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Remember The Time...?

                  “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.  (John 17:6-12)

 

            The pendulum swings, and we are back to the issue of the partnership of the Father and the Son and the knowledge of that partnership among those the Father had given the Son being somehow paramount. Admittedly, this passage seems a little over the top to me. At the same time, how often do we participate in – or at least watch two or more people spending time together talking about their success in a recent project or “the gold old days”?

            “Remember when …?”

            “Oh yeah, and then there was the time….”

            We tend to think about what we know is about to happen, but could this be a little taste of “for the joy set before Him…”? Could it be a sort of victory celebration? Or, if neither of those, perhaps a little encouragement or a pep talk – Jesus talking to the Father about what has been accomplished in light of what He was about to face?

            No matter which alternative you believe, do you have these talks with God?  Years ago, I worked on a list of “If it hadn’t been for….” It might not be the same as Jesus’ celebratory list, but there are many things in my life that if X hadn’t happened, Y wouldn’t have happened, and I wouldn’t be where I am today. There has been much that I thanked God for in that list. I wish I could find it.

            Since we’re so close to Thanksgiving day, it’s time to turn our focus in that direction. I challenged us earlier to come up with 1000 in November, and I have done horribly. But over the next couple of days, take a few minutes to think about what God means to you, what He’s done in your life, and where you might be without Him (jump past the fact that you wouldn’t exist.) And if you can, celebrate.

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