“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isa. 61:10 ESV)

He became sin for us so we could become the righteousness of God

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21 ESV)

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV)

Put on righteousness

“I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.” (Job 28:14 ESV

Therefore…

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matt. 5:6 ESV)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33 ESV)

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid” (John 14:27 NLT).

It’s God’s gift to you!

God’s peace of mind and heart is a gift that you receive by faith — you don’t have to work for it, or beg for it. You get it as a free gift of grace that only God can provide (the world cannot). So, even though troubles may come your way, you don’t have to be troubled or afraid! You take it to God and he will provide peace that surpasses all understanding to guard your heart and mind.

Do not be anxious about anything

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7 ESV)

Because Jesus said…

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)

Therefore…

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isa. 26:3 ESV)

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20)

People loved the darkness rather than the light

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19 ESV)

What fellowship has light with darkness?

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” ( 2 Cor. 6:14)

“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:9-11ESV)

Therefore…

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7 ESV)

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2 NIV)

Even darkness is not dark to God

“Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You.” (Psalm 139:12)

Jesus is the light of the world

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

The light shines in the darkness

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1;5 ESV

Out of the darkness into His marvelous light

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6 ESV)

“… since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.” (Col. 1:9-11 NIV)

The above passage of Scripture is a pattern you can follow when praying for others. Let’s look at the passage a little piece at a time.

• Pray continually for them

“… since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. Col 1:9)

• Pray that God will fill them with the knowledge of His will

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives…” (Col 1:9)

• Pray that they will live a life worthy of the Lord

“... so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord…” (Col 1:10)

• Pray that they will please the Lord in every way

“… and please him in every way… “ (Col. 1:10)

• Pray that they will bear fruit in every good work

“… bearing fruit in every good work…” (Col. 1:10)

• Pray that they will grow in the knowledge of God

“… growing in the knowledge of God.” (Col 1:10 )

• Pray that they would be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might

“…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might…” (Col. 1:11)

• Pray that they will have great endurance

“… so that you may have great endurance…” (Col. 1:11)

• Pray that they will have patience

“… and patience…” (Col. 1:11)

And finally…

The above passage continues with following exhortation to end your prayers with joyful thanksgiving because God has rescued them from sin and redeemed them.

“… and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:12-14 NIV)

“He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” (Acts 17:26 NASB)

In the above passage we learn that God made us all from one man to live on the face of the earth. He determined all our appointed times (when we were to be born) and all our boundaries (where we were to live). We are all connected!

Six degrees of separation

Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 and popularized in a 1990 play written by John Guare. A 2007 study by Jure Leskovec and Eric Horvitz examined a data set of instant messages composed of 30 billion conversations among 240 million people. They found the average path length among Microsoft Messenger users to be 6. It has been suggested by some commentators that interlocking networks of computer mediated lateral communication could diffuse single messages to all interested users worldwide as per the 6 degrees of separation principle via Information Routing Groups, which are networks specifically designed to exploit this principle and lateral diffusion. However, some have argued that the existence of isolated groups of humans, for example the Korubo and other native Brazilian populations, would tend to invalidate the strictest interpretation of the hypothesis. Yet, the point is still true that most of the world is just a few steps connection from each other. Think of what this means! You are only a few connections away from just about anybody in the world!

Pray about your connections

Do you pray for God to connect you to the right people? You should! As Christians, we are definitely connected to the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit!

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” (Rom. 12:5)

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 NIV)

There is a lot packed into the above passage with several promises included within for you.

• Whoever believes (two words here, “Whoever” and “Believes”)

Jesus said in the above passage that this applies to “whoever believes” in Him. “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me…”

There are two important words to focus on here, 1) whosoever and 2) Believes. Let’s look at both words.

1) Whoever defined: “Whatever person : no matter who.”

2) Believe defined: “The conviction of truth of something or to trust the fidelity of someone

• Will do the Works of Jesus

Jesus said in the above passage that whoever believes in Him “will do the works Jesus has been doing”.

“…whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing…”

• Will do even greater works than these

Jesus said in the above passage that whoever believes in Him “will do even greater works than these”.

“…and they will do even greater things than these…”

• Will do these things because Jesus has gone to the Father

Jesus said in the above passage that you will do these things because He has “gone to the father”.

“…will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Why it’s your advantage

He then explains why it’s to your advantage that He goes to the Father; so He can send the Holy Spirit to be your helper.

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)

Therefore…

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16 ESV)

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10 ESV)

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4 NLT)

Life flows from Him

In the above passage Jesus says to be connected to Him in order to produce fruit. That’s because life flows from Him and in order for you to have that life flow into you, you must be connected to Him like a branch connected to a tree. Not only must you be connected to Him, you must remain connected to Him. The fact is, it’s very easy to allow the cares of the world to slip into your life and choke the Word of God. If that happens, you will be like a branch disconnected from a tree and you won’t be able to produce anything.

“But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19 ESV

Therefore…

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 NLT)

“He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” (Titus 2:14 NLT)

When you received Him, He gave you the right to become a child of God

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

His prized possession

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession, above all peoples on the face of the earth.” (Deut. 7:6)

Therefore…

“Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand Today, if you would hear His voice.” (Psalms 95:6-7)