FollowingJesusUS.com

Teach Us To Number Our Days!

A close friend checked in on me today to make sure that during Covid-I am finding a way to join in worship of our Lord 🙂 Now that’s a real friend! A friend that we all need right now! I am so Blessed to have her 🙂

In God’s Word, it says, “Teach us to number our days”. I can’t help but believe that part of what that means is that we should make every day count! Believers in Jesus are about to go through a time that we can not even begin to imagine. As Believers we have one job-bring everyone to Heaven that we can. And that means finding a way to do that-every single day.

It means reaching out like my friend did to ensure those we love are finding ways to follow Christ and worship God during these difficult times.

It means making sure that those we love read the Bible and seek their truth in God’s Word-not in man’s.

And it means witnessing to non-believers, both by our example and by the words we share.

I am truly Blessed to have a friend who cares about me enough to ensure I am not left behind. Let’s be that kind of friend too! Let’s not leave anyone behind 🙂

Jesus IS Coming Back!

It seems only fitting to recognize the day America died. It’s a sad day for all of us and our hearts break for our beloved country. America is no longer the “land of the free, home of the brave”. Perhaps one day it will be again, but it is not today.

But while America may have fallen, we are Free. Because our Freedom comes from God, not from man. We are Free in Christ and always will be. We are citizens of Heaven first and foremost. And Christ can not be defeated. Ever.

So take heart! It is a sad day for our country, but Jesus is coming back and no power on this earth can stop Him from taking us Home to Heaven-together 🙂

So turn off the news and celebrate Christ’s birth. Because no matter what the media says, CHRISTmas is about Christ. It’s about God’s Great Love for us. And while the world may change, God’s love for us will not!

We Can Trust God, He Loves Us!

The Miracle Of The Rainbow

There was once a woman who saw Rainbows everywhere. In the skies, on the streets, on the trees, on the walls of her home, everywhere…A Beautiful Gift from God. And that, indeed, is what a rainbow is-a Gift from God!

As beautiful as the rainbow is, it is the meaning of the Rainbow that we so treasure. It’s a reminder that God keeps His Promises always! And in the world in which we live in, that is a rare event!

In Genesis, we read that God created the rainbow after He flooded the world in response to the world’s great state of sin. He created it to remind us of His Promise never to flood the world again. A sign of Hope and of better days to come. A sign that we could always Trust His Great Love for us.

Sadly, in recent years, God’s Great Gift has been used as a symbol for a groups committed to and proud of their sinful choices. How incredibly sad. And what a terrible use of God’s Great Gift.

But we who follow Christ have a choice; we can take the Rainbow back. It belongs to God, it always has and it always will. God created it to give us hope and in honor of the great Promise He made us; a Promise He has kept. He created the Rainbow for those who follow Him?

#Taking Back The Rainbow

A Word On Depression & Anxiety :)

First of all, sometimes depression or anxiety is a normal response to something that occurred in our lives or circumstances that we face. For example, when someone we love dies, being depressed about that is a normal reaction to a very sad loss! If you find yourself suffering from “Covid” fatigue, totally normal as well. So if you feel depressed or anxious, perhaps that is a normal response to the situation you are in.

But sometimes, depression is more than that. Sometimes it overwhelms us. It lingers and keeps us from living life and from the activities we enjoy. And sometimes, it separates us from those we love. When that occurs, there is nothing wrong with getting help or taking medicine that is prescribed by a doctor.

Someone told me a story once. There was once a man who fell off of a boat. He was drowning. A ship came by and offered to rescue him, but he told them he was waiting for God to rescue him and sent them on their way. Two more ships came, and he responded the same way. Finally, he threw up his hands and drowned. When he was sitting safely in Heaven with our Lord, he asked Him why He let him drown. God laughed and said, I sent three ships to rescue you, but you refused their help!

Now while this is just a story, it raises a really important point. There is absolutely nothing to feel badly about when one seeks help.

Because He love us God gave us the gift of medicine. If anyone needs help dealing with depression or anxiety, or any other mental health issue-see a doctor! God gave them to us for a reason ?

Malaysia: The Blessing

Press Through The Swamps!

This was so good, I just had to share :). After reading it, I actually ordered Pilgrim’s Progress to read :). It’s written by George Whitten of Worthy Devotions:

Psalms 107:2-6 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

“In his book, Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan has written one of the most beautiful allegories about the journey we all travel as believers. The book describes the hero, Christian, and his journey from the City of Destruction to his heavenly destination, the Celestial City. Now there’s one part of Pilgrim’s Progress that I want to focus on today — walking through the Swamp of Despondency!

At one point during their travels, Christian and his companion suddenly find themselves there….in the Swamp of Despondency. Still bearing his burden, Christian, begins to sink in the mire. His traveling companion manages to get out, but he returns to the City of Destruction without giving aid to Christian. Christian is left all alone and sinking even deeper in the mire, until Help, the allegorical figure for the Holy Spirit, pulls him free from the swamp.

Christian then asks Help why this dangerous plot of land has not been mended so that poor travelers might go safely to the Celestial City. Help replies, “This miry slough is such a place that cannot be mended.”

How true it is in real life! As hard as we try to avoid them, whether young in the Lord, or spiritually mature…swamps of despondency seem inevitable, and we must struggle through them!

Charles Spurgeon once wrote to his students in the book, “Lectures to my Students”, “Fits of depression come over most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy. There may be here and there men of iron…but surely the rust frets even these.”

My Friends, there are times in our lives when we will struggle through the swamps of despondency — but praise God that He has provided us a helper for those times of need! We need to press through, seeking and trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to pull us out of those nasty swamps, and set our feet back upon the Rock of our salvation. Let’s also look around to see our brethren who may be struggling in the swamps of despondency, so that, rather than abandoning them, we might give them a hand on their journey to the celestial city!”

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah
Jackson, Mississippi

Miracles Happen Every Day :)

One day a woman’s heater broke; it was very cold outside. She asked Jesus to fix the heater, but instead Jesus kept her family warm. Coincidence or God-incidence?

Sometimes our Lord answers our prayers “as is”. Sometimes He answers our underlying prayer. He knew the real fear that the woman had was that her family would be cold-so God in His great mercy, kept them warm!

Sometimes our Lord answers our prayers with exactly what we ask for and sometimes He answers our prayers beyond that and provides for our needs ?

Miracles happen every day, but it takes faith to see them 🙂

We Need To Read The Bible For Ourselves!

It’s so important to read the Bible ourselves, especially now when even some Pastors and Christian leaders have an un-Biblical world view.

We don’t get to pick the parts of the Bible that we like, and ignore the rest. We need to read it, know it and understand it. And Live it…

In addition, Jesus warned us, “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” -Matthew 24:11

If we read the Bible for ourselves, with the Holy Spirit, we will know the truth of what God is teaching us 🙂

Fortunately for us, The Holy Spirit is always ready to Help 🙂

God’s Joy & Peace

I wish I could find a way to share with you the joy and peace that comes from being in God’s Presence. I wish I could share with you how I get there. But the truth is-Joy and Peace are God’s Gifts to us. They “come” to us, when God sends them 🙂

There’s no magic word or prayer. There’s no “quick fix”. I didn’t always have them; but I do now. Christ’s Gift.

The only thing I can share with you from my personal experience are two things. One if you keep following Christ, joy and peace will come to you.

Second, when they do come, Joy and Peace will not necessarily be yours 24/7. This is earth and we live in a fallen world. But they will be there when you need them, and even sometimes when you don’t.

God’s Mercy on us, a small part of Heaven here on earth ?

Sharing The Good News!

There was a young man once who walked by a Preacher preaching on a street corner. Watching him almost shouting His Gospel message on the street corner the young man finally asked him, “Why are you preaching here, don’t you see that no one is listening?” And the Preacher answered, “I may not save their souls, but I have saved my own 🙂 “

So often we hesitate to share the Good News of the Gospel or what God requires because we are afraid those we share it with will become angry or simply walk away.

Don’t be afraid to share our Good News, perhaps you will not “save” their soul, but you will save your own 🙂