WHO ARE YOU FOLLOWING

Proclamation:

Jesus told His disciples, "Follow me." Matthew 4:19 (NIV)

Explanation

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Matthew and also by the Apostle John.  As Jesus began His earthly ministry He chose His disciples by stating this simple, and yet profound and life changing statement when He said, “Follow Me.”  That phrase was an idiom which had a meaning far beyond the usual meaning of the individual words.  The implication was to put Christ first in their lives and to emulate Him.  To be a disciple of Christ one must deny themselves, take up their personal cross and walk as He walked. (Matthew 16:24)

Application:

At one time or another in our lives most of us have looked up to someone that we admired and wanted to be like.  That person could have been called our hero.  Unfortunately, all too often we pick the wrong person to imitate and emulate because that person has faults and short-comings just like the rest of us.  As believers we are called to emulate Christ.  We are to be His disciples or students.  To follow Him is to be an imitator of Christ, which requires obedience to His teachings and is exemplified by moral behavior.  "The steps of a good man are ordered by The Lord ..." (Psalms 37:23)  "Order my steps in Thy word ..." (Psalms 119:133)  Our direction and path should be determined by The Lord.  Only He knows where we are going and only He knows the way there.  Jesus is The Way! (John 14:6)  The old expression, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way" (Author Unknown) was said to motivate procrastinators to do something.  If you are not following Jesus and leading people to Jesus, then you are going the wrong way.  If you are not following Jesus, The Christ, then who are you following?

THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD

Proclamation:

"But the fruit of The Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control ... Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by The Spirit, let us also keep step with The Spirit."  Galatians 5:22-25 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God to the believers in Galatia, which was a mixture of converted Jews and Gentiles.  Paul’s point here was that it was not enough for them to cease doing evil but that they must learn to do that which is Christ-like.

Application:

Most of us think that we are okay because we are not as bad as the worse criminals in the world.  We forget that The Bible says as a man thinks, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7 and Matthew 5:28)  Sinful thought are still sins.  In fact, anything which does not give God glory, all unrighteousness, is sin. (1 John 5:17)  We need to not think so highly of ourselves and recognize that if we are not exhibiting the fruit of The Holy Spirit of God, then we are probably committing a sin.  Trees bear fruit based upon their nature.  The fruit that we produce, our behavior, should be the same as the fruit of The Spirit, if The Holy Spirit of God is within us.  In the previous verses, Galatians 5:19-21, Paul lists the things of the flesh that we should be dead to and which should no longer be a part of us.  Once we accepted Christ as our Savior, The Holy Spirit of God indwelled us.  We did not become perfect but we changed and became new creatures. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  We should now walk, talk, think, and behave in such a manner that the world can see the fruit of The Spirit in our lives.  We should not have to tell people that we are Christians, they should be able to detect that by observing us.  To the world, our actions will speak louder than our words.  Let us show the world that The Spirit of God is within us by our actions and by how we treat one another. (John 13:35)

GOD IS FULL OF COMPASSION

Proclamation:

“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.”  Psalm 116:5 (NIV)

Explanation:

Although the human author of this psalm is unknown, it was clearly written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The psalmist loves The Lord because He heard his cry for mercy. (Psalm 116:1-2)  He was overcome by distress and sorrow (Psalm 116:3) and The Lord saved him. (Psalm 116:6)  Then he asked the rhetorical question, “What shall I return to The Lord for all His goodness to me?” (Psalm 116:12)  He answers his own question by saying, “I will fulfill my vows to The Lord in the presence of all His people.” (Psalm 116:14 and 18) 

Application:

The sentence that begins with the phrase “God is …” can be completed in so many ways.  The Bible offers hundreds of statements which include that phrase.  However, God has only revealed a small part of who He is in The Bible.  We only know some of His attributes.  Our limited human capacity for understanding cannot fully comprehend all of who God is.  We know that He is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere all at the same time but we do not fully appreciate that.  We cannot even adequately express all that He is to us or all that He has done for us.  We know that He is always with us, even though we don’t act like it.  We know that He is our refuge and strength and is our help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)  We know that He is full of compassion and love for us because before we loved Him, while we were lost in sin, He sent His only Son to die for us so that we might have the choice of salvation. (John 3:16 and Romans 5:8)  We should praise God publicly for that if for nothing else.  As the song says, “God is the joy and the strength of my life … God is my all and all.”

PUT YOUR TRUST IN THE LORD

Proclamation:

“In You, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in Your righteousness.”  Psalm 31:1 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm of King David was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  It was written to the people of God to encourage them to love The Lord, keep the faith, be strong, and be of good courage. (Psalm 31:23-24)  David’s prayer life and his faith walk went hand in hand. (Psalm 31:5)  He was in trouble and he was distressed. (Psalm 31:9-10)  However, instead of giving in and giving up, he put his trust in The Lord. (Psalm 31:14-16)

Application:

It would be good for all believers to read Psalm 31 when things are not going well in our lives.  “In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Thy righteousness.” (Psalm 31:1 KJV)  “… Come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge … deliver me, Lord, my faithful God … I will be glad and rejoice in Your love … Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress … I have become like broken pottery … But I trust in You, Lord … Let Your face shine on Your servant; save me with Your unfailing love … How abundant are the good things that You have stored up for those who fear You … Praise be to The Lord, for He showed me the wonders of His love …”  (Psalm 31:1-24 shortened)  As I have said on more than one occasion, sometimes we just need to pray like David prayed.

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

Proclamation:

"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke during the beginning of His Sermon on The Mount as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Matthew.  Peace makers are happy people.  They love, desire, and delight in peace.  They keep the peace that it may not be broken, and they attempt to recover it whenever is it broken.

Application:

Do you know someone who always seems to be trying to keep the peace, always trying to stop two others from arguing or fighting.  They never seemed to want to take one side or the other, saying something like “you are both right and you are both wrong.”  Peacemakers are not just sitting on the fence.  They are capable of making a decision, they have decided that we should all “just get along” and love each other.  The Bible teaches us that we should love our enemies.  Peacemakers are just trying to remind us of that, trying to help us engage rational thought instead of letting our emotions cause us to fly off the handle.  They are at peace with God and their desire is to live in peace with all men, and to have all men live in peace with each other. (Romans 5:1)  Their peace with Christ enables them to be ambassadors of God's message to a troubled world.  So, don't put down those who promote peace, they may be promoting God's message of love.  You may not agree with either side, but fighting is not the answer.

THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD

Proclamation:

“And when the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting ... All of them were filled with The Holy Spirit …”  Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Luke, the physician and frequent traveling companion of the apostle Paul.  Some people believe that only the eleven apostles received power after The Holy Spirit of God came upon them.  Luke records that in that upper room there were about 120 men and women (Acts 1:12-15) and they were all filled with The Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:4) 

Application:

Jesus, The Christ, said “You will receive power when The Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses …” (Acts 1:8)  This power is not just for preachers but it is available to all believers.  After Peter preached his first sermon, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)  That day about 3000 people gladly received his word, believed it, and became disciples (students) of Christ. (Acts 2:41)  That number grew daily and became a multitude. (Acts 2:46-47)  Stephen, the first deacon, was full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, before the apostles laid their hands upon him and prayed for him. (Acts 6:3-8)  As believers in Jesus, The Christ, we have The Holy Spirit of God within us.  Our problem is we have a choice in what we do and say, and we do not let The Holy Spirit have control of our lives.  We want to be in charge.  My favorite example of this is to use a bus as an analogy.  On the bus which represents our life, we want The Holy Spirit to be a back seat passenger on the bus that we are driving, instead of us letting The Holy Spirit take charge and drive the bus.  We have the potential to do great things for The Lord.  We have the power of The Holy Spirit of God available to us, to help us to be a help to others.  We have the power within us, the question is: what are we doing with it and what are we going to do with it?  All believers are to be witnesses for Christ.  We are all to spread The Word and tell others about the good news and salvation through Jesus, The Christ.

GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT

Proclamation:

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with The Lord to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”  2 Corinthians 12:7-9

 Explanation:

While defending himself to the false teachers, false prophets, and false apostles, the Apostle Paul said that he could boast about a number of things but refused to do so.  Under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, he chose to boast about The Lord.  In order to keep him humble, Paul said that he was given “a thorn” in his flesh.  The exact nature of the thorn was not identified.  Whether it was a physical ailment, a great trouble or temptation, the devil meant it to take Paul down but God used it to keep him grounded and from thinking to highly of himself.  Paul asked The Lord three times to remove it but He said that His grace would help Paul to deal with it. 

Application:

Sometimes life throws us a curve.  When times are tough and things go wrong, we should not give up or get mad.  We should remember that The Lord said, "My grace is sufficient ..." (2 Corinthians 12:9)  If He brought us to it, He can bring us through it.  The Lord God’s power is demonstrated during our weakness.  All things happen for a reason and even “bad things” can be used for our benefit. (Romans 8:28)  Some things are just tests which can strengthen us. (James 1:3-4)  So, even when life bring us trials and tribulations we should be joyful and count them as a good thing which is preparing us for something better. (James 1:2)  Each of us is still a work in progress.  As with the thorn in Paul's flesh and the trials of James, God is working on us and He is not through with us yet.  So count it all as joy and know that God is always with us. (Deuteronomy 31:6)