Following Christ

It is easy for us unconsciously to sentimentalize the call to love God and reduce it to a matter of feeling. But while feeling is certainly a part of loving God, it is not the heart of the matter. In the Bible the essence of loving God is to give ourselves fully to him who first loved us, to surrender to his love and devote ourselves to him.

Far from being an arbitrary demand, this command is an entreaty of love.

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You may wonder how you could possibly love God this way. To be sure, it is not a natural human ability. Assurance that God loves you deeply evokes an answering love for him that increases over time and is essential to living the Christian life. What does this kind of love look like in daily life? The answer may surprise you: According to the Bible, obedience is the acid test of true love for God. If we love God, his commands will not be burdensome or irksome to us.

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Rather, we will desire to obey him. Do you desire to obey God and bring him pleasure through your obedience? The more we ponder and marvel at the good news of the gospel, the more we will want to please him. Some people today mistakenly equate obedience with legalism and see it as the enemy of grace.

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But actually the opposite is true. The Pharisees were famous for this, and we can easily fall into it today by insisting on commitment and obedience without grounding it in grace and love. Obedience offered in love is the fruit of grace and is an antidote to legalism. The second part of the Great Commandment, to love our neighbor as ourselves, originates in Leviticus Again, many people are confused about what it means to love our neighbor, thinking that it means to feel emotional warmth, sympathy, or closeness toward them. However, the agape love that is enjoined here is not primarily emotional in nature.

It is chiefly volitional, an act of the will. It is acting in the best interest of the other person, seeking their good, regardless of how you happen to feel toward them. Jesus makes this very clear when he says: This is a wonderfully liberating command, because while it is not possible to feel emotionally close to everyone we meet, it definitely is possible to act in their best interest.

We can always treat them as we would want to be treated if we were in their situation. Happily, feelings often do arise in the wake of our actions, but it is the action not the feeling that is most important. This simple but profound guideline will show us our duty in nearly every case. We have briefly looked at how the Great Commandment guides us in following Jesus. It remains to look at two specific commands Jesus gives elsewhere about loving our neighbor. The first deals with loving neighbors who are our enemies. No doubt many people wish Jesus had not spoken on this topic. Loving friends or even strangers is not nearly so difficult as loving our enemies.

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? We see ourselves as loving people because we love family and friends. But Jesus says that is not enough. Citing the love that God bears even for his enemies, Jesus calls us to resist the fleshly temptation to hate our enemies; instead he asks us to imitate our heavenly Father by loving them. This is an act of the will, not of the feelings. And it is not easy.

Why is following Jesus Christ difficult?

But as we act in the obedience of faith to please our Father, his Spirit will work in us and change our attitude toward our enemies. Such love glorifies God. Becoming perfect in love means growing into a mature love for others, which is a lifelong journey, but one on which we can make remarkable progress. Jesus also gives his disciples a new standard for loving one another. This lifts love to its highest degree. We are to show the same self-sacrificing love toward fellow believers as Jesus has shown toward us.

Jesus is about to lay down his life for them and tells them that they are to lay down their lives for their brothers and sisters in the family of God. Over the centuries, there have been times when this was fulfilled literally. More often, however, it has been fulfilled in meeting the needs of fellow believers for food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. This kind of love, says Jesus, demonstrates to the world that we are truly his disciples Jn.

And the unity that such love produces witnesses to the world that God has sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world Jn. Many of us have said we would. Jesus not only said it, but proved it. He paid the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus gave His life for us. In return, He only asks that we follow Jesus. Have you felt like you are walking in perpetual darkness with no hope? Are you willing to submit your destructive ways to Him and follow Him? If your answer is yes to these questions, you have the opportunity to surrender it all to Him. He can lead you into a better, hope filled, and blessed life. Following Jesus — Can I be a disciple?

Once you have made the decision to follow Jesus, you can become one of His disciples. The word disciple actually means to learn or follow. You may be thinking that you are not good enough or worthy to become a disciple of Jesus. But the Bible tells us that He loves us all equally as Peter says in Acts You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died.

Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. And a great sign appeared in heaven: She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven: His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Following Jesus

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

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Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord , choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

Following Jesus Christ and Christian Living

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.