"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." ~ Deuteronomy14:2

Friday, February 24, 2012

Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: February 24

"That all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" ~ John 17:21
No "clear stone" in our collection has struck into my [Eugenia Price, the author's] mind and heart with more sharpness than this one. I am further "cut" by it when I remember that it came from the lips of the Saviour just a few hours before they killed Him. It was spoken by His human lips, but it sprang from His heart which was the heart of God. Jesus praying that night for us to be one! Jesus praying like that about us because He knew us so well. Knew how marginal differences would divide us. The very Son of God prayed and then repeated His prayer to the Father that we might be one as they were one. His Saviour heart wanted us to be together. His shepherd heart wanted us to be together. He knew He prayed in the Father's will because the Father heart wanted us to be together. And the sharp edge goes into our hearts right here: One of the very issues which have so divided us was the reason Jesus gave for His prayer that we would be united in love. "... that the world may believe that thou hast sent me ..." We fight over the Divinity of Christ ... whether or not the Father sent Him, and He pleaded that we would not do this very thing. If I did not believe Jesus Christ was sent by the Father, that He and He alone is the one divine Son of God, I would not be a Christian at all. This was what convinced me. I wanted God to turn out to be Jesus Christ. And He did. But Jesus, knowing us, anticipated our taking this central and most blessed truth and making it a battlefield to divide us. Oh, the amazing wisdom of God to us-ward! Jesus saw that our unity with each other would prove His divinity to the world.
"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in ONE; ... that the world may BELIEVE that thou hast sent me ..."

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