Have You Been With Jesus?

NEHEMIAH WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL

What does it really mean to live as someone who’s been with Jesus?
How deeply does following Jesus shape your daily choices and priorities?
Would others recognize Christ’s presence in your life and actions?

Acts 4:13 (AMP) Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools [common men with no educational advantages], they marvelled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Have You Been With Jesus?

Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. And He promised that as we demonstrate our love for Him by obeying Him, He would be with us always.

There is a vast difference between simply believing in Jesus and receiving the free gift of salvation, and making a conscious decision to forsake all to follow him – that is, becoming a disciple.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. – Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV)

The term “disciple” that is used in Matthew 28:19 is derived from the Greek word mathetes, which means a pupil of a teacher, or an apprentice to a master craftsman.

Jesus said that those who loved Him would obey Him (“If you love Me, (you will) keep my commandments”) (John 14:15); and that if we did obey His commands, He would call us His friends (^“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you”) (John 15:14).

It is this love for God that leads to obedience to His commands and marks a key difference between a believer and a disciple. A believer will passively receive the blessing of God, but a disciple will actively obey God; actively pursue His Presence; desire to do His will more than anything else; and willingly pay the cost of doing so. 

Isaiah 50:4-5 expounds this principle.

[The Servant of God says] The Lord God has given Me the tongue of a disciple and of one who is taught, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He wakens Me morning by morning; He wakens My ear to hear as a disciple [as one who is taught]. The Lord God has opened My ear, and I have not been rebellious or turned backward. – Isaiah 50:4-5 [AMP]

The word “disciple” used here means one who is taught by the Master. And whereas Verse 4 describes the consistent and intimate process of regularly hearing from God, Verse 5 outlines the much more difficult and challenging task of “obeying”.  

The truest mark of a disciple of Christ is that it is abundantly clear to all whom they meet that they abide with the Risen Christ – they have “been with Jesus” – (Acts 4:13), because: they proclaim Him, they act like Him, and they carry His love, His light, His Presence, His Glory, and His miracle-working power with His compassion, into the darkest and neediest places on the face
of the Earth.

Every believer is called to be a disciple, but the reason that so few are chosen to become “greater things Christians” (John 14:12 – those who do even greater things than Jesus did) is because of the choices that we make.

Discipline and pruning hurt! But if we are willing to “die daily” (I Corinthians 15:31) so that we no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in and through us, our lives will never be the same again.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

God has awesome and amazing things planned for those who love Him and who are called and living according to His glorious purpose (Romans 8:28-31). There is no greater joy on this side of Heaven than to be in the center of the will of God, serving Him all the days of our lives, and all for His glory.

But to attain these things, we must be willing to be obedient and submit to the fullness of His will. This will always involve death to self – that is, complete surrender to the will of God above our own.
(Luke 9:23, Philippians 2:5-11).

The only way to truly know His fullness is through a laid-down life that is so surrendered to Him that joy is found even in the sharing of His sufferings. “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” (Philippians 2:17; also see Philippians 3:7-14)

Yet, for those who are willing to be like the seed that falls to the ground and dies, GOD can and will bring forth abundant increase from the completeness of such surrender. Amen.

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone [just one grain, never more]. But if it dies, it produces much grain and yields a harvest. The one who loves his life [eventually] loses it [through death], but the one who hates his life in this world [and is concerned with pleasing God] will keep it for life eternal. – John 12:24-25

Let’s pray. LORD, I want the fruit of my life to clearly reflect that I am someone who has been with you. Teach me to listen, trust, and obey, and help me surrender my will so completely that when people look at me, they see You. May Your love and presence overflow through me in a way that changes those around me. Amen.

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