We Were On His Mind
by Gwen Ashley

John 17:20-24 Good News Bible
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. I pray that they may all be one, Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one. I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me. Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made.”

At the last supper, right before Jesus’ agony in the garden and his betrayal, before the travesty of a trial, before He was made a public spectacle, laughed at, mercilessly beaten, mocked right before His horrific crucifixion, Jesus was thinking about us.

And He prayed for us.

He has wonderful plans for us and He so wants them to come true, so we were on His mind and He prayed for us that we would choose Him so that He can make His plans come true.

He wants us in heaven with Him, but since He knows that a lot of obstacles would be put in our way to keep us from glory, we were on His mind and He prayed for us.

He knows some of the obstacles would be beyond our control:
        He knew that people would be critical of our best efforts,
        That our motives would be misunderstood,
        That we would be falsely and unfairly accused of wrong doing,
        That people would deliberately try to sabotage our work.
So He prayed for our strength to stand – even when obstacles could not be removed!

He knew some of the obstacles we would create ourselves:
        We would willingly lie,
        Gossip,
        Judge falsely,
        We would be insensitive,
        We would not use our minds – we would not think well,
        We would waste time, money and talents,
        We would not love freely…
So He prayed for us that we would surrender to the Holy Spirit and be changed.

On the cross when He said, “It is finished” we were on His mind, because it was for us that He had sacrificed it all and now that sacrifice was complete.

He had accomplished everything necessary for our salvation. He had finished what He set out to do.

We are God’s children.

All the strength we need to live abundant lives is available to us.
All the love we need to be secure is available to us.
All the wisdom we need to do the right thing is available to us.

For 2000 years ago, the day before Jesus died, we were on His mind and He prayed for us!

This page last updated on Sunday January 29, 2006 11:23 AM

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