Following Jesus

The last blog we ended with how I would like to always understand God’s heart and ways. You know, find out what He wants for my life and where He wants me. To grow into the person He wants me to be and become more like Jesus. On my journey or walk with the Lord I have had some of this revealed to me but yet I know I have a lot that is uncertain and unknown to me yet. I guess that is the faith journey we all take. The Lord has given me everything I need for this journey so there are no excuses. He has put some great leaders in my life to help me learn from but we all find this out from a relationship and following Jesus. Like in John 21:19-22 Jesus tells Peter to follow him. Then Peter asked Jesus what about John?  And Jesus says, “What is that to you? As for you, follow me.”  We all have to accept Jesus and follow him. Like in John 1:38 Jesus turned around and saw two disciples following him and he said, “What do you want.” As if to say, do you really want to follow me and know me and know what I’m about and have for you, or are you just playing around. I think it explains this well in Mark 8:34-38 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Colossians 2:6-7 ‘And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.’  I think this can be pretty tough sometimes, but it says as we follow we can get deeply rooted in Christ as we grow.  There is a lot God has given us to help follow Jesus. John 1:12 ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ So when we accept Jesus, God gives us the power to become sons of God. We have his Holy Spirit in us and his love. Like it says, we are reborn spiritually with the will of God in us. In 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 it talks about how with the Holy Spirit in us we can understand God and his ways and have the mind of Christ. When we follow Jesus, read God’s word and with the help of the Holy Spirit we can do this.  I like to read the whole bible, but what helps me understand Jesus is reading the gospels.  I find I have a long way to go yet.  You know what Jesus done, why he came, how he taught people and the 12, how he cared for healed and loved people, how he stayed close to his father, how he handled people trying to snare him into becoming a earthly king, people betraying him and trying to kill him, and you know how he related to all these earthly struggles. I feel I must know more about him and understand him. It is a completely different view for me now than the first 30 years of my life. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, ‘So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!’  This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!  To end I have two scriptures, one came yesterday and one I have been reading for the last few months. In Luke 2:41-52, Joseph and Mary take 12 year old Jesus to Jerusalem for Passover. They get ready to leave with the family and friends and Jesus stays behind. And Jesus spends 3 days in the Temple listening and talking to the teachers and rabbis. He blows them away with his understanding for being 12 years old. Even though he was a growing boy in the flesh, he knew God very intimately, he was God. So if I want to understand God more I need to know him more and in a deeper way. When they find him Jesus says in verse 49, “But why did you need to search?” he asked, “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” When we follow Jesus, he leads, we follow.  Jesus is about his fathers will and kingdom. It’s not about us or what we desire, it’s about God and his plan. Like it said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.’  Easier said then done and I have a long way to go.  It tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:15, ‘He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.’  In Luke 2:51, ‘Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.’  This is the verse that has really spoken to me, because it says Mary stored all these things in her heart. She knew he was the son of God, but after that I’m sure she saw her boy, Jesus, in a different way. As I follow Jesus, and learn I need to see what he does in my life everyday and listen to what he teaches me and store it in my heart.  I want to grow and become who he wants me to be, not what I want or what someone else wants for me. I want to be who Jesus wants me to be. I find this is not so easy, but like Jesus asked the two disciples, “What do you want?”  I think if I want to know and seek him whole heartedly he is faithful and true and will show me over time as I follow. He will get in the trench and walk with me. Two things come to mind, one is I have to be myself, who he made me to be. I can’t be something I’m not. I understand we will change and grow but if it’s at the expense of trying to compromise the truth or who Jesus made me to be, I don’t need it. That’s not success that’s being phony. This verse came to me yesterday which really hit me. John 1:47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.” How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Nathanael was one of the chosen 12 but not much is said about him. I’m hope to find out more about him over the next week. But obviously Jesus spoke highly of him because he was honest and sincere and didn’t try to be somebody other than himself. I think this is very important in our walk with Jesus. There is always pressure from others to perform to their standards, which is okay if that’s right with Jesus and you are being true to whom he wants you to be. We are all called to be submissive to others and grow and learn to become like Jesus. The other is to die to ourselves and get our flesh and selfishness out of the way. I know this is hard and there are some examples in the bible we will look at next week. God has put some great people and mentors in my life that are great examples to me, but we all have this in common.  We all struggle with this and haven’t mastered it by any means but we all must continue to pursue Jesus hard and to press into him to overcome and have victory in our walk to become more like Jesus and find what he has for us. This is just what I have observed by watching others and being around them. I learn from the people around me but Jesus is who I have to follow and spend time with.  He is my real teacher. He is my master and where he wants me I will go. Galatians 2:20, ‘My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.’ So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 6:14-15, ‘As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.’