Time Spent With The Lord Is Good

"Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him.  He appointed twelve, designating them apostles, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons."  Mark 3:13-15 (NIV)

John, whose surname was Mark, a companion of the Apostle Paul, addressed the gospel according to Mark to the Gentiles in Rome.  He depicted Jesus as a suffering servant of God, demonstrating the humanity of Christ.  Here John Mark records that Jesus called the twelve apostles, or disciples, another name for students.  He wanted them to be with Him, close to Him, in fellowship.   He wanted to give them authority, to share His power with them and to send them out into the world to preach and teach.  Jesus wanted companions that He could teach, and that would do His will.

We would all benefit if we spent more time with The Lord.  The disciples clearly benefited from the time that they spent with Jesus.  Today, we are His disciples.  We need to spend more time with His Word and in fellowship with Him.  As His disciples we are His students, and by our study of The Word of God, He can teach and train us.  Afterwards, He can bless us and share some of His power with us.  Then He can use us to spread His Word to others and be a blessing to them.  So let us make a commitment to spend a little more time each day in fellowship with, and learning from The Lord.  Let Him bless us and use us as He sees fit, according to His purpose.

Go And Make Disciples Teach Them

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.' "  Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

After His resurrection, Jesus, The Christ, told His disciples that He had been given all power in heaven and on earth.  Then He gave them the command, which is referred to as "the great commission", to go teach and preach to all the people in the world the things which He had taught them.  So that they would also become His disciples and be baptized.  Jesus also promised them that He would always be with them.

This final command of Jesus to His disciples, and to us as His present day disciples, to teach the gospel is recorded in all four of the gospels.  (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, & John 21:15-17)  We all are to tell others about salvation through belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, not just the preachers and pastors.  We talk to a lot of people each day, but do we tell any of them about Christ?  It is time for us to make a commitment to obey the great commission and tell others about the gospel, in order to help non-believers become disciples of Christ.  Our job is to tell them about it.  The Holy Spirit's job is convict them, convince them, convert them, and consecrate them.