(#1581) Day 27. Filled With Love, Filled With Christ (4/11/26)
Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily Devotional (currently posted on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) as we finish our 9-week series: Fresh Vision From Jesus' High Priestly Prayer from John 17.
To watch this devotional, go to:
Please read John 17:20–26.
Too often, friendships fade over time or even fall apart because of conflict, neglect, or changing circumstances. Think about your own life. How many people were once close friends but are no longer part of it?
Sadly, the same pattern can affect our relationship with God. Someone can begin the Christian life with great joy and zeal, only for that love to cool and their delight in God to diminish.
As we conclude our reflections on Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, we discover His desire that our lives should be marked by an ever-deepening knowledge of God, an ever-growing love for Christ, and an ever-increasing experience of His presence.
Jesus ends His prayer by saying:
"I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." (John 17:26)
1. "I Have Made You Known to Them"
Jesus describes eternal life as knowing God. Earlier in His prayer, He says:
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3)
Knowing God lies at the very heart of the Christian life.
In the Garden of Eden, one of the first effects of sin was that Adam and Eve hid from God (Genesis 3:8). By contrast, one of the first evidences of the new birth is a desire to know Him.
Jesus has made the Father known because He is the perfect revelation of God. As John writes at the beginning of his Gospel:
"No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known." (John 1:18)
2. "I Will Continue to Make You Known"
Jesus not only revealed the Father during His earthly ministry; He promises to continue revealing Him.
This is wonderful encouragement for our evangelism. As we seek to make Jesus known, He Himself continues to reveal the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit. Our weakness is upheld by His promise.
As Edward W. Klink III writes:
"The prayer of Jesus reveals that the mission of God involves not only the sending of the Son by the Father but also the sending of the church by the Son."
This promise is also deeply personal. Our knowledge of God is not meant to remain where it began at conversion. Jesus continues to reveal the Father throughout our lives.
He promises:
"The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)
And again:
"When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth." (John 16:13)
Of course, this promise calls for our response. Just as any relationship grows through time, attention, and love, so our relationship with God deepens as we seek Him through His Word, prayer, worship, and obedience.
May we share Paul's longing:
"I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." (Philippians 3:8)
3. Filled With the Father's Love
Jesus continues to reveal the Father to us:
"...in order that the love you have for me may be in them..."
What a remarkable promise. This means at least three things.
i. The Father’s love for Christ grows in us
First, we grow in our love for Jesus. As we know the Father more deeply, our worship of Christ becomes richer and more wholehearted.
ii. We grow in knowing God’s love for us as He loves Christ
Secondly, we become more assured of the Father's love for us. Earlier in this prayer Jesus declares that the Father has loved His people even as He has loved the Son (John 17:23). As we know God better, we become increasingly secure in that astonishing love.
iii. The Father's love begins to shape our relationships with one another
As His love fills our hearts, we are enabled to love one another with His patience, grace, forgiveness, and compassion.
4. "I Myself Will Be In Them"
Jesus concludes His prayer with this extraordinary promise:
"...that I myself may be in them."
Our experience of God's love is possible because Christ Himself dwells in us by His Spirit.
He is present to strengthen us, teach us, comfort us, and keep us faithful. He is the source of our joy, our holiness, our perseverance, and our hope.
To be a Christian is to be united with Christ. He is not merely an example to follow or a Saviour to admire. He lives in His people.
As we finish this series on Jesus' High Priestly Prayer, let us remember His final desire for His church: that we would continually grow in our knowledge of the Father, be filled with His love, and live every day in the reality that Christ Himself is with us and in us.
Moment To Reflect
As we finish looking at Jesus’ prayer, know that Jesus continues to reveal the Father so that we may be filled with His love and with His presence - for our own joy, to bless our church family through us, and to work through us to bring others to know Him.
Is your love for Jesus growing, or has it cooled over time?
Are you intentionally making time to know God more deeply through His Word and prayer?
How is the Father's love changing the way you love the people around you?
Today, how can you consciously live in the joy and confidence that Christ Himself dwells in you?
Download the booklet
Below is the link to download the devotional booklet: Fresh Vision From Jesus Prayer. This is a series of 27 devotionals based upon Jesus' High Priestly Prayer in John 17.
This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of CCP; to watch our anniversary video, please select the link below:
Community Group Study
1. Notices
It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.
2. Icebreaker
You might want to use the icebreaker: How has God been speaking to you from His Word recently, and how has this helped you?
3. Worship together
Let’s begin our time together by lifting our eyes and hearts to worship our great God. Perhaps you have readings and songs that you would like to use together. Let’s be open to the gifts that the Spirit wants to give in order to encourage one another.
4. Study and pray together
Balanced Time Allocation - Please ensure a balanced focus on discussion, SIV (Serve, Invest, and Invite), and prayer so that each section is meaningful and fruitful.
On Sunday, we finished our series, Fresh Vision From Jesus’ Prayer. Our message on was: Those who are filled with God’s love will love what He loves - most importantly, will love God Himself!
Read John 17:20–26 together and discuss:
What particularly spoke to you, challenged, or inspired you from Sunday’s message?
In this third section of Jesus’ prayer (17:20-26), what are the various things that he prays for those who become Christians? What aspects particularly resonate with you and why?
V.26 - What is Jesus continuing to do, and what does this impart to us?
Loving God, and worshipping Him, is to be our highest priority; how can we develop our love for God and our worship?
SIV (Serve, Invest and Invite)
Have you had any recent opportunities to Serve, Invest in, or Invite someone toward Jesus? Let’s encourage one another by sharing testimonies of God at work through us.
Pray for the ‘people of peace’ in our lives (see note below), asking God to open their hearts and give us the Love and boldness to share His love as He opens opportunities.
In our prayers together, let’s pray for a few themes together:
New Ground Sunday: Continue praying for our upcoming New Ground Sunday on this Sunday, the 8th November - that it would be a great morning that inspires vision for our family of churches.
The Gift Of Prophecy: Pray for the gift of prophecy to be more evident and powerful when we meet together.
General Prayer: Let’s also pray for one another based on our study, and bringing before God any other needs or requests for prayer.
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