Following Jesus

 Are You Following Jesus?

“Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬-‭20‬, ‭NKJV‬‬)

Jesus met Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew and asked them to follow Him. Not only that, He said He would make them fishers of men. These hardened professional fisherman left their nets immediately and followed Jesus, becoming His disciples. They knew how to catch fish but becoming fishers of men was a new venture and one that would cost them their lives. They spent three and a half years following Him, watching every move of His and sought to emulate Him. At a particular point, they asked Jesus to reach them how to pray (Luke 11:1-4). 

The more I think about the  encounter between Jesus and Peter and Andrew and what ensued, the more I realize that becoming fishers of men is the ultimate goal for us as believers. It is impossible to become a fisher of men without following Jesus wholeheartedly, unreservedly, uncompromisingly, humbly and in holiness and righteousness. 

Against this standard, how are you doing? The disciples were later to die for Jesus; only Apostle John died a natural death of old age. *Are you prepared to die for Jesus?* Many would say that is an unfair question but the point is that the quality of our relationship with Jesus is connected to our desire to give Him everything including our lives. Jesus said, 

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke‬ ‭14‬:‭26‬, NKJV‬‬)

My brethren, these are things that go unmentioned in Christendom most of the time because many Christians have the mindset of receiving whatever they want from God. They are not tuned into God’s agenda and they come to God with their own agenda. Their ‘_relationship_’ with God is built around their preferences not His. They choose when they want to go to church and at what time; they pick and choose what they want to be involved in (evangelism being the least considered); they seek status, material wealth, and influence first before the things of God. Discipleship becomes a no-go area because they are hardly disciples of Jesus. It is impossible for anyone to make a disciple for Jesus if he or she is not a disciple first of all. 

There is a tendency these days to tolerate ungodly behaviour citing the mercy of God. Yet the Bible says that God is a consuming fire (Hebrew 12:29). While God is loving, compassionate and merciful, it would be a serious mistake to  take Him for granted. We have an obligation to follow Jesus passionately and in total surrender.

Are you following Jesus or yourself? One who follows Jesus in the true sense of the word cannot miss the true essence of life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6) and in following Him unreservedly we have abundant life - life that impacts others positively and powerfully and which glorifies God. Make up your mind to follow Jesus today and go for it. The starting point is to surrender your whole life to Him and receive Him as your personal Lord and Saviour. God bless you as you heed the Word of God today.

Mistakes, Sins and Holiness

Mistakes, Sins and Holiness

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:" (Hebrews 12:14)
"because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” " (1 Peter 1:16)

God commands us to be holy and from His Word, we learn that no unholy person shall see Him. The question is: why are we not hearing more about holiness today? Is holiness outdated or has God changed His mind? You can rest asured that neither of the two has happened. The devil has made a lot of progress in deceiving Christians to think that holiness is not that big of an issue and they have swallowed the lie hook, line and sinker. 

It is not unusual to hear many Christians talk about grace in the sense that God's grace and love cover a multitude of sins. Really? In Romans 6:1, we read, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" Thank God for His grace which by faith enables us to experience salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10) but grace is not a licence for sin. If anything, the grace of God is an enabler for holiness and righteousness. 

There is a school of thought that propagates the idea that we are imperfect and therefore cannot attain holiness. This raises some questions and if true would portray God as a confusionist and an advocate of confucionism. Why would God command us to be holy if it is impossible to be holy? The ideology that excuses sin on the basis of our imperfection is from the pit of hell. Period.

I am not perfect because I make mistakes. When I am solving Mathematics problems, I sometimes perform wrong additions or subtractions, although not intentionally. It is not uncommon to write the number 8 for example when I meant to write 9 or some other number. These mistakes do not portray a lack of the knowledge of Mathematics but rather the fact that I am imperfect. However, my imperfection is no excuse for sinning. God hates sin. In Ezekiel 18:4, God said, "Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die." and the Bible says in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.".

Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of  Eden because they sinned; the children of Israel suffered numerous defeats and captivities because of sin; Ananias and Sapphira died because they sinned against the Holy Spirit by lying (Acts 5:1-11). God is a consuming fire and He will judge sin (Hebrews 12:29). So it should be very clear that sins are not mistakes. Sins are deliberate actions that contraven God's will and the one who wallows in sin rejecting Jesus will suffer loss and find himself or herself in hell. 

We are called to live holy lives and whether we like it or not we shall be held accountable for the lives we live - whether they align with God's will or are demonstrations of our own will, gross disobedience and sinfulness. It must be said that disobedience is sin and partial obedience or delayed obedience are sins. Period. 

Today, you can come to God in total surrender and repentance if you have been indulging in sin. In 1 John 1:9, the Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.". Repenting of your sin and receiving Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour (if you have not done so) will set you free to live a life that pleases God. Reject the lies of Satan and draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). 

God bless you as you read this message and take heed to God's Word.