John 17

Scripture

Jesus Prays for Himself

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that 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. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 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. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 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."

Observations

Jesus is praying for himself, for the disciples, and for the people in the world. I find the trinity to be one of the hardest concepts to grasp of Christianity. I do not understand the father-son relationship of God and Jesus - I struggle with this sometimes. This verse talks about them before the creation of the world, etc. If God knows what's going to happen (Jesus' crucifiction) and why, and He has the power to stop it, etc. there seems to be something I'm missing. People try to put it terms of an earthly parent and child relationship and the sacrifice of a son by a father, it doesn't feel that way to me because they are reunited. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the horror of the crucifiction and appreciate the pain and suffering of my totally innocent savior for my sins, I just cannot relate it to a Father/Son sacrifice as much. I am learning though. I cannot imagine what God must have suffered watching Jesus suffer. I was reading the Riggs family blog today and there's a very special mother suffering tremendously watching her beautiful 5-yo daughter terribly ill with Leukemia and the side effects of her treatment. I can more readily relate to that pain - I ache for both the mother and the child, but I still think so much of the pain comes from not knowing and not having any power. Sometimes I'm so grateful that I cannot fully understand and do not have impirical evidence to support every last thing about God and Jesus - it requires me to have faith - that not by sight, but by faith, I believe.

Application

I'm not sure what to apply here - I want to work hard to be able to communicate to someone with the same objections, so as I continue through my Bible studies, I will focus to pull those thoughts together.

Prayer

Dear Lord,
Thank you for your patience with me as I struggle sometimes with some of these issues. Thank you for the Cross, for your Son, and for the sacrifice that was made for me. I am so grateful for grace made possible by that sacrifice and I accept that gift. Help me to deal appropriately with doubts and with struggles to understand certain concepts. In Jesus' name, Amen.

John 14

Scripture
Jesus Comforts His Disciples

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

Jesus the Way to the Father

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. "Come now; let us leave.

Observations
To love God is to do as he says (obey his teaching) - I like that - that's the kind of person I want to be, saying things is one thing, doing something that demonstrates it is more powerful to me. I like, here, that the obedience is out of love, not duty! It changes things. For so long, I didn't go to Church because I wasn't being fully obedient. My sin separated me from God. God did not separate me because of my sin. I had not accepted grace. I gave up on being perfect before showing up at Church, primarily because I found a Church that made it possible to explore and be as involved or uninvolved as I needed to be. My relationship with Christ began to develop and grow and a desire out of love, gratitude, etc. came over me. Conviction would hit me on one area of my life or another, and then I would seek God's help in addressing that. I've got a long and winding road ahead of me, but I stopped trying to start fruitlessly, at the destination and work back.

Still have many questions about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and how that whole thing works, but I have learned more throughout the years and I look forward to learning more.

Heaven being described here is hard for me to imagine with all the people that have gone before and will go after.

The questions about why Jesus shows himself to the disciples, but not to the world are interesting. It is hard to understand why God doesn't do something big and give people today the opportunity that people had in Jesus' day to believe. Maybe he just can't handle being rejected that blatantly? I know, he can handle it, it seems though that it would make him very sad.

Application

I'm not sure what to apply from this right now - I think I'm storing it up for the future by labeling, etc.

Prayer
Dear Lord,
When I read this I am awed by Jesus' willingness to die for us knowing what was coming and his compassion for others through it all. I am so grateful to have a developing relationship with you and for the gift of grace that makes that possible. Help me to use this scripture in my life to understand that no matter what I have going on in my life to comfort others and continue to follow you. In Jesus' name. Amen

Matthew 6

Scripture
Giving to the Needy 1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Prayer 5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9"This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting 16"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Treasures in Heaven 19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Do Not Worry 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Observations
I like this passage - I think it is chock full of good stuff. I get a bit confused sometimes where in other places the Bible says do things for people so that they praise God - I guess it's a fine line between that and boasting for earthly accolades.

I've gotten better about praying publicly and more relaxed through the years, mostly because I stopped thinking about myself all together in the process. I've really learned that self-consciousness is right next to arrogance - in either case, you think it's all about you! So, I've let that go. I also like that this passage includes the Lord's prayer - the daily bread part always reminds me of that song - One day at a time, sweet Jesus, that's all I'm asking from you. Just give me today...... I need to find that song - I cannot remember the words and I just need that sometimes - a singing prayer of sorts. I also feel good knowing that the Bible says, God knows our prayers and that we don't have to go on and on - I love that.

I'm not totally non-materialistic, but I don't think it's ever been a huge issue for me - I get a little funny about wanting a new kitchen when I have a perfectly good one (other than the stove top, which really must be replaced either way). There are so many more important things!

And then, of course, Don't worry, Be happy!

Applications
Be subtle in the things you do for and in the name of the Lord.

Prayer
Lord, first of all, thank you for so much wisdom in such a little package; and thank you for making it clear and not complicated to understand. Help me to internalize this message and apply it in all the ways you intend. In Jesus' name, Amen.