Have you ever noticed how very angry and aggressive people can be when you make a stand on the Word of God? In these recent years the very mention of Jesus, the Bible, Heaven, prayer or creation can set some people off in such a rant that they can't even contain themselves or their emotions! I noticed THIS in today's Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan in John 17:14:
14 I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world.
Jesus, in speaking to the Father, was warning His disciples that the world, influenced and driven by the devil, would hate them every bit as much as they hated Him. Even some of those whom Jesus had previously healed and delivered ended up deserting Him in the end. So I am SURE that Jesus prayed for the Father to hide us all out in some safe place where we wouldn't have to deal with the world's hate, right? NO! THIS is what Jesus prayed in verses 15-18:
15 I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth. 18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
WHOA! Not only did Jesus NOT ask that we be hidden in a safe spot away, He actually sent them, and us, out into the world! Just in case you don't think that He was also referring to us, look at verse 20-21:
20 Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not for their sake only that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching, 21 That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.
No, we are not to live AS the world, but we ARE to be available TO the world so that they can see HIM in and through us! How else will they ever see or ever know that they CAN have eternal life (Romans 10:13-15)? So, don't ever take it personally when people rant and rave at you, simply pray that their eyes be open and that they be blessed according to the Word. That leaves THEM in God's hands and YOU walking in the love that will NEVER fail (1 Corinthians 13:8)! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with "Tell The World":
Shalom in Him!
