GPS Guide – July 23, 2019
OUR FATHER
Tuesday
Read: John 17:11, 13-21; Ephesians 4:1-6
“11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world,and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.” (NIV John 17:11)
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them,for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[a] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one,Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (NIV John 17:13-21)
1 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. ” (NIV Ephesians 4:1-6)
Study: Jesus phrased the Lord’s Prayer using plural pronouns—our Father, our daily bread, and so on. Although we pray about specific, personal concerns, by beginning the prayer with “Our Father” Jesus reminded us that, beyond our surface differences, we humans are all part of the same family. We do not make our faith journey alone, but in company with one another. We aren’t “one” because we’re “nice.” We’re one because the one God is our Father. “Speakers used repetition to drive home a point; Paul repeats various forms of the Greek term translated “one” seven times in v. 4-6, and four uses of “all” (three after varied prepositions) in v. 6.” * How easy or hard is it for you to live out Ephesians’ claim that you share “one faith” with people who worship differently than you, baptize differently, or read the Bible differently?
Prayer: Loving Jesus, guide your people all over the earth. Guide me. Help me to live so that words like “peace,” “unity,” “humility” and “love” will be the main qualities others see in me. Amen.