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Sunday, November 15, 2009

John 15-17

I love the chapters of John in today's reading; before I was a disciple, I spent very little time reading the bible, but when I did, I usually read these chapters in John... no idea how I learned about them, but I would go to these chapters when I was sad, lonely, or afraid and Jesus' words always comforted me. Here are some reasons why they comfort me stilllllll...
  • Jesus promised that if we remain in Him and His words remain in us, we can ask whatever we wish, and it will be given to us.
    (Note: not to confuse with scriptures that require praying with faith and a pure heart, God's plans for us, God working for the good of those who love Him, etc.)
  • Jesus said the word "love" so many times in these chapters. Isaiah 43 is one of the few places God says He loves us; here Jesus says similar words, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you."
  • Jesus tells us about the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit will guide us, and provide us with direct access to Jesus' thoughts and heart "the Spirit will take what is [Jesus'] and make it known to you".
  • And the BEST part... hearing (reading) Jesus' prayers. I love praying with people; I take it to mean that the other person is not only sharing what they are thinking and feeling, but also their relationship with God. That is what Jesus did here, He is allowing us to know His thoughts, concerns, hopes, etc. and also to allow us a glimpse of His relationship with God.
I LOVE that Jesus prayed for me--and you--before we were even born.

:) Tera

2 comments:

Teena Phamster said...

Those passages impact me as well. God is so good and loving to us! We are so blessed!

I enjoy praying w/ others too and especially w/ you Tera. We need to set up a time. :)

Danger Ashley said...

I like praying with people because it reminds me of things that I should be praying for. I like your comment that it is sharing their relationship with God with us. That's pretty cool.