Do you follow Him?

A woman goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards.

She says to the clerk, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps?"

The clerk says, "What denomination?"

The woman says, "God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptists."

Are ALL these denominations following Him? Is our Creator God denominational? I think not people, my Yahweh is of one truth, there can't be many truths because if one is true, then the other is a lie, so how can all these denominations be right. They all have Jesus in common, but at the same time have a different opinion on what is the truth. Follow Jesus only...not denominations or opinions!

How do we follow Jesus?

Mat 8:22 "Follow me," Jesus answered, "and let the dead bury their own dead." This shows the importance of following Jesus. Jesus is not concerned about how important a worldly matter may be, but more the importance of heavenly matters. What He is saying here is...this is a once in a life time opportunity to follow me (messiah), but if you want to go and bury your father first...go ahead, if I am not important enough to you...then you aren't important enough to Me. To put anything above God is not having total faith in Him. Period. As followers of Christ we need to get our priorities right.

Mat 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me. In a way He is saying same thing here but adding the importance of dying to self, because He knew that man could not follow him while still thinking of themselves and worldly things. Lu 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. It says "mammon" here, but you can safely add "worldly things" or "material things".
Taking up your cross requires total dedication and faith, and there is no room for self gratification if you intend to serve God to your full potential. It all depends on HOW MUCH you want to please the One who gives Grace...The Lord Jesus.

Mat 19:16-21 Once a man came to Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?" "Why do you ask me concerning what is good?" answered Jesus. "There is only One who is good. Keep the commandments if you want to enter life." "What commandments?" he asked. Jesus answered, "Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; respect your father and your mother; and love your neighbour as you love yourself." "I have obeyed all these commandments," the young man replied. "What else do I need to do?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me."

Now here is an interesting couple of verses. Not only do we see what is required to follow Jesus, but ALSO what is required to receive eternal life. OBEY the ten commandments. Jesus does not mention even one of the sacrificial or ceremonial laws that He knew would be done away with because He was to be the ultimate sacrifice for all time. But instead, He reveals the requirement to keep the commandments of the Father and not those of man i.e. the 613 laws that the Jews followed. The TEN commandments. He of course would not mention the Sabbath commandment at this time because of the trouble he had with the Pharisees regarding it, but by indicating to the man those commandments within the Ten, Jesus was surely advocating those are the everlasting commandments of God. So if we are sincere about our faith, again we don't need to be caught up in worldly matters. I'm sure the Lord is not asking us to sell everything we own, because if we did, where is there a place to keep 2 billion Christians under one roof, but He IS saying to do away with what we don't really need. Like the second car, or the holiday house by the sea.

Joh 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. If you are not hearing His voice then I am sorry, as I am limited to what I can do, but there IS something you can do. And that is be sincere with your love for Him by being obedient to His teachings and I guarantee you will hear His voice. Then and only then will you hear His mighty voice and be lead in the Spirit to do His will.

Joh 12:26 Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honour anyone who serves me. Isn't that wonderful and assuring to know that by following and serving Him, you then are in His presence always.

In summary, the best answer would be to GIVE UP worldly matters including your own personal desires, and concentrate on the will of God in prayer and meditation, to be lead where ever He takes you. If you are trying to serve two masters, then you will not have the power to discern where you are lead. When we consider the sacrifice our Lord Jesus made for us, then dying to self is a small price to pay for eternal life, and to say...thank you Jesus.

Be blessed now and be with Jesus.

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