Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you know the difference between an emissary and an ambassador? Jesus calls us His emissaries and Paul identifies himself as an emissary in most of His letters. So what’s the difference?
Scripture
John 7:28-29
Jesus(speaking aloud as He teaches on the temple’s porch):You think you know Me and where I have come from, but I have not come here on My own. I have been sent by the One who embodies truth. You do not know Him. I know Him because I came from Him. He has sent Me.
Devotional
So what is the difference between an ambassador and an emissary?
Our government uses both as do most governments.
Ambassador is an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country
Emissary is a person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative
Did you notice the difference?
General representative for a country versus a person sent on a special mission
Emissary
Can act like an ambassador when on a diplomatic mission in a foreign country
Always given a specific mission to complete
Message to carry
Negotiation to broker or attend
Expert representative on behalf of sender for meetings or project
Carry the authority of the person who sends them
Jesus sent the twelve out into towns and villages as His emissaries
Specific tasks from Matt 10, Go … to find and heal the lost sheep of Israel. 7 …, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse those who have leprosy. Drive out demons from the possessed.
In the verses just before this, Matthew says Jesus endowed them with the power to do these things
Jesus gave them the authority and responsibility to carry out the tasks He gave them to do
We are His emissaries. He gave each of us the same command
Go
Make disciples
Baptize them
Teach them His practices
Teach them to follow His commands
Gives each of us tools, gifts to accomplish the tasks He gives us to do
Didn’t make us ambassadors with no specific thing to do or mission to accomplish; made us emissaries with specific purpose and mission in mind
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t own a timepiece of some sort. We are bound by time and time is important to us. In fact, sometimes timing is everything. Jesus knew that, too.
Scripture
John 7:6-8
Jesus: My time has not yet arrived; but for you My brothers, by all means, it is always the right time. You have nothing to worry about because the world doesn’t hate you, but it despises Me because I am always exposing the dark evil in its works. Go on to the feast without Me; I am not going right now because My time is not yet at hand.
Devotional
Timing is important in almost every aspect of life, did you ever think of that?
Planting
Harvest
Cooking
Football plays
Construction
Training
Project execution
God understands timing
Genesis
Separation of light and darkness comes first
Separation of water and earth come next
Life in the seas comes before life on land
Plant life comes before animal life, food chain, herbivores before carnivores
Perfect timing for creation and everything in it
Jesus’ task to save the world
World already began to hate Him because of His message and His fight against evil
Satan knew who He was
Began working against Him at His birth with no place for Mary to give birth to Him
Temptation in the wilderness before He started His ministry
Scribes, Pharisees and Sanhedrin for His message
Jesus task was not yet complete
Needed to train the twelve
Needed to ensure the remembered the message
Needed to make sure they saw and remembered the evidence of who He was
Time wasn’t right for the completion of His task
Sometimes we will ask God to come alongside us for something we want to do. Something we even think He has asked us to do, and it will seem like He is absent from the scene. He’s not. If He gives us something to do, He will be in it, but His timing is perfect. Like the secret play or the secret weapon pulled out at just the right moment to win the game. God comes on the scene at just the right time.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 11:2-3 Jesus: Go to that village over there. As soon as you get into the town, you’ll see a young colt tied that nobody has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it back to Me. If anybody stops you and asks what you’re doing, just say, “The Lord needs it, and He will send it back right after He’s done.”
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
What do you think would happen today if the disciples did the same thing they did as they approached Bethphage and Bethany? I suppose it would partly depend on where it happened. In some places they might find themselves staring down the barrel of a shotgun or rifle. They might find a guard dog chewing on their leg when they tried to untie the colt. They might discover police cars surrounding them and thrown into the back of a paddy wagon on their way to jail.
I’m not sure there are nearly as many trusting souls today as there were in Jesus day. Maybe there are, and I’m sure Jesus would pick out the right person for His disciples to visit to make the prophecies come true just as they are written, but can you imagine if you were one of those disciples? Let’s put the story into a modern setting.
You are following Jesus and listening to His words. He is on His way to the capital city to finish His task on earth. As you approach Washington, He says, “Go to Georgetown and you’ll see a red convertible parked on the street. Hop in and drive it away. If anyone asks what you’re doing, just tell them I need it and you’ll bring it back when I’m through with it. I want to ride that convertible into the city.”
So you walk into Georgetown and there among the brownstones you see a red Corvette convertible that happens to have the keys in it. Bingo. You jump into the drivers seat and start the engine. Then the owner steps out of the Starbucks on the corner. “Hey, what are you doing? That’s my car.”
“It’s okay. Jesus wants it. I’ll bring it back when He’s through with it.”
Feel good about those directions from Jesus? Are you ready to go pick up that car and drive it away? Are you excited about going into town and just taking off with someone’s property that you don’t know? Takes some faith to do what Jesus wants us to do sometimes. We don’t always stay in our comfort zone when we walk in the path Jesus tells us to go, but we will have some exciting times.
We don’t know the details of who Jesus talked to or how He arranged for the colt. Maybe the colt belonged to a friend. Maybe another of His disciples went ahead of the group and arranged for the colt to be tied in the village so that when Jesus and His entourage came it would be there. Maybe Jesus just knew it would be there and that the owners had heard of His exploits and would be willing to give up the animal for His use.
Scripture doesn’t tell us any more than a few simple facts that Jesus told His disciples to go to the village, find the colt, and bring it back. He gave them a simple message for the owner or any others who might question their actions and apparently things happened just as Jesus predicted. The next thing we know is that Jesus rode that colt into the city and that’s the extent of our knowledge of the event.
Sometimes it would be nice to know more of the details, but we can surmise that the disciples who went to carry out Jesus directions did so with the confidence that it would happen just like He said it would. Or maybe not. Maybe Jesus sent a couple of His disciples that still had some doubts about who He was and what He could do. Maybe He sent a couple of His disciples to see that He had abilities that could not be explained by ordinary means. That He really was the Son of God.
We don’t know how all of the events and actions surrounding this little colt transpired. We don’t know how much trouble these disciples had getting an unbroken colt back to Jesus. It’s not always easy to lead a colt that has never been ridden. They sometimes don’t want to be led anywhere. We don’t know if it decided to stay where it was or whether it followed meekly or whether they pulled and dragged and pleaded with the animal to get it from the owner’s house to the crowd where Jesus waited. We do know Jesus was about to ride an unridden colt into a city crowded with people. Now that is really brave. No one rides and unbroken colt into a crowd! Someone is about to get hurt.
What does all this mean for us? Jesus will sometimes give us some crazy sounding tasks to do for Him. They may sound ridiculous to us and almost impossible to carry out. But Jesus makes a way. I’m not sure those disciples knew they could make it happen when they went into the village, but Jesus did. And when He gives us a task to do, He make it possible for us to complete it. No matter how hard it may seem, He make the impossible possible.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 5:19 Jesus: Stay here; I want you to go back home to your own people and let them see what the Lord has done—how He has had mercy on you.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
“I want you to go back home to your own people.” The newly freed man didn’t expect that. He probably didn’t want it, either. Like most of us, the man probably wanted to accompany Jesus on His mission journey through the other towns of Galilee and Judea spreading the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But that wasn’t the mission Jesus gave him. Jesus told him to go home and talk to his family. The people that knew him best.
That’s tough work! Let me give you a sample from the secular side of the world. In my last assignment, I was the Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Department Center and School. That sounds like a fancy title, but not a lot of people know what it really means to be a Chief of Staff or what the Army Medical Department Center and School is all about. But looking back at the job, it was a pretty important position.
The Center and School is the place where the Army trained all its enlisted medical specialties and conducted all its leadership training. It is also the place where the doctrine, techniques, tactics, and procedures for medical support in combat and deployed situations is developed and codified for the Army and for much of the Joint medical support around the world. It is the largest allied health training facility in the world, with 3600 staff and faculty graduating more than 40,000 students a year in over 350 different course and 200 medical specialties and sub-specialties. All of the specialties and sub-specialties that can be accredited in civilian schools are accredited by those same boards and institutions to ensure the quality of training and subsequent medical support for our service members is the same or better than their civilian counterparts.
Now that sounds like a fairly impressive organization, right? And the Chief of Staff, my last position in the Army, orchestrates the staff, the department decoratorates, to make sure all of those activities happen the way they are supposed to. For me, it meant pretty long days for three years with back to back meetings all day long from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm almost every day. Thousands of pages of material to read and edit, hundreds of emails every day, and directing all that work to the right staff agencies for action and answers. Fun most days, exciting, exhausting, too.
When I went into a meeting, one of my favorite coffee cups would already be sitting at my seat at the table with steaming coffee. A copy of the briefing slides would be at my place with my favorite brand of pen and paper next to it. Everything ready to go so I when I came into the room for the meeting, I didn’t have to worry about anything but focusing on the meeting I was about to attend. My presence was announced when I walked into the conference room and people stood at attention. Sounds pretty important, doesn’t it?
But when I went home, I wasn’t Colonel Agee anymore. I was dad, Dick, son. No one at home really knew or understood what I did every day when I put on my uniform and went to that building down the street. They knew I did something important because of all the people that recognized me whenever we went anywhere on the installation. They knew Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Department Center and School must be a fairly decent position because my picture was on the wall of half the buildings at Fort Sam Houston and a lot of the policies on the bulletin boards held my signature at the bottom of the page. But they didn’t really think much about it because I was just dad or son or Dick. I took out the trash, helped with dishes, sometimes swept or vacuumed floors, and sometimes folded laundry. I was just a member of the family.
I share that to explain the difficulty in sharing with family sometimes the news of who you are or how you have changed. Frankly, I still wanted to be just dad and son and Dick at home. I was glad to shed Colonel when I walked through the doors at home. But if I wanted to tell them what I did and explain the position I held near the end of my career, I’m not sure most of my family would have understood or accepted the power I wielded as Chief of Staff. I grew up with my brothers and sisters. They knew me. My parents knew the trouble I caused them and all my shortfalls. It would be hard for them to accept the thought that with just a few words dozens or even hundreds of people would do what I asked. They would have a hard time believing I could influence how medical structures operated on battlefields around the world. I was just dad or Dick or son.
The man freed from his demon possession would have a tough time ahead. Jesus wanted him to witness to those who knew him best. He was to show the change in him. He was to share the message and not just talk about it, but live it every day in front of those who knew him best. This changed man was to prove himself to those who did not trust him, those who threw him into the street and chained him up in the cemeteries because he had been a danger to the community. His task would be his toughest assignment. But that’s sometimes what Jesus calls us to do. Live the life He calls us to, just where we are, the toughest place to live.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 4:26-29 Jesus: Here is what the kingdom of God is like: a man who throws seeds onto the earth. Day and night, as he works and as he sleeps, the seeds sprout and climb out into the light, even though he doesn’t understand how it works. It’s as though the soil itself produced the grain somehow—from a sprouted stalk to ripened fruit. But however it happens, when he sees that the grain has grown and ripened, he gets his sickle and begins to cut it because the harvest has come.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Did you ever do one of those experiments as a kid where you put a seed in something that would let you watch it grow throughout it’s whole cycle? Maybe you put it in a glass jar filled with water and all the right nutrients to allow it to grow. Maybe you put it in a similar jar, but put the seeds right next to the glass so that you could watch the process but not have too much water and perhaps rot the roots. Maybe you put the seeds between two glass plates and watched the growth. There are a lot of ways to watch the beginnings of life spring from a single seed, but no matter how you watch the process, it still seems miraculous.
Scientists tell us the total sum of matter doesn’t change, so chemical processes that happen in that tiny seed start to convert water and air nutrients around it into the spout and stalk and finally the mature plant that comes from that tiny seed. Whether talking about a tiny flower or a giant oak, the results are still pretty miraculous. We think we understand all the science behind that growth, but do we really? We find bits and pieces that lead us to yet another step in the process, but ultimately, every scientist comes back to a circular argument about how plant and animal life begins unless God, the creator, is introduced into the equation.
It’s like the Big Bang theory that so many atheists like to hang their hat on. They forget the theory came decades ago from a priest who tried to explain the expanding universe and said out of nothing God created all things from a single point of nothingness. And from that first point of nothingness, God spoke light, energy, into place. From that point using the math that Einstein used to develop his Energy = Mass x the Speed of Light squared, God changed that pure light that He created from nothing, that energy into mass and lots of it. The universe came into being and has expanded ever since. The Big Bang.
So why bring that up? Why talk about seeds and the expanding universe and theories that can’t really be proven but all ultimately lead back to an Almighty Creator and Designer of all things?
First, I mentioned several days ago that scripture isn’t a science book. It tells what God did for us, but not how He did it. If God used a Big Bang to create everything in the universe, that’s fine with me. I really don’t care how God put everything in place. I just know He did. If He molded each planet and star and galaxy with His own hands and carefully placed each one in its own orbit, I’m fine with that, too. The Hebrew words in Genesis are vague enough in the ancient language either sense is possible and either one is okay with me. God is still God and in charge of all things. How He choose to do His work is not within my authority to debate with Him. He is God, we are not. If that offends you, go back and read His word again. You’ll find scripture doesn’t tell us how God created all things other than He spoke and it happened. How it happened, not a clue. His word handed down to us is not a science book.
Second, the thought that when we are part of His kingdom building and do our small part, the simple tasks He asks us to do, He does the rest and we don’t need to know how He does it. If we will sow seeds of kindness, He can use them to grow His grace in the hearts of those who receive it. If we sow His love, He multiplies it and it spreads not just to the ones we love, but well beyond them to touch many who see and hear of that love through the stories of those we touch. If we share the story of Jesus, God’s spirit helps it mature in fertile ground.
We don’t need to worry and fret about what happens to the gifts we share with others, prophecy, teaching, healing, hospitality, or any number of other gifts. When we share them, God uses them the way He sees fit and they spread His love and mercy and grace into the hearts and lives of others. Isaiah records God’s message to us:
So it is when I declare something.
My word will go out and not return to Me empty,
But it will do what I wanted;
it will accomplish what I determined.
God just expects us to carry out the simple tasks He gives us to do. They’re not always easy, but they’re usually simple to understand. When we do, He does the rest.
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 1:17 Jesus: Come and follow Me, and I’ll send you to catch people instead of fish.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Several years ago I had a couple of fishing poles. They sat in my garage. I think I used them twice in the years I owned them. I finally threw them away after they were broken in one of my several moves. I wasn’t sad. I might have been fishing twice in the last forty years. I’m not a fisherman. I really don’t much enjoy fishing.
Fishing isn’t a very exciting sport to me. I suppose if I was good at it and could catch fish easily and it didn’t take much time to get my limit I might enjoy it, but it never happens that way for me. The last time I went fishing I spent a lot of time baiting lines and hooks and caught…nothing. I saw a lot of water. Got a pretty good sunburn. And got pretty bored with the whole thing. Like I said, I’m not a fisherman. If I never wet another line, it wouldn’t break my heart. Fishing again is not on my bucket list.
So when I read in Mark that Jesus tells Simon and Andrew, “Follow Me and I’ll send you to catch people instead of fish.” I wasn’t so impressed. These were fishermen and I didn’t belong with them. They knew how to catch fish and probably enjoyed their jobs. Jesus was pulling them away from their livelihood, one in which they prospered. He was going to let them keep their jobs but change their catch. If I had been there, I would have been a visitor and frankly His appeal to fishermen would not have impressed Me. I would have just gone home.
Have you ever thought about that? Would you have jumped at the chance to follow if Jesus asked you to go fishing? Now, knowing what I know about Him, my answer would be a resounding yes, but before I knew Him? I doubt it. So where am I going with all this? What’s the point?
I think it’s important to understand who Jesus is talking to as He asks Simon and Andrew to follow Him. These two men are fishermen. They love to fish. They know just about everything there is to know about fishing. It’s their livelihood. They own multiple boats. They hire others to help in their business. These guys love fishing! Jesus uses their love to explain what He wants them to do.
If Jesus came to me to invite me to join Him the same way He came to Simon and Andrew, I think He would appeal to my love of teaching or my love of technology or my love of strategic planning. He would pick something I do that I’m currently engaged in and enjoy. I think He would invite me to do those things for Him and use those skills to bring others into His kingdom.
Jesus talked about agrarian things in His parables, fig trees, olive branches, sheep, harvests, because the people around Him lived in an agrarian society. They understood His metaphors. They knew the language and signs and symbols because they lived with these things every day. They grew gardens in their yards because that’s how they got their food. They had sheep in their fields because that’s how they got their meat. They lived the parables Jesus used to teach the people around Him.
Today, I think Jesus would use traffic jams and unions strikes and political campaigns and pollution generators and wind and solar powered generators and all sorts of things we see and hear every day to explain the kingdom of heaven at hand and God’s desire to show us His grace and mercy. I think Jesus would share with us in ways that speak to our hearts using tools that help us clearly understand just how He wants us to live and share the message with others.
He would call us to follow Him just as He called Simon and Andrew. But He might not ask us to be fishers of men. He might ask us to follow Him to be taxi drivers and carry people to the kingdom or pilots to fly them away to heaven or who knows what occupation He might use to help you or me better understand He has a specific role in mind for us. He created each of us with a purpose. God’s plan will be fulfilled and we can choose to be part of it or not. But if we choose to follow Him, He has a plan for us, too. He has work for us to do in His plan. We can be part of the good work He does.
I will bring others into the kingdom, but not as a fisherman. I just don’t like to fish. That’s not what I do. Jesus knows that about me. But He does know what I like and what I do best. That’s where He calls me and that’s where He uses me in His great plan. What a Savior, Master, and Lord we serve!
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 24:4-8 Jesus: Take care that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name claiming they are the Anointed One, and many poor souls will be taken in. You will hear of wars, and you will hear rumors of wars, but you should not panic. It is inevitable, this violent breaking apart of the sinful world, but remember, the wars are not the end. The end is still unfolding. Nations will do battle with nations, and kingdoms will fight neighboring kingdoms, and there will be famines and earthquakes. But these are not the end. These are the birth pangs, the beginning. The end is still unfolding.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
These verses from Matthew that give us the description of the events that happen before the end comes can be a little disconcerting. Wars, rumors of wars, nations fighting against nations, kingdoms fighting against neighboring kingdoms. These are standard headlines today. Famines and earthquakes. They are everywhere.
I did a quick Internet search just to see what is going on around the world in relation to Jesus’ predictions. Today there are 54 conflicts going around the world. Fourteen of them kill 1,000 or more people a year in the fighting. In the last seven days, the seismologists have recorded 90 earthquakes of 4.0 or greater on the Richter scale. You might be interested to know that four or five years ago, the agency posted earthquakes with an intensity of three or more, but there are now so many, they only post those with an intensity of four or greater.
Talking about famine is a little harder to wrap your head around. We know famine means there is not enough food for everyone so let’s look at hunger statistics. These, too, are hard to wrap your head around. Hunger can mean the pains in your stomach that some of us feel when we miss a meal. That’s not what Jesus was talking about, I don’t think. Most of us could stand to miss a meal or two without consequence. In fact, it would probably help most of us. But when we think about the undernourished or those that die of starvation, that number is staggering. Currently 795 million people on the planet do not have enough food to maintain their health. That’s one out of nine people on the planet. And among children under the age of five, it’s the hunger, undernourishment is the number one cause of death. Over 3 million children died of hunger in 2012 and 161 million were undernourished.
We hear about the melting of the polar caps and the rise of the oceans. The changes in weather that create weather patterns that reduce the growing season for crops or increase the temperatures to make it unfavorable for crops to withstand the scorching sun. We hear about El Nina` and other weather patterns that disrupt the normal flow of air and bring disasters to regions of the country and the world. Storms abound creating havoc for hundreds of thousands in this country and around in every country.
But Jesus tells us all these things are just birth pangs. These are not the end, but signs of its coming. These are the events that will tell us He is returning soon. So what should we do?
We could crawl into a hole and try to protect ourselves from the onslaught that is coming. We could arm ourselves and defend our tiny piece of ground from invaders and hold on to the possessions we hold in our hand. We could sit by and do nothing assuming God will come and wisk us away so we never face the troubles that will continue to grow until the tribulation begins and Christ returns.
I’m not sure any of those are what Jesus had in mind when He told His disciples the signs to look for that would herald His return. I think He gave us those signs to tell us time is short to finish the tasks He gave us to do. He gave us a command to go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Remember? We are to share His message with others and bring them to the saving knowledge of Christ.
God does His best to let us know His grace is about to run out. Jesus told those around Him the signs like birth pangs that would precede the final judgments God would send upon the earth for their failure to follow Him and live in our selfish unrepentant state. I’m not sure how the signs could get much clearer. And if the birth pangs we see in the 54 conflicts, 90 earthquakes a week, 795 million people dying of malnutrition around the world, and all the other warning signs can be compared to the birth pangs preceding labor, just think what the end will be like. Women tell me the pain of the birth pangs and false labor are nothing compared to the labor itself. Can you imagine what the world will be like when these birth pangs of the end are over?
We have a lot of people to warn and help them understand there is but one way to escape the coming wrath God will pour out on this earth and those who fail to recognize Him as God. We don’t have much time left to do our job. We’d better get to it!
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 4:19 Jesus: Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Jesus doesn’t use a lot of words when a few clearly spoken will do. His command to Simon Peter and Andrew are just one example. “Come, follow Me.” He also tells them the task He will give them when they obey His command. I’ll not just make you fishermen, but I’ll let you catch a more important haul, men.
Jesus’ calling of these first two of His circle of twelve intimate disciples tells us something about how He calls not just them, but us. If we look at Jesus’ words we see how He calls each of us when we listen to His voice.
First, He says, “Come.” You can’t follow Jesus from afar. He wants you within arms reach. Trying to follow Him from a distance just doesn’t work. Remember the story of Elijah whining about his plight and God letting him hear His voice on the mountainside? Elijah didn’t hear God’s voice in the thunderstorm or in the earthquake, but in the still small voice he had to listen carefully to hear.
I learned a technique from my father many years ago that served me well with my children and in counseling and disciplining soldiers during my military career. When I really want someone to listen and hear what I’m saying, my voice gets softer, not louder. Our instincts are geared to put us into a fight or flight mode when we hear loud noises or aggressive actions from an enemy. So when we shout at someone or raise our voice in anger, the person on the receiving end no longer hears us. Their brain is getting into a fight or flight mode preparing to defend themselves. So I lower my voice and get you come close. I get you to almost strain to hear the words. I get you to listen instead of fighting against the words.
God does the same thing, but so much better. God cannot be defeated. He never fails and so has no need of defense. So when He speaks to us, He doesn’t need to scream at us to make us hear Him. That puts us in a fight or flight mode. Why would He want to do that? Instead, He whispers, “Come. Get close so I can talk to you. I have some things to tell you that I really want you to hear.”
See, you can’t be a disciple, a follower, a Christian from long distance. You just can’t hear what God has to say when you’re far away from Him. You need to snuggle up close so He can put His lips up to your ear and whisper His commands, His blessings, His thoughts to you. He wants you at His fingertips ready to talk to you all the time. He can’t do that if you’re not right there in His presence. So first, He says, “Come.”
The second thing Jesus told those crusty fishermen was, “Follow me.” When we come to Jesus, He won’t leave us alone. He won’t leave us where we are. God wants to change us. He doesn’t want to leave us in the state we live in now. He calls us to Him to transforms us, to make us over into the creation He wants us to be. And so He says, “Follow me.”
Jesus will take us into places that challenge us. Places that test us. Places that causes us to rethink how we approach others. Places that make us weep and laugh and stand in awe of Him and fall on our face in worship and lay prostrate before Him for our failures and thank Him for His strength in our successes. He will take us to places that transform us into His likeness and help us to understand love and mercy and grace. He will take us to the mountain tops and to the lowest valleys in our spiritual journey. And as we follow Him we will know sorrow and we will know indescribable joy.
Jesus tells us to follow Him because He knows exactly the path we must take individually to make us more like Him each day. He knows the transformation that must happen and just like a skilled surgeon, He knows each operation that He must perform on us and the order each must take place. And although some of them may be painful and the recovery from some of those operations might seem difficult and arduous, Jesus knows, as the Master Creator He is, exactly how to lead us along this path of life to make us the child of God each of us are meant to be.
Jesus also reminds us in His command to follow Him, that we never walk on that path alone. If we follow, it means we walk along with Him, not by ourselves. It means He is just ahead of us. I sometimes think about the point-man in a squad walking toward an objective on a battlefield when I think of Jesus’ command. Jesus is that point-man. I follow Him, but He is out front making sure the path is clear. Watching out for any booby-traps. Watching for enemy troops waiting in ambush. Jesus is right there with Me, but clearing the path ahead of me on my journey through life.
Finally, Jesus’ command tells us the task He gives Simon and Andrew as they follow. They will fish for men. I think, Jesus has a task for everyone. God gives each of us different gifts to build His church. Paul tells us some have the gift of teaching, some preaching, some hospitality, healing, speaking in different languages, and the list goes on. I think, Paul would say mathematics skills is a gift, or science, or IT skills, or prowess in a sport. All of these talents and skills can be used for God’s glory. The question is, how do we use the talents, skills, experiences, desires, gifts that God has given to us?
Jesus said, “Come, follow me, I have a job for you to do.” Have you followed close enough on the path to hear His task for you? He’s ready to talk, but He also keeps walking along. It’s time to get moving!
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 1 Now let me turn to some issues about spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters. There’s much you need to learn. 2 Remember the way you used to live when you were pagans apart from God? You were engrossed—enchanted with voiceless idols, led astray by mere images carved by human hands. 3 With that in mind, I want you to understand that no one saying “Jesus is cursed” is operating under God’s Spirit, and no one confessing “Jesus is Lord” can do so without the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. 4 Now there are many kinds of grace gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. 5 There are many different ways to serve, but they’re all directed by the same Lord. 6 There are many amazing working gifts in the church, but it is the same God who energizes them all in all who have the gifts.7 Each believer has received a gift that manifests the Spirit’s power and presence. That gift is given for the good of the whole community. 8 The Spirit gives one person a word of wisdom, but to the next person the same Spirit gives a word of knowledge. 9 Another will receive the gift of faith by the same Spirit, and still another gifts of healing—all from the one Spirit. 10 One person is enabled by the Spirit to perform miracles, another to prophesy, while another is enabled to distinguish those prophetic spirits. The next one speaks in various kinds of unknown languages, while another is able to interpret those languages. 11 One Spirit works all these things in each of them individually as He sees fit.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
So many people confuse the gifts I give you to carry out the tasks I have for you. Why would I give everyone the same gift? What purpose would that serve in the world? I have given a multitude of gifts to a multitude of people. I find you also envy the gifts I give to some and not to others. You wonder why you do not have particular gifts. You wonder why I give some gifts to one person and not to others or to you.
Don’t you think I know what I’m doing when I distribute My gifts among you? I have a purpose and a plan for each person and I give you the gifts and talents you need to carry out that plan. I don’t expect you to complete anyone else’s task so you don’t need the gifts meant for someone else. Does that make sense to you? If not, let Me explain it another way.
When your house was built an entire team of builders with different skills came together to make it happen. First, an architect drew the plans for the building. An engineer used his skills to mark the property and give heavy equipment operators the exact spots to dig the space for the house, pour the concrete footings, and lay in the foundation upon which others would build. Plumbers and electricians made sure pipes and conduit went into the foundation at just the right places as it was poured so everything below ground was ready.
Framers quickly erected the outer structure of the house, the skeleton on which everything else rests. Roofers covered the top and put on the shingles to keep out the rain and the framers put the sheeting on the outside. Masons came into the picture next worked on the outside putting up the bring or stone to make it begin to look like a house as plumbers connected pipes to all the places water would run throughout the house. Electricians ran wire and cables throughout the house and insulation went into the interior walls. Heat and air experts put in the vents throughout the house.
Now the sheetrock crew comes in. The interior walls go in and these experts begin to finish the walls by sealing and sanding all the seams and corners. Finish carpenters start all the door frames, cabinets, molding, and staircases. Painters cover all the walls and ceilings. Carpet layers and experts with flooring lay tile or wood in appropriate areas. Electricians finish their work connecting all the switches and plugs, putting in the stove, oven, any other appliances and light fixtures. Plumbers install sinks, showers, and tubs.
Finally the general contractor finishes his inspections and turns the house over to the realtor to sell the house to you. Dozens of people with the right skills put your house together to make it liveable for you. Each had different skills. Not one of them could have made your house like it is. None of them are skilled in all the areas needed to build your house. It took the whole team with all of their separate gifts to make the home you inhabit.
So it is with the work I have for you. You don’t know the final plan I have for the world I created. You get glimpses by the words I left with you, but you only see the part of the plan I have for you just as the electrician only sees the pages of the blueprint he needs to build your house. He doesn’t get the whole set. He doesn’t need the whole set. Neither do you need to see the whole picture of what I plan for the work I have in store for My people. Just be content with the gifts I’ve given you and understand that your part is necessary. Then do your tasks well. Use the gifts I’ve given you, knowing that the tasks I’ve given you are an essential part of My plan.
Just like every talent that went into the building of your house is important, so the gifts I give to every person are important in the execution of the plans I have for this world and the next. Work diligently for Me so that at the end of time, I can say to you, “Enter in, good and faithful servant.”
Isaiah 6 1 In the same year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a grand throne way up high with a flowing cape that filled the whole temple. 2 Bright flaming creatures waited on Him. Each had six wings: two covering its face, two covering its feet, and two for flying. 3 Like some fiery choir, they would call back and forth continually. Flaming Creatures: Holy, holy, holy is the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies!
The earth is filled with His glorious presence! 4They were so loud that the doorframes shook, and the holy house kept filling with smoke. 5 Isaiah: I am in so much trouble! I’m ruined!
I’m just a human being—fallible and stammering.
My lips are encrusted with filth;
and I live among people just like me.
But here I am, and I’ve seen with my very own eyes
none other than the King, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies. 6 Then one of the flaming creatures flew to me holding a red-hot ember which it had taken from God’s table, the temple altar, with a pair of tongs. 7 The creature held it to my lips. Flaming Creature: Look! With the touch of this burning ember on your lips,
your guilt is turned away;
All your faults and wrongdoings are forgiven. 8 Then I heard the Lord’s voice. Eternal One: Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us? Isaiah: Here I am! Send me. Eternal One: 9 Go to this people and say,
“Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
Keep looking, but do not understand.” 10 Make their hearts hard, their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.
Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed. 11 Isaiah: How long, Lord? Eternal One: Until cities are in ruins, the houses sit empty,
and the land has become a wasteland. 12 You see, the Eternal has determined to move the people far away;
place after place will be completely abandoned. 13 And even if just a tenth survive, it will be burned again;
imagine a terebinth or an oak; once it is cut down, the stump remains.
The holy seed remains in the stump.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
I let Isaiah peek into My throne room. He saw what few have seen. He viewed a scene that thrills Me. My seraphs and seraphim surrounding the throne singing and worshiping Me. They cannot help it. All who see Me worship in My presence. They cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, Almighty.” When you see Me, you will do the same. You won’t be able to resist.
Isaiah saw something else as He peeked into the My throne room. He listened in on a conversation between Me and My angels. I asked a question to which I already knew the answer, but wanted him to realize the answer. It’s always better to let the owner of the task discover the task themselves. So I let Isaiah hear the conversation and he volunteered.
Like many of My followers, Isaiah didn’t know what the task really entailed. He didn’t know the sacrifices he would eventually make. He didn’t know the resistance he would face. Isaiah was ready to tell the world what he saw. He was ready to proclaim whatever I told him to the world. He didn’t realize that few would believe him just like few believe Me.
That’s what I want from those that follow Me, though. I want you to volunteer to do whatever I want you to do. I want you to be like Isaiah. Just say I’ll go before you even know what I’m asking. Be so willing to do anything that you jump up and down with your hand in the air that I’m reminded of the kindergarteners volunteering for their favorite teacher.
My missions will sometimes be tough. But I’ll be with you. Sometimes what I ask of you will seem impossible, but I’m in the business of the impossible. Remember, I created everything from nothing. The impossible is My specialty. People will often hate you for doing what I ask of you. But don’t worry, I will love you and that’s what counts.
Isaiah had a special viewing before I gave him his task. You might not. I still want you to work for Me. Will you do it? Can you stand up the test? Are you man or woman enough?
