Text: Mark 3:13-15, 31-35
Summary: A Christian is a friend of Jesus who desires to be with Jesus and to do things with Jesus.
Mark 3
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons.
Mark 3
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers[c] are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Father, we ask that you would reveal the truth of your word as we abide in the teaching of Jesus Christ and abide in Jesus’ words. We know that these are not His words alone. But these are words that come straight from the mouth of our Heavenly Father and we want to abide and understand. I pray that you reveal it, Lord. Send your Spirit to illuminate and to reveal and to give understanding in our hearts of what you’re explaining to us so plainly here in your word. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen
If you were to describe the essence of a Christian, A Christian is ‘blank’, from this text what would you say and this is not a rhetorical question. I’m actually asking the audience, from this text if you were to summarize the essence of a Christian, A Christian is __, what would you say?
Jesus is brother or sister. Yes, that is true. What else would you say? Anything else? Someone who does the will of God. Yes. Called out ones. Yes. Great answers, anything else? And you can also connect it to other sections of Scripture.
My answer to the question, what is a Christian, is: A Christian is a friend of Jesus who loves hanging out with Jesus and doing things with Jesus.
And for those who haven’t been here, I just want to refresh everybody’s mind of why we are studying Mark now because we studied John for some time. And then we studied Matthew and then now we’re going to Mark, and you might say, well, I’m getting tired of the gospels. Can we move on to the Old Testament and Moses and David and Elijah? Can we go to Paul? Why are we staying with the words of Jesus Christ?
2 John 1
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
Whoever does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. And Jesus says it’s a two-for-one because when Jesus speaks, you’re not just hearing Jesus’ words. Jesus never spoke independently on His own. Jesus only spoke what He heard from his Heavenly Father. It was like that during his earthly ministry. It is like that even to this day when He is sitting at the right hand of God.
So if you listen and you abide in the teachings of Christ, you are actually also getting the Father’s teaching because they are one and the same. And Jesus Himself says in John 15 — If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
And so there’s something special about abiding in the words of Jesus and the teaching of Jesus because it is the teaching of our Heavenly Father.
If I were to give headlines of the major sections of Scripture, I would say that the heading for the Old Testament could be “The Messiah is Coming.” And then the gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, John — I would say the heading could be “The Messiah is Here.” And I would say the heading for the rest of the New Testament could be “Don’t Forget about the Messiah.”
A title for Jesus is “The Word of God.” And so on every page of Scripture, if you look for Jesus, He is there. And if you abide in His words, especially Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Revelation — you are getting teaching straight from the source.
If you look at Paul’s teachings, or if you look at John’s teachings, Peter’s teachings, it’s like if I left my devotion journal for the boys and for the rest of their spiritual journeys, they just read my insights and my interpretations only. That would be so foolish. I would tell my boys — put aside what I thought and go straight to the source. Go to Jesus Himself.
And Jesus is teaching the Father’s teaching. And so that’s why we are staying for now on the gospels, the life of Jesus.
Mark 3
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
There’s only one “calling” in Scripture. In the past, I said, the only calling is to be saved. We may have different vocational purposes and different assignments from the Lord, but I would not say this is a calling. I would say the only calling is when Jesus calls you for salvation. The word for “calling” implies that He’s summoning you and you have a choice whether or not to respond. You have to come to Him. The only calling is you responding to the Shepherd’s voice and going to the Shepherd. The only calling is to be saved. Another way to say it — your calling is to respond to the One who desires you. You’re called to be close to Jesus.
I think when we think about the apostles, we jump over this verse. We go to the verse about preaching wherever He sends. We go to the part where He says you’ll have authority to cast out demons. We go to ministry. But your calling Jesus says is that you are called to be close to Him. He desires you, meaning, He wants you to be near Him. You’re calling, your destiny, is to commune with Jesus Christ. And out of that calling and that communion the will of God unfolds.
I want to give a little bit more clarity of something I said in the past. When I look at Scripture, there is an order and a priority in terms of responsibilities. Jesus, of course, is number one.
And number two, if you look at God’s Word, number two is your spouse because there’s only one relationship that Jesus says endures until you die or until your spouse dies. And so in terms of duration, it is a lifetime commitment to your spouse. And that’s why the spouse is so important. And that’s why we have to invest in caring for our spouse, and to love our spouse, and to be a friend to our spouse, and that’s why we have to be gracious to our spouse and forgive our spouse. This is the second priority for a believer.
Third is children because children only have one father and one mother. And you may want to dish them off to somebody else. What Jesus says clearly in His word is that children are the parents’ responsibility. And in particular, it’s the father’s responsibility to discipline and to instruct his children in the way of the Lord.
And fourth. I would say is Church and everything else. Jesus, spouse, children, Church, brothers and sisters, everything else. But there’s a caveat. Because we know that our spousal relationship is for a lifetime. What about our relationship with our children? That is for lifetime as well. But in terms of our responsibility, is it for a lifetime? No. It is until our children have their own household.
And so I have only two more years with Timothy. At age 18, he is going to leave the house at that point, and in some sense, he’s already an adult. He’s already on his own. And biblically, at age 20, the Bible says, you’re an adult. So in our context, that happens during Timothy’s college years. We know that college is a transition period. After he graduates, there’s no more money being sent to Timothy. He’s on his own. And that is for his own good so that he stands on his own as an independent adult preparing to manage his own household one day. And so my responsibility is just to get them ready for that day, for him to stand before God and before men alone.
Why do I say biblically that my obligation to my children ends at that point? Because Jesus says in Mark 3:31…
Mark 3
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers[c] are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus says, yes, family is important. And especially in Biblical times for a Middle Easterner who grew up in the Mediterranean region during the first century, their mindset was that family is so important. And back then, you didn’t have planes. So if you had a family, probably, your kids stayed near you. And you got grandkids and your clan physically stayed together. And that was the way it was back in those days.
And we may wrongly think, as a believer, I need to keep the clan together. However, while a spouse and a spouse may begin their spiritual journeys together with Jesus at the center, it’s sad to consider the possibility of one spouse loses their that center. Because if half of you is spiritually lost, then you are lost. That’s why, biblically, you’re not even allowed to marry an unbeliever. Because half of you is not seeing the world and reality the way you see it. And you think, well, I can influence my non-believing spouse. I can bring them to salvation. That can happen, but most of the time, the reverse happens. In most cases, the non-believing spouse wears out the believing spouse.
And so even when it comes to a spouse, one with whom you have a lifetime covenant, it is so sad when the two are not seeing eye to eye about the most important Person in their lives — Jesus Christ. And the same thing can happen with our children.
That’s why Jackie and I are trying our best as a team — we’re trying our best to plant seeds and to water the seeds while they are with us for these 18 years. I have no guarantee where they will be in the future, spiritually. That’s not up to me. I’m just trying my best to plant seeds and to water the seeds. I have to wait for God to bring the growth.
And it’ll be so sad if at one point, my children may not be walking with Jesus. But at that point, we just have to say, I tried my best, Lord. And can a father or mother who believes be close to a child who does not believe? No. Spiritually, we cannot be close. We can have common interests. We can still have a good time together, but in terms of closeness, it’s Jesus and the friends of Jesus. That’s where closeness resides — in the body of Christ. Outside of that, there is a huge chasm huge with everyone else.
So it is my prayer that I can be a friend of Jesus. And Jackie can be a friend of Jesus. Timothy, Jeremiah, Elijah can be friends of Jesus. And I pray that I can surround my myself with friends of Jesus.
If you look at Mark 2 about the paralytic, these friends of the paralytic are carrying the paralytic to the feet of Jesus. I want to be surrounded by friends like these. When I don’t have the faith to go to Jesus myself because I am struggling, I want to surround myself with friends like these who will stop at nothing to bring me to Jesus. They’re not stopped by the crowd. They’re not stopped by the roof. They’re bringing this paralytic to the feet of Jesus. I want to surround myself with friends like these. Because we all may take our turns on the mat when we are struggling with our faith in Jesus. And I want to be surrounded by friends who will take me to Jesus while I am unwilling to do so, or I am unable to do so myself.
And Jesus, He draws a line in the sand in Mark 3. Because in the first century, the Jewish mindset was that the family is so important. Therefore, if your mother and your brothers came to the door, everything would stop. And you would go to them because they are the priority, right? Jesus re-prioritizes things. He asks, who are my mother and my brother and my sisters? And He points to people who are gathered around Him.
Before Jesus sends us out to do missions and fulfill these assignments, He just wants to gather friends around Himself. If you are a friend of Jesus means you come to Jesus and you have no agenda. If a friend had an agenda whenever he met you, I don’t know if you could call him a true friend. If he’s always looking for a handout because he’s strapped for cash and he’s spending your time with you, but you know at the end of the night, he’s gonna ask for money.
We know people like this. They always have an agenda. They always want something from you. They’re not there just to enjoy you, just to be in your presence. They are using you. They’re gaining something from you. They’re influencing you. They have an agenda. Jesus wants a group of friends who simply sit at His feet and we have no agenda.
Even the apostles, before talking about being sent to preach and to cast out demons, He says, I desire friends to be with me. I desire them and that’s why I’m calling them. I’m not calling them to ministry. How many people make a mistake to think that they are called to full-time ministry? And that the minister’s “calling” is primarily to work and they do that for the rest of their lives.
Does Jesus want workers? Or, does He want friends? Because if the minister understood the order, they would be telling their people — before we go out and do work (because we do have to do the will of God), let’s first learn how to commune and be a friend of Jesus. But why don’t we hear it? I think it’s because they don’t understand that there is an order and there’s a priority. Primarily, Jesus wants friends with no agenda.
In the early part of my Christian life, I had a clear understanding of this because I had no title. I had no one looking up to me to lead them. I was just enjoying Jesus and I remember during my first job in Concord, CA at Bank of America’s headquarters out there, I remember going out for my lunch break and there is a park bench near my work. And I thought, this is my date with Jesus. No one taught me to do it. But it came naturally. I get to fellowship with Jesus. No agenda. No emergency. No decision that needs to be made. I’m just coming to commune. It was just natural.
But over time, because of deception and wrong teaching, I became a worker. I thought, as you mature, you’re expected to work. And so we go to church and the most committed ones are the most tired on Sundays. Sunday is a day of Sabbath rest, but you look at most typical churches, the most committed ones are the most exhausted because they’re working Monday through Friday and they come to church on Sunday and they work. \
Jesus doesn’t want workers. He wants friends. Jesus wants friends with no agenda. And so when you’re with your friend, it’s not like you have to fill up every gap in the conversation so that there is zero silence. If you’re with somebody not that close, you might feel that pressure to fill the air with your words. But when you’re with a good friend who just receives you and accepts you, warts and all, and he knows your tendencies, your strengths, your weaknesses, and you feel safe and accepted, you don’t have to say much. You don’t need a common activity to enjoy together because some people’s friendship is predicated on some type of common activity. If you’re with a friend, you don’t even need food. You’re just in the presence of your friend. No words have to be shared.
And so when you’re with Jesus, you don’t have to always fill the air with your words, your requests. Sometimes you just walk with Him. And you don’t have to expect that the floodgates of heaven will be opened every single day and God is going to speak to you audibly and frequently at all times. No, you’re content just walking together. Just enjoying His presence. And Jesus loves it when you just come to Him with no agenda. You’re just enjoying Him. Even the apostles, we may consider them to be workers. Instead, Jesus says, I called them because they are those whom I desire to be with.
If Jesus called you to be saved, His main desire was you. His main desire is you. He doesn’t look at you and say, oh, that’s a good worker. I’m gonna get 50 years of hard labor from him and they’re going to be many more people who come into the kingdom because of that person. That’s not why He calls you. He calls you because of you.
If you’re a worker, you think, oh, no, Jesus has an agenda. He doesn’t really care for me. He just wants to use me. And we do the same to Jesus. You don’t really come to Jesus to enjoy Him. You just use Him. We say, I want this, I want this, I want this. Can you just come to Jesus as you would a friend? Just be in His presence. He desires you. Do you desire Him? Not desiring the answers to prayer requests, just desiring Jesus.
Can we be that kind of friend to Jesus, just desiring Him because He desires you? And that is the priority. Let’s not gloss over this one. This is the priority but there is a second part. He looks around the room, the people who are gathered around and they’re fellowshipping with Him. They’re just listening to Him. They’re just enjoying the presence of Jesus, sitting around a room just like this.
And Jesus says, here are my mother and my brothers. Then he adds in verse 35, for whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. So we have to do the will of God, but how do we do the will of God?
Many people just read the Bible and say the will of God is contained here. And so I’m just going to read it, memorize it and then just go and do life. They may even add on spiritual activities like preaching, doing Bible studies, discipling people, healing people, casting out demons. They might even add those types of activities because it’s in the book. Isn’t that the will of God? I would say that’s a good start. We do want to start with the word of God.
So if you’re married, then you don’t have to wonder, is it God’s will that I be a good spouse to my spouse? You don’t have to wonder, do I have to be a good father or mother to my children and not neglect them? There are clear things in God’s word that you don’t have to wonder what is the will of God about this situation. All of these things we just just do it naturally because it’s in God’s word.
But is that enough? Is that enough just to try our best to live out these principles?
Mat 7
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
And so this should be a troubling passage that even as ministers, even as supernaturally gifted ministers who cast out demons and prophesy and heal, that we can do this without Jesus. We’re just doing it independently because we’re gifted. We’re not even asking, Lord, should I do it? Is it the time to do it? Who should I do it to? Where should I do it? We don’t even ask Jesus. We just do it because it’s the will of God. I’m just doing it and Jesus says, I never knew you. How you would know Jesus is when you bring every decision before Him.
Even good things. It’s not always a green light. It’s not always time. You’re waiting for confirmation and clarity from Jesus and that’s how you learn to do life. You’re not just going to Jesus fellowshipping one Sunday and saying goodbye, I’ll see you next week. No, every decision, every situation, you’re doing life with Jesus. And so if you minister, you’re ministering with Jesus not by yourself, you’re ministering where Jesus tells you to go. He gives you authority and then things happen not because you are gifted. No, because Jesus is there.
And He is doing the ministry and you’re just watching. The only guarantee that you’re saved in the end is that you know Jesus and so ministry alone is not a guarantee, success in ministry alone is not a guarantee. You can do this kind of a ministry which is so impressive outwardly, and at the end Jesus may say I never knew you because you did not spend time getting to know Him. Because you just did life on your own.
So a friend of Jesus is somebody who fellowships with Jesus and he does things with Jesus, not by himself or herself. You’re doing life with Jesus and why is this the will of God to do life with Jesus? Because you might say, well, I can hear directly from my Heavenly Father. He’s given His word. I have the Holy Spirit. Why do I have to do it only through Jesus? The answer is in John 15.
John 15
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
Why did I say at the beginning that the definition of a Christian is that you are a friend of Jesus? Because Jesus says it here in His word. If you abide in Jesus’ teaching, I’m telling you, the dots will be connected. A Christian by definition is a friend of Jesus.
And when you meet another Christian, you can tell right away, is this person a friend of Jesus? Because if they are a friend, you’re going to talk about your friend and how you did life together and what Jesus revealed to you. Just out of an overflow, you can talk about Jesus, how good He is, how gracious He is, how He speaks to you.
You meet many people in the church and they never talk about Jesus. They talk about their church. They talk about the ministry they’re involved with. But rarely mention Jesus. Jesus is rarely on their lips. But if I have a best friend, you better believe I’m going to talk about Him if my best friend even closer than Jackie is Jesus Christ. You better believe I’m going to talk about Jesus every chance. I give a sermon on Sunday and at the very least out of all the topics I could talk about, I’m going to talk about my best friend Jesus Christ.
Jesus says if you do this, Jesus says if you do what I command you, I will call you friend. There are duties. There are Commandments. There are assignments, but it comes from Jesus. Jesus will tell you when it’s time to move and which job to take, which person to minister to, whether to go forward or whether to wait. Jesus will tell you if you learn to be a friend of Jesus.
And why can I be so confident that if you listen to what Jesus says, you are doing the will of God our Heavenly Father? It is because Jesus says, all that I hear comes from my Father and I have made it known to you. So is Jesus is you could say a channel for the throne room of God and the Father speaks, Jesus listens. Jesus conveys to His church, to His friends, here is the assignment for today.
You can’t just say, well, it says in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all nations and just live that way 24/7 for the rest of your life. You have to discern, did Jesus actually tell you to do it? It’s in His word, but did Jesus tell you to do it today? Maybe He wants you to learn how to be a good spouse before you try to save the nations. Maybe He wants you to be a patient parent.
I think when Jesus speaks and gives us an assignment, it’s as clear as when Moses saw the burning bush. Because Moses was just minding his own business. He was exercising his faith, raising a family for 40 years. Not complaining. Not being restless. Just saying, this is the lot that God has given me. I have to imagine he lived that way because he emerged from those 40 years as the meekest person on the face of the earth.
And on one particular day, when he’s 80 years old, he sees a burning bush and that’s when God gives him his assignment. I wouldn’t say that’s his calling but that’s just his assignment. He was already called to be close to God. That’s why he’s the meekest person on the face of the earth. His calling already happened way before this burning bush moment. This burning bush was just a commandment that he received and I believe that if you fellowship with Jesus, and He gives you an assignment, it will be as clear as a burning bush.
And until that day, until that moment happens, you’re off the hook. There is no pressure. There’s no pressure. Just be faithful to what God has given to you. Just be faithful to being a good friend to your friends. Just be a good spouse. Just be a good parent. Just be a good church member. Just love the brothers and sisters gathered around you, who are gathered around the feet of Jesus. You have plenty to do if you just look around your life.
If there’s a particular assignment, wait for the burning bush. It will be that clear. If you take Jesus at His word, He says, I will command you and you won’t have to wonder, Jesus, is that you? You will know it’s Jesus. He will command you to do the will of God. And this will come straight from our Heavenly Father. And if the problem is that we have ear wax and we can’t hear Jesus clearly, well again, take the pressure off. That’s not your fault. All you can do is to fellowship with Jesus. If you cannot hear His assignment, remember, God is not limited. He is omniscient. He’s omnipotent. He is not limited in any way. He has every means at His disposal to communicate His will to you.
And so, do you think you have to stumble or wonder, what should I be doing? No, He will make it so clear. It will be like the bush in front of you is on fire. It’ll be that clear. And until it’s that clear, you’re off the hook. No pressure. Just look around and be faithful to what God has given to you. If there are additional assignments to fulfill, the will of God will be communicated to you in a way that you can understand. But first, you and I must commune with Jesus. That has to be our priority.
For so long I came to Jesus as a pastor, meaning, I had my ministry cap on and I’m bringing request after request after request and Jesus didn’t speak because that’s not what He was after. Ultimately, He’s after me. He wants me as a child of God. He just wants me as a brother and He’s my Elder Brother. He just wants me. And finally when I understood, I stop asking about the other things. And I was just content coming to Him and I believe as long as I keep fellowshiping with Him, there will come a time when the will of God will be commanded to me. And He will say, now go, here’s my authority, go preach, cast out demons. He will give it on a particular day for a particular assignment. And even if He gives it, does that mean it’s an indefinite responsibility and obligation, or is it just for the moment?
You know when we were worshiping at Friendship Baptist Church in a building for years? God rebuked me at the end. He said, how come you didn’t ask me? How come you didn’t ask me? We went there and maybe it was God’s will. But for the one, two, three, four or however many years we were there, I didn’t ask the Lord, are you happy with us there? And so now I’ve learned, every week we’re gathering here, I’m asking the Lord. I’m happy to gather here. But at least now I’m asking the Lord, do you want us here in our home? Do you want to move us to another city? Do you want to move us back into a building? It’s up to Jesus and I am confident when and if it’s time to move, He will speak.
Until then, I’m off the hook. I’m asking Him. I’m fellowshipping with Him. That’s all that we can do. Just fellowshipping with him and asking, are you happy with this? Do you want me to change this? And then listen for any commandment from God and obey the will of God when that commandment comes.
So a Christian is a friend of Jesus. And our number one job description, if you could call it a job, is to fellowship with Him with no agenda. Just like being in the presence of your friend, you don’t have to fill the air with your requests or expect that He’s going to fill the air with so many commandments.
Just be in His presence. Just enjoy Him. Testify about His goodness to other people. Praise and worship Him. That is what a friend does. Even the apostles, they responded to Him because Jesus desired them. And for them, their job description or the will of God for them was to preach wherever Jesus sent them, to cast out demons wherever Jesus sent them. Your job assignment might be very different. And I can’t tell you what it is. You have to hear from Jesus yourself.
Even the track that you’re on now, did Jesus tell you to do it? Go back to the beginning. Did Jesus tell you to do it? I know for sure that Jesus told me to be a pastor so I can go back to the beginning, Yes, Jesus, you told me to do so I am doing it.
But is that an indefinite assignment? No, Jesus can say tomorrow, I want you to quit. Am I more loyal to the “calling” because some may wrongly refer to being as pastor as a calling, am I more to this “calling” or am I more obedient to the Caller, Jesus Christ. And I will do whatever He asks. That means, if he says, quit tomorrow, without hesitation, now I’m ready to say, yes, Lord, you want me to quit, I’ll quit and do something else. Whatever you command, I want to obey.
And so you have to discern, after you get good at being a friend of Jesus and just enjoying Him, just being in His presence, not expecting lightning bolts from heaven every day, just being in His presence, just being thankful for what He has already revealed to you, looking for Jesus on every page of Scripture, once you get good at that, expect at some point that the will of God will be given to you.
And it may be to preach the gospel, it may be to cast out demons, it may be to work at a certain company, or to be a professor, whatever it is, wait for Jesus to command you to do something. Until then, you’re off the hook. If you’re fellowshiping with Jesus and He’s not saying anything and you’re not being disobedient to any of His commandments, then you’re off the hook. Simply be faithful to what He’s already given.
Okay, let’s pray.
Before we partake in the Lord’s Supper, after some time of prayer where we remember Jesus’s body that was broken for us and His blood that was shed, every time you come to the Table, just imagine that you’re connecting literally with Jesus. You’re fellowshiping, your communing with His actual body and blood. And we are remembering what He did for us. And may it never grow old that Jesus, the Son of God died on a cross for our sins to restore us, to redeem us, to connect us to our Heavenly Father, to give us a new identity as a child of God. May it never grow old. Every time we are partaking in the Lord’s Supper, may that truth fall afresh upon us.
Father, thank you so much for loving the world so much that you sent your only Son. And Jesus, you came not to call workers into a workforce to build an empire or a kingdom. That’s not why you came. You came to open the door to your friends.
And I now I understand why even more essential than brother and sister, you call us friends. Because sometimes siblings fight and sometimes we’re not close to our brothers and sisters or our mother or father. You call us friends because friends are always close by definition. That’s why the best description of a Christian is a friend of Jesus.
Jesus, we come to you with no agenda today. No agenda. We just want to be with you. You desire us to be your friends. How lonely you are. So few people understand what you’re looking for. Ultimately, you’re looking for friends who just enjoy your company and who want to do life with you. We just want to walk with you.
Even if you don’t speak in a way that we can understand on a daily basis, we come as your friends. You just want to be close to you. We trust you, Lord, that as we commune with you as a friend, at some later point in time, you will unveil the specific will of God for each of us. For the apostles, the will of God was to preach the gospel and cast out demons. It was to bring healing. Wherever they went, they went in your authority because they were doing everything with you by their side.
For the rest of us, we don’t understand fully what that will of God is. All we can do is to be faithful for today’s assignments. The universal will of God has already been given to us in Scripture. But when it comes to specific decisions and assignments and even the timing of when we do things, it is up to you, Lord Jesus.
Moses was patient for 40 years, but then he saw the burning bush. He didn’t want to do the will of God initially. But Lord, you persuaded him and he eventually obeyed you.
Father, when you speak clearly, may we be quick to all you ask us to do. Because we’ve exercised humility over many years, and even decades, we’re not impatient. We’re not trying to make a name for ourselves. We’re not trying to accomplish things. We just want to be a good friend to you. When you give us an assignment, even if we don’t want to do it, I pray that we would struggle and then surrender and say, Yes, Lord, I will do it. Whatever the will of God is for me, may I do it today. May I do it tomorrow. If you want me to continue what I am doing, or stop, may we do your will. This is how you want us to do life — with you, Jesus, not on our own, but with you.
You desire a people who want to be with you, who want to do life with you, who want to do the will of God with you. But it is essential that we are always returning to Jesus Christ because when He speaks, we are hearing direct commandments and teachings from our Heavenly Father.
Help us, Lord. Send your Spirit. May this truth be planted deep in the good soil of our hearts. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen