"come and see" Archives – Sonshine's Journal

July 6, 2016

Discipling 101: Come and See

john 4 ron sumners well2 Jesus gave us a mandate: “GO and MAKE Disciples.” To teach us what he meant and the “how to” He went to the little town in Samaria and there he shared Himself as “Living Water.” He met made a new disciple; simply known as the Woman at the Well. She not only became a disciple but she began the discipling process by telling others about her experience with Christ. She told the villagers “come and see….”

Listen to the villager’s words after she shared the change in her life: “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.” And that is what a discipler is to do today as they meet new people who are unchurched or churched but do not know. She was the presenter of the words of life but they made a decision for themselves.

Don’t you wonder what happened after Jesus stayed there for three days? Where did the words of life go as they and other disciples of Christ shared their life altering experiences that came to them as they accepted Christ as their personal savior? They were sent around the world and you and I are the recipients. Jesus said “blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” and that is the premise where we must begin. We are the “now” generation to go and tell, to say “come and see…” in order that we may be fulfilling the “go and make disciples” command.

As you begin with your new disciple you must, as Matthew recorded; have a hunger and a thirst for God’s Word just as Jeremiah. “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;” As we begin our journey with a new disciple we first say: “Come and See.” He told me everything I ever did. We want our new disciple to come and see the Christ and from there to plant a hunger in the hearts of those to whom we are sent. Our prayer and our desire is that they too find God’s Word a joy and a delight.

The how to is simple but must be determined by you. Next time we will discuss training the disciple One2One.

Photo Credit: Ron Sumners/Dreamstime.com

November 6, 2015

“Go and Tell—Come and See”

Consider this question: What has God done for you? He has restored you from captivity of the enemy. You are now, as the Paul told the Galatians, free from his dominion and his ways. You are now free to rejoice and walk in the Spirit. Listen to the psalmist: “we thought we were dreaming.” And when we experience new life through Christ and the scales of darkness have been removed, it seems just like that. We are so overcome with the blessings that have been poured out upon us that we “laughed loudly and shouted for joy.” The Lord has indeed accomplished a great work in our lives at the point of salvation and because of that we should “Go and Tell” saying “Come and See.”

It begins with prayer: “Father, there are many who are captive in sin; release them by your power. Prepare me to plants the seed of the GOOD NEWS. May I shed tears as I plant so I can shout for joy when the harvest of souls happens.”

Jesus taught the parable of the sower to show us what will transpire as we seek to share the GOOD NEWS with others. Our seed will fall upon many different soils but there will be one that will bear fruit and we will rejoice with the angels in heaven when they are released. We will come in with a shout of joy carrying our sheaves of grain. “Go and Tell—Come and See.”

November 4, 2015

A Radical Change ….from Outlier to Acceptable

Mike S. Adams wrote an intriguing book titled “Letters to a Young Progressive.” One of the chapters is titled “The Law of the Outliers.” If I understand him correctly, he is saying that outliers are those who are outside the mainstream of society that want us to bend to their way of thinking and behaving. How are we to respond in a multi-cultural society when it seeks to undermine biblical principles? Basically, we can only respond in Christ’s love and by showing them through practical and biblical means that God has standards that are righteous and he will hold us accountable to those standards either here or in eternity.

In John 4 Jesus meets an “outlier” or a “Five Time Loser.” She is not seeking for others to change to accept her ways, but she teaches us what it must be like to be the “Scarlet Woman” in society. We can learn some valuable lessons in what he does and how it turns out. and thus gives us a challenge.

John interweaves dialogue with theology using Jesus’ words and pictures of water. Ch 2: water is turned into wine. Ch 3: man must be born of water and spirit. Ch 4: water is seen as both refreshing and life giving. Into this John retells Jesus’ encounter with the “five-time loser” woman who is castigated and imprisoned from society much like Hawthorne’s scarlet lettered woman. She is the “outlier” or “outsider.” In chapter 2 John introduces us to Nicodemus, accepted as the teacher in Israel, outwardly pure but inwardly unrighteous. Jesus opened his eyes to see his spiritual need and he left still wondering. Chapter 4 offers a contrast and a glimpse into what society rejects: the outsider, the unclean, the women of ill repute defiled by Mosaic Law. These are our today’s street people, the homeless, and the addict. What are we to do with these? Houston, TX vote showed us one way to respond: reject that which is unbiblical. But also there are states now that say marijuana should be accepted. Really? Is that Jesus did?

This woman who has been married five times and now is “shacking up but is unmarried” is what I call the “five-time loser.” She has learned how to move and live in a world in which she is unacceptable. Into this, Jesus steps as a pilgrim weary and thirsty to reveal her spiritual need and He as Messiah. She says “give me” and this what he world asks without considering the long time ramifications. Yet Jesus will offer her something greater: a life-giving transformation if she is willing to take and drink. Jesus met her where she lived and moved and that is what we as disciples are to do even if it means on a street corner, or at a coffee shop or a well. The need is the same: all need living water and Jesus is the giver of it. We must meet their spiritual need.

The end result? As the scarlet woman’s heart is opened we see her go and tell others to “come and see.” Do we do the same? From the lips of the townspeople: “They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.”

Who is the outsider in your world that needs the life-giving drink from the fountain of life: Jesus the Messiah?

November 1, 2013

The Glory of the Lord!

In John 1 the Apostle John writes: We saw his glory – the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth. Yesterday we noted that Philip said to Nathanael, “Come and See.” “When God gives us eyes to see the glory of Jesus—his beauty and greatness and worth—that seeing is the laser beam, as it were, along which great grace streams into our lives. Grace to love. Grace to rejoice. Grace to live forevermore.” [Piper] As we now move to view the first miracle we read again: 2:11 “Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”

The two incidents in this chapter, the water turned into wine and the cleansing of the Temple, point to the power and majesty and glory of Jesus that He chose to reveal at opportune moments for one reason: that they may see and recognize He is the prophesied Messiah, the glorious Son of God. Jesus is as JB noted: the Chosen One of God. He has been made manifest that we may see our depravity when we stand in his presence and desire and seek his holiness and righteousness. Come and See the Chosen One who took what was deficient and provided the ample. Come and See the Chosen One who took the defiled Temple and cleansed it for worship. Both are pictures of what he does for each of us personally. We who are deficient in our own capacity he fills with the new wine of his grace and provides us with his love and righteousness. Our temple is defiled but he cleanses it with his blood making us fit for heaven.

To the unbelieving he answers with a riddle/parable: “I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand,” but with those whose heart and eyes see and believe, he shares his glory. The religious leaders see with their physical eyes but are spiritually blind to the Savior. Instead they seek more miraculous signs. Jesus responds “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” He did not say “I will destroy” but said ““You” destroy”” thus prophesying of his death and resurrection. The contrast could not be more black and white. The religious leaders come and see but remain in their darkness while the people who are only bystanders come and see and their hearts and eyes are opened and believe.

There is another nugget of beauty hidden in this chapter which we might just readily pass over but it is the same word used three different times: “believed.” The word has the idea of entrusting, put faith in, conviction and trust, saving faith. When his glory was revealed to the religious leaders they sought a sign. When his glory was revealed to the disciples and the temple bystanders, they believed/trusted in/put their faith in him. Matthew uses the idea of the eye is the lamp of the body. If the eye, like the window into our soul, is covered with grime, our view is distorted, but if our eye is clear we can see what is revealed clearly. Where has Jesus revealed or made manifest to you what was previously unknown but now is clearly revealed, that is his glory, and how will you respond? Jesus shared his glory with those whose hearts and eyes were open and ready.

Is your heart and eye open and ready this day to receive his glory?