TXT3

I am still reading…I promise.  But in the words of Jon Lewis, “I got nothing.”  Actually, I have really bad allergies and medicine head.  I do not have any overwhelmingly awesome thoughts to share, though.  Feel free to re-inspire me!

For those of you who may have missed Sunday night’s TXT3 Community Night, we were not able to record Part 2, so I thought I would share my final thoughts here.  You may want to listen to Part 1 before you continue…

Ok, so we just talked about how Jesus shows us how to satisfy our desire to connect relationally with others when He simplified the Commandments down to two:  Love God and Love Others.  Then he used that very principle to restore Peter after the resurrection.  If we are to Love God, we will also Love Others.  When we Love Others we begin to understand what it means to experience true community.  This principle of Loving God and Loving Others is so important to Jesus that in one of His final prayers before He was arrested and crucified, He prayed for the disciples and for us to experience the same type of community that He experiences within the Trinity.  There is a progression to this prayer that I want to make sure we see.  Jesus starts by praying for His disciples to experience the same type of community that He enjoys in the Trinity.

I am praying for them . . . Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. (John 17:9, 11, ESV)

Then Jesus adds God’s word, remember we talked two weeks ago about how God’s word can bring or restore rhythm to our lives.  Now after praying for community among the disciples and giving them God’s word, Jesus is praying for the disciples missional assignment.

I have given them your word . . . Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (John 17:14, 17-18, ESV)

Jesus has been in community within the Trinity since before the creation of the world and God sent Him into the world, now Jesus, praying for His disciples and has given them God’s word is sending them into the world, just as the Father did with Him, so that they can have an impact on the world.  If we learn how to live in community with others and apply God’s word to our lives, we are ready to accept our missional assignment to go into the world!

As Jesus closes his prayer, we are now shown the results that are possible and the impact we can have in the world.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23, ESV)

First, did you notice how Jesus has switched the focus of His prayer from His disciples to US!  We are “those who will believe”.  Before Jesus left this earth, He prayed for US to experience the same type of community that He experiences within the Trinity!  That’s cool.  Then He goes on to give us the outcome if we do this.  If we are able to live in community with others, apply God’s Word to our lives and go into the world and demonstrate that community and truth to the world, Jesus tells us that the world will believe that He was sent from God.  WOW!  Let that sink in for a minute.  If we do this right, the world will believe that Jesus was sent by God!!!

Have you ever asked yourself why Jesus offered this prayer just before he was arrested?  Why does anybody pray?  Isn’t it because we believe the answer to our prayers is possible?  Jesus prayed for those who would believe in Him to experience community because He believes the answer to that prayer is possible.  Not only is it possible, but Jesus has so much confidence in us to demonstrate this type of community to the world that the world will believe that He was sent by God.

The community we show or do not show as Christ’s church will have an eternal impact on those who are watching us.

Community + God’s Word + Missional Assignment = Changed World

One final thought, we can define community this way.  Like the bars on a cross, the vertical bar represents our relationship with God and the horizontal represents our relationship with others.  Where those two bars intersect, when we experience God and all of His fullness and His people in all of their fullness, true community is born.

Is your life out of rhythm?  Rhythm can be restored by spending time in God’s Word on a regular and consistent basis, spending time in prayer with God and listening for His guidance in your life and by loving others in true community.

My prayer for you is that over the past few weeks you have been challenged to restore God’s rhythm to your life!

Thanks for letting me share this series with you!

The familiar words of v. 105 read a little differently to me now that I have spent two weeks in this chapter.  It is not just one verse by itself, but a piece of the overall picture.  A part of the constant reminder that I need to be reading and following and always learning what God has set forth for us.  As believers, we have taken an oath to follow God’s laws, and we do that willingly while offering him praise and thanks.

I have loved the time spent in prayer this week, and I have really had moments when I could hear God talking to me clearly.  I know what He wants from me, and I keep praying to not forget and to take action, make changes and follow.  I also am excited about our time of fellowship this evening, and I’m looking ofrward to what Kelly has to tell us about Community.  Hope to see you there!

Okay, so I totally went the whole day yesterday without doing my quiet time, and I am going to do my best not to let that happen again.  It was an awful day.  There were many stressful situations, and I reacted to them much differently than when I have had reading and morning prayer.  I was a mess by lunch time.  Granted they were unusually difficult, but I still know that I hadn’t reminded myself that with God I could handle it.  Now that I am catching up with yesterday’s reading, I realize how beneficial it would have been to have read v. 91, “Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.”  All things serve God.  Yesterday I didn’t even feel like I served God at times, much less some of the awful people I was surrounded by.  If I could just act the way I know I want to in my heart always.  I want to serve God, and I know that I cannot slave for two masters.  I must continue to immerse myself in God’s word daily to gain the wisdom, insight and understanding the psalmist goes on to speak about.  “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (v.103)

Back on track, here. Verse 81 was a great way to start off the morning…”My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.”  I have a smaller amount of time than usual again today, and instead of going into a lengthier blog right now I am going to spend more time in prayer.  Y’all tell me how your reading is going today!