Are You Ready To Be Cheered Up?
Good Morning Friends,
When things appear bleak, God responds in amazing ways. In one of Paul’s most discouraged moments, as people were plotting to kill him, the Lord Jesus appeared to him and told him to cheer up. We should be buoyed by the same command and encouragements. So too Jesus as he was about to be betrayed, knowing he would soon be crucified, prayed for unity and love for his disciples and us, essentially encouraging us all. Are You Ready To Be Cheered Up?
Scripture: Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them. When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.) Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks. That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”
Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 (NRSV)
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, 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. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-26 (NRSV)
I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
John 16:33 (NRSV)
Message: What a tremendous example Jesus sets for us. He even shows us how to deal with impending doom. He shows that the peace of his presence can trump any chaos. The sentiments expressed in the John 17 prayer reveal the intimacy and union Jesus enjoys with his Father and that we are to share. This is the Spirit of encouragement that is eternal. The boundary between time and eternity is gone. Jesus is on his way to the Father, a sort of spiritual ascension long before the physical one. The prayer is saturated with a sense of urgency, that is not of Chronos time, historical time, but of Kairos time, salvation time. This scripture is designed to give us both an intimate knowledge of God and enjoyment of God’s character and nature in the Spirit of love. Here we consider the eternity of our heart. Here we see what God is like, what God likes and what God would like us to be and become and believe. And the nature of this prayer is an intercession that does not cease and will not until all is completed. It was being prayed before the foundation of the world, is being prayed right now. And here love, Jesus’ favorite way of describing the name, character, essence of God, supersedes the idea of unity. That we may be one, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, becomes that we may be love as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are love.
Pray we realize that God is always present. Pray we experience a union, communion, communication, intimacy, and shared life with the Lord. Pray this concentration of truth, empowers us to enjoy life even when it is horrible and to live richly with God even when our circumstances seem impossible. Pray we understand this intimacy means unity, and that glory means the hidden presence of God made manifest in us through love. Pray we learn to love and be loved. Pray we realize that we are already one in the presence of God. Pray we experience the divine presence and mutual indwelling revealed to us as a way of knowing God not from the outside but from the inside through the heart of Jesus.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 