Desiring to be with Jesus!

I was just reading this morning in Mark chapter 5 and I came across the story of the demon possessed man that was living in the tombs. Two things jumped out at me. The first being why I wrote this post.

The first thing I saw was after Jesus had healed the man and cast out the demons, the man wanted to go and leave with Jesus to be with Him. I just struck me so hard. Jesus had healed this man of being demon possessed and given him life! This man did not want for anything but to be with Jesus and go where He goes.

My thought is....... do we live this way? Do we desire to follow Jesus and be with Him daily? Do we take time to be in His Word and grow in knowledge of Him? Do we pray much to commune with our God who saved us and raised us to life from death?

I think of the story of Peter in Matthew 14 where Jesus was walking on the water and Peter asked to go out and be with Him. YES, Peter did not have alot of faith to continue walking.....but he was the only one who wanted to go and be WITH Jesus.

We were just like this man, dead and overcome by the world. Jesus comes to His people and raises them to life from death and shows us Himself. When we truly see Him, do we act like this man and run to Him and live by Him each day? Or do we start to live life and forget of the great work He has done in us?

2 Corinthians 5:17: " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come"

John 20:31: "But these are written (the book of John) so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have LIFE in His name"

The other thought is looking at what Jesus told him to do. Jesus told the man he could not go with Him but that he should go and tell his friends "how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you". You know what the guy did? HE OBEYED and he did that exact thing! But even more, he went farther then just his home town. The Bible says "he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled". The Decapolis is a big region around his hometown. He went home and did as Jesus had commanded....then because of his joy inexpressible, he went further and kept going out more and more and telling of Jesus and His great works!

Do we find this Joy in Jesus and His great mercy He has shown us in our salvation? Do we go out and tell our family and friends about Jesus and His great mercy? Do we then go further and tell more and more people in our town.....state.....country about His great love, mercy, grace? Even further.......do we give it all up, if God gives us the desire, to go to the Nations, the world, and proclaim of His excellencies to those who don't know about Him?

Psalm 66:16 - "Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my
soul"

Matthew 28:19-20 - "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age"

Please pray with me that we will grow in knowledge of our Great God and His Great Mercy and what the Gospel and the Cross is all about. Pray that we will be so consumed with His Glory and with joy inexpressible from His mercy in saving us that we GO and tell all around us of Him. Pray for God to send workers into His field and pray that you would be open to BE one of those workers!

Be encourage this wonderful day that the Lord has made! Praise Him and GO and BE a disciple for our great King and God and Lord!

For His Glory!

Chris