John 17:17  Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

God's Word of truth gets people safely through life's storms. Isn't that the message of the Bible? God's Word of truth getting His people safely through life's unpredictable, ferocious, and sometimes hellish storms? For Abraham and Sarah, it was a storm called infertility. For Moses, it was a storm called slavery and then another storm called forty years in the desert. For David, it was Mr. Storm himself - Goliath. Jesus prayed the prayer recorded in John 17, because Hus disciples were about to suffer a Category 5 storm on Good Friday - the Savior's mock trial, suffering, crucifixion, and death.

God's Word guides us in chaos, calms in suffering, assures us in life's darkest hours. That's really good news! Why? Because we're all in some kind of storm. What's yours? Are you raising teenagers? Did you lose the love of your life? Are finances tight? What about your health? Is old age getting the best of you?

Are you hurting? Christ hurt. Are you bleeding? Christ bled. Do you feel like you're gasping for air? Christr grasped for air. Are you crying? Christ cried. Is your heart breaking? Christ's heart was absolutely broken. You are never alone in your storm!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 17:11  Holy Father, keep them in Your name.

"What's in a name? This question was made famous by William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. Juliet wistfully wonders, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." It doesn't matter that Romeo is from the rival family named Montague. What's in a name? For Juliet - absolutely nothing.

Jesus disagrees. He asks His Father to keep the Church "in Your name." Yahweh is God's name in the Old Testament - though it appears as "Lord" in English Bibles. God tells us what His name means.  "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6).

Recall what the Israelites had just done - worshipped a golden calf. How does God respond to Israel's idolatry? our idolatry? our worship of money, possessions, jobs, youth - you name it. Does God scold us? shame us? berate us? reject us? condemn us? NO! He reveals His name. It's a Gospel name! Mercy, grace, and faithfulness!

Jesus demonstrates this love by dying on the cross for you. Palm Sunday announced it. Maundy Thursday delivers it through Christ's true body and blood. Good Friday shows it. Easter Sunday celebrates it! Jesus saves from darkness and dread, from the devil, and from our last enemy - death. What's in a name? If we're talking about Yahweh, then that's easy. What's in the name of Yahweh? Absolutely everything!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

John 17:3  This is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Imagine taking a tribesman from Kenya and putting him in downtown Chicago without any lessons in English, American history, or the legacy of the Chicago Cubs. The poor man from Kenya would be lost in the dark. Everything would be strange, crazy, and insane!

Apart from knowing God, we are lost in the dark. Everything is strange, crazy, and insane! Disregard knowing God, and we sentence ourselves to stumbling through life blindfolded - with no sense of direction and no understanding of who we are or what anything is all about. If we don't know God, we waste our lives and lose our souls forever.

What does it mean, then, to know God? Is knowing God a quiver in my liver or an ocean of emotion? Is knowing God a dreamy, off-the-ground, floating feeling? Does knowing God take a special sort of intellect? Do I hear a voice? Do I see a vision?

None of the above. To know God is to know Jesus. Jesus shows us that, in spite of our selfishness, narcissism, and sin, God never gives up on us. When soldiers spat in His face, Jesus didn't give up. When a whip ripped open His back, Jesus didn't give up. When nails crushed His nerves, Jesus didn't give up. Come what may, God doesn't give up. God will never give up on you. To know that is to truly know God.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 16:33  In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

We call the first professional football games preseason games. These games are played in August when they don;t count in the standings. Coaches use these games to evaluate newly signed players. Veteran players hardly play at all.

We call the first Major League Baseball games spring training games. These games are played in late February and March in Florida and Arizona. They don't count in the standings either. Coaches use these games to evaluate newly signed players, while veterans don't play that much.

In preseason and spring training games, even when you win, you really don't win. When you beat your opponent, you really don't beat your opponent. When you gain the victory, you really don't gain the victory. None of these games count.

Have you ever felt as though your life is like a preseason football game or spring training baseball game? that what you're doing really doesn't count? that even when you win, it really doesn't matter? that even when you work hard, at the end of the day, it feels pointless? Are you looking for a victory that lasts, that has substance? Are you looking for real victory?

Then I have good news for you - really good news! Although we make evil decisions, say evil words, and think some really evil thoughts, Christ has won the great battle through His shed blood and empty tomb. The victory is ours. This is a settled fact, never to be altered.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 16:30  We believe that You came from God.

Imagine you're hiking and you come to a narrow, rickety-looking footbridge - one hundred feet above a river. The only way to get to the other side is that bridge, but you're not sure it will hold. You slowly begin to make your way across, testing each step before moving on. You've got to believe in that bridge to get you to the other side. But, it's not your belief in the bridge that keeps you from falling - it's the bridge.

I can have just a little belief in a good bridge and slowly creep to the other side. Or I can have a lot of belief in a bad bridge, only to have it give way under my feet.

Belief is only as good as the object of our belief. Jesus is the object of our belief. That's what the disciples say in John 16:30. Jesus is the Son of God, and He is God the Son. Jesus is God's promised Messiah, the Root and Offspring of David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the Bright Morning Star. Our belief is not in belief. Our belief is in Jesus.

At Jesus' Baptism, the Father declared Him the Son of God. At Jesus' crucifixion, a Roman soldier declared Him the Son of God. Paul says in Romans 1:$ that, at Jesus' resurrection, He is declared the Son of God. Baptized. Crucified. Risen from the dead. Jesus, the Son of God! We believe!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

The twelve apostles included "Andrew" (Matt. 10:2). 

Andrew was Peter's brother and a native of Bethsaida of Galilee. From the very start we see him leading people to Christ—beginning with his own brother. 

The Gospel of John records his first encounter with Jesus: "John [the Baptist] was standing, and two of his disciples [Andrew and John], and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.... One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus" (John 1:35-37, 40-42). Later Jesus called both Andrew and Peter to become His disciples, and they immediately left their fishing nets to follow Him (Matt 4:20). 

Our next glimpse of Andrew is in John 6:8-9. It was late in the day, and thousands of people who were following Jesus were beginning to get hungry, but there wasn't enough food to feed them. Then Andrew brought to Jesus a young boy with five barley loaves and two fish. From that small lunch Jesus created enough food to feed the entire crowd! 

Andrew also appears in John 12:20-22, which tells of some Greeks who were traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast. They came to Philip and requested to see Jesus. Philip took them to Andrew, who apparently took them to Jesus. 

Andrew didn't always know how Jesus would deal with a particular person or situation, but he kept right on bringing them to Him anyway. That’s a characteristic every believer should have. Your spiritual gifts might differ from others, but your common goal is to make disciples (Matt 28:19-20), and that begins with leading sinners to Christ. Make that your priority today! 
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

The twelve apostles included "Simon, who is called Peter (Matt. 10:2). 

God makes leaders by taking people with the right raw material, putting them through the right experiences, and teaching them the right lessons. That’s how He trained Peter, and the results were astonishing. In the first twelve chapters of Acts we see Peter initiating the move to replace Judas with Matthias, preaching powerfully on the Day of Pentecost, healing a lame man, standing up to the Jewish authorities, confronting Ananias and Sapphira, dealing with Simon the magician, healing Aeneas, raising Dorcas from the dead, and taking the gospel to the Gentiles. In addition, he wrote two epistles that pass on to us all the lessons he learned from Jesus. What a leader! 

Peter was as much a model of spiritual leadership in death as he was in life. Jesus told him he would be crucified for God's glory, and early church tradition tells us that Peter was in fact crucified. But before putting him to death, his executioners forced him to watch the crucifixion of his wife. As he stood at the foot of her cross, he encouraging her by saying over and over, "Remember the Lord, remember the Lord." When it was time for his own crucifixion, he requested that he be crucified upside-down because he felt unworthy to die as his Lord had died. His request was granted. 

Just as God transformed Peter from a brash and impulsive fisherman into a powerful instrument for His glory, so He can transform everyone who is yielded to Him. 

You will never be an apostle, but you can have the same depth of character and can know the same joy of serving Christ that Peter knew. There's no higher calling in the world than to be an instrument of God's grace. Peter was faithful to that calling. May you be a faithful tool!
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,