THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: BEING WITH JESUS

TOPIC: "The Power to Make a Difference: Being with Jesus"

TEXTS:

Acts 4:13

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus."

Mark 3:14

"And He appointed twelve disciples, to be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach and to cast out demons."

Introduction:

Our two Bible texts emphasise the importance attached to being with Jesus, particularly in regard to making a difference. The disciples, though uneducated (by human standards), made a positive impact on the world around them as a result of their intimacy with Christ. They simply made a difference.

Being with Jesus simply means intentional intimacy with Him. It is about a life of daily devotion, prayer, worship, and being discipled at the feet of Jesus. The life of Mary illustrates this more powerfully (Luke 10:39). While her sister Martha was busy here and there, she was enjoying intimacy at the feet of the Master.

It is very interesting to note from our second text that when Jesus called His disciples, the primary call was "to be with Him" (Mark 3:14). The call was not first to preach and cast out demons. It is as we stay with Him that we get the proper instruction of what to do for Him. As Rick Warren said, "We are human beings, not human doings.

As a result of being with Jesus, the Scriptures reported that the disciples "turned the world upside down" in Acts 17:6. This describes the impact they made. They were seen as revolutionary and challenging the established norms that did not glorify God. They were used of God to turn things around for good.

If we must make a difference in our own time, we must learn from the example of the disciples. Being with Jesus must be a deliberate habit. Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4-6). Our making a difference as believers completely depends on our intimacy with Jesus.

PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, I make room for you today. Cast away everything that takes my attention away from you. That I may make a difference in my own generation. Amen.