09/17/2019
We are starting a new study, "Crossing the Waters" by Leslie Leyland Fields in our Wednesday night Bible study. If you missed us last Wednesday, don't worry! We actually will watch the first video this next week. As I was looking at and preparing for our first session, I found something that Leslie wrote immediately spoke to me. She said, "It is possible to think we are following Jesus when we are not.”
Of course, we all know people who think they are following Jesus, or are pretending to follow Jesus, but their lives may tell a different story. Rather than answering what it might look like for someone to think they are following Jesus, when they aren't, let's look at what it actually means to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus means responding when He calls us to repentance and reconciliation. This repentance should lead us to an awakening of God's grace in our lives and should lead us to want to live in and for Him. It should bring a profound and transforming change in how we live.
Following Jesus is not just understanding His Word but also obeying His commands, and imitating His life. Obedience and imitation will sustain us through every circumstance, situation, temptation, and trial. When we imitate Jesus, we become a humble servant who puts others before ourselves. We depend on Jesus just as He depended on His Father. We trust Jesus like He trusted His Father, and we obey Jesus just as He obeyed His Father. Jesus showed the ultimate trust and obedience to God when He went to the cross for our sins.
Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that "it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]" (AMP).
James Chapter 2 tells us that faith without works is dead. James says that claiming to have faith is not good enough, but that genuine faith produces good works. Faith without works is ineffective. We need both faith and works to please God and to be followers of Christ. Verse 26 says, "For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead" (AMP). We are saved by faith. We cannot buy or earn our way into heaven. Salvation is God's free gift to us. But our good works are how we show God we love Him back, and how we point others to the Cross.
I had to really take a hard look at my life and ask myself, "Have I really been following God recently?" I haven't fallen back into any sin, or even deliberately turned away from God or stopped following Him. But through my own laziness and complacency, I have stopped following Him. I am that person who says they follow Jesus but instead I do what is best for me or what I want. I take care of myself and the people I love, but beyond that, I am just too busy, or too tired, or too complacent to care. Following Jesus means sacrifice. It isn't always comfortable. In fact, more times than not, it is extremely uncomfortable. Truly following Jesus means stepping out of my comfort zone and doing things that I may not want to do. It means starting every day with the thought of pleasing God and being obedient. It means asking God to use me, then being open and aware of those opportunities. It means denying myself and becoming a humble servant.
We all know people who think they are following Jesus, or are pretending to follow Jesus, but their lives may tell a different story. Rather than answering what it might look like for someone to think they are following Jesus, when they aren't, let's look at what it actually means to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus means responding when He calls us to repentance and reconciliation. This repentance should lead us to an awakening of God's grace in our lives and should lead us to want to live in and for Him. It should bring a profound and transforming change in how we live.
Following Jesus is not just understanding His Word but also obeying His commands, and imitating His life. Obedience and imitation will sustain us through every circumstance, situation, temptation, and trial. When we imitate Jesus, we become a humble servant who puts others before ourselves. We depend on Jesus just as He depended on His Father. We trust Jesus like He trusted His Father, and we obey Jesus just as He obeyed His Father. Jesus showed the ultimate trust and obedience to God when He went to the cross for our sins.
Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that "it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works,... read the rest at www.facebook.com/teresa.schultz.author
