Jesus’ Presence in Our Fragile Lives

September 20, 2016

Jesus’ Presence in Our Fragile Lives

“I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began”

John 17:4-5

John has brought us into the inner sanctum, the holy of holies, the very heart of Jesus, where we can sit at the feet of Jesus while he prays for us. (John 17) I am in awe of Jesus’ prayer that brings his followers into a personal, intimate relationship with the Father. Jesus envisions his followers experiencing the very same unity that is glorified in the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is a good place to reflect on how Jesus’ intercession for his church has not been well received by the Christian church. The disharmony between denominations and disrespect and lack of unity within some denominations is not helpful for building the Kingdom of God here on earth. It is evidence of sin’s corruption of humanity, that some Christians sing praises to God while refusing to edify their brothers and sisters in Christ in other churches. Could John have been any clearer when he warned the church? “If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness” (1John 2:9).

Many Christians mistakenly look at the end of Jesus’ ministry as a disaster, with his arrest and crucifixion the lowest point of his life, redeemed only by God’s resurrection of the crucified Messiah. In the opening passage of Jesus’ prayer (John 17:1-8), Jesus takes an altogether different perspective: “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began” (John 17:4-5). Jesus saw the last day of his life on earth as the climax of his mission to birth God’s New Creation. We will do well to rethink how we interpret those parts of our lives we think of as failures or low points. The Apostle Paul’s wonderful affirmation of Jesus’ presence in our fragile lives can help us in this process. (See 2 Corinthians 4)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.