162. John 17:24-26 – Jesus Wants to Be with You

✨ Jesus Wants to Be with You

📖 John 17:24–26

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You gave Me, may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.

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🏠 Not Just Heaven — but Being with Him

In these words we hear not just a prayer — we hear the desire of Jesus:
👉 “I want them to be with Me”

We often think of heaven as a place: beautiful, peaceful, without pain.
But Jesus shifts the focus:

👉 what matters is not where, but with Whom

Heaven is valuable not because of how it looks,
but because Christ is there.

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🌿 The Presence of God Is Already Heaven

Jesus is not speaking only about the future.
In verse 26 He says:
👉 “I in them”

This means that closeness with God begins now.

When a person:

knows God
experiences His love
lives with Him

👉 they already begin to taste what heaven is.

Heaven is not just a destination.
It is life in the presence of God.

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⚠️ Rejecting God Is Rejecting Heaven

If heaven is being with God,
then rejecting God is rejecting what matters most.

Sometimes people think they can:

take the “blessings”
but not take God Himself

But Jesus shows:
👉 it is impossible to separate heaven from Him

By rejecting Christ, a person rejects:

His presence
His love
His eternal life

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🔥 Hell — a Place without God

If heaven is the presence of God,
then hell is its complete opposite.

👉 a place where God is not
👉 where His love is not
👉 where there is no light
👉 where none of the good that comes from Him remains

Everything good in our lives —
love, joy, peace, hope —
has its source in God.

In His prayer, Jesus shows what He desires:
👉 that a person would be with Him

So hell is not just punishment —
it is the tragedy of separation from God,
when a person remains without the One
who is the source of life.

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✍️ Final Thought

👉 You are not just forgiven — you are invited.

👉 Jesus is not just leading you to heaven —
He wants you to be there with Him.