Welcome to our new project, the Daily Bible Devotional. The goal is to help you understand and apply

scripture as you go through a New Testament Bible read five days a week, Monday through Friday,

as we move from Matthew straight through to Revelation. In under four minutes each morning, we will recap the chapter,

make some application, present thought questions for the day, and offer a prayer together.

I'm excited about exploring God's word with you, so let's get started.

Welcome to our study today from John the 17th chapter. This is one of the most beautiful chapters in all of

Scripture. It documents a prayer offered by Jesus while he is with his apostles. Jesus speaks of all things

leading back to the Father. Whatever glory and authority Jesus has, he uses it to turn all attention to the Father and his gift of eternal life.

He committed his life to accomplishing the will of the Father.

Jesus is soon to depart, and he prays that God will keep the disciples in the faith and unified with one another.

Jesus asks for God to keep them from the evil one and to sanctify them in the truth.

He then prays for all believers that they may be one, perfected in unity, striving together in the love of God.

The most incredible prayer. Let's get some things out of it today. The most striking aspect of this prayer is the

incredible humility of Jesus. He defers all

glory to his father and addresses him as holy and righteous. All that Jesus has been gifted to do is used

to turn the world toward the Father. This is a lesson that should live on in us. We are agents for God.

And all the glory and authority we have is to direct

people back to him. Jesus then prays fervently concerning his disciples. He prays for their unity and

strength, and that they may live in sanctity and love. If we are genuinely interested in honoring

the Father in this life, we must invest fully in the strength and unity of fellow believers.

There's just no way around that.

Central to who we are.

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