“The glory which you have given Me
I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be
perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them,
even as You have loved Me.”—John 17:22-23
Many times, we often let our past shape our
future. How we think about certain
things is based on our past experiences and somehow we get a mind-set of future
failure. This past year you may not have
ended up where you would like to be in your relationship with the Lord. Does it seem that you are having a long-distance relationship with Him? Perhaps there were some things that were not completed
some failures, and some mistakes; however, because Jesus has took our sins,
failures, weaknesses, and problems out of our way we are able to say to the
past: “You will no longer hold me back—You are not longer relevant.” “And you, being dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the
handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And
He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians
2:13-14).
Rev. Brenda Kunneman gave the following
prophetic word, Monday, December 31, 2012:
“The Spirit says,
know that the past is no longer relevant to your future. Your past mistakes,
problems, and even the things that did not turn out like you hoped are now
over. So as you look at the year to come,
say of the past, It is not relevant!”
Because you made a decision not to allow the
past to be relevant to your future, this year can be the best year of your relationship with the Lord. Jesus said in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for a
servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends,
for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. Having a close relationship to the Lord allows Him to manifest Himself to you.
I have read somewhere that when Michael
Angelo was in the height of his fame, a boy named Raphael, destined to be his
worthy successor --was introduced to him as a promising-pupil. At first the lad was employed in the simplest
duties of the studio, cleaning brushes and mixing paints, but as he developed
the qualities of exactness, punctuality, and sympathy, he became entrusted with
increasing responsibility, until the master painter made him his friend and
confidant. So we come to Christ, first,
as redeemed from the slavery of Satan, to be His Servants, and He calls us His
friends.
A friend will reveal
himself and you will hear from his own lips items of confidential information.
Thus it is with the Lord Jesus. He manifests Himself to those who love Him, and
keep His word.
A friend will interest his
friends in his undertakings. It is a joy
to Christ when those whom He loves are able to take a share in His world-wide
redemptive schemes. A friend will be
interested in our failures and successes. So to it is with our Lord. When He sees some
peril menacing us, does He not make intercession? If we fail, He meets us with the same tender
affection, not alienated from us, but only intensely sorry, ready to point out
the cause of our failure and to encourage us to try again. If we stand our ground, He meets us as we come
forth from the fight, glad for us, eager to refresh us in our weariness,
careful to heal any wound that we may have received.
Such is the relationship that we have with Jesus. He is always the same, His love never wanes,
His compassion they fail not, His mercy is new every morning.
Prayer—Father
I pray that Jesus Christ may become dearer to me. May I love Him as a personal
Friend, and hide myself in the hourly consciousness of His presence. May I have no taste or desire for things which
He would disapprove and let His love constrain me not to live unto myself, but
to His glory, in Jesus Name. Amen.
