Do not fear…

Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” (Jeremiah 1:4-10, NRSV)

Have you ever worried about what you are going to say?

I have all the time…

When I step up to proclaim the word of the Lord I am a nervous wreck! If I had to rely on my own understanding and powers I would not be able to do it.

But as the Lord said to Jeremiah, He says to each of us, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” You do not have to be afraid for I am with you and I knew you long before you were a twinkle in your mother’s eye…

Do not fear, for God is with you!

The plan…

So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. And they told him, “Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned; he could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.” When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.” Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. (Genesis 45:25-46:7, NRSV)

Israel, or Jacob, was not afraid to do what he knew needed to be done, because over his life God proved that He was with Him.

God told him to not fear, that Joseph would be the one to close his eyes after he died. That God was in control and He knew the plan.

Do you have that kind of relationship with God?

Do you know the plan He has for you?

What is keeping you from listening to Him right now?

Go

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and invoked the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb. (Genesis 12:1-9, NRSV)

Can you imagine being 75 and getting a call from God?

I want you to pack up your life and go to the land I will send you to. Pack up everything and go!

I can see the faces of the candidacy committee that would interview that person…

Really at this age? God is calling you to go?

But we have to remember that age does not matter to God.

God calls the person, every person into ministry with Him.

He has a plan for all of us, and that plan is the best life we could imagine, even better than the life we can imagine.

So be like Abram and follow God when He calls you to go, because it will be a wild ride and one you don’t want to miss.

Follow me!

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. (Mark 1:14-20, NRSV)

We see this and we should wonder why anyone would leave behind their livelihood to follow a person they just saw for the first time. What was it about this man that would make people leave their jobs behind?

What was it about this man that they would leave their family behind?

And the words here ὀπίσω μου (opiso mou) means follow me, or get behind me…

You see these are the same words that Jesus says to Peter, when he says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan…”

Following Jesus is not about having our way. It is not Burger King, you can’t have it your way and be a follower of Christ.

You have to see the back of His head and follow where He leads you. That is what it means to leave the nets behind and your family behind and come after Jesus.

That is what it means to cast nets for the Lord! Are you ready to follow Him?

undivided…

Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me. There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. (Psalm 86:1-13, NRSV)

Give me an undivided heart that I may follow you and devout myself to you…

How easy is it to have an undivided heart?

How many times are we pulled in many different directions?

But what is your focus in these times?

That is what this psalmist is asking God to give them, and undivided heart, so when I wander, I don’t have to wonder where my trust should be or who has my back…

God will preserve you and set your heart on fire if you will only set your heart in His hands! So trust in and rely on His love!

greater than these…

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. (John 14:5-14, NRSV)

I tell you the one who believes in Jesus will do the works He did and in fact do greater works than these!

If we follow Jesus, we will not only do what He did, but greater things…

So know that you have seen God, in the face of the stranger, when you are Jesus to them!

And continue to follow Him where He leads you and we will all be together one day!

uhm yea but…

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. (John 12:20-26, NRSV)

I love this passage…

The Greeks come to the festival and see the disciples, or Philip and ask to see Jesus. Philip told Andrew, and the two of them went to tell jesus the Greeks who came to the festival want to see Him.

Then Jesus says ““The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor”

I can imagine Philip and Andrew standing there, did you hear the question or the request. What you said is nice and all but what about the Greeks?

Jesus just side-stepped the question/request and turned this into a teaching moment about serving God.

It is as if Jesus is saying, “It doesn’t matter if the Greeks want to see me, they need to see God and follow Him.”

So follow God and not your own desire.

Tell no one…

Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:18-22, NRSV)

Why should they not tell anyone?

I have to admit I have always found this line a little disturbing. When Jesus tells the disciples or someone He has healed, “Tell no one about this…”

Are we not suppose to tell about Jesus and what He has done for us?

Are we not suppose to shout it from the mountain tops?

It seems a little like reverse psychology here.. But no that isn’t it…

The ESV Study Bible says this about that line:

“Peter’s confession (v. 20) is correct, but proclaiming it widely at this time would be misunderstood because of Jewish nationalistic expectations and would make Jesus’ ministry more difficult, as people tried to force him into the role of a political and military leader against the Roman army.” (Lane T. Dennis and Wayne Grudem, eds., The ESV Study Bible (Accordance electronic ed. Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2008), n.p.)

So Jesus is not trying to keep them from telling, but is trying to keep the crowds that want Him to be king and a military leader to a minimum. He is trying to progress the plans and mission of God, rather than what man wants from the Messiah…

So God knows what He is doing, and sometimes we get glimpses of that too, just like Peter…

 

Baptism…

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34, NRSV)

It is interesting to me we take this passage as the Baptism of Jesus, but it doesn’t actually say that John baptized Jesus.

It says that John testified that he saw the Spirit descending on Jesus from Heaven like a dove. And the one who sent him to baptize with water told him this would happen.

We assume that John was baptizing Jesus when this happened. And don’t get me wrong, I take the other 3 gospels understanding of this event and have them inform my picture of this event. But it doesn’t actually say here there was a baptism…

So does that change anything?

In my mind no. John tells the story of the Good News of Jesus Christ. How He cam to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and set our hearts on fire for the Lord!

So follow where He leads you!

Promise

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the LORD stood beside him and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:10-17, NRSV)

Here is one of those readings we know, because we learned about it in Sunday School…

We see the picture of the stairs/ladder and the angels ascending and descending on it. The thing we sometimes miss is the promise and the presence…

The promise is the land where he is sleeping will be his and his offsprings, and all of the world will be blessed by him and his offspring. And that God Himself will keep Jacob and be with him and being him back to this place. And God will always be with Him until the promise is fulfilled.

Now this might seem like God is going to leave Jacob. But what is the promise? That the land will be his and his offspring, so as long as Jacob has an offspring, no matter how far removed, God will be with Him. And that is the presence…

God stood beside him… Why do we not see pictures with God standing beside Jacob? God stood with Him and promised to not leave him until the promise was fulfilled.

That is the same presence He gives to you. And His promise is to be with you!