Recently we studied Mark Chapter three.    One of the highlights of this chapter seems to be:  “And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach.”   Understanding that Jesus did everything that the Father directed and did not do anything that His Father did not instruct, we can confidently assume that the means and the purposes of Jesus regarding the selection of His disciples should demand our particular and careful attention.

There seems to be two primary aspects inherent in the call of Jesus, or at least two primary purposes outlined in this passage.   First is the call to be with Him.  Secondly was the call to go out or to be sent out as His messengers.    There is no doubt that the order of mention of these two aspects of the disciples call is both intentional and instructive.   We see this order in actual practice as we observe the disciples being with Jesus first and then in time being sent out as His messengers

What does it mean in your life and in my life today to be with Jesus?  Without doubt a comprehensive answer to this question far exceeds our ability to instruct or understand.  However the Scriptures may have some additional instruction for us to consider.

But first let’s take a peek into how we function as humans.   Think about a time when you had such a driving love for another person that you could think of little else but to be with that person, even if it was only on the phone.  Can you remember those three hour phone calls where there were only enough words conveyed to fill an hour?   Just being on the other end of the phone even in complete silence listening to him or her breath was comforting.

We are thinking of a time when being with the other person became the first priority of our lives.   We needed no particular reason to be with them.   Our thoughts of this person captured the better part of our mental capacity and no matter how much time we spent together there was little relief from the powerful inner desire to be with them.  

How do we arrive at this point of deep commitment and desire?   For most of us it all started with a small but clear attraction.   Then as this attraction was nurtured it began to grow.  In time with unswerving cultivation, we arrived at the place of “I can’t stand to be separated” from this someone.   Perhaps this is the place God had in mind when He commanded …….

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (KJV)
⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
⁵ And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Could it be that our God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, desires that we develop a love relationship with Him that would be as strong and intense as any earthly relationship known to man?   His original twelve disciples, minus one, apparently developed a depth of love for Jesus that they were willing to give their lives for the cause of His gospel.

Acts 4:13 (KJV)
¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (emphasis added)

Since Jesus is not walking on this earth in our times, how can we be with Him?  How can we spend time in His presence?  Dr. Charles Stanley has provided some excellent instruction: “When we faithfully practice biblical meditation, we will discover that the Holy Spirit has been busy transforming our thinking, emotions, and actions so that we will be more pleasing to God.”   He goes on to say: “ Godly meditation has seven requirements.”

        First we mustsetaside time. 

        Second, we need stillness.  We must stop all activities …..

        Seclusion – being by ourselves.

        Silence, or ceasing our side of the conversation…..

        Self control [ needed to do the above]

       Sensitivity to what God is telling us.

       Submissive spirit

      (For more information see www.intouch.org under biblical meditation)

We tend to have difficulty with most of the disciplines above, but perhaps our biggest challenge is to set aside time.    Imagine how it might look if we were in the initial stages of developing a relationship and we invested the approximate amount of time we are currently spending being with Jesus.

Everything on our schedule seems to cry out you don’t have time to spend waiting on God.  Most of us have such a strong propensity toward action.    Perhaps if we could gain the high perspective of heaven we would see that much of our self initiated action is merely meaningless motion.  I am convinced that there isnothing on this side of heaven that is more pleasing to God than when we in humble submission seek His face and listen patiently for His voice.

Spending time in the powerful presence of God changes us.   It changes our perspectives.  It changes our desires.  It changes our motives.  It changes our heart.   Moses’ face shone. Elisha was able to see the invisible. Elijah called down fire from heaven. Daniel saw visions.   The men and women God chooses to use powerfully are those who have learned the secret of spending time in His presence.  

What do you love?   Someone said that if you desire to accurately determine what a man loves, simply look at how he spends his money and how he spends his time.

Psalms 1:1-2 (NASB95)
¹ How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Consistent meditation on God and His Word will till and nurture the soil of our heart to the point that it will produce a yield of thirty or sixty or one hundred fold.   Biblical meditation begets spiritual prosperity.  Seeking the face of God and His holy presence is the most productive preparation possible if we seek to bring glory and honor to our God.

Biblical Meditation Challenge:

For the next thirty days spend several minutes reflecting on the scriptures contained in this communication.   Read each scripture slowly two or three times.   Begin by preparing your heart by reviewing and putting in place the steps suggested by Dr. Stanley above.  When you are finished reflectively reading and meditating on the scripture, spend several minutes in quiet submission before God, asking Him to speak, telling Him that you, His servant are listening.   Record in a journal each thing the Lord speaks to you

Henry and Richard Blackaby in their Devotional Experiencing God Day-By-Day make this observation from Matthew 19:22 entitled CHOICE:

“Your life is the sum of the responses that you have made toward God.  Once God makes Himself known to you, what you do next is your decision.  Your reaction reflects what you believe about God.  The rich young ruler lived a moral life.   He was well versed in scripture and the law of God.  But his response to Jesus’ invitation clearly showed that, although he possessed head knowledge of the teaching of God, he did not know God in an experiential way that could be demonstrated by a response of faith.

To meditate on scripture or not  ….. this is your choice.  God will not force us to obey, but His blessings will be beyond measure if we do.  

Scripture for Meditating on the Love God Has For You

1 John 3:1a (AMP)
¹ SEE WHAT [an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God!

1 John 4:16 (AMP)
¹⁶ And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.

Romans 5:5b (AMP)
God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

John 3:16 (AMP)
¹⁶ For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

John 17:23 (AMP)
²³ I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.

John 17:26 (AMP)
²⁶ I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.

Romans 5:8 (NASB95)
⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:37-39 (NASB95)
³⁷ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NASB95)
⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
⁵ even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

1 John 3:16 (NASB95)
¹⁶ We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1 John 4:10 (NASB95)
¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John 15:9 (NASB95)
⁹ "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (AMP)
¹⁷ May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,
¹⁸ That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; ¹⁹ [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

1 John 4:19 (NASB95)
¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us.

Jeremiah 31:3 (NASB95)
³ The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

Psalms 63:3 (NASB95)
³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You.

Psalms 146:8 (NASB95)
⁸ The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous;

John 14:21 (NASB95)
²¹ "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

Hebrews 12:6 (NASB95)
⁶ FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

Proverbs 8:17 (NASB95)
¹⁷ "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Revelation 1:4-5 (NASB95)
⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—

John 15:13 (NASB95)
¹³ "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NASB95)
¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
¹⁷ comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Isaiah 43:4 (NASB95)
⁴ "Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.

Deuteronomy 23:5 (NASB95)
⁵ "Nevertheless, the LORD your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.

Isaiah 49:14-16 (NASB95)
¹⁴ But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me."
¹⁵ "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
¹⁶ "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

Zephaniah 3:17 (AMP)
¹⁷ The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.