Being With Jesus
"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus." - Acts 4:13
The Lord calls us to "be with Him" above all other things. This is the first call of the disciple who denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows the Lord. Just like a sheep that can only follow his shepherd when he is close to him, we can only follow Jesus if we are in close relationship with Him. God is love and the triune nature of God shows us that God Himself is relationship.
Thus, the more we come to Jesus and spend time with Jesus the more we will become like Jesus. Our intimacy with the Lord leads us to our influence for the Lord. The reason for this is because we get our affection and direction from the Lord.
Everything that took place in the lives of Peter and John in Acts 4 were the fulfillment of the words spoken in Mark 3:13-15, "And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons."
The world is trying to stamp its influence and priorities on us each and every day. The enemy of our souls loves it when we are busy running about from one place to another with no regard to worship or fellowship with Christ. We need to learn to unlearn the teaching of our world to sit with Jesus and learn the ways of our Master.
Remember you have a full ride scholarship to come to the school of Jesus and learn of Him where you can receive a true Master's degree of an eternal education. You can have the wisdom of God if you will choose to take time to receive fresh revelation from Christ in His Word and acknowledge His presence in all that you are doing throughout the day. Don't pass up the full scholarship and free access that you have to sit before King Jesus.
It was this daily practice of being in the presence of Jesus that caused the Jewish Sanhedren to marvel at the boldness of Peter and John. They were fully liberated to speak with absolute confidence of the salvation of Christ and to say the things that represented the truth concerning God. The last time they encountered such authority was when Jesus was standing before them and could not be altered from fulfilling what He was sent to do.
If you would like to come to the same place of influence, you need to establish a daily intimacy with Christ where you are daily revived. You must let nothing get in the way of being with Jesus. Perhaps, you could pray this simple prayer from Psalm 119:35-38:
DEAR LORD, "Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You."
What is getting in the way of you going deeper with God? Are you satisfied only going into the living waters to your ankles or knee deep? Why not fully immerse in your fellowship with God?
God is ready to meet with you always! He knows how to get your attention but He will not force your submission or allegiance to Him. Even if you are going through difficulty, God is writing your story and workin in the details of your life.
REMEMBER THIS: What you think is getting in your way is actually God's way of getting to you.
"ACTS IN ACTION" CHALLENGE POINT:
- Are you truly resolved to go deeper with Jesus? - How can you limit your distractions this week? - What does ‘being with Jesus’ mean while you are spending time with others?