Comments - devotion RecentComments

August25 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@Luke:11:1-13 BECAUSE OF HIS IMPORTUNITY - To be delivered from evil does not mean that evil is avoided all together. kjv@1Corinthians:10:13 claims that He will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able. He will alongside provide you a means of escape. So what does that have to do with forgiving the debts of others and asking for three loafs for a journeying friend? It is likely that we will be unable to see of that means if we have yet to see how God has forgiven us our debts and if we have yet to believe the good fatherly intentions of our Lord for both ourselves and for those journeying souls that we petition on behalf of. The Lord gives us our bread day by day, that is near all we physically need be concerned for ourselves. As a model of Christian prayer we should see that a great deal of the emphasis in this passage is placed upon the belief in our Father because of His holiness and the installment of His Kingdom provides not only for you but also for those in need that you petition for. One temptation may be to service their spiritual needs by our own limited physical means. In a spiritual sense we have nothing to give these souls, but we do have a friend ready in Jesus. Another temptation may be to hold back and send the wanderer on his/her way empty handed. The model command is to love God with all and your neighbor as oneself, so to is the model prayer. A means of escaping evil is given in each temptation and it usually involves clarity of ones relationship to God and also spiritual service (even in the face of evil) to others. To see that means one must be observant of how God has treated you in your varied needs and deliverances. The faith of our Lord is in a sincere believing prayer that recalls God's merciful actions to us and calls upon those same mercies to be bestowed to the soul that still is searching.

December14 @ @ rRandyP comments: mFaithOfJesus kjv@John:17:6-19 THEM WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN - I am overwhelmed this morning with the sense that I have long misinterpreted this prayer of Jesus. The consequences to my theology will have to be sorted out, but I have the feeling that this prayer is meant for the eleven men there directly (us only indirectly). There are more than eleven disciples within miles of Him tonight, they are not mentioned. There are many that have followed and even hosted Him these three+ years, they are not mentioned. There are many that will believe on Jesus because of these men, they are mentioned later on but not yet. The fact is that these eleven are the humans that He has invested everything into. They are certainly spiritually weak and frail at this point despite their blessed experiences and discipleship so far, but their meekness is exactly what He is looking for. He refers to them as the "given". He refers to us as "those that will believe because of them". I have a feeling the He refers to His other many devoted followers in the region as the nucleolus of "those" or us. What about Martha then? What about Mary and Lazarus and the blind man? What about Nicodemus and the others this night being shunned by the Sanhedrin? Evidence now suggests that there is a mission much bigger than our personal beliefs and sacrifices that our Lord needs these eleven hand selected men to proceed with. A mission or calling that the remainder of us are barely spectators/receivers of. Jesus begins by praying not for the world, but for these eleven men for they are "THINE"; He is glorified in "them". He prays that they be one, that they have His joy fulfilled in themselves, that they be sanctified through HIS truth/word, that they be kept from evil. He prays this because they are not of this world, they are hated, they are sent by Him into this world. Now these words could certainly be applied to us as we are often in similar (lesser) situations. The spiritual warfare that would surround these eleven men would be perhaps beyond compare. It is because of them however, their being given, their meekness and their being used of the Spirit to the extent that they were that we even have opportunity to follow their steps. We call these men today Apostles; the pillars of our faith. This is who this prayer is for directly. Men like this Apostle John. If not for them we would not know that this prayer was even made. The faith of our Lord barely needs to be said here. It is a tremendous thing to consider that all of this is bestowed upon them for our benefit and for those that will follow after us. The mission spreads out and takes us in and we pass it on to the next each in our smaller ways. Our thanks to "those which THOU hast given". Our praise to HIM who meant this to the continuation of our Lord's ministry after His heavenly glorification.