Following

by

2 Kings 18:6 Not Stopping

He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 2 Kings 18:6

People like to follow all different kinds of people. There are singers, actors, politicians, authors, speakers, sports players and many others that people will follow closely. Most will follow because they like something about the person, while others follow to learn from that person.

Over time many will stop following various people. Their interests and desires change or the person they follow change or sometimes stop doing what they were doing.

Hezekiah had become king of Judah and he held on to the Lord and would not stop following Him, obeying all of His commands.

It is easy for a person to begin to follow God, but it is a serious challenge to continue to follow God. From the moment a person chooses to follow God, the world begins to strive to stop him.

Distractions arise on a regular basis to get a person off course of following God with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength. Sometimes things can look better or easier to follow, than following God.

Many have taken their eyes off of God and began to follow the ways of the world, rather than God’s ways. The things and people of this world will fade away and fail over time. Disappointment and failure will occur when one stops following God.

Instead of getting distracted and led astray, every believer must hold fast to God, dedicating his entire life to following God in every area of his life. God will never change, fade away or fail the believer. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Those who do not stop following God will one day step into eternity with God.

As a believer you had made a choice to begin to follow God. The world is going to try and stop you and get you to follow the world’s ways of doing things. Do not allow yourself to get distracted and pulled away from following God with all of your life.

Hold on to all that God says, knowing He will guide you with perfect love. God will never fail you nor leave you. You can trust Him with every area of your life. In the end you will get the joy of spending eternity with God in heaven.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will hold fast to the teachings of God; that you will never stop following God; that God will give you strength to resist the distractions of this world; and that you will find satisfaction and joy in following God.

by

Numbers 25:3 Are You Tied To False Gods?

So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them. Numbers 25:3

It is very common for people to idolize someone or something in their lives. Focus is so much on a person or a thing that they put everything else to the side and dedicate their life to what their focus is on.

Acting in this way is so common and accepted that it is often promoted and encouraged. The things that people put their life focus upon are often the gods or masters in their lives.

The Israelites had chosen to bow down to some Baal idols of the Moabite women after having relations with women. God’s anger burned against them.

Losing focus and following the idols of the world is something that is easy to do and is often done among believers. People get caught up in the moment of self-pleasure and choose to bow down to sin and make something an idol in their life, rather than serving God.

The false idols in people’s lives may be people, things or a false belief. These can be things that are directly evil or even inherently good. Anything or anyone that takes the place of God or causes one to sin against God is a false idol.

False gods are abundant and may give a temporary pleasure in this life, but they are dead and only cause death. They pull the believer away from the one true living God.

Believers need to have their entire life focused upon God and His word and His desires. The moment one chooses to believe in Jesus, he has dedicated his entire life to God. Turning back to anything else is rejecting God and accepting a false god. All false gods must be rejected.

Many things will try to call your attention and desires away from God. Flee the idols that the world will place before you to trip you up and cause you to sin against God and follow those false idols. Those idols will only bring about death and destruction in the end.

Dedicate your whole life to God and choose to follow Him and Him alone. Let God bring you the joy, peace and provision the false idols of this world promise but are unable to deliver. Following God will bring about eternal life with more than any false idol will ever be able to give.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that God will open your eyes to any false idols in your life; that you will choose to make God the master and only God of your life; and that you will know all that God can and will give to you.

by

Luke 5:27-28 Leave All To Follow

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:27-28

When most people hear the phrase, ‘to follow someone’, they often think about following someone on some social media platform. They want to know what that person is doing as much as possible, but only from a distance.

In following someone on social media, it does not require much effort, and no change in a person’s life. There is only a few clicks involved.

Jesus saw a tax collector, Levi, sitting at his job. Jesus tells him to follow Him. Levi gets up, leaves everything and follows Him.

Following Jesus is often very similar to following someone on social media. People claim to believe in and follow Jesus, but never make any real changes to their lives.

Yes, they go to church, but only to get something out of it, not to build others up. Their bible sits on a shelf, only to be dusted off for a church service. They continue to live in a life of sin. It is rare to never that they tell someone about Jesus.

The question comes up as to whether they are really following Jesus or not. Following Jesus must mean a change. Jesus came to change lives, not just have a social gathering online in word only, but not in real life. He came to save the world, not just get some likes.

In the same way that Matthew got up and left everything behind to follow Jesus, every believer must be willing to do the same. He must allow Jesus to be Lord and Master of his life, in every area of his life.

If you have chosen to follow Jesus, ask yourself how are you following Jesus. Are you following Jesus just like following someone on a social media platform? Or are you leaving everything behind and giving it your all to follow Him?

God has great things in store for your life, but you must be willing to trust Him and follow Jesus with everything in you. Do not hold anything back from God, but give Him it all. Jesus is ready to build you and use you in great ways, when you allow Him to do so.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will follow Jesus with all of your life; that you will allow God to change your life; and that you will be willing to leave everything to follow and obey Jesus.

by

John 10:5 Whose Voice Do You Recognize And Follow?

But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice. John 10:5

All over the world there are billions of people with a voice. Each one has something to say. Some will have many volumes to say, while others will have very little to say.

People will here all these voices and what is being said. However, with all the voices talking at once, many get confused as to who they should listen to. The voices are often in conflict with each other, so people try to listen to only those they know.

Jesus pointed out that sheep will run away from anyone that they do not recognize the voice of.

Believers are God’s sheep in this world. At some point in their lives, each one has heard God’s voice and learned to recognize and follow it.

However, because they are still in this world, many have become friends with this world. Now they recognize the voices of this world and have begun to follow those voices, rather than follow only God’s voice.

In doing this, sin has been allowed to creep into their lives and become acceptable. Rather than fleeing the false lies of this fallen world, they have embraced them as truth.

One who is truly following God and seeking after Him will recognize His voice and follow it only. They will refuse to allow themselves to become familiar with the voices of this world, the voices of strangers intent on bringing about death and destroying one’s witness.

The only way a believer can know God’s voice is to spend time reading and studying the bible and spending time talking and listening to God, rather than becoming friend’s with this world.

As a believer, both God and this world has something to tell you. One will bring life, while the other will only bring about death. Keep your focus of listening upon God so closely that you will always recognize His voice, even in the middle of a loud crowd of voices.

Do not allow yourself to become familiar with the voices of this world and be led astray, away from God. Live your life for God and for God alone.

Flee all sin and voices that will lead you into sin. Run to God’s voice, so that you will have life, abundant life.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will know God’s voice; that God will give you strength to flee lying voices; and that you will follow God above all else in your life.