Tag Archives: Follow

The Secret to Life

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One of the relentless commands Jesus gives to His disciples in Gospel of John is this –  Follow Me.

Over, and over at the end of John He gives this command, they are leave behind all that have, all that they are, and they are to follow Him.  He has a plan, He has a purpose, He has a goal, He knows what He is going to accomplish in them, and through them.  Listen to what He says in John 21: 18-19:

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

secret-to-life-He is talking to Peter in this passage, and He tells him that He is to follow.  But, before, He tells Peter – it won’t always be easy.  There’s going to be some tough times, you will be lead to places that you don’t want to go, and have to do things that you don’t want to do, and yes, Peter, you will even die a way that you don’t want to die.

And it’s ok.

Because in all the places that Peter will go – it will glorify God.

You want to know the secret to life?  You want to know how to live a life, truly worth living, a life that is full, and abundant, and full of joy?  An amazing life?

The secret to life is to understand this.  It’s not about you.  It’s not about me.  It’s not about any of us.  It’s about God.  It’s about living for Him, His glory, His purpose, His plan.  That’s where life is found. That’s where purpose is found. That’s where it is all found.  Not in our stuff, but in His stuff.

And so Jesus tells Peter, it’s not going to always be easy.  Follow me anyway. Because when you follow me, you’ll actually find a life worth living.

That’s the secret to life.  To understand that it’s not about us; it’s about Him. When we understand that, then we actually, actually get to live. And that’s when the fun really starts!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

Follow Me

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Today I was blessed enough to be able to share with the First Priority at Petal Middle School. I want to share with you some of the words I shared with them.

I read from Matthew 4:18-22:

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

follow-meJesus sees Peter and Andrew and James and John, and this is His command to them. Follow me.  He doesn’t tell them where they are going.  He doesn’t go into great detail about what they will do and how they will do it.

He doesn’t answer any questions.

In fact, He doesn’t take any questions.  He simply says, Follow Me.

And they did. They followed Him. And they went all over the world, telling folks about Jesus.

That’s our call today. To follow Him.  Now following Him will look different for each of us. For some of us, that may me for the the first time placing our full faith in Him.

For others, it may mean entering into ministry.

For others, it may mean reading your bible more. Praying more.

For others, it may mean standing up for the little guy.

I don’t know what it means for you today.  But I do know this. Each of us, today, no matter where we are, that’s our command.  Follow Him.

Today, may we follow, wherever it is that He is leading!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What Will We Choose?

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Jesus lets us make choices. He respects our free will. He will call us. He will let us answer. And He will let us make the choice that we make.

Today in the text we read, we see how Jesus lets us make choices each day.  Listen to what happens in Luke 9:57-62:

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

In this text, we see three different people have a conversation about following Him. The first tells Jesus that he will follow Him. Jesus says that in following Him, this man will have to make some real sacrifices. Now scripture does not say, but is implied that he didn’t follow.

Two others are given the chance to follow, but each comes up with a reason or an excuse that he cannot follow. There is a reason why they cannot follow.

And what does Jesus do? He lets them make that choice. He lets them decide what they want to do. He lets them live with choices that they make.

He doesn’t chase them down. He doesn’t make them follow Him. He doesn’t force them into a relationship with Him. He lets them choose. He lets them decide.

And He lets them live with the consequences of that choice.

Today, Jesus is calling you. He’s calling you to love Him, follow Him, serve Him, and serve others. He is calling you today. He wants to know Him.

He wants you to make that choice.

But, He will respect your choice. He will not force you. He will let you choose.

Today, what will you choose? Will you choose to follow? Or will you not. Will you choose to follow Jesus in each moment of your life today? Or will you choose to say no and follow you own will and own way.

Today, we have choices to make. What will we choose?

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Choices

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Today is a day of choices.  What will eat for breakfast? Will I drink two pots of coffee, or just one?  Will I wake up my children while sleeping to annoy Holly, or not?  (I will not)

What will I choose to do?  How will I choose to live?

Who will I choose to serve?

The book of Joshua ends with this scene of choices.  Will the people choose to serve God, or will the choose to serve false idols. What will they do?

Joshua had already given them a choice and said that he and his family would serve the Lord, no matter what the others will do.

And then he laid it for people – choose. What will you do.  The people responded in Joshua 27:

21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the LORD!” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

Joshua says, if you are going to choose to serve God, you must do two things.

First put aways those false gods.  Put away those things that draw you away from God.  Put away those things that keep you from serving and following.  Put them away.

If I want to follow God, I mean, really follow God, then I need to put away things that keep from following.

Today, what in your life keeps you from following?  What is it in your life that keeps you from following God as you should?

And the second thing is incline your heart to God.  Spend time with God, listen to  His voice through prayer and scripture. Seek Him.  Walk with Him.

What will we choose today?  How will we choose to live? What will we choose today?  Will we choose to follow?  Or will we not? The choice in our hands.