The Grands Letter (GLJ)
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D. on June 14, 2017 8:36 am (CST)Dear Grands,
John 17:15-19, “’I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world,
but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Thy
Word is truth. 18 As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have
sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself,
that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.’”
We often think of Matthew 6 (“Our Father, Who art in Heaven”)
as the LORD’s Prayer, but it is the “Model Prayer.” The LORD’s
Prayer is in John 17. Notice that Jesus does not as the Father to
“take (us) out of the world, but to keep (us) from evil. The word
evil (???????, poneros) encompasses both evil and the evil one.
It means “evil-producing.” Satan is not the only evil-producer.
He does initiate all evil, but some evil itself simply calls for more evil.
How are we to stop this evil that would take over our lives? We
are to live in the Word. Sanctify (??????, hagiazo) means to “make
holy.” Because we have a sinful DNA, inherited from Adam, it is
much easier to give in to sin than to stay holy. The LORD knows
that, so He gave us the Holy Spirit and the Word (the Bible) so we
can counter the evil with His Truth! Jesus even said, “I sanctify
Myself,” meaning that He lived a holy life before His disciples, so
they had a perfect example of how they (and we!) should live.
Make no mistake about it: the world is watching our lives! When
we fall short of being holy, people notice. When we live holy lives,
they also notice. And it is the holy life that glorifies Jesus and
brings the lost to faith in Him.
All our love and prayers,
Nana & Dado III
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas
“We never know that God is all we need
until He becomes all that we have.”