Do You Follow Jesus?
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
- John 13:34-35 (NIV)
"Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’"
- Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
- Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
Galatians 2:20
1 John 2:3-6
Matthew 7:13-14
Luke 14:25-33
In Luke 9, Jesus uses the imagery of the Cross to teach total submission to God. In Roman times, many people were crucified on a cross. Right before this brutal form of execution, Roman guards would force the person to carry their cross as the ultimate form of submission to Roman power. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus uses the imagery of a yoke, a wooden harness placed on oxen to help them work together to carry a heavy load. In the same way, Jesus is inviting us to walk alongside Him, letting Him carry the heavy burdens of life instead of struggling alone.
Actions You Can Take
1. Realize faith is an action. Faith in God is a conscious daily choice to fully surrender to Him and live your life in a way that leads to Christ. If/when you make the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are committing to a lifelong pursuit of being a reflection of Jesus.
2. Understand that faith is not intellectual. We cannot hope to ever understand God. We cannot prove it intellectually. Faith is something we do because we cannot see it or prove it ourselves. We believe because of what other eyewitnesses saw, recorded, and shared through the Bible. We grow because we read the bible, pray, and serve. Every discussion will likely end the same way: "God Knows, I don't."
3. If you decide to Follow Jesus, you can let go. You can take the pressure off of yourself to have all the answers because, as a believer, every single conversation you have, if you go far enough, will end the same way….God Knows I Don’t. Believing in God is a daily act of faith. There is no intellectual path to God. He’s simply way to big for us to comprehend. Those who choose to have a right relationship with God have faith knowing they don’t have to figure it out. God Knows, I don’t.
4. Following God means you know. Once you know, you have to Go. Following Jesus is an action based on understanding of John 3:16-17. Read/Reread John 3:16-17
5. Read/reread all of the scriptures verses in this section.
Why follow Jesus?
"Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’"
- John 14:6 (NIV)
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."
- Acts 4:12 (NIV)
"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’"
- John 8:12 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
John 6:68
Romans 6:23
Romans 5:1-5
Why follow Jesus? Because He said you, I, we could come. Please consider watching Alistair Begg's "The Power and Message of the Cross"
Actions You Can Take
1. Read the Miracles of Jesus, his apostles, and disciples.
Why? Because Jesus provided proof. Jesus lived. Jesus performed miracles so that the people he healed (and those who witnessed these miracles) would have proof.
Our choice is this: Do we believe the 12 apostles, disciples, and thousands of people who witnessed and benefited from these miracles...or not?
2. Consider this: Following Jesus means you will never be lonely or alone again. You will always have a friend in Jesus. Yes, you may be by yourself occasionally or even often. Consider this too...because God calls us to love our neighbor, he encourages us to be in relationship with others. Find a bible focused church if you want to find people who you can be in communion with. But, always remember, with God, not matter what, you will never be alone or lonely again.
3. Read the Book of Luke. Do enough investigation (like Luke did) so that you understand that, according to the bible (and through Luke's own thorough investigation), Jesus is the only way.
4. Read/reread the verses in this section.
5. Read/reread Romans 5:1-5
5. If you haven't, Please make time to watch Alistair Begg's "The Power and Message of the Cross"
How do I follow Jesus?
"If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
- Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)
"Peter replied, ‘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 (NIV)
"Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
- Luke 6:46-49 (NIV)
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."
- Lamentations 3:22-26 (NIV)
Additional Scripture Verses
James 1:22-25
Psalm 37:4-5
As the Bible tells us, once you decide to truly follow Christ, your life as you knew it before, will change and, as a result, will never be the same.
Actions You Can Take
1. Read/reread the verses above. When you are ready, (as the apostle Paul instructs us in Romans 10:9-10 above) make the eternal decision to say these words...or not: ‘Jesus is Lord,’ I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead.
NOTE: You can say these words privately to God or publicly (by being baptized in a church by a pastor or preacher). If you need help or have questions, please reach out to us via our chat widget. We will do our best to help you.
2. Consider joining a church. This is my most cautious “action you can take.” Why?
Because so many churches get it wrong. In fact, according to a “Biblical worldview” survey of churches and their leadership, only 7% of churches have a biblical worldview.
In other words, joining the wrong church is risky, especially if you are making a personal decision to follow Jesus.
Joining the right church is transformational and will contribute to your decision to follow Jesus…or not. My only recommendation is this: do not base your decisions on humans.
Every single human will let you down at some point.
Even those who you'll meet in bible focused churches will let you down.
I humbly ask you to not base your decision to follow / have a meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ (or not) on human beings.
Once, I had a friend who was asked, “why do you not follow Jesus?” He said, pointing to a guy who told everyone he was a Christian but rarely acted like it, "if that guy is what Christianity is all about, I don’t want anything to do with it.”
This is among the most disappointing stories about faith I have personally ever heard.
Both of these people, I believe, are potentially making eternal mistakes. The “Christian," through his flaws and likely influence from the devil, created an environment where someone else assumed that this is what Christianity must be all about. While the Christian, through faith, can ask for repentance and grace (because he believes), the “non-believer” chose to base his decision on a human versus the truth.
Both are real and way too often, examples of why Jesus is not central to the lives of many.
Seek the truth in the Bible. The only way you’ll make an informed decision about whether or not to follow God through Jesus Christ is by reading the bible.
That said, God calls us to be in relationships with others.
Personally, I have found a biblical worldview church. It’s not perfect. No church is. Every single person at this church is broken.
But, this church through Word and deed seeks God.
They welcome everyone. But, this church doesn’t glorify sin.
The focus on God's Word.
They focus on helping others build right relationships with God through Jesus Christ and the Cross.
3. Pray....daily.
4. Read scripture...daily.
5. Give thanks and praise to God...daily.
6. Grow closer to God...daily so that, at some point, you feel compelled to share the Love of God to others lovingly.
7. Take the next step of learning how to Love God through Jesus Christ will all your heart, sole, and mind.
Spiritual Growth is God's Timing...
"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."
- Hebrews 5:12-14 (NIV)
Keep Going...
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I keep going toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
- Philippians 3:13-14