There is a war going on in Israel.
I support Israel.
My supporting Israel has nothing to do with intelligence, common sense etc.
That is simple obedience.
I stand where God stands.
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| God bless Israel |
So what does it mean to follow Jesus?
It means to do what God is asking you to do.
Not just as a people, organization or family.
It is doing what God has asked of you individually.
Unapologetically.
Illustration 1
I know Moses looked as if he had missed his way living in the desert for 40 years with his father-in-law.
But one day,
A burning bush that refused to be consumed appeared before Moses and spoke to him.
The people speculating and talking endlessly have not heard from God.
They speak from sight. They have not inquired from God on the matter. No one is that important to another human being.
But God considers you important.
He will speak soon. So if you are waiting on the Lord and on His promise in the back water with your father-in-law Jethro. You will see your 'burning bush' soon and God will give you your marching orders.
Illustration 2:
Joseph must have looked like a lost cause while he waited and was being processed in the prison.
His brothers were so jealous of him, and his dream, and his coat of many colors. So they sold him as a female slave to communicate to him what they thought of him.
Worthless, they said and communicated via their actions.
Looking at it from a natural POV, maybe the brothers were right. Just as he was about to make it as a big boy in Potiphar's house, Potiphar's wife set a trap for him.
Serves you right for thinking you can do things the right way in this world. You are going to pass the same road as us, she thought. Stop thinking you are better than us.
A little sin here and there won't hurt. Just play ball with us. But Joseph was too stubborn for the world system. Now he's in jail and he has ended here.
Or so the world system thought.
If you can't beat them, join them. But Joseph has refused so he is going to rot in jail. Or so he thought.
I mean, the butler and the baker are not special men and God is sending dreams, answering prayers and letting people know what will become of them.
If Joseph is so special, where is his dream? Where is his answer? Why won't God speak?
Glory to the God who does not let the enemy have the last word.
Time passed and God sent a dream that only Joseph could interpret. If you are a 'Joseph' and you think that God has forgotten you, He has not.
He is sending a dream to your 'Pharaoh of Egypt'. He will give him a dream only you can interpret and problems in the nation only you can solve by the mastery and the wisdom of God.
Stay trusting him. Your God is faithful.
Illustration 3
Maybe you are Tamar and have faced much injustice in a world that is used to crushing the weak. God sees you.
He will send you strategy.
He saw what Er did.
He saw what Onan did.
He saw what Cain did in the desert when he thought no one would see.
You don't serve a political God. You serve a real one and He is King of the whole world.
He is the sovereign One.
He still sees, hears and captures your tears.
There is no one like my God, He knows how to carry out vengeance without needing the hand of anyone in your immediate space.
If He has to send a man, He will send one.
If He has to send an angel, He will send one.
If He has to send provision, healing, deliverance, victory. He will send it and He will send it one time.
He is just.
He is the only justice some will ever see on this earth.
Trust Him.
I pray you trust Him.
I pray you call out to Him.
I pray you reach out to Him.
I hope you can call Him Yahweh.
He hears and He responds.
The God of my salvation.
So what is following Jesus?
It could be serving God in your local church.
It could be serving God in your prison. It could be serving your family.
Following God is obeying the specific instructions that God has given you.
Some say, you did not hear God for simple things, you want to hear Him for a calling...
Hearing God is very important.
Why would you not hear God?
Hearing God from the day I gave my life to Christ has saved me from many obstacles.
One day, I was told God does not speak anymore.
As I searched the scriptures, I discovered otherwise.
I chose the word of God above the word of man.
Rebecca inquired of the Lord about the two nations in her womb.
David inquired of the Lord when he wanted to do anything.
Absolutely anything.
Abraham built an altar unto God and asked him for stuff.
How can you be a child of God and not be talking to your Father, the one who plotted how to save you by sending His son to die for you on the cross?
Is His sacrifice not enough?
If you want more, ask.
There is nothing greater than the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Okay. Maybe His resurrection is greater.
Our invitation to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus comes from His resurrection.
What glorious things!
One important thing: Accept His sacrifice. Accept His resurrection. Maintain your position in Christ Jesus.
Stay seated in Christ Jesus.
Back to following Jesus...
Until you know you are saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, you can't follow Jesus.
When you are following Jesus, you do not need anyone to tell you, it is intentional.
You carried out certain actions.
You gave consent to Jesus.
Be my Lord.
Then you gave consent to Holy Spirit.
Baptize me.
Direct me.
Lead me.
Protect me.
In the light of the above, you will know when you are playing church and ticking the boxes without being personally involved.
When you are playing church and have no vital relationship with God, you also know.
You do not need anyone to tell you.
Religion is dead.
It produces nothing
Salvation is a life thing.
Eternal life is tangible.
The presence of God or the presence of Holy Spirit is tangible.
Unbelievers come in and they can feel Him.
The peace in the atmosphere is tangible.
They know when God is in the room.
How dare you, a believer, claim to not know when God is in the room?
What could make you so spiritually insensitive?
You can tell.
Your spirit knows when you really care what God things.
And when you could not care less.
Matthew 16: 24-25
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
This space between knowing, being robotic, and doing right, or doing wrong, this is the place where you determine if you inherit the blessing or not.
Take up your cross and follow Christ. Do whatever He says. Move out of lethargy, fear, procrastination or just going through the motions.
It is a tough decision.
It is a hard decision.
It is a decision a believer in Christ Jesus and His word and His Holy Spirit must make over and over again.
God is the one holding you accountable when you decide to follow.
When you stop following Him and start going through the motions, living from Sunday to Sunday, He knows too.
Going through the motions is also different from being in the flow, being a part of the rhythms of grace.
Going through the motions is dead religion.
You silence the Spirit of God so you can carry out your list of tasks that you choose is more important than obedience.
When the anointing or the touch of God is not on your words, actions or life, you can tell.
- Salvation demands responsibility.
- You choose to be saved.
- You choose to be healed.
- You choose to be delivered.
- You choose to walk in purpose.
- You choose to obey God.
- You choose to follow Him.
- You choose to say yes to Him and not to the world.
- By words
- By thoughts
- By actions.
What does God think of you based on the ways you act in your secret place in your hidden place?
You need to make your decisions and follow through with them.
This is what determines if your relationship with God is a vital one or one where there are no conversations.
When it comes to relationships, conversation or communication is a huge part of it.
God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. No one deceives Him. No one surprises Him.
Be bold to do what God is saying to you.
Ignore the crowd or the mob.
You get blessed for doing what God says, not obeying the crowd or mob.
Stand up to be counted.
Pray and hear from God on the mandate He has for your life. Then receive the grace and the empowerment to do it.
God backs only what is true.
Spend time in His presence to hear Him clearly.
He is Lord everyday, and everywhere.
Dear Lord,
Let Your kingdom come.
Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus name, amen.
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