“Come and See and Follow Me” 9-8-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth. Be Lord of my day and all of my life. … “When Jesus turned and saw them following, He said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to Him, Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are You staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see’ (John 1:38-39). The first command to Your first disciples according the Gospel John was an invitation to “Come and see.” Some would argue that a command cannot be an invitation—it’s either a command or it’s an invitation; you either command someone to do something under submission to your authority and power or you invite someone to do something where they have the choice to accept your invitation or decline. You are a God who is sovereign in Your authority and power; and ultimately, all creation is in submission to Your will. Yet at the same time, You are a God who is love; and You created us for a relationship of love. And a true relationship of love necessarily requires the freedom to love You or not, to accept Your love or not, to trust You or not, to obey You or not. True love requires freedom or it’s not truly love, just as true worship requires freedom or it’s not truly worship, and true obedience requires freedom or it’s not truly obedience. So in that sense, Your commands for us out of Your love for us always leave room for the choice to trust and obey Your sovereign will or not. No question, there are consequences, even eternal consequences, for our choices; but our freedom to choose is as real as Your authority to command (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:14; John 3:16). You’ve given us Your Spirit so we can freely choose to come and see, for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). “For freedom Christ has set us free…. For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Galatians 5:1-14). Free in Christ, You call us and invite us to come and obey Your command to love, to come and see how to love as we come and see Your example of a life of love. Today, by the grace of God and the freedom in Christ You’ve given me, I freely choose to obey Your command to “come and see.” Not all who are called ever come. Not all who come ever see. But I want to come and I want to see. Keep opening the ears of my spirit to hear Your call; keep opening the eyes of my heart to see Your love. That’s what it means when we willing choose to accept Your invitation to obey Your second command as well, recorded in the Gospel of John: “Follow Me” (John 1:43). So as You lead in Your love today, I will hear and answer Your call to “come and see and follow Me” throughout this day and all of my life, as best as I can and all by Your grace. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please keep us in prayer this week as we begin our four day intensive School of Spiritual Ministry that I'll be leading in Lexington. Please let me know if you'd be interested in coming to our Level I or Level II School sometime at various times throughout the year. For those who can't come, you can order the dvd's from our past schools and I'll be glad to send along the powerpoint presentation of my teaching to help equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11). MessiahMin@aol.com Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!