Come Ye After Me

Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Mark 3:13-15 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. ¹⁴ And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, ¹⁵ And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

Song of Songs 7:10-13 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. ¹¹ Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. ¹² Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. ¹³ The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The first call of Yeshua is to come and be with Him.  The relationship with Him is the most important part of our Christian life and ministry.  Without relationship with Him, we really have nothing to offer.  He is the vine we are the branches.  We must stay connected into the vine as the source of life and sustenance to have anything of lasting value to share. 

We see in the verses in Mark that Yeshua called the disciples to come and be with Him. Then He sent them forth.  He called for them to come after Him and He would make them to become fishers of men.  The onus was on Yeshua to prepare them for the work of sharing the Kingdom of God as kingdom ambassadors. That preparation came in time spent with Yeshua in everyday life, as well as watching Him minister, and participating with Him in ministry. Then he sent them out. 

In the passage from the Song of Songs we see that the call is also to come. Actually much of that book is about coming to Yeshua and growing in an intimate relationship with Him.  As already stated that is the relationship with Yeshua is essential.  Then going forth is done together. The going forth is into the harvest field of the unsaved.  The going forth is also to the villages, the places where there are believers dwell in fellowship.  In the villages there is ministry to the needs of those who are already believers. All ministry is done co-laboring with the Godhead. Yeshua only did what He saw the Father doing.  We need to learn to operate in the same way to be effective.  We function in this earth realm as ambassadors of the Kingdom realm.

It all has to start with “come” and then being sent out. Being sent is another key.  To just go of our own accord is not good.  We must look to Yeshua to send us in the right time to the right place.  As we are being sent we are going out to co-labor with Yeshua under the direction and anointing of Father and Holy Spirit. 

Let The Children Come

Mark 10:13-15 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Jesus still desires for the children to come unto Him and He desires to see them trained up in the ways of God.  The children need to be led into a relationship with God, taught to hear the voice of God, and to minster in the gifts.

In Tommy Welchel's book about the Azusa Street Revival he shares stories that were related to him by people who were there as part of that revival as children and teenagers.  God used the children and teenagers to minister as part of what He was doing at that time.  I praise God that the adults at Azusa Street did not push the children aside as the disciples tried to in Jesus' day. ("They Told Me Their Stories" by Tommy Welchel)

I believe in the coming outpouring/harvest God desires to mightily use children/teens/young people once again.

Recently I was in a service at a church where the children were encouraged to prophesy and pray.  It was great to see children, as young as 5 years old, prophesy, read or quote scripture God had inspired them to share, and to pray for people.  This all happened as part of an evening service in which the . adults doing the same.  It was wonderful to see this in action.

I believe God is saying, "Watch what I will do.  Allow the children to come unto me and see what I will do in and through them."

Quite a few years ago I heard someone say that other religions, especially the Muslims, train their children, while the Christian church in this country entertains their children.  God is desirous of seeing the children trained up in the homes and within the churches to be vessels through which He can manifest His glory.

There is a wonderful book titled "Visions Beyond the Veil", by H.A, Baker, missionary to China. (the grandfather of Roland Baker of Iris Ministries in Mozambique) The book is about the heavenly experiences that children in a Chinese orphanage had and how God ministered through them as a result.

God is no respecter of age. May we all become more childlike in our relationship with our God.  May we all do our part in allowing the children to come to Him and making room for them to be trained and grow in the things of God.

Launched In The River

(I submit this dream and interpretation for your consideration. In the past I have not dreamed much and am a novice at dream interpretation.  Yet I felt like I should post this. So I am.) 

   

Recently I had a dream.  In that dream I saw about 10-12 cars of many colors and types line up side by side like they were ready to start a race.  The odd part was that they were in a river.  Soon they took off heading into deeper waters.  Then another set of about 10-12 cars lined up and took off. Then I noticed two white cars off to the side, still in the stream being worked on by mechanics. 

It is my understanding that cars often speak of ministries in dreams.  What I believe this dream is about is that God is launching people in ministry into a time of acceleration into deeper waters.  Although it seems like they are lined up to race against each other, I do not believe it is a competition, just starting off at the same time into a time of acceleration.  I believe they are in the river of God which flows forth from His throne.  It seemed like the depth of the water was nearly knee deep where the mechanics were standing.  I believe this means that these people/ministers are already in the river and have progressed to the point of nearly knee deep water, but are now headed into deeper spiritual waters. 

I believe the cars off to the side being worked on are missing out on this launch, because they did not get tuned up in advance of this important time.

Each of us is called to ministry.  Each of us has unique giftings and callings, which I believe are shown in the various types and colors of cars.  It is time for each of us to submit to God's tune ups to be ready for the coming time of launch into acceleration into the deeper waters of the river.  

Ezekiel 47:3-5 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. ⁴ Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. ⁵ Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.   

 

Being Moved By Compassion

Recently at Tuesday night Bible study we were looking at what we call the "Parable of the Good Samaritan", found in Luke 10:25-42. In the parable there is a man that has been robbed and beaten and left by the road to die. A priest came by and walked right past the guy. A Levite came by and also walked right past. Both of these men would have been considered Jewish religious leaders, but they did nothing. A Samaritan, a man of a race despised by the Jews, came by and ministered to the man's wounds, put the man on his donkey, took him to an inn, and left money for the man to be cared for.

As we read it this time I noticed, perhaps for the first time, the Samaritan, "felt" compassion when he saw the man. (vs. 33) That is what moved him to action.

We see in scripture that Jesus was moved to action by compassion time and again. The following are just a few of the scripture references in which you will find this: Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34

I tend to believe that real ministry only flows from a heart of love. Although love and compassion are somewhat different. I don't think we can have compassion without having love.

I wonder how often I am more like the religious leaders and fail to let the Lord's compassion fill my heart and move me to action. I want to be like Jesus. If I am going to be like Jesus I will need to be moved with compassion.

God I need you to fill my heart with your love so I can be moved with compassion.