Come, Follow Me

Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 6:58 a.m. – The song, “Our Awesome God,” was playing in my mind when I woke up this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Mark 1:14-20; 2:13-17 for my quiet time with the Lord.

The Calling of the First Disciples

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

The Calling of Levi

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

My Understanding: What does it mean to follow Jesus? The crowds physically followed him around from place to place because of his miracles and because he was healing their sick, but did that mean they were truly followers of Jesus Christ? Some were, perhaps, and some were not. I believe the Lord Jesus would have me examine this morning what it means to truly be a follower of Jesus Christ. I pray he will speak His words to my heart and that he will teach me more of what it means to follow him wherever he leads me.

Believe the Good News

To be a follower of Jesus Christ means that we repent of our sins and we believe the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. To repent of our sins means that we are not only sorry that we have sinned and we recognize that we need a Savior, but it means that we are sorrowful and we grieve over our sins to the point to where we want sin to no longer be a part of our lives. We shut the door to our pasts. And, we make a conscious choice of the will to leave our sins behind us, following Jesus in his death and burial. We now choose to go in the opposite direction of what we had been going, when sin had ruled our lives, and we now choose to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to go where he leads us, do what he says to do, and allow him to transform our hearts and to make us completely new.

To believe the good news of the gospel, we need to know what the good news is. Jesus Christ, God the Son, left heaven, he came to earth, he took on human flesh, he suffered as we suffer and was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, so that he could become our faithful and compassionate high priest who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses. Then, he was crucified on a cross, taking upon himself the sins of the world, he was buried and our sins were buried with him, then he rose from the dead, triumphing over hell, Satan, death and sin so that we could be free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternity in hell) and so we could be free from the control of sin over our day-to-day lives. Not only did he come to set us free from sin, but he set us free to walk in victory with him, in fellowship and obedience with him daily, by faith, and in his power and strength in overcoming the flesh.

So, when we believe the good news, we not only intellectually and/or emotionally believe that Jesus did all of that for us, but with our whole hearts we commit ourselves to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we walk away from our lives of sin, and we walk in freedom from sin and in freedom to obey our Lord Jesus Christ in all things.

Come, Follow Me

The disciples that Jesus called, as recorded in these passages of scripture, immediately followed Jesus. Simon and his brother Andrew “at once” left their nets and followed him. James and his brother John left their father in the boat with the hired men and followed Jesus. When Jesus told Levi to follow him, he got up and followed Jesus Christ. All of these men were immediate in their responses to follow Jesus Christ. There was no hesitation on their parts. They did not ask for a delay of time. They did not try to hold on to their past lives, asking to hang out with Jesus just on the weekends. They left everything – family, home, careers, friends, security, and the known to go with someone they did not really know and to go somewhere they had not been before; to venture out into the unknown.

Many so called followers of Jesus Christ are more like the curious crowds who follow Jesus when it fits with their schedules or when it gets them something they want, but they can always go home afterwards. And, if they don’t like the messages, they can leave, which is what many of Jesus’ followers did when the preaching got too hard for them to accept. Yet, what Jesus is looking for are those who will leave everything to follow him. This does not mean we necessarily literally leave our homes, families, friends, etc., though we may be called to do that. Obviously this is not calling for splits of marriages or neglect of small children. God will not call us to do something contrary to his will and character. Yet, what it does mean is that we give our entire lives to Jesus Christ, leaving our sins behind, and we live each day in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking his will and purposes for our lives, asking him to lead us, guide us, teach us and to show us what he wants for our lives.

I think many people approach faith in Jesus Christ much like an illustration God has given to me before. As sinners, apart from faith in Christ, we are bound for hell, so we are much like someone trapped inside a burning building. The fireman, Jesus Christ, has come to the rescue. He is standing outside the burning building (our sinful lives) with his safety net (the salvation he provided for us through his death and resurrection), and all we have to do is to jump, which means total commitment. Yet, many want Jesus to come inside the building, which means to invite Jesus inside lives that are still given over to sin, while others try to hang on to the building while stretching down to the safety net, not willing to let go of the building, and still others want to slowly crawl down toward the safety net, thinking they can work their way toward salvation or that they can accept Jesus in increments. Yet, all three of these approaches end with the same result – burning up with the building. The only way to safety is to let go and to jump into Jesus’ safety net. True faith is just like that.

Fishers of Men

Jesus told Simon and Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” These men had been career fishermen, fishing for fish, obviously. Now Jesus told them if they would follow him, he would make them “fishers of men.” When we truly follow Jesus Christ in total commitment and surrender, leaving our lives of sin behind us, walking with our Lord daily in fellowship, communion and obedience to him, he will use us in the lives of others to share with them the love of Jesus Christ and to share the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that others may come to know Christ, too.

When we are excited about someone or something, we tell our friends. When we get something new that we really like, we post it on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or we email, text, chat or call up our friends and family members or we get together with them in person and we invite them over to show them our new whatever we are so excited about, don’t we? We cheer at ball games, movies, games, TV shows, etc., sometimes very loudly. We wear t-shirts and sweatshirts with the insignia of our favorite sports teams, because we want to declare our loyalty and devotion to our favorite teams. We fly our American flags, and we put bumper stickers on our cars with our favored political candidates, etc. We do all this because we want to share with others our excitement and our joy over the things that we love. So, do we do this with Jesus?

Is Jesus foremost in our conversations? Do we tell others about him with the same excitement we have over a new car? - Or a new computer? - Or over our sports team winning a championship? All these things of this earth are going to perish. They are all temporary. Jesus called us to make us fishers of men so that others may also know Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ saved us from our sins. That should be the most exciting thing to tell of everything we talk about. May we follow him truly and may we allow him to make us fishers of men rather than us telling people about everything temporal and leaving out the most important message they will ever hear in their lives – the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who loved us, who gave himself up for us, and who asks that we give our entire lives to him, fully surrendered in complete obedience, and we then become fishers of men.

Our Awesome God / An Original Work / May 25, 2011

I praise and adore You, Father,
I worship and praise You, Lord.
You are such an awesome God,
Who loves us so much, You implore
Us to follow You each moment
Of the days we have on earth,
So that we might live forever
With You, ‘cause of our new birth.

I praise and adore You, Jesus.
You died on a cruel tree,
So that we might be forgiven
Of our sins; You set us free
To love and obey You only,
While we bow on bended knee,
As we humbly walk before You,
Serving freely; You to please.

I praise and adore You, Spirit,
You came in to live with me.
Jesus sent You to abide
Within us, and our comfort be.
You guide and direct and counsel
Us in all of our God’s ways,
So that we can live for Jesus,
To follow Him all our days.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to Song

What Blessed Communion

What Blessed Communion / An Original Work / July 11, 2011

Oh, what sweet and blessed communion
With our Lord is ours to share
When we sit at Jesus’ table,
Share His cup and eat the bread.
Sit at His feet, hear what He says,
Listen to each word He speaks;
Harken to obey His teachings;
Meet with Him throughout the week.

Oh, what grace he gives unto us
When we come to Him in faith;
Believe in His precious promise;
Free from our sins; saved by grace.
Turn from our sins; turn to our God;
Commit all our ways to Him.
Choose to live for Him each moment;
Daily cleansing us from sin.

Oh, what love He has for us that
He would die a cruel death,
So that we could be forgiven
Of our sins and live instead.
Walk with Jesus; serve Him only
As our Lord, God, priest and King.
Abide with Him; His word in us;
Bearing fruit, our offering.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to Song

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:5-8).

God's Great Commands

God’s Great Commands / An Original Work / July 10, 2011

Loving God and loving others
Are the Lord God’s great commands.
On these rest all of the others;
Live by them and you’ll not fail.
Be a witness, share the gospel,
Be a light in this dark world.
Share the love of Jesus always
To a world who has not heard.

Serving others; be like Jesus;
Wash their feet and pray with them.
Be a healer; mend their hurts and
Show them how to turn from sin.
Be a living example of
How to live for Jesus Christ,
Walking with Him in His footsteps,
Leading others to new life.

Give to God and give to others
Of yourselves in ev’ry way.
Obey your Lord, do His bidding;
Bow your knees and humbly pray.
Pray for others to know Jesus.
Tell how they can be set free
Of their sins and live for Jesus;
Walk with Him eternally.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to Song

Our Walk with Jesus

Sunday, July 10, 2011, 6:58 a.m. – The song, “Walking with Jesus,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. As I read through the words of the song and then I read Matthew 26-28 concerning Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection and commission to his disciples, the Lord helped me see many parallels between the lyrics to the song and the Biblical account of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. As I read this account of the end of Jesus’ life on the earth, and as I read again the lyrics to this song, I also saw how these passages of scripture in Matthew described, to some extent, what it means to walk with Jesus, so I believe that is what the Lord Jesus would have me examine Biblically today.

Walking with Jesus / An Original Work / May 4, 2011

When you walk with Jesus only,
And you spend your days with Him,
He becomes your dearest friend,
And your desire’s to be with Him.

Sitting with him at his table,
As He breaks the bread with you,
Oh, what sweet and blessed communion,
As He comes and sups with you.

Living for Him, oh, what glory,
Walking daily in His truth;
Leading others to adore Him
Is what He desires of you.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

https://sites.google.com/site/psalmshymnssongs/home/songs/walking-with-jesus

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 26-28 (quoting 26:17-30):

The Lord’s Supper
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
18 He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”

22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”

23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Philippians 3:10-11 says: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Galatians 2:20 says: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Romans 6:5-7 says: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

My Understanding: When we come into relationship with Jesus Christ by his grace and through faith in Him as Savior and Lord of our lives, via turning from our sin and turning to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, our old lives are crucified with Christ, and we are raised to walk with Christ in a completely new life, given to us of the Spirit of God. When Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, which this act of taking communion symbolizes, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world. Our sins died with him, and were buried with him. Then he rose from the dead, triumphing over our sins so that we could be free from the penalty, bondage to and the control of sin over our day-to-day lives. So, when we come into relationship with Jesus Christ, we also die to our sins, we bury them with him, leaving them behind. Then, we are raised with Christ to live and to walk with him in completely new lives, free from the control of sin, and now we are slaves, instead, to righteousness. Our physical baptism symbolizes this death to sin and to our old lives, the burial of our sins, and this resurrection to new life in Christ Jesus where we no longer live, but Christ lives in us.

This is how our walk with Jesus Christ begins. We cannot walk with him in that sweet communion daily if we have not first of all come to his cross and crucified our sins and our fleshly desires and appetites, and only after we have made a commitment to walk with him in faith and obedience, to what extent we understand of what that means at that time. Our daily lives are a continual renewal of that commitment, as we must choose daily to die to our sins and to walk in newness of life in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. Jesus told us that if we want to follow him we must deny ourselves (our flesh nature) and we must take up our cross DAILY and follow him, for whoever wants to save his life (his old life) will lose it (for eternity), but whoever loses his life (crucifies the flesh) for Christ’s sake will find it (eternal life with God beginning right now). He also tells us that we must remain in him and his words must remain (continue; endure; persist) in us so that we can bear much fruit, thus showing ourselves to be his true disciples (see Luke 9:23-25 and John 15:1-17).

To walk with someone means to be alongside them in whatever they are going through, to feel what they feel, to share their burdens, their joys, etc. To walk with Jesus Christ means the same thing. It begins with our death and new lives, and then with the understanding that walking with Jesus Christ means to walk where he walked, to experience what he experienced, as much as is possible, and to share in the fellowship of his sufferings, his victories, his joys, etc. When Jesus walked the earth, he healed the sick, he bound up the injured, he brought back the strays, he preached the “Good News”, he confronted sin in people’s lives, but he also gave them a message of hope and healing, he ministered to people’s needs, but he also spoke hard truths that many rejected. Some loved him and others hated him. Some were jealous of him and made it their goal to try to destroy him. They thought they were successful when they crucified him on the cross, but he came back to life, and he was victorious over their attempts to try to end his life, because he is God.

So, to walk with Jesus Christ means that we should do the same (or similar) things as Jesus did. We should care about the hurting, the lonely, the forsaken, the sinful, the wayward, the accused, the frustrated, the wicked, the sick and afflicted, etc., and we should meet them in their need as the Lord Jesus gives us opportunity to do so. As well, we should offer them the hope of salvation and of eternal life with Jesus Christ by sharing with them the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. We are offering no hope and no healing when we short-circuit the gospel message and we try to water it down to where we leave out words such as sin, repentance and obedience and where we give people a false hope of eternal life with God. We are offering no message of consolation and comfort if we leave people in their sins and we do nothing to let them know that Jesus came to set them free. Walking with Jesus Christ means following in his footsteps, following his example, and allowing him to continue his ministry through our lives. If we are truly following Jesus Christ and are walking with him in his footsteps, then we should also share in his victories, joys, sorrows, grief, suffering and death.

Jesus Christ had many followers, yet when his teaching became tougher, many deserted him. When we teach the hard truths of the word of God, many of our friends and companions may desert us, as well. His closest friends and companions all fled when he was going through his worst suffering of all. When we are going through times of great difficulty, some of our closest friends may bail, as well. One of his closest friends betrayed him. Some of ours may betray us, too. One of his closest companions denied him three times, even vehemently. Some of our friends, companions or even family members may find us to be an embarrassment to them or they might fear that association with us might get them rejected, too, and so they may deny us and their relationship with us in many ways. Jesus asked his disciples, who were his closest friends, to keep watch with him and to pray with him when he was struggling emotionally with the thought of what he knew was coming next – his crucifixion – and yet they kept falling asleep. Many of our friends and brothers and sisters in Christ may forget about us, too, in our times of greatest need, because they are not really sensitive to what is going on in our lives.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day arrested him, accused him falsely, incited the crowd against him, spit on him, mocked him, struck him with their fists, slapped him, flogged him, stripped him of his clothing and his dignity, a crown of thorns was placed upon his head, they despised and rejected him, hurled insults at him, and then they crucified him. We, as well, may face such persecution even to the point of dying a literal death for our faith in Jesus Christ, and even at the hands of the religious leaders of our day. We may experience this in the physical realm, as did Jesus, and/or we may face this same kind of treatment, only more from people’s words, attitudes and behavior toward us in a more social realm. All of this goes along with walking with Jesus, too.

The song ends with “leading others to adore Him is what he desires of you.” And, Matthew 28 ends with Jesus giving his disciples his final instructions to them before he left this earth.

Jesus told them to: 1. Go, 2. Make disciples (followers of Jesus Christ), 3. Baptize (symbolizes repentance - our death to old life, burial of our sins, and resurrection to new life in Christ Jesus), and 4. Teach them to obey all that Jesus Christ commanded when he was on the earth. So, walking with Jesus Christ and leading others to adore Him means that we go to the people, we disciple them into a walk of faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, we baptize and we teach the meaning of baptism, which is death to our old lives (repentance), and we teach them to obey (obedience) all that Jesus Christ commanded.

We cannot adore Jesus Christ if we are still living in our sins and we are still walking according to the flesh and to our own fleshly desires. We cannot have sweet communion with him if we are not abiding and remaining in him daily and if we are not daily taking up our crosses to follow him. This kind of sweet fellowship with Christ Jesus, our Lord, begins at the cross and continues at the cross as we die daily to our flesh and we live by faith in Jesus Christ with his Spirit living within us and out through us as we walk the walk that Jesus walked in our daily lives.

Good and Faithful Servants

Saturday, July 09, 2011, 7:57 a.m. – The song, “Jesus Paid it All,” was playing in my mind this morning when I woke up. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 25 (quoting vv 14-30):

The Parable of the Talents
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

My Understanding: Matthew 25 contains three messages: 1. The Parable of the Ten Virgins, 2. The Parable of the Talents, and 3. The Sheep and the Goats. All three stories share a common thematic element. They all have to do with the choices we make in life, with how we live our lives while we are on the face of the earth, and with eternal judgment at the end of time when Jesus returns for his bride and we receive our rewards.

The story of the ten virgins depicts two groups of people – those who are prepared and are ready to meet the Lord when he returns and those who are not. Though this second set of virgins may have had the appearance of being ready, or they thought they were ready, they, in reality, never made the appropriate preparation for their husband and his coming kingdom, and so, when he came to get them and found them not ready, he shut the door. When they tried to get him to open the door for them, he said, “I never knew you.” So, the lesson to be learned from this is to be prepared and to keep watch.

In the story of the sheep and the goats, it tells us of Jesus’ coming kingdom when he comes to judge and to receive his bride. He will separate the people as a shepherd separates sheep and goats. In other words, there are two divisions of people in all three of these messages – those who have genuinely believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and those who have not truly believed, although they may have had an appearance of faith or they may have believed in a false gospel and thought they were saved when they were not.

In the story of the sheep and goats, Jesus illustrates what it means to be in genuine relationship with him – whatever we do for our brothers and sisters in Christ, it is as though we do it for Christ. Jesus expects that we will minister to the needs of his saints and all mankind in a manner as though we are doing it for Jesus. Those who demonstrated genuine love and compassion for their fellow Christians and for mankind were blessed by God and received an eternal inheritance. Those who saw the needs of their fellow man and yet did nothing to help them were cursed by God and told to depart from Jesus’ presence. These would go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous – those who ministered to the needs of others – would go to eternal life.

In the parable of the talents, a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted his property to them. Talents were units of money, yet the idea is much broader than just our stewardship with our finances. Property is “something of value that is owned; the right to own, possess, or use something; and/or a characteristic quality or distinctive feature of something” (Encarta). God owns everything, so if he has entrusted us with his property, that includes everything from land, people, money, jobs, houses, time, talents, spiritual gifts, resources of various kinds, family, health, etc. Most importantly of all, when we invite Jesus Christ into our lives to be our Lord and Savior, he is entrusting us with his Son and with his salvation, including with the gospel message, which we are to give out.

One servant multiplied his five talents and gained five more. Another servant multiplied his two talents and gained two more. To both of these servants the man said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Yet, the third servant took his one talent and he buried it in the ground, and offered some kind of flimsy excuse for his actions. The man said to him, “You wicked, lazy servant!” Then, the man took the talent from the man who had buried his talent and gave it to the one who had ten talents. And, the man commanded that the wicked and lazy servant be thrown “outside into darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus told these stories because he wanted those who would believe in him to understand the cost of following Jesus Christ. So many preachers and teachers of the word today are giving out a false gospel message that says that we don’t have to repent and we don’t have to obey and that God will be pleased with us no matter what we do, but that all we have to do is “believe.” These three stories alone blow that false gospel message out of the water. Jesus is talking about his eternal kingdom. He is letting those who would profess faith in him know what it means to truly believe and to truly be a follower of Jesus Christ.

To be a follower of Jesus Christ means that we are faithful with what God has entrusted in our care and that we treat others in a way fitting with how we should treat Jesus Christ, and, in fact he says that what we do to or for others we are doing it as though we were literally doing it for him. As well, it means making the appropriate preparations. We cannot pray some prayer to receive Jesus Christ and expect to have our free ticket into heaven if we are not willing to go the distance with Jesus Christ and to truly follow him in all things.

This is not works-based salvation. This is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we cooperate with that work. And, it is the proof that true faith actually exists within our lives (See the books of James and I John). Repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are essential in genuine believing faith. A life lived out in faith in action is also essential to true faith in Jesus Christ. This does not mean we will live in sinless perfection or that we won’t have highs and lows. God knows each one of our hearts and only he can be the judge of our hearts. Yet, if we go into faith with the Lord Jesus with the attitude that he does it all and that nothing is required of us, then we need to stop reading books written by men and we need to go back and read the scriptures, because the word of God tells a different story.

So, if you are reading this and you have bought into the lie that you can “believe” in Jesus without it costing you your life, then please go back and read the scriptures, especially the teachings of Jesus and the apostles and the books of James and I John. Jesus taught that if anyone was to come after him and to be his follower he must die to himself and he must put aside his own selfish will and desires and he must be willing to follow the Lord Jesus Christ wherever he leads him. We can’t bear fruit in keeping with repentance and true faith in Jesus Christ if we have not died with Christ to our old way of lives, if we have not buried our sins with Christ, and then risen with Christ victorious over sin and death. Believing in Jesus Christ is a radical transformation of our lives. It is not cleaning up our old lives so we become nicer and better people. It means that our old selves die and we become completely new individuals who are sold out to following Jesus Christ wherever he leads us. So, if you have not done so, I pray you will turn from your sin and that you will turn to walk in fellowship and obedience to Jesus Christ today so that when he returns you will be among those to whom Jesus says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Jesus Paid It All / Elvina M. Hall / John T. Grape
… your sins… they shall be as white as snow… Isaiah 1:18

I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”

For nothing good have I whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white in the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him my robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side, I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots and melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed my ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,” shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down all down at Jesus’ feet.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Oh, What Joy!

Oh, What Joy! / An Original Work / July 8, 2011

Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace
There will be when Christ you meet.
Oh, what love He imparts,
When Christ comes within your heart –
Saving you from all your sins;
Holy Spirit, now within,
Teaching, guiding you each day,
As you bow your knees and pray.
Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace
When you sit at Jesus’ feet,
List’ning to your Lord speak;
Obey Him throughout the week.

Oh, what grace He provides;
From our past we step aside;
Turn from sin; cleansed within;
Walking with Christ; died with Him.
He paid the price for our sins,
So our new lives we begin,
Living for Him ev’ry day,
Doing all that He did say.
Oh, what grace He provides
When we walk at Jesus’ side;
Follow Him where He leads,
Loving others; their needs meet.

Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace
When Christ Jesus soon we meet.
He will come in the sky
To take home with Him, His bride.
We are waiting His return.
For our Savior, our hearts yearn.
We keep watch in how we live.
To our Lord, our hearts we give.
Oh, what joy! Oh, what peace;
Live with Christ eternally!
Reign with Him; His kingdom;
We will be forever Home.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to Song

“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other” (Matt 24:30-31).

Few are Chosen

Thursday, July 07, 2011, 6:30 a.m. – The song, “When I’m With You,” was playing in my mind when I awoke this morning. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011

When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me

Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.

Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song

I read Matthew 21:28-32 and Matthew 22:1-14 for my time with the Lord:

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

My Understanding: Two sons. One said “yes.” One said “no.” The one who initially said “no” changed his mind and did what the father asked. The one who initially said “yes” did not follow through on what he said he would do. Jesus asked, “Which one did what the father wanted? The obvious answer was that it was the one who said “no” but changed his mind and later obeyed. Jesus used this parable to illustrate how many Jews had professed belief in God the Father and had thus said “yes” to God, at least with their voices or minds, yet they failed to follow through on their verbal and/or public commitment to God, especially with regard to accepting Jesus Christ as God’s son and as their promised Messiah. Yet, many of those who were outside of faith in God (non-Jews), and were living what we might consider to be really sinful lifestyles, heard the gospel, believed and were saved. Even after the Jews saw the faith in Jesus Christ of the non-Jews, and even after John the Baptist came to show them the way of righteousness, still they did not repent and believe in Jesus.

This describes many professing Christians today, as well. Many have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord but have not followed through with the commitment they had made to turn from their sin and to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ. Many more never made such commitments in the first place because they believed a false gospel which teaches that repentance and obedience are not necessary for salvation. So, their “yes” to Jesus was made under false assumptions. Either way, many of these who have said “yes” to Jesus Christ for him to provide them with salvation from sin have never turned from their sins and have not walked in obedience to Jesus Christ. Many of these have lived religious lives, have faithfully attended and served in church, and have done things in the name of the Lord, but they did not repent of their sins and they did not follow Jesus Christ in obedience where he would lead them. God has sent many messengers to show them the way of repentance and of true faith in Jesus Christ, but they still have not repented. Yet, many who had no pretense of Christianity at all have turned, have believed and are saved.

The parable of the wedding banquet follows along similar lines of thought. The king is God the Father and his Son is Jesus Christ, God the Son. The wedding banquet is that of the bride of Christ, his true church, with their Savior and husband, Jesus Christ, when he returns for them one day. Jesus was speaking of the Jews who had been invited but who refused to come, yet many people today have been invited through Jesus’ death and resurrection, crucifying our sins, burying them, and then triumphing over them so that we could be set free from our sins – from the ultimate penalty of sin and from the control of sin over our day-to-day lives. Many think they have accepted his invitation to come to faith in Jesus Christ because they joined a church or because they prayed a sinner’s prayer at an altar or were baptized, but true faith in Jesus Christ is coupled with repentance and obedience, so if we say we believe and yet we refuse to turn from our sins and to obey the Lord, then it is the same as refusing his invitation to come to the wedding banquet.

God is sending out his messengers and servants to call those invited guests to come to the wedding banquet, i.e. he is using his servants and messengers to speak to those who have been called to faith in Jesus Christ and to ask them to repent of their sins and to walk humbly in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, yet many are not paying attention and are just going about their daily business as though the messengers are just religious fanatics and not worthy of their time or regard. These professing Christians think they have their ticket to heaven and so they are not the least bit concerned about their salvation or how their life choices might affect the outcome of their future and their eternity with or without God. They figure they “believe” and so are eternally secure and thus obedience and repentance are more something they can do or not do and still be in a right relationship with God, and they think that God is still pleased with them. They need to read the scriptures, because that is not what Jesus taught and it is not what the apostles taught.

So, since those invited guests did not come, i.e. the institutional church turned away many of God’s messengers, the Lord has asked his servants to go out into the highways and byways of life and to invite anyone who will listen, i.e. he is sending his servants out into the world to invite the world because those who initially said “yes” did not follow through with their commitment and now their eyes are blinded and their ears closed and they are refusing to listen and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. So, forced out of the church, many of these servants and witnesses are sharing the messages out where people will listen.

I am not certain who “the man” represents, but he obviously represents someone who was invited and who showed up, thinking that he had made the necessary preparations, only to learn that he did not have the appropriate attire, i.e. he was not dressed in wedding clothes. This could be a picture of the church today with so many people inside in appearance only but who are not genuinely saved and thus are not fitted with the proper attire for entrance into God’s eternal kingdom. To me, this is a warning that we need to make sure we are in a right relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to ask ourselves, “Have we repented of our sins? Have we had a radical transformation of our lives to where we left our old lives behind and have been changed into someone else?” Some of us may have believed in Jesus Christ as children and so we didn’t have a big, huge change, but there should have been a change of mind, heart, attitude and behavior that took place when we believed in Jesus Christ, which has continued throughout our Christian lives, though not in sinless perfection.

You don’t want to be the one who thinks he is going to heaven only to find out he is not, so I pray that you will make sure today that you have turned from your sin and that you are walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, because one day he will return for his bride.

In That Day / An Original Work / May 21, 2011

Based off of Isaiah 12

In that day you will say: “I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were angry; anger’s turned away.
God is my salvation; I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, my strength; the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my salvation; Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll draw water from salvation’s wells.

In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His holy name; make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s exalted. Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is glorious; make this known to all.
Shout aloud; sing for joy, people of Zion;
Great is the Holy One, who among us dwells.”

Song Lyrics @ Public Domain

Link to song