FollowingJesusUS.com

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matthew 7: 21-23

Many of us expect Jesus to bring us to Heaven. We tell ourselves that we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, and somehow it’s almost as if we think we are done.

But the Truth is that if we have really, truly accepted Jesus as our Savior, we will Follow Him. We will pray and read the Bible, seeking the Truth of God’s Word with the help of the Holy Spirit and obeying it.

Some read the Bible seeking verses to support their own agenda. But the Truth is we need to ask the Holy Spirit to read the Bible with us and seek God’s Truth, not our own.

And then we need to do our best to Live God’s Truth!

^” For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.” -Matthew 24:24

We need to remembere this and pray constantly to the Holy Spirit to protect us and show us the Truth! And we need to ask Jesus for the courage to SHARE THAT TRUTH! All of us, and most especially all of the Priests and Pastors.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” – Peter 2:1-3

Leaders are held to an even higher standard, than those who are not. Sadly, there will be many False Prophets and teachers among Christ’s people. They will be severely punished if they mislead Christ’s people. Being popular is NOT important, sharing the Truth is. God’s Truth.

And that is one of the reasons we need to pray for our Priests and Pastors. It is difficult enough to be a Priest or a Pastor as it is and it is so important to seek God’s Truth and Share it. But for so many, Sharing the Truth, the Real Truth of God’s Word has become really difficult for our current culture does not have respect for God’s Word or God’s Place in our country.

But perhaps we can begin again in America and regain what we lost. Many in other countries face a much higher price in Following Jesus-their lives. The only price we pay is peer pressure. If there is anything more, it’s because we have allowed peer pressure to win for too long.

We tell our children all of the time to stand up to peer pressure. We expect them to! Shouldn’t we?

Sometimes we forget just how important it is to see the Truth of what is happening around us. Especially Now!

“if possibleEven the elect” – Matthew 24:24

Satan attempts to confuse us and to sow fear and anger in our hearts. But God shares with us the Truth and Loves us!

In John 14:17, it calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Truth”. We need to listen to Him. Really listen! And then act accordingly…

Many churches throughout the world march through their streets with Crosses and Banners. No matter where they are; no matter if it is truly dangerous, they courageously show their devotion to Jesus. We, in America, need to do the same, before it is too late!

Our Cross is our banner. Many of us wear it in plain site. When others who love Jesus see it, they are encouraged for they know that we believe in Jesus too.

Those of Jewish faith may be the target of evil today, but Christians will be the target tomorrow. “Be strong and of good courage”.

We need to share our faith, not run from it.

God will give us the Courage we need and He will give us Rest.

We just need to ask for it!

“I lift up my eyes to the hills.     From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. ” – Psalm 121: 1-2

So often when we pray we look down, but shouldn’t we be looking up?

For me, there has never been a time when God did not help me :). Through every hardship and during every tear, Jesus has walked with me. Loved me. And if I hit a patch where I could not keep walking, Jesus carried me 🙂

Call on Jesus, He will answer and carry you 🙂

So many of us fear death, but death is just the doorway to Heaven. A place so wonderful, it’s hard for us to even begin to picture it. But think about it, how would this knowledge, that death is just the doorway to Heaven, change us?

What if we truly stopped fearing death?

What if, we really, truly knew that as long as we are with Jesus, there is nothing, and I do mean nothing, to fear.

How would that knowledge and faith change us? Change the way we live?

Because if we believe it; it should!

It did for me 🙂

Thank you Jesus 🙂

Some people who I truly love asked me to speak about my relationship with Jesus. How God has always been there for me since the beginning, and how He is with me now 🙂

I can’t even begin to find the words to express how grateful I am to God.

Thank you God!

Heaven is where we finally meet our Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  All of our questions are answered and we will come to know completely just how very much God loves us and we will truly come to understand just how Merciful God IS! And we will walk accross the meadow, holding Jesus’s hand and meet our Lord.

Heaven is the Garden of Eden and we will finally come home for all eternity.  And we will spend eternity in the place that we started.  We are not citizens of a country on earth; we are citizens of Heaven.

When we think of being loyal to a country on earth; our loyalty and obedience belongs to Jesus first. So in every decision we make; in every choice; we must put first things (Jesus) first and everything else second.

We will one day arrive in the Garden of Eden. There will be mountains that soar and tranquil valleys.  Gardens so stunningly beautiful, we can not even begin to imagine them.  Flowers that are so incredibly fragrant, we will be enraptured.  And the fruit that grows upon the trees will taste so astonishingly good, we will be transported. 

We will run as we have never run before.  We will dance and we will sing.  And we will walk in complete Peace, God’s Peace. God’s light will dance upon the river in a way that is so astonishingly beautiful that we will look upon it in awe.  And we will never thirst or be hungry again.

There will be no pain, because neither physical or emotional pain will exist.  And we will never, ever feel tired or rushed again.  We will never worry.  We will never fear, because there will be nothing to fear!

We will be filled with God’s Joy and Peace.  Always.

We will be able to pray for those we loved on earth, especially our families.  And although there is no marriage in Heaven, husbands and wives will be best friends 🙂

There will be hugs far deeper than the ones we experienced on earth.  Friendships that will be far more loving and compassionate than we have ever known.  We will experience Love far greater than we ever knew  or understood.

We will have everything we need to be happy. And we will never want for anything at all, because we are so deeply loved and finally home 🙂

And we will be filled with Joy and Peace always.  Thanks to God’s Great Love and Mercy 🙂

So many times, our courage fails us, but Jesus gives us the opportunity to share His Good News again, but how many times do we choose not too because we are afraid how the other person will react? How many times does a friend need our defense and support, but we walk the other way? We know from the Bible that the Jewish people are God’s Chosen People, but how many times have we failed to support them?

One would think that Jesus would be so angry with us! After all, He suffered so greatly on the Cross for us. But Jesus has such overwhelming Love and Compassion for us. He understands our fears and loves us anyway. And instead of being disgusted with our failures, Jesus just gives us even more opportunities to do what is right, and offers us His help.

Jesus can heal us so that we learn to Face our Fears and Follow Him, but we need to ask Him.