By Bro Regie and Sis Girlie Laguatan
SCRIPTURE: John 17:9-24 NLT
9 “My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. 10 All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. 11 Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name;[b] now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. 12 During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.
13 “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. 14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. 19 And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
OBSERVATION:
John chapter 17 is divided into 2 parts. Jesus prayed for Himself and the other part is the prayer for his disciple asking the father to unite the disciple and Him to the father. We can notice that Jesus has repeatedly mentioned the word unity in his prayer.
How will the world know that God sent His Son? Through our unity? How will they know that God truly loves us? When we live together in unity.
What is unity? Unity is defined as the oneness of heart, a similarity of purpose, in harmony, the state of those who are in full agreement.
The basis of unity is a life consistently yielded to the will of God that can be seen in us, in the way we work with each other, the way how we treat people in spite of our differences, the way how we do things together that matters to God.
A perfect example of unity is when God created the earth in Gen.1: 26 God said, Let us make mankind in our own image. The two words LET US refers to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit working together as one to create such an awesome outcome which is you and me
If we are united in Christ, unity can prevail despite our differences because we have the same commitment to follow Gods command to us. Jesus believed that we can be part of changing the world because He knows that through us, the world will know about His love and we can make a difference to where He has positioned us, in our family, in our church, in our community, in our nation
Being united with Christ means having the mindset of Christ. If God is love then we should learn how to love the unloveable, if we have experienced forgiveness then we should learn how to forgive. It means we are to bear his character because Christ lives in us.
God’s desire for us is to have one purpose, one goal, one mission and that is to give glory to His Name and to share the good news that we have experienced when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and saviour, to be a powerful witness and testify about Gods love to us. As children united to His. Father, we are God’s ambassador who has the privilege and responsibility to be his hands, his feet, his eyes, his ears and his voice in sharing the gospel to anyone who has not known Christ, a heart who has a passion for the loss, a passion to share the good news of salvation
Do you know that a flock of great northern geese will fly thousands of miles in a perfect V formation? As each bird moves its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird that is following. It’s estimated that their formation flying is 70 per cent more efficient than flying alone.
We prosper when we share a common direction. We can get where we are going faster in fulfilling the mission that God has mandated us to do when we are travelling together and trusting each other forward and connected and united in Christ
PRAYER:
Dear heavenly Father we ask for you to continue to change our heart so that we can yield and obey to your will in our lives. May you reveal yourself to us as we unite our spirit to your spirit, we pray for unity in our family , in your church, in our community and in our nation. Unite us in spirit and in truth and may your presence richly dwell in us as we pursue to give glory to your name . Help us to work as one that we may be able to lead the people at the feet of Jesus this we ask and pray in Jesus Name
Amen
