John 17 - The Glory of Believing (#2)
John 17:4-8
By Bunni Pounds
"I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me." John 17:4-8
So often we discount the miracle of believing.
Have we thought recently about how amazing it is that we believe in Jesus? That we believe in His Word?
It is a miracle that we believe. It is a miracle that the disciples or the “men whom You have given Me out the world” that Jesus is praying for in John 17, believed that Jesus was sent from the Father and they received His words.
We believe because God manifested Himself to us and we have been given to Him. That is a miracle! We wouldn't know the Father or be able to have a relationship with Him if Jesus hadn't come to this earth as a man and laid down His life.
I remember as a young girl, sitting in the woods by our home in Tennessee and thinking about God. I would think big thoughts about how I wanted Him to talk to me. I would contemplate nature and how things were created, and I would always be thinking about my purpose in life. I didn’t know how to reach God completely as a child, but when I was thirteen years old at a concert, the gospel was shared in its pure form and I believed. It was a miracle of faith as tears flowed down my face and I knew I was a sinner, I knew I needed to be saved, and I knew Jesus was real, alive, and able to save me.
We owe everything to this GOD-MAN, Christ Jesus. Without His obedience to love us, we wouldn't be able to trust in Him or love Him.
Jesus laid down His glory that He had with the Father to do the work that He was supposed to do on the earth—to show us the character of God in a way that could not be discounted or denied. Jesus was faithful to do that, and His glory was restored to Him. He truly was God and man. He now sits at the right hand of the Father, and one day everything and everyone will worship Jesus forever. That is the story of God, and what gives us hope every day that we believe.
Out of the world Jesus pulled His disciples, and out of the world He has pulled us to Himself. We are His! We have been given to Him. This woman who once was a little girl in the woods was bought with His blood and purchased by His love. It is this revelation that compels us to keep His word, obey Him, and be faithful to His call on our lives.
There is so much for us to know about God. It is limitless! Jesus wants to take us on a journey of discovery of Himself.
As we receive His words and they abide in us, we come to know His heart, His character, and His love even more. We cannot be denied.
He wants to give us all things in Him. (John 15, Romans 8:32)
It is a miracle that we believe, and it is a miracle every time we receive His words. It is a holy thing that shouldn't be taken lightly.
Jesus came, died, and gave up His glory to show us His glory and love of the Father.
Every time we acknowledge Him, read His Word, and believe in His promises, thankfulness should spring out of our hearts toward Jesus. We have been given to Him!
We are part of His inheritance and His great reward.
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