSL Q. 13. Did our first parents remain as they were created?

A. Left to the freedom of their own wills, our first parents sinned against God and fell from their

original condition.

WSC 1647 Q. 13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.