FollowingJesusUS.com

Is America Serving?

“For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you, shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.”-Isaiah 60:12

Is America currently serving God? Is America currently serving the Church?

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” – Isaiah 60:1

There is no doubt that darker times are ahead. And the world will desperately need the light of Christ shining through us to lead the way home. But in order to “shine” for Jesus, we will need God’s Help and so we will need to pray and ask Him for it!

The Holy Spirit is in us! We need to call upon the Holy Spirit and ask Him to pour out His Spirit as never before.

We need to pray for another Great Awakening!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

The Bible & Sin

“The only way we can know whether we are sinning is by knowing His moral law”
Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758, 3rd President of Princeton

Jonathan is referring to knowing God’s Word. In order to know what God considers sinful behavior, we need to read His Word!

Sadly, we are surrounded by so many who think that there is nothing wrong with sinful behavior. They don’t even regard it as sinful anymore! How sad for them!

The world has really become incredibly sad and quite frightening. But there is a Bible verse that addresses this:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”-Isaiah 5:20

We love to focus on God’s Love & Mercy, but we often forget to focus on His Justice as well!

But God is both Merciful & Just!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Reading The Bible

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”-Psalm 119:105

I remember years ago, attending our church in Ohio, Grace Missionary Alliance. One day, they had a visiting missionary doing the sermon. And he spoke of the greatest lesson he ever learned. It was about reading the Bible and staying close to God.

His Bible was obviously old and worn. Dog-eared he called it. He had folded pages. It was obviously often used and well read.

My Bible is like that as well. Many of the pages of my Bible have certain verses highlighted. My friend writes in the margins of hers and underlines certain verses, and so do I 🙂

God’s Word was meant to be studied and learned. We need to hold its verses and teachings in our hearts-always. We have been privileged in America to be able to have Bibles, but we may not always have that privilege. And we need to prepare for that day.

So please, feel free, to fold pages, highlight and write or underline…And ask the Holy Spirit to Help you read it. For God will be well pleased that we are putting so much effort into learning His Word and living by it 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Expecting God to Answer!

A good friend of mine sent this, just had to share 🙂

“Once upon a time, as a drought continued for what seemed an eternity, a small community of farmers were in a dilemma as to what to do. Rain was important to keep their crops healthy and sustain the way of life of the townspeople. As the problem became worse, a local pastor called a prayer meeting to ask for rain. Many people arrived. The pastor greeted most of them as they filed in. As he walked to the front of the church to officially begin the meeting, he noticed most people were chatting across the aisle and socializing with friends. When he reached the front his thoughts were on quieting the attendees and starting the meeting. His eyes looked over the crowd as he asked for quiet. He noticed an eleven-year-old girl, sitting quietly in the front row. Her face was beaming with excitement. Next to her, poised and ready for use, was a bright red umbrella! The little girl’s appearance and innocence made the pastor smile, as he realized how much faith she possessed. No one else in the congregation had brought an umbrella. All came to pray for rain, but the little girl had come expecting God to answer!

When you go to your Heavenly Father in prayer, that His Will be done for your request, are you coming to Him expecting an answer? Faith IS that His Answer will be for His Best for you – to Complete His Will and Purpose in your life! Will it always be what you think you should receive? Probably NOT. Why? Simply because you are unable to see the future impacts to your life and for those He Will cross your path with. God knows EXACTLY what you need for Him and others, before being called Home. Normally, it IS SO easy to kick and scream – be bitter when you do not think His Answer IS correct for you. Thank God that He Loves and Cares for you SO much, that His Mercy and Grace covers you, even when you complain about it! Please remember to thank God for ALL He does for you! Thank Him for ALL His Answers!

My thoughts and prayers are that you have faith in God, Truly Trusting in Him to give you His Best. Trials and tribulations, that you encounter on earth, are also seen by others – of what your actions are regarding them. These are greater opportunities to be His Witness and Example – far more than you can imagine! In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”

Keep Praying 🙂

Happy Easter

“But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”-Matthew 28:5-6

Can we truly imagine the joy all those who Loved Jesus felt when they realized He was alive? When they saw Him for the first time after He rose from the dead? That is the kind of joy we will experience in Heaven!

Can we truly imagine the Peace that all of those who Loved Jesus felt knowing that His pain and suffering were done? Because that is the kind of Peace we will feel in Heaven 🙂

A Heaven that we would not enter without Jesus’ Great Sacrifice!

And if that were not enough, Jesus’ Life, Death and Resurrection also created a Bridge between God and us!

How Blessed are we 🙂

Thank You Jesus. These words don’t seem nearly enough, but Thank You!

Holy Saturday

“For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;” – Isaiah 59:12

On Holy Saturday, we remember Jesus’ Triumphant descent into Hell. While Catholics and Protestants may view this even differently, at the end of the day, Jesus is Triumphant and on that we can agree 🙂

And there is something else that we can all agree on, without Jesus we would all be in hell.

But there is something else that we don’t talk enough about. All of those who Loved Jesus-were mourning. One can’t help but think of Mary, His Mother, how she must have felt! Or Mary Magdalene, how she must have mourned! And then there were Christ’s Apostles! They all witnessed Jesus’ suffering! How much pain that must have caused them!

See, it wasn’t just Christ that suffered, although He suffered horribly. It was also all of those who loved Him!

Our gratitude to Jesus can not be understated! His willingness to suffer for our sins is amazing.

But I am also grateful to all those who loved Him, for I know that must have weighted heavy on Jesus’ heart because He loved them too!

Good Friday

“Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”- Psalm 2:12

Growing up, I always wondered why everyone referred to the Friday in Holy Week as: “Good Friday”, when it commemorated such an awful day! At least, it seemed awful to me as a child.

But then I grew up and realized that in some ways, it was a “good” day. Because the day Jesus hung on the Cross – was the day He paid the price for our sins And in that sense, it was good.. His suffering was immense. He was whipped and crowned with thorns. And then crucified for our sins. Though He Himself was sinless, He willingly paid the price for our sins so that we wouldn’t have too!

It’s hard to imagine Jesus waking up on Good Friday, knowing what was to come. Not only for Himself, but for those He loved!

One thought that comes to mind is: How much Jesus must have loved us! For at any time, Jesus could have removed His Hand, or even His entire self, from the Cross upon which He suffered, but He didn’t. He loved us that much! His determination to Save us and His love for us is amazing!.

And it wasn’t just the physical suffering, Jesus suffered great emotional pain as well. His Mother Mary stood at the Foot of the Cross. So many who truly loved Him watched too. Their suffering was His suffering as well.

And then, there was our Father. I can’t even begin to imagine how our Lord felt as He watched His only Son suffer so.

When Jesus died, darkness covered the land and a great earthquake occurred.

Jesus paid the price of our sins; let’s make His suffering worth it 🙂

The Last Supper

“The Lord is on my side: I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” – Psalm 118:6

There is just so much for us to contemplate regarding the Last Supper. Jesus’ pain as He sat with His friends, knowing what was ahead. Jesus’ pain in facing Judas’ betrayal. His coming sacrifice for our sins and His great Love for us.

Jesus knew what lay ahead and the sacrifices that He would make in order that our sins would be forgiven. He did not hesitate, though He knew the suffering that lay ahead for Him, He did not fear.

See, Jesus knew that as hard as the road would be that lay before Him, His Father would be just on the” other side”. He knew that, because He would pay the price of our sins, we would all have the chance to be on the “other side” with Him. And He knew that He would see those He loved very soon.

As painful as the Last Supper was, Jesus was not afraid.

And if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we won’t be afraid either 🙂

Spy Wednesday

“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth” – Isaiah 60:2

Holy Wednesday is a very dark day in Holy Week. It is the day that many of us think about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot. Some Christians refer to it as Holy Wednesday and some refer to it as Spy Wednesday.

It’s hard to imagine how much it must have hurt Jesus, when his friend Judas, one of the twelve, betrayed Him. And while Judas was paid 30 pieces of gold for his betrayal, his reasons were probably more complicated than that. And he probably thought he was doing the right thing.

Fast forward to today, and those who do evil in our world probably think they are doing the “right thing”. But they are not.

During the Last Supper, Jesus said (regarding the man who betrayed Him):

“It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”-Matthew 26:24

There are some people on this earth that Followed Jesus for a time and then betrayed Him.

Food for thought…

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!