"THEN He [Jesus] said to them, “FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.”
Matthew 4:19 (NKJV)
• Whatever God has for you in redemption, it takes your following to realize it.
- The good promises of God for your life cannot be realized without a consistent following.
- When God saved you, He did that, for a purpose in His Kingdom: "FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS, WHICH God PREPARED beforehand THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM" (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV).
- Every Believer, the professed Christians, is a potential star in the Kingdom.
- All you need to shine in the Kingdom is, the consistent following of God.
• The Following of Him.
- Someone who is following would not miss the plans and programmes of God for their lives.
- You must get to the point of conviction, that you know and BE sure that you have no choice than to follow Jesus Christ.
- Many move from one church to another, from one crusade ground to another, in a bid to receive a miracle.
- What God desires more than any other thing is, paying attention to His Word (Joshua 1:8; James 1:22,25).
- Christianity is all about relationship and Fellowshipping with God. Christianity is not about what you could get or receive from God only: "FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT EATING AND DRINKING, BUT RIGHTEOUSNESS, And PEACE, And JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Romans 14:17 DARBY).
- It is about communion or fellowship. About talking to God and hearing from Him. Some claimed to be born-again, but they are yet to know how to hear from Him.
- In Following, you should be able to differentiate the voice of the stranger from that of the Master, Jesus Christ:
4 AND when He brings out his own sheep, He goes before them; AND THE SHEEP FOLLOW HIM, FOR THEY KNOW HIS VOICE. 5 YET THEY WILL BY NO MEANS FOLLOW A STRANGER, BUT WILL FLEE FROM HIM, FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW THE VOICE OF STRANGERS" (John 10:4,5 (NKJV).
• "I will make YOU..."
- God makes when you follow. The making is done as you keep following.
- What you are passing through or experiencing might not be palatable, things might not be working as expected by you; It is as if you should give up on everything about life.
- I want to tell you there is hope for you, If you do not quit Following.
• A Sister
- Several years past, I used to know a sister who was having a chronic disease.
The problem could not be solved through medication. She said she had been praying that God should take her life, that she wanted to go home, heaven, and rest.
And I told her not to give up, there is hope for her, that if she could overcome the Problem, she would be an instrument in the hand of God to bless and heal others, as many that may be having similar affliction. - I told her if she should die then, her death and being in heaven would not be beneficial to God and His Kingdom. She had no business in heaven at the time she was desiring death. That her being on earth is of Benefit to God and His Kingdom than her being in HEAVEN (Philippians 1:22). That she was too young to die. I told her who will take care of her only son, and moreso the husband would become a widower.
- With the Admonitions; the word of faith and hope, the faith arises in her. She has recovered and doing well in the Lord.
- I want to tell you, your case or situation is not a hopeless one. The Scripture says: “FOR THERE IS HOPE FOR A TREE, IF it is cut DOWN, THAT IT WILL SPROUT AGAIN, And THAT ITS TENDER SHOOTS WILL NOT CEASE. 8 THOUGH its root may grow old in the earth, AND its STUMP may DIE in the GROUND, 9 YET AT THE SCENT OF WATER IT WILL BUD And BRING FORTH BRANCHES LIKE A PLANT" (Job 14:7-9 NKJV).
- If you can keep following Christ, responding and walking in line with His Word, you will flourish again.
• Observation.
- God is not in a hurry! A number of those who come to Christ Jesus, came to have their needs met. And they are impatient.
- They would not want to follow God's pace, in getting whatever they desired from God.
- Many of such, think the Way of God is too slow, that they have to look for a quicker means to get their needs met. THEY wanted to succeed and arrive at the destination they had desired.
- Sarah did that in the Bible. She wanted to help God, thinking the Promise of God was being delayed. She told Abraham, her husband, to sleep with her maid, to expedite what God told them about having a son (Genesis 16:1-4).
SHE thought they would need to do something in order to help God. - If God has promised you a thing, as a child of His, He would surely make good whatever He said (Numbers 23:19).
HE WILL bring it to pass, even without your assistance or contribution. God would not need your help to bring His Word to Fulfilment.
• Many Believers are in haste, making the same mistake Sarah made.
- Some have gone to places they ought not to, all in the effort to get solutions to their problems.
- A number of such so-called Believers have returned back with bigger problems, than the ones they took to such places.
- There is nothing special in whatever you are passing through:
"THE ONLY TEMPTATION that has COME TO YOU IS THAT WHICH EVERYONE HAS. BUT you can trust God, WHO WILL NOT PERMIT YOU TO BE TEMPTED MORE THAN YOU CAN STAND. BUT when you are TEMPTED, HE WILL ALSO GIVE YOU A WAY TO ESCAPE SO THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO STAND IT" (1 Corinthians 10:13 New Century Version).
• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
- Healing is your lot in Jesus' name. Thus whatever is contrary to your health is cursed in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
- Your are delivered from every oppression of sickness in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Peace!
TO BE CONTINUED