Discipleship: Help Them to Enjoy Me

I thought I understood discipleship...but I feel like it just hit me, like my heart is burning! I just watched this week's lesson from my Emmaus Online class and it makes so much more sense! And you guys may already know/get all of this, so just let me have my moment lol. 

Mark 3:13-14: And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those whom He desired, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve (whom He also named apostles) so that they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach...

Firstly let me just point out that He called me to Himself because He desired me. WHAT?! The King of the universe desires me?! Crazy. 

And my response to that...Jesus, I'm coming to You, how could I not?! Like in John 6, Peter's response to Jesus asking if the 12 want to also leave Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God".  

And then He appoints us to 1) be with Him, and 2) to preach and disciple others so that they may also be with Him.

That's the goal- that we would be with Him and bring others into this fellowship as well. And He is so so good that He would make it so that our obedience to Him, which proves our love yet also grows our love (because unlike Him, it can be hard for us to love...we can only love because He FIRST loved us)...allows us to grow in our love relationship with Him which produces JOY in us! It's amazing! Even in the hard, challenging, I-don't-want-to obedience, even in the pain and the heartache and the storm...joy is produced because we are obeying Him and growing in love with Him. 

John 15:10-11: If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Ahhhh! He is so good.

I think I've felt a bit of shame because I haven't been actively discipling anyone lately and I was thinking of all of the people around me who don't know Him, who I have at some point tried to share Him with or maybe who I haven't...because of fear or not knowing what to say or how to approach them. 

But the task is urgent and the message is simple and our King is so enjoyable. 

How could I not?

Like in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16...how many people do you and I know who have died and who are suffering in absolute torment in hell because they did not repent and believe in Jesus? If they could come back and tell those they love who are heading that same direction, oh how they would...

But we're HERE! We're ALIVE! Right now! We can tell people! We can warn them! And not just so they can avoid hell...which is enough reason to repent and believe, but it's SO MUCH MORE than that!

We can tell them of His goodness! Of how He loves us so much that He would lay down His life for us so that we could simply know Him! Because His heart is for us to BE with Him. To enjoy Him. The fruit of that is love and joy and this fruit is contagious and tangible and the world sees it and we need to fling it all over the place! And then once we've displayed it, we need to invite people in...and not just invite them, but make room at our table so that we can help them to grow...

I think of all the people who invited me to the table and then surrounded me and taught me in relationship as if I was truly part of their family because that's the best place for someone to grow. It's safe. It's secure. You can fall and know your family has not left or removed your place from the table. They're still there, waiting for you to return, waiting to display the same grace and love that the Father has shown them time and time again when they felt as if they had lost their place at the table. 

In the lesson he also talked about Song of Songs...how a large part of the text is the Bride walking around praising her Beloved and the people who hear her, their response is found in chapter 6:1: Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your beloved turn, that we may look for him with you? The joy in her, produced by a love relationship with her Beloved (Jesus) was so undeniable, it was so real and obvious and they wanted whatever she had found in Him! 

Lord, help me to get over myself so that I can remember why I'm doing what You have commanded me to do....because You loved me so much that You laid down Your life and pursued me fiercely when I didn't want anything to do with You...that love restored me and brought me to my knees and reminded me of Your goodness and faithfulness and how could I not want to give my life to make sure those around me know You too? Lord, forgive me. And like David says in Psalm 51, restore to me the joy of Your salvation and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You...

I love You so I obey You. I obey You because I love You. You give me joy as I obey You and this joy is what I long for those around me to also know and to enjoy in union with You. Lord, help me not to get caught up and thrown off with the distractions...the things that are so temporary...help me to remember the most important part. 

Your grace and mercy and love are gifts I never deserved and could not earn no matter how much I tried...You take my sin and give me Your robe of righteousness...and all I had to do was say yes to You. It is so simple. 

You invite us to the Marriage Feast and You stand with arms outstretched offering Your white robe to replace our rags...Lord, that we would remember how much that cost You. That we would not turn this away thinking we can get in on our own and that those around us will be fine on their own too. Because without accepting this beautiful gift, we have no place in Your Kingdom. Those around us have no place in Your Kingdom apart from You, Jesus. That this would bring us to our knees daily in humble submission and obedience and be the fire that propels us into action to share this gift with others...this gift of knowing and being known by You.