What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus?
Following Jesus means you've willingly and totally relinquish your time, will and desires to Jesus. You can't follow Jesus because you're forced or someone coerced you. Today, the way some Christians handle the things of God, it's clear that willingness is out of their dictionary. That's why He is God, the devil does not need your will or consent before he starts to cause you to follow him but Jesus will never force Himself on any man. I have always wondered at Revelation 3:20. I said "why will Jesus be staying at the door to knock, you have all power, why not just break the door and enter." But the Holy Spirit made me to understand that in following Jesus our will is needed.Some people have been forced to be pastors, some have been forced to be ministers or workers in the church. No wonder they complain at any slight challenges and allow God's work to suffer. Many church workers grumble while doing God's work. Please, if whatever you're doing for God now is based on coercion, please stop it. You're not following Jesus. Also, our totality is needed. We must release our desires totally to God. God will not accept part of us, it must be whole, in full and completely.
Following Jesus means we have surrendered the front and first position to Jesus, He leads and we follow. If you see anyone who always put his interest first and his desires at the front of his life pursuit and aspirations, that person though a Christian but he's yet to follow Jesus. If Jesus won't take that step, one who is following Jesus will not take the step too. If Jesus won't say those words, a follower of Jesus won't say those words either. If Jesus won't dress that way, anyone who claim to follow Jesus won't dress in that manner also. Whenever a man is ahead of Jesus, that man is not following Jesus. You know there are some persons, tongue talking Christians today, that they are no longer following Jesus, it is Jesus that is now following them. Lastly, Whenever a man disobeys the instructions of God just because he feels it's for the greater good, such a person have stopped following Jesus.
To follow Jesus means you have agreed to allow Jesus alter the course of your life. Oh! This is one of the main point. Oh, this might be painful, many have stopped following because of this. You can never follow Jesus without He altering your life. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dressing, knowledge, backgrounds, plans, desires, will, your life in general must be altered to fit in into God's plans and purposes for your life. I have always had issues with Christians who say Be you or who say this is who I am. When you come to Jesus, you can come the way you are but you can't remain the way you are. The call is not to be you but to be like Christ. So don't be you, be Christ. Anything outside Christ no matter how generally accepted it is should not be you. Because at the end of the Followership, we must look like Christ and not something else. Joseph had the gift of dreams and interpretation. Dreams are lower levels of the spiritual realm and interpretation of dreams is a function of the gift of wisdom. So, looking at the dealing of God with Joseph, one can say God is training Joseph to be a seer or Prophet. Imagine in this generation today, anyone with Joseph's gift will want to open a church. But God took him to become a Politician - Prime Minister. Many of us here might have concluded where you think God is taking you to. But let me tell, you don't know where exactly He's taking you to and God is not under obligation to inform you, your own is just to follow. When He's done with you and me, then we will know. The goal is to look like the Master, Jesus. Imagine, God telling an intelligent man to leave his father and mother and to go to a place that has no name.
God didn't tell Abraham that I'm taking you to so and so place, He just said follow me. Where, Abraham didn't know. See, if you have not entered this agreement, you will always question the leading of God. You think you're an Evangelist now, just keep following you will be shocked, one day He will tell you to go and join the police force. But if you have not entered into that agreement, allowing Him to alter your life, you will have issues with His leading.
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