Published by admin on 15 Feb 2019 at 01:17 pm
FOLLOW ME
You know how I love to teach about healing, for it is part of our “benefits” package. But there’s something even more important than healing, and that is your soul. Healing is wonderful, but what good is a healed body if your soul is lost? Can you be healed even if you’re not saved? Sure you can, you see, that’s God’s “dinner bell”, how He says, “Come and get it!” And most unsaved people, once they’ve tasted the goodness of God, come running to Him to be saved. That’s why Psalm 103:2 says,”…and forget not all His benefits”. You can have them ALL…IF you follow Him.
Mark 8:29-38 says,
29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Take another look at verse 34, if you will. This was not just to the twelve disciples, but to the others following. “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Let him deny himself, his will, what HE wants to do, his thoughts, his opinions, set them aside and forsake them, and take up his cross. That means, in order to take up his cross, you must abandon everything else in your hands, to follow Him. Now that’s where we run into trouble. We may be willing to take up His cross, and follow Him, but we refuse to set down everything else that is near and dear to us. How can we carry our cross, with two armloads of our own baggage? Simple answer; we can’t.
Part of that baggage we carry is always our belief system. We have developed over time a specific set of beliefs, that is as individual as we are. There are no two of us alike, we have all experienced different things growing up, which have affected us differently. While ten people can experience the same exact thing, say a tour in a cave, for example, each will come away with something different from it. One may be thrilled by the adventure of seeing something they have never seen before. One may be frightened by the dark. One may be uncomfortable or claustrophobic in that confined space. Another may have a fear of being attacked by bats. Another will be awed by the sights of stalagmites and stalactites. Everyone comes away changed, but not changed in the same way.
God wants us to be of one faith in Him, not one person believing this way, and another that way. And the only way that is going to happen, is if we put aside what WE think it’s all about, and accept what GOD said it’s all about. And that’s part of the cross we take up; putting our individuality aside and taking up our place in Him as members of the Kingdom of God, as His precious children. When you have many teachers, you naturally have many opinions. With God, you have ONE teacher, and ONE opinion, His word is our law and our love. That’s where Lucifer messed up. He wasn’t willing to keep his place in God’s Kingdom where there was only ONE will being done, and that was the Father’s. No, Lucifer wanted to do his own thing, and there isn’t room in God’s Kingdom for another king.
In verse 36, Jesus asked, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? “ What shall it profit you, if you shall hold onto YOUR opinions of what you think His Word means, and live contrary to His will, and lose your own soul? You lose!
I’m just “another teacher” when it comes right down to it, and I’m expressing my beliefs, shaped by my own life experiences, and by the Word of God. I’m doing my best to put aside “MY” beliefs, so that I may teach HIS words. Could I be wrong sometimes? Yes, if I’m teaching MY will. But not if I’m expressing only HIS will. Jesus pointed out time and time again, His teachings were not His own, but those of His heavenly Father. That’s how Jesus did all His mighty works, by putting aside His own will, so that He could accurately reflect His Father to them.
Yet, let’s read what happened in Mark 6:1-6,
1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.
Exactly what was the problem here? They held to THEIR opinions, and not God’s. We all do that at times, and that’s the cause of many of our problems. I don’t care how faithfully someone may teach you the Word of God, if you refuse to come into unity with that Word, you will NOT receive the benefits thereof.
In John 6:11-12, Jesus told His disciples, 11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
REPENT?? OF WHAT??
Repent of thinking outside of the Word of God. In heaven, there is only ONE thing going on, and that is the will of God. All of heaven is united in that cause. The problem is, it doesn’t work that way on Earth. We have billions of people trying to do what they want to do, and most all of it is directly opposed to the Word of God. That’s exactly why Jesus said when someone asked, “Will there be few saved?” He said in Matthew 7:13-21,
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
So, do you want to make the Kingdom of God?
Then forget about YOUR will, YOUR opinions, and take upon you ONLY the Word of God, forsaking what the world is chasing after, and cleave unto your heavenly Father. Will it be hard, considering you will be fighting to go uphill in a downhill world? Sure, but the “benefits” are worth it. Don’t be deceived, there is only ONE way to the Father, and that’s by following Christ Jesus, every minute of every day for the rest of your life. Jesus made it simple for us, leaving only TWO words of instructions. It’s so simple even a child can understand. He said, FOLLOW ME.
Olinda West on 15 Feb 2019 at 4:20 pm #
Very well stated!
Lorie leahy on 15 Feb 2019 at 8:20 pm #
Thank you Jerry.