Journal entry February 5,2026

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one. John 17:11

Heavenly Father I'm trying to wrap my mind around all that Jesus was meaning with His request. Asking You to keep those who believe in Him. I think of Paul's teaching in Ephesians that reminds us that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers.

Being kept by the all encompassing name "I Am" has a wonderful feel to it. As our enemy walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, Jesus has asked You by the power of Your name to keep us securely in Your care.

I think of our bodies being a shell that houses who we really are. Our bodies are aging and decaying, feeling the ramifications of death that awaits every one of us. Yet though death itself pursues us, and there are many physical enemies in this world, we spiritually are untouchable.

I often think in those terms as I pray for those who have been taken captive into the sex trades. I often pray that in the very rooms where the evil acts are perpetrated against their bodies that you would be with their spirits and that they would know there is a God who loves them. That even though they see the worst side of humanity, You would transport them, put a shield about them, protect the part of them that man cannot touch.

I think that's at the heart of what Jesus was asking. Jesus is always concerned about the inside rather than the outside. I think of the disciples and the many horrible ways that they died. Crucified upside down, raised up on stakes covered with oil and lit on fire, sawn in two. All the while spiritually they were being protected.

Fear not man who is able to kill the body..... But fear God who is not only able to kill the body but cast the soul into hell forever.

Thank you Heavenly Father that You have given us a Mediator who comes before You on our behalf moment by moment. Father I pray that You would help us today to see beyond the momentary afflictions of this time. To sense Your very real presence and the security we have in Your name. Thank you that you are the lifter of our heads. Encourage us today with the thought that this world is not our home we're just passing through and until we get home, we are in Your perfect care. In Jesus name I pray. Amen