What Would You Write Home?
Father,
It's time. I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do.
I
spelled out your character in detail to the men and women you gave me. They
were yours in the first place; then you gave them to me, and they have now
done what you said. They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that everything
you gave me is firsthand from you, for the message you gave me, I gave them;
and they took it, and were convinced that I came from you. They believed
that you sent me.
I
pray for them. I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world but for those
you gave me, for they are yours by right. Everything mine is yours, and yours
mine, and my life is on display in them for I'm no longer going to be visible
in the world. They'll continue in the world while I return to you.
Father,
guard them as they pursue this life That you conferred as a gift through
me, so they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind. As long
as I was with them, I guarded them in the pursuit of the life you gave through
me. I even posted a night watch and not one of them was lost, except for
the rebel bent on destruction.
Now
I'm returning to you. I'm saying these things in the world's hearing
so my people can experience my joy completed in them. I gave them your word;
the godless world hated them because of it, because they didn't join the
world's ways, just as I didn't join the world's ways. I'm not asking that
you take them out of the world, but that you guard them from the evil one.
They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make
them holy-consecrated-with the truth; your word is consecrating truth.
In
the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission
in the world. I'm consecrating myself for their sakes so they'll be truth-consecrated
in their mission. I'm praying not only for them but also for those who will
believe in me because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for
all of them to become one heart and mind-just as you, Father, are in me and
I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might
believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The
same glory you gave me, I gave them, as they'll be as unified and together
as we are-I in them and you in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness
and give the godless world evidence that you've sent me and loved them in
the same way you've loved me. Father, I want those you gave me to be with
me, right where I am, as they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
having loved me long before there ever was a world.
Father,
the world has never known you, but I have known you, and these disciples
know that you sent me on this mission. I have made your very being known
to them-who you are and what you do-and continue to make it known, as that
your love for me might be in them exactly as I am in them.
Love, Jesus
Just before His arrest and crucifixion,
Jesus prayed this prayer. It might well have been written, as it is here,
as a letter home to Dad. Jesus knew what His assignment was. He knew the
details and the goals. He knew when it was finished and He was able to evaluate
whether He had completed it.
In order for us to fulfill
God's assignment to us, we also must know what that assignment is and what
its goals and details are. How else will we know if we are on track or not?
Although the circumstances
of Jesus' life changed, His determination never wavered. He was born in humble
circumstances of a mother that got pregnant before her wedding night. Many
never did understand the circumstances of His birth. His family had to move
suddenly when He was still very young and live in a foreign land. His own
brothers and sisters never understood His call and mocked Him for His
obedience to God.
The religious leaders of
His day were against Him and never showed Him any favor or ever blessed His
ministry. They constantly criticized whatever He did and publicly challenged
Him and attempted to embarrass Him. When He did speak in the congregation,
He didn't say what they wanted to hear.
His
own disciples didn't understand Him and often missed what He was trying to
teach them. When He was arrested everyone left Him and even denied they ever
knew Him. He never worried about being politically correct or saying what
people wanted to hear. His only goal was to accomplish the mission the Father
had given Him and to glorify the Father's name on earth through His obedience.
His relationship with His "Dad" was most important to Him and so as
His assignment was coming to an end, He took time to go over it one last
time with His Father.
Jesus' prayer for His disciples
and for those of us who were to follow is all about release. He had accomplished
His mission and now it was time to let go and trust. He prayed earnestly
for those He had spent so much time with over the past few years. He had
invested all He had in them and now it was time to trust that they too would
be obedient to the Spirit of God.
Were they
ready? Let's see. in a very short while Judas, His betrayer, would pretend
to show Him love with a kiss that would hand Him over for torture and death.
Peter, who had recently boasted that he would die rather than leave Jesus,
would run and swear that he never knew Him. The
rest who had been with Him day after day watching miracle after miracle would
sink into deep despair as they believed that His death brought an end to
all He had promised.
Leaders of the Church? Jesus thought so. He
had faith that God working within those men would transform their lives and
cause them to rise up and fulfill His call on their lives. He knew they would
make mistakes and that they would fail, but He also knew that God had chosen
them for a mission and they were to fulfill it.
We
need to have that same determination and faith regarding, first of all, our
own call and then the call of those God sends to us. We need to believe that
God has called the couples He sends us and that He has an assignment for
them. We need to trust, as Jesus did, that those whom we disciple will grow
in their own faith and will be obedient to the call of God on their lives.
Ours
is a mission, just as Jesus' was, for the duration. We aren't finished until
the Father says we are finished. Our circumstances shouldn't bother us any
more than they bothered Jesus. What people think of us, be it family or the
religious leaders of our day, shouldn't be our barometer of success. Our
one goal and our only goal should be to do what the Father has asked of us.
Whatever else we do on this earth is just a sideline.
We
must have faith as Jesus did for those He sends to us. We cannot look at
the circumstances of people's lives but we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus
and our hearts focused on His promises. We must have the same faith for others
that Jesus has for us.
No
matter how much time we invest in the lives of others, we must also invest
faith. Are we just going through the motions and hoping that they "get it"?
Are we reciting circumstances more than promises? Do we feel that people
owe us for what we have given them-for the time or energy we have invested in their lives? Or do we expect a Kingdom return on our investments?
Faith
for ourselves-faith for the members of our family-faith for those we disciple
and minister to comes from knowing what God has said and standing on that
Word. Faith is built and must be exercised to become strong. It is not aimless
or without purpose. It begins with hope and grows into an assurance of what
God has promised. (Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen-Hebrews 11:1)
Faith
builds up and empowers. Being possessed by circumstances wearies and depresses.
As we prepare for this year's convention, let us all begin to look at our
level of faith for all those that God sends our way. What do we speak about
them? What do we truly believe? Are we focused on what God has said or on
what we can see with our natural eyes? Discipling people requires great faith-first
that God will change them and then that we can trust that God will continue
to work in their lives as we begin releasing them. They need the Lord, not
us, to empower them to fulfill His call on their lives.
Together in His harvest,
Mike and Marilyn Phillipps
Prayer Requests
Please
remember all of our University of the Family leaders in Asia as well as all
the families affected by the tsunami. Pray for open doors to reach the precious
people of those lands with the love of Jesus.
Pray
also for Debbie Lake as she continues to recover from surgery and she and
Rusty travel across Asia ministering and teaching to marriages and families.
Please
remember Gina Smedley (Texas Group Leaders) in your prayers. She is standing
against stage 4 cancer and is being treated at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas.
She has asked us to agree with her for a miracle. Gina, we agree with you
for total healing and restoration!
Please
remember also Paul Jackson (Utah State Directors). Julie went to be with
the Lord last month and we know Paul would appreciate your prayers and a
note or phone call as well. Paul, you are not alone. Our thoughts and prayers
are with you!
Linda
Hammond (Michigan State Directors) is undergoing tests for deep chest pain.
So far they haven't found the answer. She would appreciate our prayers for
wisdom for the doctors and for total healing. Linda, we're agreeing with
you for total healing!
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