follow Him?

I love the Word. It never fails to speak. Or convict. Or edify. The Word has such power and such passion and each time I break open the scriptures, I feel His presence.

I think it is so amazing that God inspired this holy book to speak to our hearts and that each time we open its pages, He shows up. And how awesome is that? He not only gives us the holy, God-breathed, precious Word, but then He comes and sits with us as we read the Bread of Life. How sweet is our God? 

As we journey through life, our spiritual walk has got to be progressive. We need to be continually growing in our knowledge of Him. Continually growing in our spiritual dependence upon Him. Continually climbing higher on the ascent to godliness and holiness. We have to be striving for more of Him in our lives. 

I have read so many good books that encourage me on this walk. The one I am reading now, "Follow Me" by David Platt is one of those books that you have to read a chapter at a time. My heart can't take much more than that without giving it time to recover...

He just puts it out there. Truth. And it hurts. It is so eye opening. Totally based on scripture. Totally lining up with what the Word tells us. And it is powerful and makes me step back and take a close look at just how closely I am following Him.

I am going to share a few of the nuggets that God used to really speak to my spirit and cause me to search deep within my soul. To see how closely I resemble my Lord. Or to see how unlike Him I really am.

My deepest desire is to be like Him and the deeper I know Him, the more He shows me how far I have to go. But that is the beauty of this glorious walk of fellowship with Jesus - He is full of mercy and grace. It is never too late to begin blossoming in Him. I am never too far away from His loving arms. He is never too busy to draw me close and gather me into His lap. He always loves me and wants me to want Him. 

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"If our lives do not reflect the fruit of following Jesus,

then we are foolish to think that we are actually followers

of Jesus in the first place."

"God chooses to set His love upon us not because of any merit in us, 

but solely because of mercy in Him" 

"He calls us not because of who we are but in spite of who we are."

"When the Mack truck of God's glory and grace collides

with someones life, they will look very different than 

they did before."

(Do we look different? Do I look different? This one really caused me to stop and take a closer examination of my life and my actions and my words. I want to be different. I want people to know that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. So there are definite changes that are going to have to take place in my life. Thank you, Lord, for the powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit.)

God's glorious initiative is that he pursues a relationship with us that we might

be recipients of His grace for the display of His glory. We are only His because of the great pursuit of us by Him.

"Do we fully recognize our need for Christ? We can't fathom a Christian on the other side of the world believing a wooden god can save them, but we have no problem believing that religion, money, possessions, food, fame, sex, sports, status and success can satisfy us. Do we actually think that we have fewer idols to let go of in our repentance?"

That statement by Platt in his book, really made me stop and think. How absurd that we actually neglect to see the magnitude of idol worship that we are guilty of. We make idols out of anything that comes before our Lord. Anything that we spend more time on or more money on or more energy on is an idol. Anything that consumes us is an idol.

I am still plowing my way through this amazing book. Letting my spirit take it in a chapter or so at a time. Letting the Lord deal with me on some issues one thing at a time. Because the truth is it doesn't do us any good to be convicted of things if we aren't willing to give those things to the Lord and confess the bondage they have created in our lives and turn away from them. That is what true repentance is all about. 

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer

I who live, but Christ lives in me; and

the life which I now live in the flesh I live

by faith in the Son of God, who loved

me and gave Himself for me"

(Galatians 2:20)

I am so thankful that I am still learning. Still seeking. And still finding answers. May I never be satisfied with where I am and always desiring for more of Him. He is so worthy.