Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

November 3
Monday


GOD'S
CATALOG

READ:
John 17:20-26
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By this all will know
that you are My
disciples, if you have
love for one another,
__John 13:35
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Tis the season to receive catalogs in the mail. Every trip to the mailbox ends with an armload of slick holiday catalogs. Each one claims to offer me something I need__immediately. "Don't wait!" "Limited offer!" "Order now!"

The lure works. I open the pages to discover what I didn't know I needed. Sure enough, I see things that suddenly seem essential, even though a few minutes earlier I didn't know they existed. Manufacturers use catalog illustrations to create desire for their products.

In a way, Christians are God's catalogs. We are His illustration to the world of what He has to offer. His work in our lives makes us a picture of qualities that people may not know they need or want until they see them at work in us.

Jesus prayed that His followers would be unified so the world would know that God sent Him and loved them as God loved Him (John 17:23). When Christ is alive in us, we become examples of God's love. We can't manufacture love. God is the manufacturer, and we are His workmanship.

As you browse holiday catalogs, consider what the "catalog" of your life says about God. Do people see qualities in you that make them long for God? __Julie Ackerman Link
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```````````````````What does the world see in us`````````````````
````````````````````That they can't live without?``````````````````
```````````````````Do they see winsome qualities`````````````````
`````````````````And love that reaches out? __Sper```````````````
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As a Christian, you are "God's advertisement."
Do people want what they see in you?

****************Today's Bible Reading __ John 17:20-26***********

20 I do not pray for these
alone, but also for those
who will believe in Me
through their word; 21 that
they all may be one, as You,
Father, are in Me, and I in
You; that they also may be
one in Us, that the world
may believe that You sent
Me. 22 and the glory which
You gave Me I have given
them, that they may be one
just as We are one: 23 I in
them, and You in Me; that
they may be made perfect
in one, and that the world
may know that You have
sent Me, and have loved
them as You have loved me.

24 Father, I desire that they
also whom You gave me
may be with Me where I
am, that they may behold
My glory which You have
given Me; for You loved Me
before the foundation of the
world.

25 O righteous Father! The
world has not known You,
but I have known You; and
these have known that You
sent Me. 26 and I have
declared to them Your
name, and will declare it,
that the love with which
You love Me may be in
them, and I in them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

John 17 truly contains "the Lord's prayer." Although that is the
title usually given to the prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13, Christ's
teaching there forms what is actually more of a model prayer or a
pattern for praying. The prayer of Jesus in John 17 is His high priestly
intercession on behalf of His own__His disciples and all those who
would come to faith as a result of their words and follow them on
the path of faith (v.20). __Bill Crowder