Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Holy and righteous God, my loving Father, please use me to be part of your plan to touch the world with your grace and salvation. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

After Jesus said these things he looked toward heaven. Jesus prayed, "Father, the time has come. Give glory to your Son so that the Son can give glory to you. You gave the Son power over all people so that the Son could give eternal life to all those people you have given to him. And this is eternal life: that people can know you, the only true God, and that people can know Jesus Christ, the One you sent. I finished the work you gave me to do. I brought you glory on earth. And now, Father, give me glory with you. Give me the glory I had with you before the world was made. "You gave me some men from the world. I have shown them what you are like. Those men belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your teaching. Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you. I gave these men the teachings that you gave me. They accepted those teachings. They know that I truly came from you. And they believed that you sent me. I pray for them now. I am not praying for the people in the world. But I am praying for these men you gave me, because they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And my glory is seen in these men. Now I am coming to you. I will not stay in the world now. But these men are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe. Keep them safe by the power of your name (the name you gave me), so that they will be one, the same as you and I are one. While I was with them, I kept them safe. I kept them safe by the power of your name—the name you gave me. I protected them. And only one of them was lost—the man (Judas) that chose to be lost. He was lost so that what was said in the Scriptures would happen.

Related Scripture Readings

So Jesus came to them and said, "All authority (power) in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach those people to obey everything that I have told you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of the world."

The day was Sunday. That same evening the followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus came and stood among them. Jesus said, "Peace be with you!" After Jesus said this, he showed the followers his hands and his side. The followers were very happy when they saw the Lord. Then Jesus said again, "Peace be with you! The Father sent me. In the same way, I now send you." After Jesus said that, he breathed {on the followers}. Jesus said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, then their sins are forgiven. If you don't forgive people's sins, then their sins are not forgiven."

Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them, "Leaders of the people and you older leaders: Are you questioning us today about the good thing that was done to this crippled man? Are you asking us what made him well? We want all of you and all the Jewish people to know that this man was made well by the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth! You nailed Jesus to a cross. God raised him from death. This man was crippled, but he is now well. He is able to stand here before you because of the power of Jesus! Jesus is 'the stone that you builders thought was not important. But this stone has become the cornerstone. ' Jesus is the only One who can save people. His name is the only power in the world that has been given to save people. We must be saved through Jesus!" The Jewish leaders understood that Peter and John had no special training or education. But the leaders also saw that Peter and John were not afraid to speak. So the leaders were amazed. Then they realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus.