The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Wednesday
December 24, 2008
"My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they
belong to you. And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have
given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory!
Now I am leaving the world, and leaving them behind, and coming to you. Holy
Father, keep them in your own care – all those you have given me – so that they
will be united just as we are, with none missing…
I am not asking you to take
them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan's power…
I am not
praying for these alone but also for the future believers who will come to me
because of the testimony of these."
John 17:9-11,
15, 20
One of the favorite songs of the Christmas Season is White Christmas which has these words in the opening:
"…it's December 24, and I'm longing
to be up North."
Although the writer is talking about being where it is
snowing, many people are longing to be at the utmost North, Heaven, longing to
be with loved ones who have gone on. The night before Jesus died He prayed a
fervent prayer to His Father about the people He would be leaving behind and
those who would come after Him…He was praying for us that night also.
The baby born in Bethlehem that we celebrate was born to die for our sins. The very glory and power He walked in is available to us. He emptied Himself of all glory and power while hanging on the cross so that we could be filled with power to be overcomers and be one with both Him and the Father. 2 Corinthians 5:21, records this very thought, "For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us." Sad isn't it, how often we deny the power He makes available to us?
As I have said before there is power in praise. Choose today to praise Him in whatever situation you find yourself. Lamentations 3:21 says, "Yet there is one ray of hope: his compassion never ends…" What great compassion it took for Jesus to leave glory for the manger, and then hang on a cross out of love for us. Praise Him for His compassion today!
Father, we thank You and praise You for Your compassion that never fails. We thank You Jesus for praying for us then and standing in the gap for us even today. Help us never forget the power of prayer.
