Who are you following?
Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
fol·low·er – an adherent or devotee of a particular person, cause, or activity.
Low is the key word in follow. To follow someone you must see yourself as lower than them. Physically, mentally, spiritually you may be superior but you have to humble yourself to follow. It isn’t bad to bring your self low. Sometimes to take the high-ground you have to take the lower ground. It’s easy to do when you are a follower of Christ.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. That’s what John the Baptist said. And He was one of the strongest followers of Christ ever. Used mightily of God. He said basically, ‘less of me, more of Jesus!’
I hesitate to use the word Christian anymore. I am a Biblical Follower of Jesus Christ. Christians in general give Jesus a bad name. I am a Christian so I can talk. Many Christians I have found are just plain mean. Many seethe with anger over absolutely nothing. Many are hyper-political. They twist words, to make themselves look good, and to others look bad (usually other believers). I saw a documentary recently about an ex ñ-missionary talking bad about missionaries still in the field. Key word here is ‘ex’. He put his hand to the plow and looked back (used as a bad example by Christ in Luke 9:62). No mention of that, Yet he’s bashing all the missionaries out there still doing it, day in day out, decade in, decade out. The way I see it, none of this is Godly. None of these offenders are followers of Jesus, as dear children. No matter how much you twist the words ‘walk in love as Christ’, these guys aren’t doing it.
Jesus is love. God is love. Some Christians are even contentious about these statements. Usually the Bible experts. Explaining that Jesus is Just and Righteous, on top of love. That’s true too. But it is entirely possible to be Just and Righteous, and the embodiment of love at the same time. The Bible is full of examples. Jesus never called people names. (Except He called the religious people sinners, snakes and sons of Satan). Jesus never ridiculed anyone, ever. The religious never ceased ridiculing and using sarcasm about how Jesus ate, how He drank, how He partied, how He worshipped, His theology, His associates, His disciples, His friends, His ministry, His finances, His spending habits, how He prayed even how He died. Sound familiar? By the way, NO one is 100% right theologically or anything else. No denomination is perfect. When you condemn, judge, or ridicule, you are saying you are better. That is satanic. That is not being humble.
Christians follow other Christians. That’s by design. I am picky with my Christian friends. I use my Christian friends to exhort, admonish and encourage me. Likewise, I tend to distance myself from mean spirited Christians. If the Words are right out of the Bible, but the deliverer isn’t of the right spirit, it’s wrong. ( Satan in the wilderness). These angry Christians are saved because they believe in their heart and confess with their mouth (Romans 10:9), and we’ll be spend eternity together in heaven someday, but not now. It’s interesting that I don’t ever distance myself from non-believers unless they get into my grill. Non-believers are the only reason that I am here. Many I have had to distance myself (or block them) because their anger affects my walk, causes others to stumble and makes me a be a bad witness.
Proverbs 22:24-25 ….Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.…
As we follow other Christians, other Christians follow us. Be aware of that. We are being watched. It’s a big thing to say what Paul says, but it’s 100% true!
1 Corinthians11. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ
WhatistheloveofGod.com
Dean and Winnie Peters
Joyfully serving the ‘least of these’ in Managua Nicaragua
https://www.facebook.com/winnie.pureheart
www.whatistheloveofGod.com
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