Disciple-Making DisciplesSample

Jesus is with you

The conclusion to the Great Commission—the invitation to bring people to Jesus, live lives surrendered to Jesus, and love others like Jesus—is a promise from Jesus.

“…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 NIV

Why does Jesus relay our mission with this promise attached to it? What Jesus’ disciples knew, and what we need to remember, is that living a life dedicated to following Jesus is not easy.

Becoming a Christian, a follower of Jesus, does not guarantee an easier life. In fact, it guarantees the exact opposite. Following Jesus doesn’t make life easier, but following Jesus makes life better.

In our culture today, we have made “easier” and “better” interchangeable terms, but they are not. Going through a drive thru makes your life easier. You don’t have to cook anything or plan meals or go to the store and get ingredients. It’s way easier to grab a Big Mac or a chicken strip meal, but it’s not better. What we know is that it is much better for you to do the hard work of planning, making, and eating healthy, nutritious meals.

Jesus makes life better, but not easier. He invites you to lay down control—that’s hard. He invites you to surrender to God’s will and the work of the Holy Spirit as He changes you from the inside out—that’s painful. He calls you to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him through death into resurrection life—that’s scary. But it’s worth it.

What we are invited to realize is that we are not alone on this journey of discipleship—we are not without help. The Holy Spirit, Jesus’ Spirit, is with us and in us, and the Spirit of God is the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus’ presence.

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7 NIV

Jesus literally tells us it is better for us that He goes to heaven and the Holy Spirit comes. Why? How could it possibly be better? Because the Spirit of God actually lives in us and transforms us from the inside out:

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13 NLT

The Holy Spirit is the tangible presence of God in us. He is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to never leave us. And He helps us become disciple-making disciples.

Challenge:Take an honest assessment of yourself. Do you want to follow Jesus because you think it will make your life easier? Or because you trust that He makes it better? Have you mixed those things up in the past? How does the promise of the Holy Spirit being with you to help you make you feel?

Pray and ask God to show you how to rely on the help of the Holy Spirit. What might that look like in your life? Take a step towards Jesus and allow Him to meet you there with the promise of His presence.