The Commands Of Jesus

Jesus only had three years to teach us, what he said must of been important.

If you knew that you only had so many days to live you would probably make the most of each day. No doubt that Jesus make the most of his time with us on earth, he only had three years of public ministry so he wouldn't have wasted his time on things that don't matter. Here is what Jesus said about his commands:

“If you love me, obey my commandments. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them. All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them."

This isn't a complete list but if we start putting this many of them into affect in our lives then we will prove to truly be his disciples. Not as a work unto salvation but as an act of obedience out of love.

Receive The Gift of Power

Baptize My Disciples

Feed My Sheep

Watch and Pray

Keep My Commandments

Be Born Again

Take, Eat And Drink

Await My Return

Love Your Neighbor

Love The Lord

Pay Your Taxes

Bring in the Poor

Forgive The Offenders

Beware of Covetousness

Don't Despise The Little Ones

Deny Yourself

Beware of Leaven

Take My Yoke

Be a Servant

Do Unto Others

Ask, Seek and Knock

Don't Cast Your Pearls To The Pigs

Honor Your Parents

Hear God's Voice

Fear Not

Be Wise As Serpents And Harmless As Doves

Pray For Laborers

Beware Of False Prophets And Teachers

Choose The Narrow Way

Seek First God's Kingdom

What's In Your Wallet?

Repent

That's a lot to keep up with but God's grace will cover where we mess up!

What Are You Carrying

What we are toting around tells a lot about who we are.

Luke 9:22-26  “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

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Jesus turns to the crowd and gives them an offer to follow him, that would be one thing if you knew that his future was bright and sunny  but look at what preceded his invitation.

He gives them an offer but first he tells them that he isn't going down easy street, he isn't going to have a retirement plan, a car or be a homeowner, he isn't even going to be popular.

The offer that Jesus was making was a lifestyle change that included putting yourself aside and thinking about your neighbor, he wants us to be an example of his grace, mercy and forgiveness. That's a fascinating concept but for people that had so little to begin with, people that lived with harsh treatment and abuse and yet they still were drawn to Jesus and dropped what they were carrying so they could pick-up a cross.

"Is that your cross or is it just your stuff?" That's the question that we need to answer. James, John, Peter, and Andrew dropped their nets to follow him, Simon the Zealot, threw down his weapons, Matthew, the tax collector, let go of his riches.

The stuff that I am toting around will tell the world what I think is important, I need to drop everything that is weighing me down, the world has so many things to entice me to carry and it won't stop trying to convince me that I need more stuff and that I can have it all. I need to carry my cross and follow wherever I am asked to go without any excess baggage.   

Lord help me to discard all of the things that Satan wants to use to weigh me down and make me too weak to carry my cross.

You might like to read:
Sacred Cows Can Stink The Place Up  //  Sell Your Possessions?  //  Choose The Narrow Way

Receive The Gift of Power

Are you feeling a little puny?

 Luke 24:49  "And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as My Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven."

Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

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Those of us that know the Lord have an awesome source of power that we need to be sure doesn't come unplugged.

The Holy Spirit takes care of us directly and he gifts us gifts so that we can do things that we couldn't have imagined doing. (1Cor 12:11). Check out what he does for us:

• He is our Advocate that will always be with us (John 14:16).
• He will be there to lead us into truth, he will teach us and he will remind us of the things that Jesus already taught us (John 14:26).

 It was not intended for me to follow Jesus commands without any help. I need to be sure that I am as powerful as I can be by staying in the word each day and praying for God's direction in every detail of my life.

You might like to read: Commands of Jesus blog series.

Baptize My Disciples

Baptism is the second step in the great commission, but is it really that important?

 Matthew 28:19  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6:4-5  For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.  5  Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was. 

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You can easily see the importance of the first part of this well known verse, the command to go and make disciples, that is obviously important, but we may not consider the second part of this verse to be such a big deal. Why is it so important?

It is through baptism that we testify to the world that we were in need of getting cleaned up, it says that we have found the only way to get rid of the stain that sin has left on our soul, with baptism we acknowledge the fact that we cannot wash ourselves of our sin and that we needed someone else to take away the eternal penalty of our sin.

It is important to make it clear that baptism cannot make anyone right with God. It is only a testimony to the fact that I have already been cleansed and it tells my friends and neighbors that my life is now to be associated with my Savior who did the ultimate for me when I wasn't even his friend.

It tells everybody that for now on I have a new way of living that for now on I will be striving to look like my savior, selfless, kind, patient and all of those other traits that we have been commanded to live by.

It is an oath by which we renounce the world and the flesh, as rivals with God for the throne in our hearts; and an oath of allegiance by which we resign and give up ourselves to God, to be his, our own selves, our whole selves, body, soul, and spirit, to be governed by his will.

Help me to always live for you Lord. I want to always keep fresh in my mind that you gave it all so that I could have it all. Thank you for loving me to the extreme before I was even your friend.

You might like to read: Commands of Jesus blog series.

Feed My Sheep

The Good Shepherd gave us an assignment

John 21:15-16  After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these? " "Yes, Lord," Peter replied, "You know I love You." "Then feed My lambs," Jesus told him.

16  Jesus repeated the question: "Simon son of John, do you love Me?" "Yes, Lord," Peter said, "You know I love You." "Then take care of My sheep," Jesus said.

John 10:9-11  Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.

10  The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.  11  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices His life for the sheep.

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Lost animals are very sad to see, most of the time in our society we see lost dogs instead of lost sheep but the look is the same, they have a desperate look and seem about ready to panic.

Jesus saw the crowds of people that were under the care of the religious leaders and he had to sympathize with the lost sheep of Israel, they were desperate for a shepherd. They didn't have a leader that would tend to the flock and protect it, instead the religious leaders were exploiting the sheep and watching out for their own interest. (Matthew 9:36) 

Just before Jesus left this world he told those of us that are leaders in the church to be his hands and feet while he is gone. The Great Shepherd took care of his sheep, he laid down his life for the sheep and then after he rose from the dead he told us to carry on his work and feed, guide and protect his sheep until he returns.

1 Peter 5:2  Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly--not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

Jesus transferred the responsibility to us, I need to be found faithful to my duty and be a better shepherd than the ones that he found the last time he was here.

You might like to read: Commands of Jesus blog series.

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Watch and Pray

Jesus two step plan to keep us out of sin.

Matthew 26:41  Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!"

Ephesians 6:18  Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

James 1:14  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

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Jesus gives us the best strategy that we could possibly use to keep us from giving into temptation and he kept it simple too, that is important because we don't need a plan that is hard to implement when temptation is so easy to fall for, we have to have something that is very doable.

Step one: Keep watch
Remember that your body is so weak and that it is easily enticed by the desires of our sinful nature. We have to keep a constant guard up because we are just one stupid decision away from doing something that will haunt us for a very long time. One decision away from wrecking our family, our homes, our testimony. 

Step two: Pray
While it is good to be physically prepared and keep up your guard it is even more important to deploy the strategy of prayer to fight against the enemy. Jesus said that our spirit is willing but we have to overcome that weak body that is so ready to compromise. The only way to reinforce that wimpy body is to stay in prayer constantly, asking God to give us the strength and protection that we need everyday.

Lord Jesus thank you for providing a way out from every temptation. Help me to stay vigilant and praying at all times. I need to rely on you to help me to overcome.

You might like to read: Commands of Jesus blog series.

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