Companionship is what makes every journey enjoyable. Today, we continue our journey with Jesus. Join Scott Paulin as we make brief stops in the Gospel according to Mark. We trust you will enjoy the journey. Please forgive me. We're journeying with Jesus and we're walking through the gospel according to Mark, and we have already studied this verse, but I can't move on. I can't leave it yet. Not yet. Would you permit me to have one more day with the same verse? You know, this verse, as you meditate on it, seems to open up more and more truth to us. I'm referring to Mark chapter 3 and verse number 14, where the Bible says, And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach. Two beautiful halves and two parts to this verse and to life. First, there is being with him. and then there is going out for Him. Sometimes I'm afraid we get those out of order. We try to do something for the Lord when we haven't spent time with Him. We try to get busy for God when first we need to be still before the Lord. Could I remind you of the divine order in the ministry of Jesus? His first word, His first word to the disciples He called was, Come. come. And his last word when he left them at the end of his ministry was go. And the divine order is you have to come before you can go. If you want to be used of the Lord in the lives of other people, you first need to spend time with the Lord Jesus. The Bible says of those early apostles that others took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And so it brings me back again to these two little words in the heart of verse 14, the heart of the verse, the heart of the truth, the heart of the matter, with Him. Can I talk to you for just a moment today about the friendship of Christ? To me, it is awe-inspiring to think that Jesus Christ would want to be with me. that He today would want to spend time with a sinner like me. The Creator God of the universe, the God who said, light, and there was light, and it was very good, wants to speak to me today. The God who holds the whole world in the palm of His hand wants to hear my voice today, wants me to be with Him. He wants you to be with Him. This is a revelation, I believe, of the heart of Jesus and the friendship of Christ. There's an intimacy wrapped up in these words that we need to discover. As a matter of fact, I believe it connects to the end of the chapter. At the end of the chapter, the Bible says in verse 31, There came then His brethren and His mother, and standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him, And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same as my brother and my sister and my mother." This is profound. He says to them, my connection is not biological. My connection is not physical. My connection with others is spiritual. And the greatest intimacy is not the intimacy of family or friend. The greatest intimacy is intimacy with God for spiritual purposes. He even speaks with enthusiasm. Notice the exclamation point in verse 34. Christ is excited. Behold, my mother and my brethren. He's speaking to his followers and about his true disciples. He says, those who do the will of God, those are the ones who have real friendship and intimacy and nearness to me. Would you like to be near Jesus today? Would you like to be intimate with Christ? Would you like to be closer to Him than you've ever been? Then you must do the will of God. And what is the will of God? The will of God is very simple, that you should be with Him and that He then could send you forth to preach. That's the divine order. It's found all through Scripture. In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah is with God. He gets a glimpse of the Lord and then immediately the Lord says, now go and tell others. It's just beautiful. God works in us and then He works through us. So let's make some practical applications. How do we develop and cultivate this friendship with Christ? We know He's our friend. How can we be a better friend to Him? We spend time with Him first. There must be time with Him. You need to set a time every day to meet with Jesus. There must be time when you go apart. Jesus is often going apart and taking His disciples with Him. As a matter of fact, in verse 19, the Bible says they went into a house. and the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him, for they said, he's beside himself." There was such a press and pull of people that people thought, there's so much going on here. And yet notice in the midst, even of all of that, Jesus was spending time with his disciples. They were getting access to him that no one else had. And I want to say to you, it doesn't matter how busy you are. In fact, the busier you are, the more you need the divine resources. The more you have to get done, the more you need the power of Christ. You need time with Him. Set an appointment to meet with God every day. And might I say, guard it jealously. because the devil is going to do everything he can to interrupt it. And others, knowingly or unknowingly, will do everything they can to distract you from it. And so you need to set a time every day. This is shocking to me, but God wants to meet with us, and we are too busy for Him. Think of that. Too busy for God? If you're too busy to spend time with Him today, you're just too busy. Change your priorities. Rearrange your schedule. Make time to be with Him. Then not only do you need a time with Him, you need a place with Him. A quiet place, a place alone, away from the fray and the distractions. Turn off the phone, turn off the media. Get by yourself for a little while so you can give God your undivided attention. Frequently in the Gospel records you see Jesus going up into the mountains. He loved the mountains. I love the mountains. And I think part of the reason was, it was above everything else and it was away from everything else. It took a little effort to get there, didn't it? When Jesus came to town, He was always looking to see where the mountains were because that's where He loved to go meet with His Father. That's where He would often take the disciples. Friend, you need to find you a mountain. Wherever that is geographically, you need a place where you can meet with Him. And then not only do you need time with Him and a place with Him, you need then to have a conversation with Him. That's really what He's doing here with the disciples. He's talking to them, and they're talking to Him. And it's not some religious speech, and it's not some formal thing, and it's not some thing for public consumption. That's what too much of our devotions turn into. No, it's very natural. It's just being with Jesus. It's sharing your heart. It's talking to Him in prayer. And then it is allowing Him to speak to you through His Word and minister to your heart. I'm telling you, that's where the power comes from. That's where the blessing comes from. And so today, I want to challenge you to begin right where you are, to spend some time with Him. You know, everybody has to have a starting place. I got saved as a boy at five. I trusted Christ as my Savior, and I wanted to get baptized. But I was scared to death of water. I wouldn't put my head under water. It's very difficult to get baptized if you won't be immersed, at least scripturally baptized. And so, my mother decided to help me. She took me to the local YMCA, and she hired a guy named Bill to give me swimming lessons. I wasn't doing very well, and one day Bill took me down on the far end of the pool that I'd never been to before. It was beautiful down there. No one else was there, just me and Bill. He had me stand there on the edge of the pool, those huge boards towering overhead. And he said, do you like it down here? And I said, oh yes, I like it very much. And then Bill did something he shouldn't have done. He pushed me into the deep end of the pool. Someone says, how did it turn out? Well, I'm here talking about it. It wasn't Olympic, it wasn't graceful, but I learned to keep my head above water and I learned to swim. And I didn't learn it sitting on the side of the pool watching others or listening to a lecture. I learned it when I got in the water. Would you like to learn to walk with Him today? You won't learn it by listening to me, and you won't learn it by reading about others doing it. You'll learn it by getting off of the side of the pool and into the water yourself. Would you find a place, make a time, and begin today to have a conversation with Him? Thank you for traveling with us through God's Word. We would love to hear from you and share additional resources for enjoying the journey. Visit us online at scottpauley.org. May God bless you as you walk with Christ today. you