(Read John 17:1-15)
This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”. Yesterday we closed out the teaching of Peter walking on water. It’s Friday morning, so I don’t want to start something new about Peter today. Instead, I will give you a reflective message about Jesus and how He lived His live in sync with heaven. To do this we will look at an excerpt from a prayer Jesus prayed in John 17.
Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed, “Father, the time has come. Give glory to your Son so that the Son can give glory to you… I finished the work you gave me to do. I brought you glory on earth… You gave me some people from the world. I have shown them what you are like. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your teaching… I told them the words you gave me, and they accepted them… I pray for them now. I am not praying for the people in the world. But I am praying for these people you gave me, because they are yours… I will not stay in the world, but these followers of mine are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name—the name you gave me. Then they will be one, just as you and I are one… I want them to be completely happy. I have given them your teaching. And the world has hated them, because they don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world. But I am asking that you keep them safe from the Evil One. They don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Jesus lived His life in the earth in sync with a different reality. He was in sync with heaven.
2. Living by faith is simply living in sync with heaven. This means you may seem out-of-sync with the timing or “realities” of this world, but that’s okay, because pleasing God is much more important than pleasing man.
3. Faith is always “NOW”. Words from heaven will tell you something is done and you will sense a “NOW” in your Spirit, even though it may not actually happen for years in the earth. Living by faith means you accept the “NOW” from heaven the moment you hear it and you live like it’s already done, even though it may take time to manifest in the earth.
4. God expects you to learn and live His ways. In God’s Kingdom the currency is faith, the culture is honor, and the foundation is love.
a) You cannot please God without faith (Heb 11:6).
b) Faith peers into God’s realm from the earth realm, and prays God’s will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
c) Living by faith means you are living from heaven’s reality.
d) When you live by faith heaven’s reality is more real to you than the things you see in this world.
e) Living as a Kingdom of God citizen you learn to operate with a spirit of honor. You see and treat people the way God sees them.
f) As a person of honor you are able to value someone for whom God called them to be, without stumbling over their mistakes.
g) When you live from heaven’s reality you maintain a heart of love. Nothing in God’s Kingdom works if you don’t maintain your love walk.
h) You can’t even love without grace. The only reason you can love others is because God loved you first.
i) As a Kingdom of God citizen you believe God loves you, you receive His love in your heart, and you become His love to the world.
5. Jesus was in the world, but He did not live like He was from it. You and I are supposed to live our lives JUST LIKE JESUS! (1 Jn 4:17).
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith. Jesus lived by faith. He was completely in sync with the world He came from, heaven. He was in the world, but not OF it. Jesus was not defined, nor confined by this world. He looked to You, heard from You, sought Your face daily, and only did what You led Him to do. I am just like Jesus. As Jesus is, so am I, in this world! Jesus prayed for me. Jesus said I don’t belong to this world. I believe Him. I have been Born-Again. I have been born from above. I am IN the world, but not OF it. I live my life based on Your reality. I see, say and do whatever I receive from You; and living this way means I live by faith. I also treat people with honor and I walk in love. I am a Kingdom of God citizen and I live my life in sync with my home. So when I face something in this world, I am not moved, because I am in sync with heaven. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
