Month: June 2025

The matchles name of Jesus, a mystery in the past, revealed in part at the cross and resurrection, yet we still see through a glass darkly.

”My Name, which is called in the song ‘Matchless’ is in no way seperate from Me. My name represents everything I am. As you accept and believe in My name you accept and believe on Me. When you call on My name you are calling on Me. My name represents everything I am, everything that I do. It is who I am. Yes there is much about Me that you do not understand which is still a mystery, but your mind would not be able to take it all in if it was revealed to you now. Be patient, one day you will see face to face and experience My full glory while you, yourself will be glorified.

We continue today with John 17:6-19. Last time I almost tripped over the whole concept of “I protected and held them safe by that name you gave Me” Why do I say tripped? Over the years I have associated with many brothers and sisters in Christ. In some circles there would occasionally be a testimony to calling on Jesus name or His blood and the sense is almost that these two expressions release a power of their own. Reading this passage and especially this phrase almost took me into that realm.

There is a bit of emphasis on Jesus’s name in this passage. Right back in vs 6 where the NIV translates “you” the actual reading is “I have revealed your name to those you gave Me”. In vs 11 Jesus prays to the Father “protect them by the power of your name – the name You gave Me”. On reflection we must see that the concept of the “name” merely represents the full character and power of the One who carries that Name. So the interplay here is really on understanding that all the power and character of God is available and real in Jesus. Their names are therefore equally powerful and this is just another mystery of the Trinity. In the letter to the Colossians Paul puts it this way; “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him”. So the emphasis in Jesus’s prayer in John’s gospel is not on the name as such but on the power which is available to protect those disciples.The power of both God and Jesus. The interesting thing is that the aim was “that they may be one” vs 12.

The fact that He mentions Judas as the only one that has been lost also suggests that He is asking God to keep them faithful to the task that they have been given. There is nothing wrong with us calling on the name of Jesus whatever the circumstances whether in a crisis or just every day. The important thing is that we undestand that calling on His name is just another way of calling out to Him in His full capacity and divinity and everything He represents.

Let us look at the last part of the prayer for the disciples then. After praying for their safety Jesus expresses the desire that they may experience joy in their service even when He is gone. I find that quite interesting since it is easy to be carried away by the earnestness of our task that we forget that the underlying emotion we should experience in Jesus is one of joy. We must enjoy our service.

He then turns back to the reality that bcause they are no longer “of” the world, the world is going to reject them. So as they experience that He prays that God will protect them from the evil one, the one who is behind much of the battle for the kingdom’s spread.

Then finally He prays that God will continue to sanctify them as they continue with this task of taking the message of the Kingdom out into the world. This is a good reminder that we are never to stop growing in our faith.The process of sanctification is only complete when we arrive in God’s presence.

Well that is quite a mouthful. Plenty to meditate on in the coming week. See you all after the great cold front which is arriving.

“In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever”. Streams of living water flow from thee, Oh my Lord make me even more thirsty for Thee and that powerful, pure water which flows from You.

”The shadow of My cross falls across the whole world – in fact the whole of My creation. It is the brightest shining light of My glory, demonstrating my committment, in love to my whole creation so that I can win a people who love and adore Me as much as I love them to myself. So let the shadow of the cross as it falls softly across you be the guide and reminder of my Presence and love for you and don’t hesitate to share it with those around you.”

We continue with Jesus’s high priestly prayer today in John 17:6 – 18. In this section John records the words Jesus spoke to His Father concerning His disciples and His relationship with them and what was going to happen to them after He left.

The passage opens with the startling words “those you gave me”. He then refines this with: “they were yours; you gave them to me” He repeats this in vs 9 adding that He is not praying for the world. Let us stop there. What an amazing concept because although these men were to play a special role in the inauguration of God’s Kingdom through Jesus, they nevertheless represent the relationship every believer has with the Son. The world here means everyone in the world irrespective of their status or belief. There was of course a special bond between Jesus and these men having spent three years together and Jesus is especially concerned for them since He was leaving them and nevertheless wanted them to continue with the special apostolic role they had been chosen for. He emphasises that they were specially chosen for this task.

Yet the basic principle remains, when we enter in to a relationship with God He calls us and gives us to His Son. We are God’s gifts to Jesus. This is a reminder of how precious we are to them and sets us apart from everyone else and that we each have a unique role to play in the growing kingdom. There were only 12 Apostles but billions of faithful members of God’s kingdom, each embued with a gift or gifts to serve the church. Each one of us is equally special!

The sign that they had accepted their election was that they obeyed God’s word. Jesus repeats that twice in vv 8 and 9. Now what would that mean? Did they sit on the beach with their nicely bound king James version bibles? Of course not. It simply means they responded to Jesus’ calling and teaching and we have seen in the gospels how flawed their response was on many occasions, but they “knew with certainty that I came from you (God) and they believed that you sent me” v 8 Their response was one of faith. They believed and that was demonstrated by action – obedience. That is a necessary definition of every Christian.

Recognizing their vulnerability in a world which was antagonistic towards them, Jesus then prays for their protection. But notice how they have been and are to be protected in the future cf vv 11,12. Notice the focus on “the Name” that has power to protect them. It is the name God gave to Jesus. And what would be the ultimate result of this protection? Firstly they would remain in unity and secondly that none of them would be lost. I presume this meant lost as in spiritually lost. The only one who is lost is Judas who turned against Jesus.

Once again these men were going to face the wrath of the world in a rather special way. Yet every one of us also faces that wrath in various ways and so we must understand the great protective role Jesus has towards us when he speaks of the power residing in His name. That is worth a pause to consider what that means so I am going to stop today’s devotion there with the invitation to ponder these truths, especially the last one and how they apply to each one of us individually and we will continue next week in this passage to look at the last few verses till vs 19.

God bless you all till next week.

When I consider the wonder of Your creation how can I say, “There is no God”? Oh Lord how great thou art for sending Your Son to reach out to us – to me – who am I that you should bless me so?

”I have produced a created world with a multitude of creatures. Wonders wherever you look, yet the pinnacle of My creation is man. My real desire is to get to that point where all of mankind is one in its love and adoration of Me and My Son, Jesus.That is why I sent Him to die -to achieve that unity. My plan is working its way out to fulfilment when it will all come together and you will be there in the new heavens and the new earth with a multitude of others with one desire – to have a relationship with Me and worship Me”.

We proceed now in John’s gospel to Ch 17:1-8. This chapter deals with the High priestly prayer of Jesus. Called that because He prays as a high priest firstly for the disciples and then for all future believers.

As I read this section the emhasis is on God’s glory and the glory Jesus had from the beginning and was going to return to, struck me. Remembering the introduction to the gospel and the One who the gospel is about we read in 1:14 “The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth”. Could this indeed be the whole purpose of the creation and the new Kingdom which He developed out of that?

It seems that Jesus’s mission on earth was aimed at bringing God’s glory down among men and that the ultimate demonstration of that, when His glory was most revealed was when He went to the cross. His glory was not visible here on earth but His prayer states that He was going to return to the glory He once had when He was with the Father. Furthermore His obedience to death on the cross was the ultimate way that He would glorify God here on earth vs 4.

Ultimately the picture we have of the completion of time and a peek into the new heavens and new earth we see that central to the whole symbolic picture in Revelation ch 4 is God’s glory. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory honour and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being”. So we can deduce from that that the whole excercise of creation and the interaction with mankind has added to God’s glory.

Standing out for me in vibrant colours in the center of this passage which focusses on God’s glory is the incedibly important statement in vs 3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent”. The ultimate manifestation then of God’s glory in us is that we may know Him. His aim in creation was not just to make humans but to make humans that would “know Him”. Of course that draws the discussion on relationship in the previos chapters together in a great purpose statement. God made us to have a relationship with Him which would go on into eternty and that would add to His glory.

The key sign that we know Him is demonstrated by our obedience to God’s word vss 6-8. That is the sign that we know God. That is not the means to knowing Him. We know Him by faith but we demnstrate that vibrant relationship by obeying His word. It is described at the end of vs 8 as believing that God sent Jesus – faith.

May God bless you all as you meditate on God’s glory. Till next week then bless you all.

The greatest wonder, greater than all of creation is the wonder that thou my Lord should die for me.

”Take that all in. My creation is larger and more complex than you could ever imagine. Yet the plan I have had for the redemption of the lost is even more complex and precious than all of creation. Look up at the cross, it is my love letter to you. It is my love letter to the whole world Written in drops of blood, each one squeezed out with infinite agony but carrying a multitude of blessing to billions. The wonder of it all! Just accept it. Accept it as my greatest token of love and share it with as many as you can so that this great news, this infinitely powerful Gospel may become the war cry of the new kingdom – so that many more may appreciate and be transformed by the wonder of it all.”

Today we come to an end of the so-called discourse by Jesus with some important final words. Our reading is John 16:25 – 33.

Throughout the discourse Jesus has repeated the invitation to the disciples to ask anything from the Father in His name on a number of occasions, following that with the promise that they will receive what they have asked for. Today He expands on that with an explanation that up to now He has been speaking figuratively but from now will speak plainly. Let’s look at what He is saying.

He repeats the offer to ask anything in His name but then expands on that. Although He is inviting them to ask the Father in His name this does not mean that He has to persuade or squeeze God for an answer. No, the Father wants to answer because He already loves them because they have loved Him and believe that He came from the Father. He came on a mission to earth and is now returning to be with the Father so they together will be available to these disciples and every disciple after them, including us to answer whatever prayers we ask. However the limitation is “in Jesus’ name”. That means according to the will and program of Jesus.

Now we come to the end and a verse which most Christians find huge comfort in. However we may actually miss the full impact of this verse if we don’t read it in context. The verse is vs 33: “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

This amazing promise must be seen against the background of the previous verse where he warns them that they are going to face such trouble that they will all be scattered and will return to their homes abandoning the whole kingdom program. As they face this, His promise is that He will give them peace in the midst of all that. He is speaking of the whole crucifixion event of course.

This is another of the great enigmas of Christianity. The word translated here as trouble is often translated as tribulation. The whole of the book of Revelation describes the gospel era as the time of tribulation. We live in a fallen world with potent enemies. Yet Jesus promises that despite outward appearances He has overcome the world and will give us an inner peace which the world will never understand during these times of tribulation. Paul repeats this in Phillipians ch 4:4ff “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice:…….The Lord. Is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.

So during this time of tribulation we live in, Jesus makes a secure promise, repeated by Paul that despite the tribulation, which will come since we are living in the time of tribulation, God will give us whatever we ask in Jesus name and so that we can have deep inner peace in our hearts and minds. We are never offered total physical protection, although God often does give that, but the true blessing of our intimate relationship with the Father through Jesus is the deep inner ability to trust God completely in everything and reap the fruit of pure peace from that.

This is a lot to digest and difficult to unravel the full implications of in a short devotion, yet, if we believe it there is an amazing promise we just need to take hold of and believe to experience it.

Richest blessings till next week.