Monday, July 30, 2012

Now, Listen to Me, Men - A message the challenges our call to follow Jesus

The life of a Christian or a God-follower has never been easy. From the fall, to Moses trying to rescue his people, to Peter denying Jesus, and the list could go on. There is not a place in the Bible that says following God is every easy. The Bible does say the life of a God-follower does come with benefits but they are not to be confused with an "easy" life.

What has been a challenge for you during your life of following Jesus? We've all had our fair share of challenges. Jesus told His disciples that they would experience some issues in their commitment to following Him.

Sunday, we looked at the last portion of the "directions" Jesus gives to the newly-called Apostles as they go out into the world to help complete the mission. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...
  • Innocently Shrewd ~ Sometimes Christians can come across as not "with it" and seem naive. There are things in this life that we must be more "with it" to understand how it affects faith and our lives. Keep up with the times by being aware of your culture. Be aware of what is affecting people of this generation. Be smart yet innocent!
  • Pick Your Battles ~ There are two types of killings that can take place - the body and soul. Jesus tells that the one who kills the soul is the one who we must worry about. So keep your body guarded, but keep your soul even more guarded. Many of the "silent killers" to you are affecting your soul, they are the one to worry about!
  • Family, Second; God, First ~ One of Jesus' seemingly harshest words to those who want to follow Him are the words that describe we must love family less. He didn't come to make our commitment "easy" and never made it sound like this lifestyle would be easy. The word "love" in Matthew 10:37 seems to throw people off, rather than seeing the word more as it is. It should be like a "brotherly love" or a friendship type of love. As much as we love family, they are to be second to Jesus and our commitment to Him.
As we go through our rewarding, yet challenging, life as a Christian, may we understand that it is not going to be the easiest. The rewarding part is that we will have some great outcomes in the end. Keep going and look forward to the "mission field" where you can share your faith.

Now it's your turn...what has been a challenging and rewarding part of your life as a Christian?

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