"My prayer is not that you take them out of the world and that you protect them from the evil one.”
John 17 contains the prayer of Jesus for Himself, His disciples and for future believers.Our focus is on verse 15, where Jesus prayed, basically, for the Lord to keep His discples here and to protect them. There is a word here for us. Following is what I found: Jesus did not pray for His disciples to be taken out of the world because they were needed in the world. He had a purpose for them. We can accept this as a prayer for us as well, for He has us here for a purpose. His disciples were to be His witnesses to the world, which is why He has us here. When we received Jesus as our Savior, we became His witnesses. We must witness first by example by living a Christian lifestyle. Jesus saved us to live for Him and to live like Him. For example, we should love people whether or not they are lovable. We should forgive people even when they do not ask for our forgiveness. We should speak for Jesus, even if it would make us unpopular. When Jesus gets ready to take us out of here, He will. Until then we are to be His witnesses to the world. We are not judges of the world but witnesses to the world by the way we live, and when the opportunity arises, to share with others what He has done for us, and can do for them. Jesus prayed for His disciples to be protected from “the evil one.” The “evil one” is Satan. Jesus knew that Satan would attack His people and try to ruin their witness. He is still working to ruin our witness. 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.” We need to remember that we have protection from him, but that does not mean that we will always claim it and use it. The Holy Spirit warns us, and speaks to our hearts, but He does not coerce us. Like Simon Peter, when he denied Jesus at His trial, we can get too confident in ourselves and drop our guard. This does not mean that we should “run scared,” but that we should be vigilant, as Peter reminded us. In verse 16, Jesus said that His disciples were “not of the world, even as I am not of this world.” In verse 17, He asked the Father to “sanctify them (set them apart) through your truth; your word is truth.” We have the same word to help us in our lives. Thank God, He has given us His word to inspire and remind us of His presence in our lives. We also need to pray for God’s help and protection. Remember, Jesus has given us a purpose, or purposes, to be His witnesses in the world and to the world. . Bro. Joe Friday-Sunday
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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