Follow Me

(Matthew 7:13-14)
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

The narrow gate's way is hard but it leads to life. The wide gate's way is easy but in the end, it will lead you to destruction. The easy path is the path where "Okay, pray this prayer so that you might be saved" is the gate. The hard path is the path where " Come, follow Me" is the gate.

Follow Him.
Have you ever thought of what it truly means to be a Christian? Do you know that there are two types of Christians? One is the one who just prayed a prayer and went on with his life as if he didn't encounter something or Someone supernatural. This person may be attending church but he may just be professor. The other is the one who placed his faith on Jesus, decided to take up his cross and follow Jesus.You see, we have to be reminded that Jesus is not just a "means" or a transpo to heaven, Jesus is Someone who chose to mediate for us. He became a bridge to the gap between our broken relationship with God.

"Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it's a summon to lose our lives." --Follow Me by David Platt (p.4)

When we accept Him as our Savior, we also must accept Him as our Lord. The Gospel is not about going to a place, it's about entering a relationship with our Father and King. That means you're a princess and a daughter of the King of kings! But because our Father is our King and we are part of His kingdom, we ought to serve Him. And serving Him would mean that we FOLLOW HIM.

If we have really decided to follow Jesus then:

"--every single Christian-- eagerly, willingly, and gladly lose our lives to know and proclaim Christ, for this is simply what it means to follow Him." (p.5)

(Matthew 7:21)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." 

What then or how then can we know the will of the Father?

(Romans 12:1-2)
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." 

So how can we know the will of God? By letting ourselves be transformed into Christ-likeness. How will we be transformed into Christ-likeness if we don't seek Him? If we don't follow Him closely?

Your response to the Gospel is not a one-time decision, it's a life-time decision.


What Following Him Really Means.

(Matthew 16:24-25)
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it'."

What does it mean for us to take up our cross? It means that we take up the call to die to ourselves and to live in Christ. It means that we will follow Him whatever the cost is.

"The road that leads to heaven is risky, lonely, and costly in this world, and few are willing to pay the price. Following Jesus involves losing your life--and finding new life in Him." (p.11)

If you're an apple tree, you will bear apples and not oranges. In the same way, if you're a Christian, if you follow Him, if His seed is really planted in you, then what fruit will you bear? What fruit must you bear?

"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...if someone gets hit by a Mack truck going seventy miles per hour, that person is going to look very different than he did before!" (p.16)

So how do you think we ought to look after being hit by the weight of the Gospel? 

"...once people truly come face-to-face with Jesus, the God of the universe in the flesh, and Jesus reaches down into the depth of their hearts, saves their souls from the clutches of sin, and transforms lives to follow Him, they are going to look different. Very different." (p.18)

Have you encountered Jesus and took up His call to take up your cross and follow Him? 






[This post is part of another blog-book series based on David Platt's "Follow Me"]

 

An Open Letter To You

"Oh look who's pretty and who's not."
"I'm fat and ugly."
"Nobody likes me."
"Why are they good at singing and dancing and I'm not?"
"No one cares."
"My hair is such a mess."
"I'm plain. What's unique about me? Nothing."
"Nobody will accept me."
"My teeth are crooked."
"They will never understand me."
"I just cringe every time I read what I write or see the painting that I created."
"I'm dumb and stupid while everyone else is smart and good at something."
"I hate myself."

Stop it. You. Yes you who keeps on saying these negative statements to yourself. STOP IT NOW.

Stop filling your mind with lies.
Stop pitying yourself.
Stop magnifying your flaws.
And don't ever say that you hate yourself just because you don't see any stroke of "beauty" in you.

You think people perceive you as ugly?
You think no one notices you?
You think no one will ever understand you?
You think no one cares about you?
You think you're no good?
You think not a single soul loves you?

Well guess what. You are wrong.
If you dwell on such kind of thoughts, then I guess you haven't heard of your love story yet.
Or maybe you have heard about it but you didn't believe that it was your love story.

I don't know if you know this but your love story is written in a love letter that has about 783,137 words [1].
I don't know if you know this but there's Someone who has been trying to catch your attention and did some pretty serious lengths just so that He can be with you.

Do you know that He died for you?
Do you know how hurt He feels whenever you are hurt?
Do you know that He embraces you when you're crying alone?
Do you know that he smiles whenever you're happy?
Do you know that He created the world for you?

Do you know how much He loves you?

You think you're ugly? Well, He thinks you're fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14)
You think no thinks about you? Think again because He thinks about you 24/7. (Psalm 139:17)
You think no one understands your problems? Hahaha, He knows what you feel even before you say what you're feeling. (Psalm 139:1-4). He knows how to sympathize because he experienced the it as well. (Hebrews 4:15)
You think you're plain and ordinary who won't be able to do anything extraordinary? Dear reader, He sees the potential in you. (1 Samuel 16:7)
You think no one hears your cries? Don't worry, He is close to the brokenhearted. (Psalm 34: 18) He can help you. (Psalm 40:1-2)
You hate yourself? Don't. Don't hate yourself because you think everyone hates you. Should I even repeat and say that He died for you because of His abundant love for you? (John 3;16)

Beauty is not dependent on what you wear or how you look. He does not care about your appearance because the heart is more important to Him. (1 Peter 3:3-4)

So stop crying out of self-pity as if the 783,137 word length of love letter for you does not exist.


[1] See https://wordcounter.net/blog/2015/12/08/10975_how-many-words-bible.html

Think Like a Psalmist

“We ought to stop thinking like scientists and think like psalmists.” 

—A.W. Tozer

What did Tozer mean when he said this? Why did he describe our way of thinking as scientists? In this busy world we live in, we have forgotten to stop and smell the flowers and just appreciate God’s goodness and beauty. What is more alarming is, we have forgotten God. We have placed God in a box and have overlooked His character. If you read the book of Psalm, you’ll see how God’s attributes are revealed in each chapter. The psalmists knew what was important. They sought God in every trial, every victory, every time they cry, and every time they laugh. They knew God because they have experienced a very important principle that can be found in Psalm 34:8

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

What does it mean for God to be called good?

“God is kindhearted, gracious, good-natured, and benevolent in intention.”
–Attributes of God, A.W. Tozer (p.35)

Because God is God, His goodness is infinite and abounding. Guess what? His infinite goodness is the reason why you and I live today. How? Because of His infinite goodness, He created us. Because of His infinite goodness, He sent Jesus to take the penalty of our sins. Because of His infinite goodness, He wanted to be reconciled with us. Because of His infinite goodness, He does whatever he does because He does things out of who He is. But even though God wants us to experience His goodness, man has the choice whether to respond in awe of His goodness or to turn their hearts away from God’s character.

“God is good toward all who accept His goodness. And for those who reject His goodness, there’s nothing that even the Almighty God can do if He’s going to allow man his free will—and I believe in free will.”— Attributes of God, A.W. Tozer (p. 40)

Nature’s Learning Nuggets

On our recent Batangas-Tagaytay-Laguna family trip I intentionally sought to see God’s goodness and beauty in nature. Here are some of those nuggets:

• God created nature for us to be reminded of the beginning. In the beginning, man had a perfect relationship with God. Everything was good (God created the universe and said that it was good). We had everything we needed but we wanted more. So we decided to ruin God’s paradise for us by sinning against Him. But mankind’s story did not end there, because of God’s goodness He made a way for us to be reconciled with Him. Out of His loving-kindness, He wanted us to experience paradise with Him again.

• To capture the taste of something, you have to chew it slowly and that’s what I exactly did. I inhaled and exhaled and allowed myself to be still before God. We can still be still and experience peace despite the bustling era we live in. Just as the storm is calm at the center or the eye, we can be calm in the midst of chaos by looking above as we stand at the center of His presence.

• Think like psalmists. They learned from God’s handiwork displayed around us. They knew how to give thanks to God whatever the circumstances were. We have complicated life so much and have forgotten that we only need a few important things to live life. Learn from the flowers of the field, the grass which grows all around, and the trees that sway with the wind. I think they’re pretty content with just living their lives bathing in the sun, being showered by water, and gazing up above.

Life Nugget

I think our life nugget can be best summarized by what A.W. Tozer said about God’s loving-kindness (Yes, I am going to be quoting A.W. Tozer in a lot of blog posts because I’m going to start writing about God’s attributes),

“His kindness is something we must have. It must be a reflection, a lingering flavor, like an old vase that once held beautiful flowers. Though the vase is broken, the scent of the roses hangs round the vase. So mankind, fallen like a broken vase, dashed to the pavement and splintered into a million pieces, yet has something we call kindness.”(p.43)

Loving-kindness is a reflection of God’s goodness. God is good and He created us in His own image. Are you reflecting God’s goodness and kindness today?

“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me Thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:68)