Day 23

Be Still:  Dear Father, may we who claim Christ be one, just as You are one, with Jesus.  In His name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 17:10-19

¹⁰“All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹I 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. ¹²While 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.

¹³"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

¹⁵My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

Be Stretched:  We are in the world, but we are not of it.  What does that mean for us in our daily lives here in 2011?  We have the privilege and responsibility of joining in spreading the Good News of Jesus out into the world.  Spend time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to reveal how you may join in this exciting task.  Thank Jesus for His prayers for you.