John 17:13-21
"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. "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. "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. "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 sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
In this passage we see Jesus praying before He heads to His execution. In this prayer I find some hope as I consider my failures, even my failure to update this blog on the schedule I had set for myself. Jesus, referring to His request that God the Father protect His followers after He is gone from this earth, says the intent of His request is that His followers would experience His joy. But it’s verse 15 that gives me the most hope. He did not ask that we be removed from this world, rather He asked that we be protected against Satan. The fact that we are still in this world has several implications. For instance, unless we are in full-time ministry we have jobs which take up much of our time. We will also have household chores, families to take care of, ministries to attend to and ….. I could go on and on! But because Jesus requests are perfect and He and the Father are one we can be confident that when Jesus asks for our protection the Father provides it. In that I find encouragement and joy. So while I may not generate the lengthy and insightful blog posts I had hoped to I can do what I have time for. In faithful persistence I can take small steps and allow the Lord to maximize their impact. May you be blessed as you take the small steps the Lord directs for you (Prob. 16:9).
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