That's Me Jesus Is Praying For!

In John 17, Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, doing something that--if you will allow yourself to be transported back in time--just may have you thinking differently the next time the tempter comes along and tries to tell you that you are worthless, useless, and not really a child of God. For in this prayer, in this last conversation with His Father before going to Calvary, Jesus had you on His heart. He did!

"But Stef: I wasn't even alive then. How can this be?"

Oh, my precious friend, I assure you that it was! For you see, long before the world came to know you, long before the garden, and long before the world even existed, you were on His mind. He knew all about you--from the size of your shoe to the tint of your hair. He knew you'd need extra support in certain areas of your life while in other parts your independence would shine forth. He knew the road you would travel and even though it may have been different than His original plan, He allowed you to traverse it so that you could decide for yourself what truth is.

For the next few minutes, I want you to pause your life and go back. Go back to the garden with me, with Christ. Hear Him earnestly crying out to our Father on your behalf. Feel His love as He tells God how much He loves you and how He longs for you to complete the circle in heaven with Him and God. And get this: He doesn't just want you there as a bystander. Un unh! He wants you to have the same portion as He has! Unfathomable? I agree!

So, are you ready? Ready to remember your heritage and stop the lies that no one cares about you? I assure you: Someone does. And even as you read these words right now, He's still praying for you, interceding on your behalf for that silly thing you just did that the devil is beating you up over. Jesus knows the world is not your friend because it wasn't His friend either. However--or perhaps in spite of this--Christ knew the battles you would face, the power you would need, and the encouragement to keep striving until the day He comes back for you. Read this chapter and replace my name with yours. Revel in it. Read it again. And again. And again until it finally sinks in: Jesus loves you. You! Let Him fill you with joy today as these words permeate and penetrate into your soul. You are worth it. How do I know? Hmn hmn hmn. Oh yeah: the Bible tells me so! But don't just take my word for it, Precious. Read for yourself and see!

When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.  And this is eternal life, that Stefanie knows You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do.  And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.

“I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave Me out of the world. Yours Stefanie was, and You gave her to Me, and Stefanie has kept Your Word. Now Stefanie knows that everything that You have given Me is from You.  For I have given her the Words that You gave Me, and Stefanie has received them and has come to know in truth that I came from You; and Stefanie has believed that You sent Me.  I am praying for Stefanie. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for Stefanie is Yours. All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.  And I am no longer in the world, but she is in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep Stefanie in Your name, which You have given Me, that Stefanie may be one, even as We are one. While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that Stefanie may have My joy fulfilled in herself. I have given her Your Word, and the world has hated her because Stefanie is not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not ask that You take her out of the world, but that You keep her from the evil one.  Stefanie is not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify her in the truth; Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, so I have sent her into the world. And for her sake I consecrate Myself, that Stefanie also may be sanctified in truth.

“I do not ask for Stefanie only, but also for those who will believe in Me through her word, that Stefanie may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that Stefanie also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given to her, that Stefanie may be one even as We are one, I in her and You in Me, that Stefanie may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved her even as You loved Me.  Father, I desire that Stefanie also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  

"O righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and Stefanie knows that You have sent Me.  I made known to her Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in her, and I in her.”

Now, don't you feel better? I know I do.  See you next time!

What right do I have?

Wow.  Ouch.  Uh oh.  Yes!

These are just a few of the expressions I felt after reading this passage of scripture from Psalm 50.  You see, I had been pondering my morning prayers and thinking about how I am so bad to present God with my wish lists all of the time instead of taking the time to thank Him, to praise Him, to see if there's something I can do for Him instead of me just all of the time telling Him what I want, think I need, and how to do His job.  I came into my Pretty Purple Room, looked through a couple of chapters of my Bible, and then thought "Well Stef, if you are sincere about wanting to please Him, perhaps you should head towards the Psalms.  They are more about Him than many of the other books that tell of His wonders and what He does for us.  Maybe if you go there, you will find someone writing a song to God, a praise of His glory, or some other form of worship that will propel you into a truer state this morning."

So, I did.  Read it with me now (in case you can't see the fine print on the photograph)?

16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17 Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
And have been a partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth to evil,
And your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent;
You thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And set them in order before your eyes.
22 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:
23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And to him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God.”

See what I mean?  Wow.  Ouch.  Uh oh.  Yes!  How many times a day do I forward an email, re-post a pretty picture with some scripture reference on it, sing songs, and maybe even go so far as to write an encouraging word to another, all in the hopes of "declaring God's statutes" while on the other hand I sit back and allow the evils of the world to go on, to participate in looking the other way while the things God said to stand for instead I am rocking in the chair with the ones committing said actions, laughing even with them, as we proclaim how good and kind God is, so full of love, and just wants us all to get along?  Ugh!  Couldn't you just spit such bile from your mouths?  I know I can.

Thankfully, though, there is a "Yes!" in this passage that grants me--again--hope:

"Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And to him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God."

Praising God: that is what this life is about.  The Lord God and it is Him to Whom I owe all of my praise, worship, and redemption.  Through His Son Jesus Christ, I was shown salvation.  I accepted it, gladly so.  Because of it, because of Him, I don't have to be torn into pieces. I am delivered, and I will not forget that it is God Who gives me this opportunity.  May I glorify You with my labors and praises, Heavenly Father, is my prayer today.  Amen!