Are you following Jesus? #12

When we think about following Jesus compared to what all other major religions teach there is one thing we need to learn and know. Other religions say follow certain rules, perform certain rituals, observe specific regulations, or pursue a specific path but Jesus says "follow Me".



Jesus wants a relationship with us, not rules and regulations. Other religions say go and find or search out truth and life. Jesus says:



John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.



Matthew 11:28

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.



Do you see the MAJOR difference? Jesus is the answer to our search. He fills our every spiritual need. In himself! That is why He calls us to follow Him.



We are called to grab onto Jesus and not let go and because of what He has done for us we then want to obey and follow His Word in the bible because we know He has our best intrests in mind. It brings Him joy and also brings us joy to faithfully follow and obey!



Make sure you are following Jesus and not doing all the so called christian things without Christ. This happens all the time! It is called going through the motions with out a relationship. Search your heart, God will let you know where you stand with Him.



Being in Jesus provides the peace that is indescribable! Just knowing that you abide in His love and all you have to do is surrender your life and follow Jesus!



Thank you Jesus!



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #11

Many times when we follow Jesus we ten to get the "I" problem.....I did this and I did that, we must be very careful of that because when we are in the Lord we do all things through Christ as we have no power in ourselves. I want us to think about this in the context of our salvation this morning.



As a Christian I have a responsibility, a decision of following Christ or rejecting Christ. When the Holy Spirit calls I have to respond! Yes or No, pretty simple really. So when folks say I did something in receiving the Lord, in reality the Lord does it we just choose rescued by Him.



For an example as far as salvation, look at these verses:



Luke 15:1-7 The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.



As you know we are the sheep in this story and Jesus is the shepherd is Jesus. Sheep are dumb, wander off, and get lost. That's us! We wander off from where God wants us. Jesus comes after us, nothing we have done deserves that, just Jesus love for us! So the sheep can not say look what I have done for Jesus to come find me and save me! No all we can do is thank Jesus for finding us when we were lost, and bringing us home! He does all the work! Now as a sheep we can run from Him, we have a responsibility to either allow Jesus to pick us up or we can reject Him and run off!



Oh what a beautiful picture of Jesus coming for us! "I" did nothing, Jesus did everything! When one of the lost sheep come home there is a party in heaven! Has that party been thrown for you? It can be...allow Jesus to rescue you! It's that simple, then follow Him the rest of your days!



I hope you get the point here, it's all Jesus not "I"!



Tom

Do something!

Taking a little break from Follow Me series as I am a little pressed for time this morning. Take a little time and listen to this song and then act on it. You are the hands and feet of Jesus! You are to be a doer of the Word! God wants you to do something not wait on someone else!~



1 Corinthians 12:27



27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.



James 1:22



But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.



Do Something by Matthew West






I woke up this morning / Saw a world full of trouble now / Thought, how'd we ever get so far down / How's it ever gonna turn around / So I turned my eyes to Heaven / I thought, “God, why don't You do something?” / Well, I just couldn't bear the thought of / People living in poverty / Children sold into slavery / The thought disgusted me / So, I shook my fist at Heaven / Said, “God, why don't You do something?” / He said,“I did, I created you” / If not us, then who / If not me and you / Right now, it's time for us to do something / If not now, then when / Will we see an end / To all this pain / It's not enough to do nothing / It's time for us to do something / I'm so tired of talking / About how we are God's hands and feet / But it's easier to say than to be / Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves / It's alright, “somebody else will do something” / Well, I don't know about you / But I'm sick and tired of life with no desire / I don't want a flame, I want a fire / I wanna be the one who stands up and says, / “I'm gonna do something” / We are the salt of the earth / We are a city on a hill / But we're never gonna change the world / By standing still / No we won't stand still / No we won't stand still / No we won't stand still



Let's get busy!



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #10

To follow Jesus means we have a good understanding of what Jesus has done for us because He loves us. Remember what Isaiah predicted about Jesus?



Isaiah 53:5-6

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.



Take some time to think about that. Jesus shed His blood for you! Even when we were in sin, He took that sin to the cross to make us right with God if we will follow Him as Lord and Savior....wow!



We need to remember there is a penalty for sin:



Ezekiel 16:58

You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the Lord.



Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.



Death is the penalty of sin. Two kinds of death....Spiritual, which is separation from God because he can not be in the presence of sin. Also physical death. All will die one day unless Jesus comes back first! Separation from God? Do we understand what that means? Do we care. Nothing is worse that separation from God.



I have good news though...God has a gift for us!This free gift is Jesus.



Do we understand that you can have all the money, all the parties, all the sex, all the drugs/ alcohol, all the entertainment, all the fame the world can offer, ect. but there is nothing better than Jesus??? NOTHING!



When we get right down to it, the way we live our lives either following the ways of Jesus or the ways of the world prove if Jesus is Lord of our life or if self is lord of our life!



Jesus saves us from the penalty we deserve if we put our trust in Him and follow Him.



John 3:16-17

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.



So the penalty is huge for our sin but the Love of God is unbeatable! Accept the free gift of God, His son Jesus! Follow Him the rest of your life, you won't regret it! He died for you, you live for Him today!



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #9

So we seen yesterday how much God hates sin! So if God hates sin does that mean He hates sinners. Now read all of what I am going to say before you jump to any conclusions because it is not a simple yes or no answer! So here we go:



Yes God hates sinners! Ouch! How can I say that???? Look at these verses:



Psalm 5:5-6

5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.6 You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.



Did you see God hates evildoers? A evil doer is a sinner correct?

God will destroys liars....lying is a sin right?

The Lord abhors bloodthirsty and liars. These are sin right? A synonym for abhor is hate! Are you getting the picture yet?



Now here is the rest of the story, God hates sinners but He also loves His creation created in His image:





John 3:16

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."



So here is how I look at this. There is no doubt God loves man, but when we are in sin He can look at us, we are wicked and He hates wickedness for He is Holy and Righteous. The only way we can be reconciled to Him is by being covered in the shed blood of Jesus. Once we are covered in that blood by following Jesus Christ with our lives then we can be in God's presence. The sacrifice has been made by Jesus which shows how much God loves us by sending His Son to die for us....sinners which He can not stand! Whew....what love.



This is not even close to explain the love/hate of God towards sinners like us but it may help you understand a little more. Remember back to dating in high school? One day you love them, the next day you hate them because they hurt you, then you love them again, ect. haha! Only God is not wishy washy like that. He can not tolerate sin, but when that sin has been covered by the blood of Jesus nothing can separate us from His great love!





Romans 8:35-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.



Do you see in verse 39 where the love of God is? In Christ Jesus not in our sin! For in Jesus we are covered!



So once again we can see as we follow Jesus, sin is a very serious thing before God....He hates it. We must take care of our sin through the blood of Christ! The world laughs at sin and thinks its funny and can be played with, do not fall into that trap!



I hope I got the point across this morning!



Are you following or doing your own thing?



Tom

Are you following Jesus? #8

Today when thinking about following Jesus lets try to grasp how God sees sin. We must get a handle on the seriousness of sin to a Holy Righteous God!

First we must see God hates sin:

Proverbs 6:16-19 
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Psalms 5:4

For You [are] not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. 5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. 6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

Psalms 45:6

Your throne, O God, [is] forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness [is] the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness.

Hebrews 1:8

But to the Son [He] [says]: "Your throne, O God, [is] forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness [is] the scepter of Your Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

Colossians 3:5-6    

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.

Isaiah 59:2

2   but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.


I think it is clear here that God hates sin and it is just common sense a Holy God would hate sin! There are many more verses we could look at but for times sake we won't....look for yourself. With that said if God hates sin then there will be sever punishment for any unrepented of sin that comes before Him and we see that in the bible in the old testamnet:

* Sodom and Gomorrah- Genesis 19

* God gives law on Mt. Sinai and not long after a man is stoned to death for picking up sticks on Sabbath! Numbers 15

* Achan and family die for disobeying God's command not to keep plunder from battle. Joshua 7

* Nadab and Abihu, Aarons sons, die for unauthorized fire before the Lord. Leviticus 10

* Uzzah dies for touching the Ark of the Covenant. 2 Samuel 6

An example in the New Testament would be:

* Acts 5:1-6

5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

Then the over whelming reality of sin in us and we die without repenting and following Jesus is this:

* John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

* Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

*Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

So we see God hates sin and will not be in its presence and I will end here for today, tomorrow we will look at how does God feel about us as a sinner? Does He love us, hate us or what?

Tom

P.S. Don't play with sin, it is a dangerous thing before God!

Are you following Jesus? #7

When we begin to understand what following Jesus is all about we need to think about another word that fits into our understanding of what God has done for us and that word is adoption. Read these verses:


Ephesians 1:3-6

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.



Jesus is God's son, we are not. BUT God has always had a plan in place to adopt us to become His sons and daughters! This is a good spot for an amen or a hallelujah!!!



When we think about adoption there is one thing we need to grasp. In adoption the parent pursues the child. The child generally has no idea who is coming after them or may not even know that anybody is coming after them at all! Now think about that...God has come in pursuit of you! Not because we deserve that but because God loves you even though we are dirty rotten sinners! Oh thank you God for coming after me!



We are blessed, praise the Father for His amazing love for us, we are blessed, praise the Father for sending His Son to die for us so He can adopt us, we are blessed!!!!



Tomorrow we will look at how much God hates sin!



Tom