Bringing glory

“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”        John 14.13,14

Jesus offers both an invitation and a promise: “Ask in my name ...  and I will do it.” But what is He really saying? I do not believe for one moment that He is inviting us to present our materialistic and hedonistic desires to him with the rider, “I ask these things in Jesus’ name.” No, this is not what I hear Him saying.

What Jesus is saying – loudly and clearly to me – and what He continues to encourage me in, is to seek God’s will in all that I am and do, and to give myself to the outworking of that will, just as Jesus did when He walked this earth. This, I truly believe, is what Jesus wants of me, as I ask in His name.

Jesus lived on earth with the sole purpose of fulfilling the Father’s will for His life. He lived a totally perfect life, fulfilling the Father’s will for His life in every respect. He lived a perfect life, totally sinless, and obedient in every way – to the point of death.

Jesus invites me to follow Him. I know I will not achieve the perfection that is Him. Yet I can give myself to the best of my ability. I see the Father, waiting and expectant of my giving of myself to Him, and He is ready and eager to fulfil in me the things that I am unable to achieve in myself.

I feel myself drawn into the most wonderful partnership. I am a co-worker with Almighty God. But there is more. I join with Him in sweet relationship which powers me to live and work to His praise and glory. This most precious relationship is the basis of all, it is fundamental to the whole of life for me. It determines who I am and what I do. And this is all God’s doing. His love for me is so great that He came to earth in human form, lived a perfect life, and then gave that life in payment for my sins, in redemption of my soul – allowing me to present myself sinless before Him. This is the love He has for me.

Lord God,

Will I ever truly take hold of Your love for me? And how can I possibly respond and return love to You? Let me live in the name of Jesus. Let me follow Him even though my being and doing may be imperfect. Help me, please, in Jesus’ name I ask.                   Amen.