Jesus is preparing his disciples for his final days with them. What lies ahead of Jesus is so much more than the events of the Cross, the Grave, and the Resurrection. Jesus is describing to his disciples the indescribable. God’s New Creation is about to be birthed into existence. How can you describe that? Jesus gives his disciples just a taste of what is to come and then tells them to trust the Holy Spirit. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to teach us the significance of what happened on those three days and how to live out of this new reality.
The two greatest aspects of God’s New Creation are the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of prayer. The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ very presence with the believer. The Holy Spirit is our guide, our teacher, the One who empowers our souls to live as fully devoted followers of Jesus.
Jesus tells His followers that when He is through birthing God’s New Creation, His followers will have the very same standing with God the Father as does Jesus. When our prayers embody the life of Jesus our prayers are unimpeded as they ascend to God. Think of what that means. When we pray in the Life of Christ we received the full and undivided attention of God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. How can this be?
Jesus’ invitation is to not get bogged down in the details of how or why. Rather, take a leap of faith and choose to dwell in God’s new reality for you as His beloved child with whom he is well pleased and upon whom His favor rest. Because of those three days, Dennis Jerrigan dared to offer his interpretation of Zephaniah 3:17:
Zep. 3:17 (KJV) The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
(Zep. 3: 17 Dennis Jerrigan) "The eternal self-existent God, the God who is three in one, He who dwells in the center of your being is a powerful, valiant warrior. He has come to set you free, to keep you safe and to bring you victory. He is cheered and He beams with exceeding joy and takes pleasure in your presence. He has engraved a place for himself in you and there He quietly rests in His love and affection for you.
He cannot contain Himself of the thought of you and with the greatest of joy spins around wildly in anticipation over you and has placed you above all other creations and in the highest place in His priorities. In fact He shouts and sings in triumph, joyfully proclaiming the gladness of His heart in a song of rejoicing.”
All because you believe Jesus tells you the truth.
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
Reading for 3-Apr-12 John 17:1-26
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