Experiencing Life in Light of God's Word - "Follow Me!" (Matthew 9:9) 8/24/20 🌼😊
Good morning 😘
I am slowly moving through the book of Matthew and today I stopped at Matthew 9:9, which says, "As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him."
It made me emotional, just reading those words which Jesus spoke, "Follow Me." There is so much weight there. First of all, I imagine looking at my Savior... knowing that He knows how I feel... that He loves me and is carrying me through the difficulties of life... that He is allowing me to go through painful things yet won't cease to show me the way through them, to work all these things together for my good, and use them for His glory...
It also reminds me of when John the Baptist sees Jesus as the Messiah for the first time in John 1, verse 29: "The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'" This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It touches my heart every time. When I imagine the context of John the Baptist saying it, with John being a preacher and living his whole life preparing people to meet the Lord, it's almost like relief, like crossing the finish line at the end of our race (1, 2).
That makes me pause. A mentor of mine and I were talking a couple months ago about different ways to structure Bible reading time and she said one option was to just read to a point when you feel the Spirit speak to you about something. That you can just focus on that one point and meditate on that. Lately that's how I've been reading, and that's one reason why it's taking me weeks to go through just a couple of chapters. 😉
So going back to seeing Jesus... What does looking at Jesus mean for you? What would it be like for you to meet Him in the flesh? I hope you can see Him the way that I do - a source of hope, strength, comfort, guidance, truth and life. This life is not easy, but it's possible through Him. And the Lord doesn't want us to just "get through it." His will for us is to thrive and live an abundant life (John 10:10). To find joy in all that He allows and puts in our lives:
James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
I pray that you experience the love of Jesus today, knowing how great is His love for you. And I pray that you believe and experience His power for endurance to run your race well. My heart goes out to you and I am praying for you. I love you and hope to chat with you soon! 😊🙏
God bless you! ✝💖🌻
Bailey
Grace to Grace by Hillsong Worship (I love their 2017 Israel tour videos 😊💓💗):
