DAY 356 – JESUS LOVED YOU BEFORE YOU BELIEVED ON HIM ------------------------------------------------- “I do not pray for these alone, but for those who will believe on me through their message.” – John 17:20 It is amazing to see how the LORD Jesus loves his own people. He promises to pray for each and every one of them. He also makes it clear that his prayer is also for those who are not yet called, those not yet believers, unconverted and living in sin. He spends a lot of time in continuous and consistent prayer for you. Your name is always in his lips. None of those who believe in Christ are unknown to him, and none of those who don’t believe in him are unknown to him. He knows his believers thoroughly, through and through. He also knows those in the world just as thoroughly. He knows which of the two thieves will turn and become one of his family. He knows which of the two drunkards will turn around and become a believer. None of those who are his, and belong to his family, are so sunk in sin and wickedness, do not share in his intercession. The LORD Jesus knows his people when there is no visible mark on them. He knows his sheep when to other people they seem like wolves and goats. He knows his people when they have been blackened by sin, and he knows that they shall be white as snow. He knows his children when they do not know themselves to be his. Yes, when they think they are lost beyond rescue, and when they foolishly think they can save themselves – the LORD Jesus knows them. When all hope fails them, when it seems as if the LORD does not know them and the gospel does not know them – when no believer knows them and ministers of the word give them no comfort, the LORD Jesus knows them even then. It is written, “I do not pray for the world, but for those you have given me out of the world; those who have not yet believed, but who shall believe through the word of those who are already called.” The LORD loves his people the same way. He has no special favorites. There are those who are believers and have been for a long time – they are not his special favorites because they have been converted earlier. There are also those who have not yet come to Christ – the LORD prays for these as much as he does for others. There might be a difference in the way you love your own children, but there is no difference in the way God loves his children. Yes, there are different callings as there are different gifts, based on the work they accomplish in this world and in the body of Christ – but there is no difference between the elect, in the way they are loved. They are all loved the same way. They are all written in the same book of eternal love and life. They were all purchased with the same precious blood. No one was bought with his foot, another with his hand – but all were bought with his heart’s blood. All believers are justified with the same righteousness, all given the same Holy Spirit and they shall all enter the same Heaven! They are all heirs of the same inheritance and loved by the same love. God loves his people before they believe on him. The LORD Jesus could not have prayed for those he did not love. He is not a hypocrite. He is definitely not a hypocrite in his prayers. He is never deceitful in his prayers. If he intercedes for anyone, it is because he loves them. If he pleads for anyone, then he has chosen them. If the LORD Jesus asks his Father to bless someone, we may be sure that he asks it from his heart. The LORD Jesus will never mention one’s name before the throne of God if he does not love with eternal affection. If the LORD prayed for his people before they were called and before they believed – he must have loved them before they believed on him. “My prayer is not for these alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.”
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:08:58 +0000
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