Friday, June 6, 2014

Consider: Why We Follow Jesus-RJD June 2014



Journal entry 4/15/2004
Based on John 6:60-71

The disciples found Jesus’ teaching hard to understand. Many fell away. Those who left had been following Him for what He could do for them. When he spoke of things they couldn’t comprehend, they left.

Jesus watched as more and more left. He turned to the twelve and asked, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Simon Peter said it so well, “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Do we follow Jesus, calling Him ‘Lord’ because of what He gives us or does for us? We shouldn’t. To follow Him because we get blessings and our needs met is selfish. We need to worship him for who He is.

If we have a bad day or we don’t feel well, God is still in control. If we hear distressing news, God is still with us.

We need to have God in our lives, although we won’t always get His blessing. If we learn this lesson, we will gain a lot toward becoming Christ like.


UPDATE: As I sit here I often have to look inside my heart and search for my motive for worshipping Jesus. This is a good habit for me to have. I have to stay in tune with Him or I could get conceited, even selfish. I have learned that sometimes God, through Jesus, will tell me things that are hard for me to understand. I have to examine these things and pray about them. This is how I learn the things of God and grow in the faith.

linking to enthusiastically dawn

17 comments:

  1. Hi Cecelia--I, too, have been going through this contemplative, searching lately...wanting to be more aware of the why in worship, hoping to become more mindful in practice...It's such a good feeling, growth--thankful for the opportunity to do so, as well! ((Hugs!))

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    1. Dawn M. Thank you for stopping by my blog. I believe all children of Christ go through times where they have to review their thoughts and discover where they are with the Lord.

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  2. Thanks; good to get through the blessings to the Blesser.

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    1. David: You're welcome. Thank you for stopping in. I know where I would be without Jesus in my life. I don't want anyone to have to face life and its ups and downs without Him. I pray you will have a bblessed weekend.

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  3. A perfect reminder for me today. SO often I , ike Israel, forget my purpose. I get weary or discouraged and the miracalous works I have seen are forgotten as I wander, even for a day in my own understanding. Him glorified, is our purpose. WHo He is is the key to our right focus. Thanks, Cecelia. As always your words point hearts heavenward.

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    1. Dawn: Thank you for your kind words. We need the Lord to remind us of our place in the scheme of things. At church these past two Wednesday nights, we watched a video called "God of Wonders" in one section they used a computer to compare the earth' size to the size of the sun. The earth looked like a grain of sand in comparison. Then they commpared our son to the largest know star. The sun looked like a seed. They repeated the process with another heavenly body;the star looked infintisimally small.

      I appreciate your ending thought. Thank you for that.

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  4. So lovely. Knowing why I do what I do...why worship, why listen to a message, why pray....this has been my school this past year. It all comes back to relationship with Jesus. It is so freeing to get back to the foundation and let go of all the add-ons!

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    1. Susie: Thank you for stopping in. You are so right; it all comes back to our relationship with Jesus. My Sunday school teacher and his wife had two children in Desert Storm (1990-91) Their daughter would get tense when a siren went off but then she would remember that 'Mom and Dad are praying for me." She came home, got married, had a couple of kids, found the Lord when the oldest one was a baby. These grandchildren are both fine upstanding Christians. I am proud to have the entire family as my friends.

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  5. Cecelia- Knock my socks off! I love how you process God's word and He speaks to the heart of the matter...the motives of my heart are revealed and realigned! Thank you for wielding his word so skillfully!

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    1. Kel: Thank you for your warm thoughts. God has a way of cutting to the chase, When He reveals our motives we have to listen to Him. Blessings to you and yours.

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    1. Hello, Deanna, Thank you for your warm thought. Feel free to visit my blog whenever you can..I usually post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Blessings to you and yours.

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  8. Hi Cecelia -

    Thanks for sharing on this Scripture. I love when the disciple replied that there was no place else to go. As Jesus said, He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by him.

    Blessings,
    Susan

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    1. Hi Susan: Thank you for stopping by my blog. I, too, love it when the disciple tells Jesus that. I really like it when that disciple tells Jesus that "You have the words to eternal life." Blessings to you and yours.

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  9. Oh wow, how wonderful a reminder this is. Two things stand out. God is in control. Just that sentence I needed to hear tonight. And then, of course, along with it, we worship Him because of who He is. Amen. Thank you.

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    1. Carolyn: Thank you for your warm thoughts. We have to remember that God is in control and He has the last say about things. Blessings to you and yours.

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