-April 14, 2024-
Good morning beloved, happy Lord’s Day,
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.”
(John 17:9).
Jesus prayed for Himself that He would glorify the Father and the Father would glorify Him with the Father. Jesus loved His disciples so much, the ones whom He chose as directed by the Father.
John 13:1 says, “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” Jesus never gave up on them, though they all forsook Him and fled; Peter denied Him three times; and worst of all, Judas Iscariot betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver.
Judas was never saved, he is called the son of perdition. Jesus said of His disciples in John 17:12, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”
Jesus knew that the disciples would be saddened and devastated by His death on the cross. He would rise again and give them hope, peace, and joy. He asked the Father in John 17:11, “Sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth.”
The eleven became twelve again with the addition of Matthias. They witnessed to the power of the risen Christ. They preached the gospel and many souls were saved, and the gospel message has continued to the present day.
We,like the disciples, can get down, discouraged, and depressed at times. It may be something spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, or financial. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to strengthen our hearts. This world is not our home, heaven is, and we are just passing through.
Have a blessed Lord’s Day gathering with the saints to worship the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.
Jesus is the wall that we can lean on.
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 