Wednesday morning Spurgeon: He goes before us

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Always First in Fellowship
"He goeth before you into Gailee; there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you" (Mark 16:7).

Where He appointed to meet His disciples, there He would be in due time. Jesus keeps His trust. If He promises to meet us at the mercy seat, or in public worship, or in the ordinances, we may depend upon it that He will be there. We may wickedly stay away from the appointed meeting place, but He never does. He says, "Where two or three are met together in my name, there am I"; He says not, "There will I be," but, "I am there already." Jesus is always first in fellowship: "He goeth before you." His heart is with His people, His delight is in them, He is never slow to meet them. In all fellowship He goeth before us. But He reveals Himself to those who come after Him: "There shall ye see him." Joyful sight! We care not to see the greatest of mere men, but to see Him is to be filled with joy and peace. And we shall see Him, for He promises Himself to them. Rest assured that it will be so, for He does everything according to His word of promise: "As he said unto you." Catch at those last words, and be assured that to the end He will do for you "as he said unto you."

Jesus promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us, and as Spurgeon notes, He has promised to go before us as well. These great promises, along with so many others, bring great comfort to me - especially when I'm in a very Romans 7 mood, like today:

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched [woman] that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

I get so tired of dealing with the sin in my life; it's very wearying! I keep falling into the "I've got to DO something for God" attitude, and forget entirely that He wants me to love Him, to know Him, and to worship Him first and foremost. Again and again I fail and turn away, and again and again He calls me back and guides me on the path He wants.

He reminds me over and over again that He calls weary and burdened people to Himself, and He gives them rest:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Instead of casting all my cares upon Him, I keep insisting on carrying them myself - how foolish I am! Why can't I remember the simple truth in that old Sunday school song, "Jesus loves me, this I know... [I am] weak, but He is strong"?

Additionally, I need to remember that Romans 7 does not end in the hopeless cry of "Who will rescue me?!" but rather with this joyful declaration:

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Jesus will rescue me, Jesus has rescued me, and Jesus will continue to rescue me all the days of my life and forever into eternity future. There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus! 

So I need to cling to the promises that Jesus will go before me and never leave me, and also trust Him when He says

... He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12-13)

God cannot lie, and so I know that the work He has begun in me will be completed in His time and by His power to the praise and glory of His name.

Jesus has gone before me. He has never left me, but He also calls me come into His presence and find rest. He wants me in fellowship with Him, to receive love, grace, and strength to serve Him each day. His abundant kindness surrounds me every moment of every day, and the joy and gratitude I feel for that simple truth should fill my life with praise for my great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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Comments

[Betsy Markman]

1.

Sounds like you're struggling with some of the same things I struggle with. I am confident that He who began a good work in you (and in me) will be faithful to complete it!
Thanks for coming by my blog and leaving your kind comment!