Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Recently, I heard a story about a man who spotted a bear at a distance on higher ground, checking him out as he was walking along a trail here on Vancouver Island.
He started to shout at the bear and waved his arms rather vigorously. He even picked up some rocks and threw them towards the bear.
His intention, really, was to scare the bear away, or at the very least, send a clear message to the bear, “move along”.
His well-intentioned enterprise probably lasted a few heart-stopping minutes. But instead of scooting off, the bear started to make its way down the slope towards the man - to his dismay, I imagine.
In the end, it was the man who scooted off – in double quick time - down the trail.
In that situation I would have done the same thing - especially after a failed attempt to ‘move’ the bear along. To have a bear come down a slope towards me to check me out – well, that is not something anyone should wait around for.
I am happy to report that no harm came to that man, or to the bear from that encounter.
What got me thinking from this story are our presumptions of what the bear would do, without giving much thought to the nature of the creature.
Sure, we have come across many suggestions to survive a bear encounter. But what we may not know is that a bear is, by nature, very inquisitive. It actually also has excellent vision.
To the bear, a man shouting and waving his arms at this certain distance may just be something that it would want to investigate – to the astonishment of that particular fellow.
It would certainly serve us well if we understood the nature of the bear - what the bear desires – before jumping to the assumptions that inform our thoughts about what a bear would do.
Remember W.W.J.D.?
In the 90’s, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ became one of the most popular Christian catchphrases to be circulated and merchandized. We challenged everyone to think ‘W.W.J.D.?’ before doing anything.
Back then, it was pretty cool.
However every time I read the gospels, I always wondered how effective it really was - thinking about what Jesus would do - without really knowing His nature, His wants, and His desires.
Jesus was simply so radical. The things He did never ceases to surprise me, even till this day.
His every action and response to the needs of the world around Him was always radical and unpredictable.
His mandate was consistently and perfectly fundamental to the Kingdom of God.
Convinced that their Master was the Son of God, the disciples persevered in His unpredictability, and was constantly struggling just to keep up with Him.
There was no way they could know, or even guess, what would Jesus do.
He is, after all, God.
So what makes us think – presumptuously, arrogantly or, both - that we would know what Jesus would do, when even His disciples were constantly clueless to the very end?
To think that, is to be in serious error; for in the heart of Christ is the heart of God.
Our hearts – on the other hand – still needs work, lots of it.
So, I had a little response to ‘W.W.J.D.’… Brace yourself and take a deep breath… here it goes -
‘H.W.Y.K.W.W.J.D.I.Y.D.K.W.J.D.?’
How would you know what would Jesus do if you didn’t know what Jesus desires?
Too much?
You are probably right.
Let’s simplify, but still consider, then, the question we ought to ask ourselves before ‘W.W.J.D.’.
It would have to be this - W.D.J.D?
What does Jesus desire?
John 17 records our Lord’s prayer on the night before His Crucifixion.
One would surmise correctly if there were anything on the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, He would take precisely this poignant moment to express all that He desired, to His Father in Heaven.
To understand a man’s heart, is to listen to his prayers.
To understand our Lord’s heart - to know what Christ truly desires for us – is to listen intently to His prayers, especially the one He prays on the advent of His arrest and ultimate sacrifice for the world.
It is my prayer that as you contemplate God’s sacrifice during this season of Lent, you would earnestly seek the heart of God and be brought by the Holy Spirit into a deeper understanding of His desire for you, through the prayer of His Son and our Saviour, Christ Jesus our Lord.
And so, let us contemplate our Lord’s heart together, as we ponder, ‘What does Jesus desire’ – according to John 17.
When you pray, do you have a tendency of praying only one Person of our Triune God, and in so doing, ignore the rest?
Try it today! Pray an authentically Trinitarian prayer and experience the wealth of faith and revelation that comes with addressing the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as individual persons of the Trinity.
Why is this important?
Our Lord wants us to know that He is the Answer for the world today, simply because He is the Creator of the world in the beginning.
Imagine having your car mechanic sitting beside you, the moment your car breaks down. You'd be thinking, 'this is not too bad...'
Now imagine having the designer of the engine sitting beside you, the moment your car breaks down. Now that would be the most ideal of circumstances, wouldn't you think?
Our Lord was with the Father in the beginning.
Isn’t it assuring to know that all our prayers invoke the very name of Jesus, who created us, and whose image we are created in? Who would be in the real position of fixing the brokenness of the world - the creature, or the Creator?
Certainly something for us to think about.
Do you belong to God? You know you do, because you have sought out and obeyed His word.
I guess the real question becomes; do you actively seek out and obey the word of God?
And so, we are sent, just as Christ was sent.
As you contemplate your life today, are you living out the Great Commission? Do you feel the unction and urgency of being ‘sent’ by God? Or is your brand of Christianity mundane and routine? It is either one or the other.
Being ‘sent’ is the authentic mode of a true believer. Everything else simply falls short of Christ’s command to “Go, make disciples of all nations … …”
Now do you understand why God already knows our needs before we ask?
The next time you think about praying to the living God, spend time re-discovering the heart of Christ in John 17, because our lives really come down to knowing what God desires for us.
So, what does Jesus desire?
Well, now you know.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our dear Heavenly Father,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
We are grateful Lord, that we are sent, just as You were sent.
May our lives bring You glory.
Thank you for revealing Your heart to us through the prayer of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Holy Spirit, please instil within our hearts a deep desire of all that Christ desires for us.
May we be always obedient to Your word, in the steadfast knowledge that we belong to You.
Lord Jesus, we declare that in Your Holy name, we will be protected against the schemes of the evil one.
May we experience the full measure of Your joy in our lives.
Sanctify us, O Lord, so that we may truly become fruitful, thereby showing ourselves to be Your disciples.
We long to be in Your presence, Lord.
We long to see Your glory.
All these we ask and pray, in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Recently, I heard a story about a man who spotted a bear at a distance on higher ground, checking him out as he was walking along a trail here on Vancouver Island.
He started to shout at the bear and waved his arms rather vigorously. He even picked up some rocks and threw them towards the bear.
His intention, really, was to scare the bear away, or at the very least, send a clear message to the bear, “move along”.
His well-intentioned enterprise probably lasted a few heart-stopping minutes. But instead of scooting off, the bear started to make its way down the slope towards the man - to his dismay, I imagine.
In the end, it was the man who scooted off – in double quick time - down the trail.
In that situation I would have done the same thing - especially after a failed attempt to ‘move’ the bear along. To have a bear come down a slope towards me to check me out – well, that is not something anyone should wait around for.
I am happy to report that no harm came to that man, or to the bear from that encounter.
What got me thinking from this story are our presumptions of what the bear would do, without giving much thought to the nature of the creature.
Sure, we have come across many suggestions to survive a bear encounter. But what we may not know is that a bear is, by nature, very inquisitive. It actually also has excellent vision.
To the bear, a man shouting and waving his arms at this certain distance may just be something that it would want to investigate – to the astonishment of that particular fellow.
It would certainly serve us well if we understood the nature of the bear - what the bear desires – before jumping to the assumptions that inform our thoughts about what a bear would do.
Remember W.W.J.D.?
In the 90’s, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ became one of the most popular Christian catchphrases to be circulated and merchandized. We challenged everyone to think ‘W.W.J.D.?’ before doing anything.
Back then, it was pretty cool.
However every time I read the gospels, I always wondered how effective it really was - thinking about what Jesus would do - without really knowing His nature, His wants, and His desires.
Jesus was simply so radical. The things He did never ceases to surprise me, even till this day.
His every action and response to the needs of the world around Him was always radical and unpredictable.
His mandate was consistently and perfectly fundamental to the Kingdom of God.
Convinced that their Master was the Son of God, the disciples persevered in His unpredictability, and was constantly struggling just to keep up with Him.
There was no way they could know, or even guess, what would Jesus do.
He is, after all, God.
So what makes us think – presumptuously, arrogantly or, both - that we would know what Jesus would do, when even His disciples were constantly clueless to the very end?
To think that, is to be in serious error; for in the heart of Christ is the heart of God.
Our hearts – on the other hand – still needs work, lots of it.
So, I had a little response to ‘W.W.J.D.’… Brace yourself and take a deep breath… here it goes -
‘H.W.Y.K.W.W.J.D.I.Y.D.K.W.J.D.?’
How would you know what would Jesus do if you didn’t know what Jesus desires?
Too much?
You are probably right.
Let’s simplify, but still consider, then, the question we ought to ask ourselves before ‘W.W.J.D.’.
It would have to be this - W.D.J.D?
What does Jesus desire?
John 17 records our Lord’s prayer on the night before His Crucifixion.
One would surmise correctly if there were anything on the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, He would take precisely this poignant moment to express all that He desired, to His Father in Heaven.
To understand a man’s heart, is to listen to his prayers.
To understand our Lord’s heart - to know what Christ truly desires for us – is to listen intently to His prayers, especially the one He prays on the advent of His arrest and ultimate sacrifice for the world.
It is my prayer that as you contemplate God’s sacrifice during this season of Lent, you would earnestly seek the heart of God and be brought by the Holy Spirit into a deeper understanding of His desire for you, through the prayer of His Son and our Saviour, Christ Jesus our Lord.
And so, let us contemplate our Lord’s heart together, as we ponder, ‘What does Jesus desire’ – according to John 17.
- Jesus desires to glorify His Father. (v 1) – Christ’s first and primary desire is to glorify his Father in heaven.
- Jesus desires to give eternal life to all who believes and knows, the Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (v.2-3)
When you pray, do you have a tendency of praying only one Person of our Triune God, and in so doing, ignore the rest?
Try it today! Pray an authentically Trinitarian prayer and experience the wealth of faith and revelation that comes with addressing the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as individual persons of the Trinity.
- Jesus desires for us to know that He was with God when the world began. (v 4-5)
Why is this important?
Our Lord wants us to know that He is the Answer for the world today, simply because He is the Creator of the world in the beginning.
Imagine having your car mechanic sitting beside you, the moment your car breaks down. You'd be thinking, 'this is not too bad...'
Now imagine having the designer of the engine sitting beside you, the moment your car breaks down. Now that would be the most ideal of circumstances, wouldn't you think?
Our Lord was with the Father in the beginning.
Isn’t it assuring to know that all our prayers invoke the very name of Jesus, who created us, and whose image we are created in? Who would be in the real position of fixing the brokenness of the world - the creature, or the Creator?
Certainly something for us to think about.
- Jesus desires for us to know that we belong to God – because we have obeyed the word of God. (v 6)
Do you belong to God? You know you do, because you have sought out and obeyed His word.
I guess the real question becomes; do you actively seek out and obey the word of God?
- Jesus desires for us to know that He is from God (same being) and that the Father sent Him. (v 7-8)
And so, we are sent, just as Christ was sent.
As you contemplate your life today, are you living out the Great Commission? Do you feel the unction and urgency of being ‘sent’ by God? Or is your brand of Christianity mundane and routine? It is either one or the other.
Being ‘sent’ is the authentic mode of a true believer. Everything else simply falls short of Christ’s command to “Go, make disciples of all nations … …”
- Jesus desires for us to know that He is praying for us – specifically because we are His disciples – that we will bring God glory. (v 9-10)
Now do you understand why God already knows our needs before we ask?
- Jesus desires for us to know that, in His name, we will be protected, (from the evil one v15) and unified (one church, one being) (v 11-12)
- Jesus desires the full measure of His joy within us – through the knowledge of His heart’s desire for us. (v 13)
- Jesus desires for us to be sanctified by God’s word – whilst we are still in this world, in order that we may be sent into the world. (v 14-19)
- Jesus desires that every believer to be fruitful and multiply, in becoming authentic disciples of Christ; one who would ‘make disciples of all nations.’ (v 20-23)
- Jesus desires for us to be with Him, and to see His glory (v 24)
The next time you think about praying to the living God, spend time re-discovering the heart of Christ in John 17, because our lives really come down to knowing what God desires for us.
So, what does Jesus desire?
Well, now you know.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our dear Heavenly Father,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
We are grateful Lord, that we are sent, just as You were sent.
May our lives bring You glory.
Thank you for revealing Your heart to us through the prayer of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Holy Spirit, please instil within our hearts a deep desire of all that Christ desires for us.
May we be always obedient to Your word, in the steadfast knowledge that we belong to You.
Lord Jesus, we declare that in Your Holy name, we will be protected against the schemes of the evil one.
May we experience the full measure of Your joy in our lives.
Sanctify us, O Lord, so that we may truly become fruitful, thereby showing ourselves to be Your disciples.
We long to be in Your presence, Lord.
We long to see Your glory.
All these we ask and pray, in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.