TVCC Students,
We are so thankful to continue learning through the book of John. It was wonderful last night to go through Jesus' prayer for His Bride and to be reminded of His protective and passionate love for us. Here is a recap...
~John 17:6: Jesus is praying for those who were given to Him by the Father (for His Bride, the Church). When Jesus says that He "manifested" the Father to us, that word means to "show." Jesus, by coming to earth, is showing us who the Father is. Jesus is the image of the Father and by looking to Him, we can know the character of the Father (John 1:18, Colossians 2:9)
Q: Do you realize that when we look into the life of Jesus, we are really coming to know the Lord who created the universe? How diligent have you been lately to look into the life of Jesus that you might know Him and the Father?
~John 17:6: Jesus is praying for those that were given to Him "out of the world" and that are "Yours" (the Father's). Here we see two important truths about us...
1. We were taken out of the world. Colossians 1:12 says that Jesus rescued us from the domain of darkness and transfered us to the Kingdom of the God. Through His death on our behalf, we are co-inheritors with Christ and have an inheritance that is beautiful and undefiled, reserved in heaven for us (1 Peter 1)!
2. We are the Father's. While we were yet sinners, the Father extended grace and life to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf. The Lord created us (Psalm 139) with all of our desires and longings and needs and only He can fulfill us completely through an intimate relationship with us through Jesus.
Q: Do you realize the lengths that the Lord went through to bring you back to Him? We were enemies of the Lord and He rescued us! Only He can fully satisfy the desires that He put within us. Have you been trusting the Lord this week with the desires that He gave you? In what ways have you been trying to fill your desires on your own, apart from Him?
~John 17:6-7: Jesus is speaking of His disciples and He calls them men who have "kept" God's Word and believed that Jesus is who He says. Despite all of their failures and times of doubt, their overall faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Sin-taker made them men who "kept" God's Word. Our relationship with God is not based on our works but on faith in Christ's work on our behalf!! The disciples knew their weakness and knew that Christ was the answer- the One they had been waiting for! They saw in His everyday life the fulfillment of all of the prophecies of the Scriptures...
"Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush a fire with God. Only those who realize it take off their shoes... the rest just sit around and eat blackberries."
Q: Are you someone who sees even the small moments as opportunities to know the Lord more or are you "eating blackberries?" In what ways (small and large) have you seen the Lord working this week to grow you and to display His glory through you?
~John 17:8-12: Jesus is praying here that His Bride would be protected. He had been with His disciples and would be leaving them. He had been their Shepherd and Protector but was now going to entrust them to the Spirit (after His resurrection). He was praying that they would be unified with each other and with Him and the Father. We are one with the Father and Son when we abide in Him and His Word (John 15:1-6).
Q: What changes do you need to make in your life that you might "abide" more with the Lord? What is keeping you from being One with Him and the body of Christ? Do you have any unforgiveness or bitterness with the body of Christ that you need to repent of this week? We encourage you to do that and be at peace with the Lord and the body of Christ.
~John 17:13: Jesus wants us to know the joy that He is offering us. 1 Peter 1:3-19 tells us that our inheritance in Him is full of inexpressible joy and glory. We should not be living for this world but for the full intimacy with the Lord that awaits us once this life is over! This is the fullness of our joy!
Q: On a day-to-day basis are you living for eternal things or for temporal pleasures that this world is offering? What does it look like for you to live with an eternal mindset? What does your life look like when you are living with an earthly mindset?
~John 17:14-16: Jesus prays that His Bride would be kept from the evil one. The evil one works from the fleshly nature that is within us as well as with the outside world around us. Satan knows our inside weaknesses and the external pressures that can be used to sway us from devotion to the Father and he uses every opportunity to keep us from living for His glory. 1 Peter 5:8 says that satan prowls around like a lion seeking someone to devour. This is why we MUST be abiding in Him through His Word, fellowship with the Body of Christ, and prayer. We are in a spiritual battle!
Q: In what ways have you given in to both internal and external things that have drawn you away from intimacy with the Lord?
~John 17:17: Jesus asks that we would be sanctified in His truth, His Word! 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into the image of Christ by beholding His glory. By being with Him through meditation on His Word, we will be continually transformed into His image with this ultimately fulfilled when He returns!
~John 17:18: Jesus is saying that just as He left the security of His home with the Father to be "sent out" into the world, so too are we called to be "sent out" to declare His glory and salvation to this world (Matthew 28).
Q: In what ways are you declaring His glory to the world? Does both your life and the things you speak about reveal that you are living for Jesus?
Dear students,
As always, we are so thankful to get to worship and go through God's Word with you. We love getting to grow with you. We pray that you will abide with Him this week and represent Him well to the world. We love you!
With Hope,
~Sonny and Casi
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