Come And Dine
1. Jesus Called, “Come And Dine”
2. Come Unto Me
3. God’s First Invitation To Come
4. The Lord Came To Deliver
5. Come With Your Families To Worship
6. When We Come To Appear Before God
7. All Of God’s Promises Come To Pass
8. Come To Trust The Lord
9. "O Come, Let Us Sing Unto The Lord"
10. Come Before His Presence With Thanksgiving
11. "O Come, Let Us Worship And Bow Down"
12. "Bring An Offering, And Come Into His Courts"
13. Let Your Cry Come Unto The Lord
14. Come With Rejoicing
15. Come And Hear
16. Come Now
17. "Suffer The Little Children To Come Unto Me"
18. Come And See
19. "If Any Man Thirst, Let Him Come Unto Me"
20. Come Apart Before You Come Apart
21. Come Boldly To The Throne Of Grace And Obtain Mercy
22. “Behold, I Come Quickly”
1. Jesus Called, “Come And Dine”
In our recent devotional series about, “Little Fish”, we saw how Jesus appeared to His disciples after they had toiled all night and caught nothing. He lovingly called them “Little Children” and said, “Come and dine”. “Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.” (John 21:12-13) This was not the first invitation from our Lord, neither is it the last. Please join us for the next week or so as we look at some of the scriptures bidding us to "Come."
2.Come Unto Me
As Jesus called to His disciples, we can also see a personal invitation to you and me, in Matthew 11:28. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Most of us know what it is to labor and be heavy laden. Daily chores and expectations are enough to make us weary and weak, and that is when times are good. Sometimes life is much harder. Challenges and storms often bring us to our knees, but praise the Lord, we have someone we can turn to. Jesus still extends the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
3. God’s First Invitation To Come
As we begin our theme, "Come And Dine”, let's look at the very first invitation to "Come" from the Lord. We have to go all the way back to Genesis 7:1-5, to the very familiar story of Noah and the ark. God saw the wickedness of mankind and decided to send a flood and destroy the world. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Genesis 6:8) Our focus from this account is that the Lord did not say, "Go into the ark", but He said "Come thou and all thy house into the ark..." The Lord was already there, waiting to go with Noah through the storm! Not only was the Lord protecting them from the flood, He was protecting them from the wicked that would destroy them. "And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in." (Genesis 7:16) If you come to the Lord now you can find grace in the eyes of the Lord just as Noah did. If you choose not to come to the Lord, be aware that one day it will be too late and the doors of God's heavenly eternity will be shut. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)
“1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him." (Genesis 7:1-5)
4. The Lord Came To Deliver
We begin today in Exodus 3:7-10
“7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
In these verses we see that the Lord told Moses, "I am come down to deliver them..." and that is just what He did, with amazing miracles and a mighty hand. Now, let's look forward about 1,500 years. When John was born to Zacharias the priest and Elisabeth in their old age the Holy Ghost filled Zacharias and he prophesied of the coming of Jesus. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;... That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;... That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life" (Portions of Luke 1:68-75) God sent His Son to deliver the Israelites, but not only His chosen people. Jesus came to give His life to deliver all those who would come to Him.
“3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3-5)
5. Come With Your Families To Worship
After several of the plagues on Egypt Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron that he would let the men go and worship. I really like Moses' answer in verse 9 and again in verse 26. He was very thorough with his response to Pharaoh. He includes all in verse 9 and in verse 26 he says, "there shall not an hoof be left behind..." We need to take the same approach with our families in worship. Include your children in your walk with the Lord. Pray with them. Read God's Word to them. Let them help you in your service to God. You can be sure the world is doing all it can to take our children. We must be diligent in leading them to the Lord. Say with Joshua, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
“8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
(Verses 12-23 tell of the plague of locusts and also the plague of darkness.)
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.
26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.” (Exodus 10:8-11 & 24-26)
6. When We Come To Appear Before God
As we continue to work our way through some of the "Comes" of the Old Testament and see how we can apply them to our lives today, we come to Deuteronomy 31:11. "When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing." As I read this verse I thought of how we all shall "come to appear before the Lord." We read in the Bible in three different places that every knee shall bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. First in Isaiah 45:22-23, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." Then in Romans 14:11-12. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." And finally in Philippians 2:5-11.
"5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
It is very clear that we will all come before God and confess, and give all praise to Jesus Christ the Lord! John tells more in the book of Revelation 5:11-13.
“11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:11-13)
You can read more in Revelation 20 about God Almighty on the great white throne of judgment and how only those whose names are written in the book of life have peace with God. Is your name in God's book of life? Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? God is real and one day we will all come before Him. Are you ready?
7. All Of God’s Promises Come To Pass
Today we see that everything God says will come to pass. Just before he died Joshua testified of the faithfulness of God. "There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." "And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." (Joshua 21:45 and 23:14) We see this truth from Moses. "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;" (Deuteronomy 7:9) And also in the New Testament. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (Hebrews 10:23) All these scriptures assure us that God is faithful to keep His Word. He is also faithful to forgive us of our sin when we confess to Him. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) Just as God is faithful to keep His promises for our good, He is also faithful to keep His Word when we turn away from Him. John 3:16 is a very familiar verse to many people. If we keep reading we see the truth about not turning to the Lord for salvation. God is faithful! All that God says shall surely come to pass! This can be a comforting promise to those who believe, but will be a terrible tragedy to those who refuse to turn to the Lord.
“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:16-18 & 36)
8. Come To Trust The Lord
The book of Ruth tells how Elimelech and Naomi left their home in Bethlehemjudah and went to the country of Moab during the time of famine. While they were in Moab their two sons married. Elimelech and the two sons died and Naomi decided to go back home. She told her daughters-in-law to go back to their families but Ruth refused to leave Naomi. "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:" (Ruth 1:16) Ruth went to work in the fields and God led her to the fields of Boaz, who was a kinsman redeemer. He had heard of how kind Ruth had been to Naomi and told her, "The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust." (Ruth 2:12) Ruth had come to trust the Lord to be her God. God blessed Ruth and Naomi and King David was born in their line a few generations down. David wrote Psalms about trusting in the shadow of the wings of God. "How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings." (Psalms 36:7) "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." (Psalms 63:7)
Now let's turn to the New Testament. Before the Lord went to the cross He wept over Jerusalem. "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it," (Luke 19:41) He also said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matthew 23:37) Today things continue to get worse and worse in this old world. Jesus is waiting for you to come to Him and put your trust in Him as your Lord and Savior. He will put His arm around you and protect you just as a mother hen protects her chicks. I leave you with these verses from wise King Solomon. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)
9. "O Come, Let Us Sing Unto The Lord"
Today is the Lord’s Day. It is the perfect day to come before His presence with singing! Let’s start this week with ways we can come unto the Lord, beginning with singing. "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Psalms 95:1) The world does their part in singing and making a loud noise. As Christians we have much more to sing about. These Psalms give us a few reasons to sing unto the Lord our God.
"1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." (Psalm 100)
"I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High." (Psalm 9:2)
"I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." (Psalm 13:6)
"But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble." (Psalm 59:16)
"I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations." (Psalm 89:1)
"I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing." (Psalm 101:1)
"I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." (Psalm 104:33)
And I say, "Amen, Glory to His name!"
10. Come Before His Presence With Thanksgiving
In our devotions yesterday we saw that we can come before His presence with singing. Today we see that we should also come before His presence with thanksgiving. The two go hand in hand. "Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." (Psalms 95:2) We don’t need to wait until November for Thanksgiving. We can come before the Lord with thanksgiving any time. "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations." (Psalms 100:4-5) "Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:" (Psalms 147:7) In fact, one of the sacrifices in the Old Testament was the sacrifice of thanksgiving. "And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will." (Leviticus 22:29) "And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing." (Psalms 107:22) Paul warned young Timothy of the bad deeds of the world in the last days and among the proud, blasphemers, and unholy we find them to be unthankful. (II Timothy 3:2) He also reminds us to always be thankful in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In the book of Psalms this thought is repeated over and over, "O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." (Psalms 107:1) In God’s wonderful goodness and mercy He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sin. "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." (II Corinthians 9:15)
11. "O Come, Let Us Worship And Bow Down"
We come to the Lord with singing. We come to the Lord with thanksgiving. Now for maybe the most important thought, we come to the Lord in worship and bow down. "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker." (Psalms 95:6) When the Lord appeared to Abraham we read that "Abram fell on his face..." (Genesis 17:3) Joshua fell on his face and worshipped when confronted with the "captain of the host of the Lord" in Joshua 5:14. Ezekiel was very descriptive in trying to tell his vision of the glory of the Lord. "And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake." (Ezekiel 1:27-28) Daniel also said, "...I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright." (Daniel 8:17-18) These were all great men of God and accomplished great things, and they all started at the same place... on their faces before the Lord. When we see how great God is, it will bring us to our knees in reverence to Him. Only then can we do great things for the Lord. "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble... Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." James 4:6 & 10)
12. "Bring An Offering, And Come Into His Courts"
Today we are looking at Psalms 96:8 for our next devotion on how we are to come to the Lord. "Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts." We are to come with an offering. One of my favorite verses about giving to the Lord is Malachi 3:10, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." We even have the Word of our Lord found in Luke 6:38. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." So we see that the Word of God is very plain. The more we give to God, the more God returns back to us. We are not to give just so we will receive. But we should remember that all we have is from the Lord, and without Him we have nothing. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17) Also, He gave us the ultimate gift, and we could never repay Him. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
13. Let Your Cry Come Unto The Lord
For the last few days we have looked at ways we come to the Lord. We come to Him with song and thanksgiving, with humbleness of heart, and with an offering. All of these are ways that we come to Him in worship. Today we see that we can come to Him in need, letting our cry come unto the Lord. "(Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.) Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee." (Psalms 102:1) "Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word." (Psalms 119:169) When I am afflicted with sickness, I can cry unto the Lord. When I am overwhelmed by circumstances beyond my control, I know that He has ultimate control, and I can cry unto Him. When I need someone to talk to, I can come to the Lord in prayer, assured that He always hears. David knew how important our tears are to God, as we read in Psalms 56:8, "Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?" Many times we have needs and we try as we can to work it out on our own. When we come to the end of our resources we turn to God in prayer. What a difference it would make if we turned to God first, and let our cry come unto Him!
14. Come With Rejoicing!
When I was just a young girl I remember going to bed weeping over the souls of the kids in our neighborhood. I prayed and cried over them, telling myself that I would be a better witness to them. There have been others that I wept over, but I found it so hard to sow the precious seed in just the right words. Psalms 126:6 has such a beautiful promise. "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." The precious seed is God's Word, as we find in the parable Jesus told of the sower. Are we sowing the seed? When we meet our blessed Savior, will we come with rejoicing?
"5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." (Luke 8:5-15)
15. Come And Hear
Today we find the invitation to come and hear. "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." (Psalms 66:16) "Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come." (Psalms 71:18) When my daughter found out she was going to have a baby girl I was excited to celebrate this new little life. I wanted to tell my friends, "Did you hear? Susanna is going to have a girl!" I should be just as excited to tell what God has done for me. When I put my trust in Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior, He gave me new life. I can say with Paul, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (II Corinthians 5:17) I have a thankful heart when I get up each morning knowing that the Lord will be with me all the day, and I have peace when I lay down each night. He provides my needs and gives me many of my desires. He protects me and guides me through the storms of this life. He feeds me from His Word and helps me grow and shows me the right paths to take step by step, day by day. As the Spirit wrote to the seven churches in Revelation He told each one, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29, and 3:6, 13, & 22) It is important that we hear what God has to say. It is also imperative that we tell others what great things Christ has done for us! Today I want to extend the same invitation as the Psalmist, "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul." He is my Lord and my God and He hears and answers my prayers. He so loved me that He gave His life and saved me through His marvelous mercy and grace. He is sending His invitation to all who will come and hear. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
16. Come Now
We have been looking at how we are to come to the Lord. I began reading in the book of Isaiah today and here we see an invitation from the Lord. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) What a pleading message. The Lord has everything to give to us and we have nothing to offer to Him. We can't even clean ourselves up to come to Him. But He has promised, "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow..." We can come to Him just as we are, but we will come away a new person. What are you waiting for?
17. "Suffer The Little Children To Come Unto Me"
"And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." (Mark 10:13-16) We now have thirteen grandchildren. We recently became great-grandparents. It is wonderful to spend time with them and each one has a special place in my heart. Children had a special place in the Lord's heart also. The disciples thought Jesus was too busy or important to spend His time with children, but Jesus called the children to Him and took them up in His arms and blessed them. I am so glad that children are welcome in our worship services at Pine Grove Baptist Church in High Point, NC. And even though we may hear one cry out from time to time, I count it a blessing that their parents or grandparents love them enough to bring them to God's house. If you live in central North Carolina and are looking for a place to worship with your children, please visit with us. You will receive a blessing!
18. Come And See
When Jesus came, He did not come in darkness, but He came as the Light of the world. "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." (John 12:46) The most important thing about light is that it allows us to see. John opens his book telling about this Light. "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1:4-5) A little farther in the chapter we read, "And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. ... " (John 1:37-39) A few more verses and we read, "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see." (John 1:45-46) As we meet Jesus and receive His gift of light we can share that light with others, as Philip did and also as the Samaritan woman did after she met Jesus at the well. "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John 4:29) I am so thankful for the Light. I can say with the blind man, "..one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)
19. "If Any Man Thirst, Let Him Come Unto Me"
I mentioned the Samaritan woman yesterday, and today I want to back up in her story and talk about the Living Water.
"9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." (John 4:9-15)
The prophet Isaiah called out, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come..." (Isaiah 55:1) Again in John 7:37-38 we find an invitation to all who thirst to come to the Living Water. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." We also have this promise, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) Are you tired of seeking for something that will satisfy? Are you thirsting for the things of God? Jesus' invitation still stands. "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst... All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:35 & 37)
20. Come Apart Before You Come Apart
I heard a message with this title years ago. The preacher was talking about coming apart from the stress and duties of the world, before coming apart at the seams. We recently took a short little vacation and it was great to get away and enjoy a much needed rest. God knows that our frail human bodies need rest. That is why He gave the Children of Israel the Sabbath day. During His ministry on earth, Jesus knew that the disciples needed rest. He called the twelve disciples to Him and sent them out two by two to preach and heal the sick. We see their return in Mark 6:30-31. "And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." They had worked hard and they needed to rest.
Another time we see Jesus come apart is in Matthew 14:23. "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone." Jesus knew the importance in coming apart to pray. We were reminded of this in our opening devotionals for this theme. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) How much more do we need to get alone with God, putting aside the cares and interruptions of this world?
Our final thought for today is found in John 14:1-3. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." There is coming a day when the Lord will come to take us out of this cruel world to our heavenly home to live for evermore. I believe it will be very soon. Are you ready for His coming?
21. Come Boldly To The Throne Of Grace And Obtain Mercy
Grace and mercy. I once heard that grace is getting what you don't deserve, forgiveness and life everlasting. Along with that thought, mercy is not getting what you do deserve, as we all deserve death and punishment for our sin. This is well said in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Because of God's wonderful amazing grace and abundant mercy I can go to Him in prayer. "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16) When I am tired and weary, He gives me rest for my soul. When I am afraid, He calms my fears. When I have a problem, I can put my trust in Him. When I have sinned, He gives me forgiveness. God supplies all my needs and lets His blessings overflow in my life. He gives me protection from the storms of this life. And along with the grace and mercy, He gives me peace. "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." (II John 1:3)
22. "Behold, I Come Quickly"
To end our devotions on "Come And Dine" let's look at the end of the Bible. Four times in the book of Revelation the Lord says, "I come quickly." Are you ready for Christ to return? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to die for your sin? Have you confessed your sin to Him and put your trust in Him to save you? Jesus said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23) So, today I ask the question, "Do you know that you know the Lord as your personal Savior?" Maybe He has stood outside your heart’s door time and time again. Isn't it time you said, "Yes, Lord" and confess your sins, in full belief and acceptance of His wonder work of love? He said, "Behold, I come quickly." Are you ready?
"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown...
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:11 & 20)
"Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book...
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be...
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely...
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22: 7, 12, 17, & 20)
