He prayed for you

“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)

Did you know that the night before Jesus was tried and crucified He prayed for you?

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,”

Right there, Jesus prayed for you. This chapter of John is known as the high priestly pray of Jesus, where He prayed for himself, then the 12, then all who would come to believe.

You were on His mind for all of eternity.

He prayed for you!

your servant

IMG_1860Hear my prayer, O LORD;
give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
answer me in your righteousness.
Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.
For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.
I remember the days of old,
I think about all your deeds,
I meditate on the works of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
Answer me quickly, O LORD;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Save me, O LORD, from my enemies;
I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Let your good spirit lead me
on a level path.
For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life.
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am your servant.
(Psalm 143, NRSV)

Hear me when I cry and help me.

Do not forsake me. Do not hide your face from me.

Save me O Lord from mine enemies.

All of these things are things we cry when we are in torment when we need the help of the Lord. We cry out for the creator of the whole world to save us and not forsake us, to not forget us or leave us alone in our troubles.

But do we remember that we also need to follow God in the good times? All of these things He does for us, because we are His servants, His children.

So allow God to be your master, and follow where He leads, and He will never leave you to fend for  yourself.

Cock crows

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”  Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”  Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times. (John 13:36-38, NRSV)

I will do anything for love, but I won’t do that…

Don’t know why those lyrics popped in my mind. But Peter seems to be intent on being with Jesus, and when Jesus tells him he will deny Jesus 3 times, I wonder what went through Peter’s mind.

We all think we would follow Jesus to the ends of the earth, but would we?

Jesus asks us to follow and to trust and that is hard. Peter in the face of death denied he knew Jesus, 3 times.

Would you say you know Jesus if it meant your life?

Do you say you know Jesus even when it doesn’t?

Why?

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:1-11, NRSV)

I always loved the question from the angels here: “why do you stand looking up towards heaven?”

Well actually, Jesus was just here talking to us, which in itself is a miracle considering He was dead, but now as He was talking He started floating up into the air! why would we not be watching Him float away!

This would really get me going though. I mean we just saw Him killed 40 days ago, and since then He has been retelling us all the stuff He told us before His death, and now here He goes again!

So this is what set the world on fire, 11 men who didn’t get it and now in 40 days are the ones who deliver the message to the world with zeal and conviction. Would we have had the same reaction?

unforgivable

holy-spirit“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God;  but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.  And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say;  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:8-12, NRSV)

The only unforgivable sin is not speaking against Jesus or using God’s name in vain.

It isn’t even one of the 10 Commandments!

It is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

So what does that mean?

To know what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, we need to know what blaspheme means, and according to Merriam-Webster online blaspheme means “to talk about God or religion in a way that does not show respect”. So to talk about the Holy Spirit in a way that doesn’t show respect.

Ok, so what does that mean?

To say the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a place in your life? Or the Holy Spirit isn’t a part of God?

I am really not sure what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

I believe the Holy Spirit drives my life, even when I don’t understand it. I believe that the Spirit is God, even when I can’t understand it.

I can’t understand the Spirit at all, but I believe the Spirit is an integral part of my life.

So what is the unforgivable sin?