Modern Day Disciple’s

Matthew 4:18 And walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea. For they were fishermen.
Matthew 4:19 And He said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:20 And they immediately left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:21 And going on from there, he saw another two brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And He called them;
Matthew 4:22 and they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Matthew 8:21 And another of His disciples said to him, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.
Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.
Matthew 8:23 And He entering into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
Matthew 8:24 And behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, so much so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
Matthew 8:25 And His disciples came to Him and awakened Him, saying, Lord, save us! We perish!
Matthew 8:26 And He said to them, Why are you afraid, little-faiths? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
Matthew 8:27 But the men marveled, saying, What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Matthew 9:9 And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax-office. And He said to him, Follow Me! And he arose and followed Him.

As I was reading today’s devotional by A. B. Simpson, the Lord touched my heart with this subject. As I researched the Scriptures all Jesus had to do was say, “Follow Me” and they did. What if Jesus came to you this very moment and said, “come and follow me”, would you put down your cell phone, leave your Ipod behind, all your Facebook friends, and even your beloved family, to follow Him? Could you give up your career that you have been slaving away at? If you read the Scripture, they all did.

Did all these men have great faith? It didn’t sound like it in Matthew 8:26. His disciples had Jesus in the boat with them and were afraid. My friends, Jesus is calling out to you every minute and saying, “Come and follow Me!” You have something the disciples didn’t have, “the Bible.” From Genesis’s 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, it is all there for you.

Every moment Jesus is with you and He wants you to be with Him.

"He went out, not knowing whither He went" (Heb. xi. 8).

[A devotional by A. B. Simpson]

[It is faith without sight. When we can see, it is not faith but reasoning. In crossing the Atlantic we observed this very principle of faith. We saw no path upon the sea nor sign of the shore. And yet day by day we were marking our path upon the chart as exactly as if there had followed us a great chalk line upon the sea; and when we came within twenty miles of land we knew where we were as exactly as if we had seen it all three thousand miles ahead.

How had we measured and marked our course? Day by day our captain had taken his instruments, and looking up to the sky had fixed his course by the sun. He was sailing by the heavenly, not the earthly lights. So faith looks up and sails on, by God's great Sun, not seeing one shore line or earthly lighthouse or path upon the way. Often its steps seem to lead into utter uncertainty, and even darkness and disaster. But He opens the way, and often makes such midnight hours the very gates of day. Let us go forth this day, not knowing but trusting.]

Modern Day Disciple

I am a modern day disciple,
for Jesus has chosen me.
Ever since my very first breath,
He has been waiting patiently you see.

Jesus said, “Do you really love Me?
Would you give up everything you love?
Can you leave it all behind because I asked you to?
Giving praise to the Father above!

Can you love your fellow man,
more than he does of you?
Are you willing to lose it all,
just because I asked you to?”

I said, “Lord You know my heart,
with You I long to be.
Thank You for always asking,
“modern day disciple, Come and follow Me”

E. P. Shagott
2/3/10

From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott