TODAY! 21 day devotion by: H.R. Lister
Day 9: “A Step Ahead”
In Matthew 10:7, the Angel tells the two Mary’s while standing at an empty tomb where a dead Jesus once laid, “Go and tell His Disciples that HE IS RISEN from the dead, and indeed, HE IS GOING BEFORE YOU…”
JESUS IS ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD OF YOU!
Jesus is going before them, just as He’s always done… Showing the way… Leading, Guiding, and Encouraging.
Just like the presence of God went before Israel in the desert with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, Jesus goes before His disciples…
Jesus STILL GOES BEFORE HIS PEOPLE!
We are His people, you are His! And He still goes before you! Preparing a way, leading, guiding, encouraging.
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN GOOD TIMES:
At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus’ first recorded miracle, Jesus rejoiced with the bride and groom and showed that God always saves the BEST for LAST.
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN TIMES OF LACK:
Jesus’ feeding of the 4,000 and 5,000 tells us that is God’s economy there is always more than enough. He not only supplies the need but it’s supplied over and above what you ask or think.
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN SICKNESS:
He took stripes on His back, (a brutal lashing that tore the flesh from His body and exposed His organs and bones), for OUR HEALING! The Scripture says: “Surely HE HAS taken our PAINS and BORE OUR SICKNESSES.”
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN CONFLICT:
He knows exactly what its like to be rejected and hated, lied about and chastised. Betrayed by one of His own and almost completely deserted by friends and family…. (The Chastisement that was necessary for OUR PEACE, was upon HIM!) He has gone before us and paid for the effects that rejection and conflict can have on us. You don’t have to accept or take on the feelings of conflict and rejection. He has gone before us!
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN DOUBT:
He welcomed Thomas with his doubts and put them to rest… He was patient with the disciples when they didn’t understand. Don’t go to unbelieving skeptics with your doubts about your faith. Go to Jesus, He is patient and kind. He will lead you and guide you into truth and communicate to you in only a way that you would understand. HE GOES BEFORE YOU! He knows what you’re going to ask before you ever even formulate the question. Let Him answer your doubts.
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN SORROW AND DEATH:
He wept for Lazarus at the grave, then raised him to life. He mourned for a city that would not listen, wept tears of grief and sweat drops of blood at His impending death, Cried out in agony from the cross, and suffered in silence before His accusers. He endured these hardships of life so that He could be there for you when you experience these times. He is our great HIGH PRIEST who IS TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES…
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN HEAVEN:
His death and resurrection breaks the hold of physical death in this world! He is currently preparing a place for us! Ephesians 2:6 “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in Heavenly Places!”
Before He went before us into Heaven, He went in our place to death, Hell and the Grave!
Ephesians 4:9-10 “Now this, He Ascended” - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the Earth? 10) He who descended is also the one who ascended far above the Heavens, that He might fulfill all things…”
Colossians 2:14-15 “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross… 15) Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them openly…”
JESUS GOES BEFORE US IN EVERY SITUATION!
If He’s gone before us in Death, Hell and the Grave, there is NO CIRCUMSTANCE you can’t weather and triumph over!!!
Romans 8: 11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you…”