Follow

Jesus offers a simple invitation to learn more.

Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow Me and be My disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed Him.

10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with such scum? "

12 When Jesus heard this, He said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do." 13 Then He added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

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Following any religion or spiritual teacher probably makes you think of the work that will be required to follow their rules. Most religious systems say "change these things and you can join us," so it may seem strange to learn that when Jesus asked people to follow him he said "come as you are."

When Jesus began his ministry, he looked for some men to partner with, men that were willing to check out what he was doing and get to know him better, they probably never intended to keep following for so long but there was something about him that they couldn't walk away from.

When the unlearned, dirty fishermen and the repulsive tax man began to follow Jesus they didn't know what they were in for. They didn't really know him or his purpose for calling them, they didn't believe or have faith in anything, they were just excited to learn more about Jesus.

God never did like religious people so it's no surprise that Jesus did not give the invite to any of those types of people. It reminds me of Jesus birth, the least likely to get the good news were the ones that got it, the dirty shepherds and the Gentile wise men were chosen while the religious Jews that were well acquainted with scripture missed it despite the heads up they received from the wise men.

But don't be too hard on the Pharisees, some of them were really sincere and devoted to pleasing God, the bad news for us is that we are not much different. Their sinful attitude is common among man since the beginning and it continues with us.

We tend to look down on other people, especially people that don't have Jesus' influence on their lives, we like to think that we are better than they are. The world sees our hypocrisy and it turns them off to following Jesus because too often our actions, our attitudes and our tongues prove that we are very similar to them. (Romans 2:1-3)

The more conscious I am of the work that God has yet to do on me the less critical I am of what God has yet to do in you.

-Andy Stanley

We like to make following Jesus a complicated list of rules or beliefs but when Jesus first invited someone to follow him there were not any prerequisites. Jesus didn't say you have to follow the rules or believe a certain way, he invited people to follow first, get the facts and learn more about him.

The church should be a place where those that are without Jesus feel loved, accepted and comfortable so that they can come close and learn more about Jesus. The church will never grow if people think that they have to obey our rules and be a better person before they can be welcome in our building.

Matthew 23:13, 15 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either. 15 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

To the people that do not know him he gives a warm invite but to the religious fakes that would not get serious about their relationship with God he was kind enough to warn them so that they could change their ways.

Religion says to believe right, behave right, change your ways and if you are successful then you can join us. Jesus says come as you are, come and see what I am all about, follow me and then you will find the power to change.

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I Have Been Changed

Let me tell you all my friends about this joy I'm living in!

Video: Jordan Feliz, Changed

Let me tell you all my friends

About this joy I'm living in

Let me take the mic, I wanna testify

How I was dead and then I came to life

No more living in the dark of night

Now everything's alright

I've been changed

I've been saved

Brand new day

I've been changed

Tell me why would I turn back now

There's no end to the love I found

Future's bright and there ain't no doubt

I've been changed, I've been changed

All my heartbreak fades away

Like a book when you turn the page

Tell me why would I turn back now

There's no end to the love I found

Future's bright and there ain't no doubt

I've been changed, I've been changed

I've been changed

I put my hand in the air

'Cause I know you're there

(Your love did something magical)

I put my hand in the air

'Cause you heard my prayer

(A transformation, radical)

I put my hand in the air

'Cause I know you're there

(I know it's supernatural)

I put my hand in the air

'Cause you heard my prayer

I've been changed

Does Your Change Show?

Psalm 16:5-11  Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine. The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance! I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one[d] to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Say Amen

It's only by God's grace I'm standing here today.

Video: Matthew West "Amen"

Hey hey preacher man

Do you mind if I borrow that mic? (Uh-huh!)

You been talking 'bout

How everybody got a story

Here is mine

I was so lost, I was so lost

But now I'm found, yeah, yeah

Hey hey preacher man

Let's take a walk down by the river

Let the holy water wash over me

'Cause now that I've been delivered

I want the whole world

To know that I'm a new man now

And it's only by God's grace

I'm standing here today

If you're feeling what I'm feeling

Let me hear you say amen

If you're a new creation, amen

If you got that feel good in your soul

That hope that won't let you go

If you're feeling what I'm feeling

Let me hear you say amen

Every time I look back over my shoulder

I can see the life He saved me from

Every time I look back over my shoulder

I can see the life He saved me from

Thank God

Hey Church, now you see

This little light of mine

Well, my question is a simple one (Who's next?)

Come get it loud

I'm talking one by

I'm talking one by, one by one

Gonna testify

That it's only by God's grace

We're standing here today

If you're feeling what I'm feeling

Let me hear you say amen

If you're a new creation, amen

If you got that feel good in your soul

That hope that won't let you go

If you're feeling what I'm feeling

Let me hear you say amen

If you're a new creation, amen

If you got that feel good in your soul

That hope that won't let you go

If you're feeling what I'm feeling

Let me hear you say amen

New Life From Nothing

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!" 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

God took my nothing and created a new life, I didn't have anything good to help him out, what you see now was done completely on his own. My pride, my old passions, the things that I thought were important are all gone, God made a new man out of nothing. Amen!

Great Turn Arounds

These guys needed to be saved from politics, philosophy and religion.

The Ethiopian meets Philip

Acts 8:30-31 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

Philip was making disciples in Samaria and with great results, the crowds were amazed at the message and the power that Philip had. Philip enjoyed great success there but instead of moving on to another town and doing it again God tells him that he has an appointment in the desert. (Acts 8:4-13, 8:26)

The Ethiopian was a government official from North Africa, he was reading from the Old Testament, he feared God but he didn't understand the teaching about the Messiah. (Acts 8:26-40)

Saul meets Ananias

Acts 9:3-5 As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

Saul was a very religious man, born in Tarsus and moved to Jerusalem, he was trained in Judaism by a famous Rabbi. (Acts 22:3)

Saul has been zealous in his efforts to get rid of the Christ followers, he thought he was doing God a favor until he meets Jesus in a beam of light shining down from heaven.

Cornelius meets Peter

Acts 10:21-22 So Peter went down and said, “I’m the man you are looking for. Why have you come?” They said, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.”

Cornelius was a military man in the Roman army, he was a good guy that believed in God, prayed and did nice things for those around him. In response to Cornelius faith God had a plan for him to meet Peter. (Acts 10:1-8)

Three very different guys with very different backgrounds. A man of politics, a man of philosophy, and a man that is very religious all have the same need. They all share the same heartache that is caused by sin, they all have a hunger for more in life and they all need help dealing with their situation.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

There is hope! These guys were not stuck on a road to disaster without an escape, they have been given an opportunity to make a U-turn.

All three men were told about the hope that had just recently been revealed, hope that is rooted in Jesus and his work that he did on the cross, hope that is secure because they saw him come back from the grave.

Repent And Be Refreshed

Acts 3:19-20  Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.  Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and He will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

These three men from totally different backgrounds were impacted by the message of hope. When the gospel reached them they were caught up in the politics, philosophy and religion but they realized that their thinking was all wrong.

Their belief systems could not bring them to the satisfaction that comes from the living hope that we have in Jesus. All of them were open to the gospel message and the results of their faith helped take the gospel to the nations.

1 Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Thank you Lord!

Why?

Don't let your heart be troubled when Jesus doesn't make sense to you.

 

John 13:36-38  Simon Peter asked, "Lord, where are You going?" And Jesus replied, "You can't go with Me now, but you will follow Me later."  37  "But why can't I come now, Lord?" he asked. "I'm ready to die for You."  38  Jesus answered, "Die for Me? I tell you the truth, Peter--before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know Me.

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Life is so difficult and seems out of control, things do not add up and we cannot make sense of what is going on, we have all been through those times when you just want to scream at God and ask him if he really knows what he is doing. That is the situation these eleven men find themselves in.

Not too long ago Jesus caused quite a stir when he raised Lazarus from the dead, they must have thought that the coming Kingdom was about to be established, instead Jesus leaves the crowds and takes them to a village in the desert, these guys were never able to figure out what was going to happen next.

Why are we out here?

This couldn't have made any sense to the twelve disciples. They didn't realize that even as the religious leaders were purifying the people in preparation for Passover they were simultaneously plotting Jesus death. (John 11:54-57)

As Passover drew near Jesus went back towards Jerusalem and stopped in Bethany where he had dinner with his friends. While they were at the dinner Mary came into the room with expensive perfume that she used to anoint Jesus.

Why is Jesus talking about his burial?

They could have had a church fund-raiser and used the money to help the poor. They all blindly went along with Judas and agreed that this was a big waste of money. (John 12:1-8)

Now this is more like it they must have thought as they walked on toward Jerusalem and saw the crowds running out to meet them as they sang their praises for the arrival of the Messiah. But instead of capitalizing on the momentum and taking charge he is deeply troubled and starts to pray. (John 12:29)

Why is Jesus talking about defeating Satan?

This crowd just wants somebody to make today a better day and improve the outlook for their future. Get rid of the burden that the Romans had them living under. Obviously Jesus was opposed to the plan that the crowd was pushing for and his kingdom was a disappointment to them.

Why is everything not as we thought?

There was so much chaos and unanswered questions on that day. Isn't he the Messiah? We just gave him a Messiah's welcome when he came into the city. Isn't the Messiah going to live forever? (John 12:34-36)

We thought that Jesus was our leader and now he is acting like our servant and washing our feet! What do you mean that you are going somewhere and I have to stay here? We thought that our small group was solid but now we have learned that one of us has been living a lie and Jesus tells us that the rest of us will all desert him.

Why would Jesus treat us this way?

 In the middle of all of the turmoil that the disciples are going through, none of them had much thought for the emotions that Jesus was feeling. He was with his small group yet he was all alone. None of them showed any interest in Jesus' suffering and offer up any comfort.

"Now My soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to Your name."

We gave up three years of our life for him and now he is leaving? They had to wonder how safe they were because Jesus enemies also hated them. Would they be the next to die?

Despite the feelings that Jesus had, his deep sorrow and grief, nobody else notices! Yet he is so in touch with their feelings and he is so concerned with their ability to cope with the circumstances even though he knows that they will desert him later that same night.

Don't Be Troubled
John 14:1-3  "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me.  2  There is more than enough room in My Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  3  When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.

When your heart is troubled Jesus calls on us to have faith in him and his promises, "you cannot see God but you believe in him therefore believe in me even though you won't be able to see me anymore." A lot of confusion about what was going on was due to their misconceptions about the Messiah which are getting blown away but they still needed to know that their faith was not in vain. (1 Peter 1:8)

They still had every reason to believe in God and in his son Jesus. They had every reason to believe that they have a home in heaven that is being made ready for them and when it is ready he will come back for us. You only prepare a place for someone if you are confident of their arrival, we don't have to worry about getting their on our own, Jesus himself will come to get us and escort us into the Father's house.

Victory In Jesus: Romans 8:35-37, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Hebrews 13:6, 1 John 5:4-5

Don't let your heart be troubled when Jesus doesn't make sense to you. Faith in God and in Jesus is the cure for a troubled heart, believers should be the most peaceful people but in reality we are not much different from the rest of the world, usually this is due to a lack of faith. If you're discontent, worried, anxious, or otherwise in need of comfort, the reason can be that you don't trust Jesus as much as you should.

We do what the disciples did, we have all of the same confusion and questions, we focus on our problems and trust in their power to wipe us out more than we trust in God. We know that our ultimate future is very bright. When we arrive at our father's house he will take care of all the hurts and the needs of his children, there won't be any unmet needs and no wanting for anything.

Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won't become weary and give up. 

Just like Jesus looked beyond the present sufferings to his future glory, we should keep our eyes on the higher purposes of God and realize that these troubles that we have in this present world are very temporary. (Romans 8:18).

Thank you Lord for caring for me, help me to realize the impact of that, since I know you care for me I know that I can trust you for every situation that I don't understand. Help me to grow in faith so that I won't let my heart be troubled when you don't make sense to me.

Be Productive And Useful

My greatest goal should be to become a productive and useful follower of Jesus.

2 Peter 1:8-12  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

10  So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.  11  Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

12  Therefore, I will always remind you about these things--even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.

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Who doesn't want to feel like they are needed? We all want to feel like we are useful and that our life matters to someone but what if you could be sure that your life mattered to God and that you are needed as a part of the work that he is doing.

So far in the second letter that Peter wrote he has given us some lessons that are important for disciples of Jesus to remember. He has told us that we are all equal, he has reminded us of our strength and the great promises that have been made to us.

Because of all of these benefits I have the power and the responsibility to live up to a higher moral code, We can be more like him as we grow into a deeper awareness of who Christ is, that knowledge will cause us to feel compelled to look and act as much like him as we possibly can.

Peter spends a lot of time making sure that we understand that our lives should be different as a disciple. The first chapter of 2 Peter reminds me a lot of the first chapter of 1 Peter:

1 Peter 1:13-15  So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

A holy life makes our election sure and gives us confidence in the fact that we are saved. My good works and my desire to live above the morality that I see around me do not get me in the gates of heaven but what I believe about my sin and my Savior compel me to live a different lifestyle. If I agree with God about the ugliness of my sin then I will want to live a life that pleases him and then my life will be useful and productive for his work.

Without these traits in my life I will not be very useful for kingdom work and I will put myself in a dangerous situation. Failure to develop in Christian character is the reason many people fall and it is a sign that they never understood the gospel that they say they believe.

Change is essential
John 15:3-4  You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.

The word of God is a cleansing agent which purifies us, it condemns our sin, it inspires holiness, and it encourages growth. Since a true believer has been "pruned and purified" he will be productive for the advancement of the kingdom here on earth and his life will be useful in bringing glory to God.

To be productive and useful I must pursue God as my top priority in life or else it will get pushed aside and I will become distracted by the cares of this world. (Matthew 13:22, Colossians 3:2)

Thank you Lord for choosing to use me. I want my life to be useful and productive for your purposes.

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Used By God (pastorrick.com)