JESUS, HIS DISCIPLES AND HOW LONG IT TAKES
LOOKING AT THE TIME JESUS SPENT WITH HIS DISCIPLES, DAY IN AND DAY OUT, TAUGHT, FELLOWSHIPPED WITH, ATE WITH, SLEPT BY, WALKED WITH AND CRIED WITH, LAUGHED WITH, GOT ANGRY WITH, FRUSTRATED WITH, FELT PROUD OF, DISAPPOINTED WITH, CELEBRATED WITH, ETC.
AND FOR THREE YEARS HE FOCUSED ON THEIR LIVES, SPENT TIME TEACHING THEM, SHOWING THEM, HELPING THEM, REBUKING THEM, DISCIPLINING THEM GUIDING THEM, ETC
AND YET, AFTER THOSE THREE YEARS, THEY WERE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WHERE THEY NEEDED TO BE. AND THEY HAD JESUS. THEY HAD THE SON OF GOD, GOD IN THE FLESH, WITH THEM ALL THE TIME!!!!!
THEIR WHOLE INFLUENCE FOR THREE LONG YEARS WAS JESUS. THEY BREATHED, LIVED, ATE, AND FOLLOWED JESUS SO CLOSELY AND YET THEIR HEARTS WERE NOT THERE YET.
THIS IS MIND BLOWING!!!! ALL THEY DID ALL DAY LONG WAS BE WITH JESUS. NOTHING ELSE.
JESUS IN THE MORNING. IN THE AFTERNOON. AT LUNCH TIME. AT DINNER TIME. AT NIGHT TIME. WHEN SLEEPING. IN THE BOAT. ON THE SEA. AS THEY WALKED. AS THEY WITNESSED MIRACLES.
HEARD THE TRUTH FROM GOD’S MOUTH. SAW DEAD PEOPLE RISE UP. SAW HANDS OUTSTRETCHED AND HEALED. THE LAME WALK. THE BLIND SEE. THE DEMON-POSSESSED FREED. THE WHORES MADE WHOLE. THE CAPTIVES FREE.
YET, AFTER ALL THIS, THEY STILL DOUBTED. THEY FAILED. THEY SAID STUPID THINGS. THEY WANTED TO GIVE UP. THEY BETRAYED EACH OTHER. THEY BETRAYED HIM. THEY WERE SELFISH AND DESIRED EARTHLY THINGS, AND THEIR HEARTS WERE DECEIVED BY WANTING A DIFFERENT KINGDOM AND PRIVILEGES.
THEY ASKED FOR RIDICULOUS THINGS. THEY WERE AFRAID AND GOT SCARED. THEY COVETED POSITION AND STATUS. THEY WERE COWARDS.
AND THEY DIDN’T HAVE THE MEDIA, THE INTERNET, THE SOCIAL MEDIA, THE DISTRACTIONS AND BUSY SCHEDULES WE HAVE NOWADAYS.
AGAIN, ALL THEY DID WAS BE WITH JESUS.
SO, AS WE THINK ABOUT OUR ROLES HERE AS MINISTERS, AS LEADING PEOPLE IN BIBLE STUDIES, YOUTH GROUPS, CHURCHES, COUNSELING AND FAMILY MINISTRIES, MISSIONS AND OTHER EFFORTS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND TEACH THE TRUTH, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT AND HOW CAN WE APPROACH OUR CALLING AND THE USE OF OUR GIFTS AND HOW CAN WE MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF WHAT WE ARE INVESTING IN?
OUR CHILDREN AND YOUTH ARE SWAMPED WITH ACTIVITIES, BUSYNESS AND SCHEDULES THAT RIVAL THE ATTENTION THEY CAN GIVE TO THE MATTERS OF TRUTH. THEY ARE BEING BOMBARDED WITH ALL KINDS OF OTHER MESSAGES THAT ARE 100% OPPOSED TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S KINGDOM AND HIS SAVING GOSPEL POWER.
WE GET A COUPLE HOURS HERE AND THERE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK TO TEACH THEM A LITTLE BIT OF TRUTH WHILE THE REST OF THEIR TIMES IN THEIR WEEKS ARE BEING FILLED WITH SOCIAL MEDIA, OTHER PEOPLE’S OPINIONS, SPORTS, ACTIVITIES, BUSY SCHEDULES, WORK, TEMPTATIONS TO MEDICATE OURSELVES, OTHER PHILOSOPHIES, LINES OF THOUGHT AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ONE AND ON.
AND SO IF JESUS’ DISCIPLES WERE WITH HIM 24/7, 365 FOR THREE YEARS AND WERE FALLING SHORT WITH ALL HIS INFLUENCE, THEN HOW CAN WE LOOK AT OUR WORLD AND CALLING AND THE PEOPLE WE’RE INVOLVED WITH AND BE ENCOURAGED AND NOT LOSE HEART AND NOT GET BOGGED DOWN BYT THE TEMPTATION TO PERFORM AND TO PRODUCE A CROP THAT IT IS NOT OUR T PRODUCE?
HOW CAN WE GET BACK TO THR TRUE THINKING AND BELIEVING THAT IT IS GOD WHO DRAWAS ALL MEN TO HIMSELF, AND THAT IS IT HIM ALONE WHO CAN PRODUCE THE CHANGE, AND THAT OUR CALLING IS NOT TO CHANGE PEOPLE AND TO TRANSFORM THEM OR TO REDEEM THEM?
OUR CALLING IS TO PRAY FOR THEM CONSTANTLY, LOVE THEM CONSISTENTLY, LISTEN TO THEM CAREFULLY, SPEAK ONLY OUT OF INVITATION FROM HIS SPIRIT AS HE LEADS US TO SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE, BE REAL WITH THEM, HONEST, VULNERABLE, TRANSPARENT AND GENUINE, AND SHOW THEM THE WAY TO JESUS THROUGH OUR LOVE AND ACTIONS.
OUR YOUTH, I CANNOT PRODUCE ONE OUNCE OF CHANGE IN THEM. I CANNOT MAKE DECISIONS FOR THEM. I CANNOT BELIEVE FOR THEM. I CANNOT MAKE THEM EMBRACE WHAT I SO FIERCEFULLY EMBRACE. I CANNOT MAKE THEM FEEL WHAT I FEEL. SEE HOW I SEE. BELIEVE HOW I BELIEVE.
BUT IF I CAN LIVE MY LIFE MODELING AND REALLY BEING TRUE, EVEN IN MY BROKENNESS, TO WHAT I BELIEVE, THEN GOD HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF USING ME TO DRAW THEM TO HIM.
REMEMBER, WE ARE HIS BODY, HIS HANDS, HIS EARS, HIS EYES, HIS FEET, HIS VOICE, HIS LOVE, HIS HEART, HIS ARMS.
WE ARE HIS REPRESENTATION HERE ON EARTH. WE HAVE NO POWER. WE ARE ONLY VESSELS. WE ARE ONLY CONDUITS. LET’S BE FILLED WITH HIM SO THAT WE CAN BE POURED OUT ON TO OTHERS TO BLESS, TO LOVE, TO LISTEN, TO EMBRACE AND HUG, TO FORGIVE, TO ENCOURAGE, TO WIPE TEARS AWAY, TO COMFORT BROKEN SOULS, TO BIND UP THE WOUNDED AND BROKEN HEARTED, TO WELCOME THE BROKEN, AND TO LIFT UP HIS NAME.
AMD REMEMBER TO NOT GET ANXIOUS ABOUT NUMBERS, RESULTS, PERFORMANCE AND OTHER TRAPS LIKE THOSE.
I HAVE TO REMEMBER THIS EVERYDAY AS I LIVE OUT THE CALL IN OUR LIVES RIGHT NOW TO LEAD THE YOUTH. I ONLY GET A COUPLE HOURS A WEEK WITH THEM, AND THE TRUTH I SHARE WITH THEM HAS MORE POWER THAN ANY OTHER LIES THEY GET FILLED WITH THE REST OF THE TIME. BUT I HAVE TO BE PATIENT. I HAVE TO BE OBEDIENT. I HAVE TO BE FAITHFUL. AND I HAVE TO LOVE ABOVE ALL THINGS.
QUITE THE CHALLENGE, DON’T YOU THINK???
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