What does truly living for God require?
I once had a checklist that I thought was the secret to becoming the person God wanted me to be:
... pray
... read my Bible
... go to church at least once a week
All of these things are good and very necessary. But these actions should be the means and not the end to spending time with God. I can't just do these, check God off my to do list, and then rush to face my day hoping that somehow I'll now be a better person.
These things should usher my heart into a place of expectation. When I pray, read my Bible, hear a sermon at church, I should leave from doing these things with eyes wide open looking to experience God personally. Knowledge is good but experiencing application of that knowledge creates life change... in both me and those I encounter.
And I certainly can't get tripped up with the lie Satan uses to hold too many of us back in our walk with God, "I'm not perfect enough to really expect to experience God."
Being a Christian can’t be about being perfect. Perfection is an impossible stance that makes hypocrites of us and skeptics of the watching world. Being a Christian that wants more than just a plastic religion to hang a piece of their identity upon will involve a shift from trying to be perfect to becoming perfectly surrendered to Jesus and the pursuit to simply follow Him.
Isn’t it interesting that those were Jesus’ words to invite people into an understanding of what living for God requires? Over and over Jesus simply said, “follow me.”
Matthew 4:19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him."
Matthew 10:38 “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Mark 1:20 “Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
Mark 2:14 “As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Mark 8:34 “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
John 8:12 “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 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 12:26 “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
Is it overkill to see in black and white Jesus saying follow me all throughout the Gospels? I don’t think so. These verses have been in front of most of us our entire Christian existence and yet for too many of us their powerful simplicity has escaped seeping deep into our hearts.
Jesus says this is the beginning to the kind of life He wants for us. This is the very thing that will give our lives meaning and lead us to our purpose. This is what will usher us past having Biblical knowledge into having experiences with God Himself. After we spend time reading God's word, praying, and listening to a sermon, we should get up and ask ourselves, "So what? Now what?"
So what?--- Why is it important that I know this right now?
Now what?--- How can I personally apply this to my life so that it makes a difference in how I think and act?
In taking it that one step further... we can then follow Jesus not by just having knowledge about Him but by personally getting to know Him.
For the more we follow Jesus the more we get to know Him. The more we know Him, the more we love Him. The more we love Him the more we want to obey Him. The more we obey Him, the more we experience life with Him and through Him. The more we experience Jesus in our every day lives, the more we become a beacon of light to lead others to follow Him. And so the cycle goes. And the world is changed. Just like Jesus asked us to do...
God, may it be so everyday of our lives.
I once had a checklist that I thought was the secret to becoming the person God wanted me to be:
... pray
... read my Bible
... go to church at least once a week
All of these things are good and very necessary. But these actions should be the means and not the end to spending time with God. I can't just do these, check God off my to do list, and then rush to face my day hoping that somehow I'll now be a better person.
These things should usher my heart into a place of expectation. When I pray, read my Bible, hear a sermon at church, I should leave from doing these things with eyes wide open looking to experience God personally. Knowledge is good but experiencing application of that knowledge creates life change... in both me and those I encounter.
And I certainly can't get tripped up with the lie Satan uses to hold too many of us back in our walk with God, "I'm not perfect enough to really expect to experience God."
Being a Christian can’t be about being perfect. Perfection is an impossible stance that makes hypocrites of us and skeptics of the watching world. Being a Christian that wants more than just a plastic religion to hang a piece of their identity upon will involve a shift from trying to be perfect to becoming perfectly surrendered to Jesus and the pursuit to simply follow Him.
Isn’t it interesting that those were Jesus’ words to invite people into an understanding of what living for God requires? Over and over Jesus simply said, “follow me.”
Matthew 4:19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him."
Matthew 10:38 “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Mark 1:20 “Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”
Mark 2:14 “As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”
Mark 8:34 “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
John 8:12 “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 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
John 12:26 “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
Is it overkill to see in black and white Jesus saying follow me all throughout the Gospels? I don’t think so. These verses have been in front of most of us our entire Christian existence and yet for too many of us their powerful simplicity has escaped seeping deep into our hearts.
Jesus says this is the beginning to the kind of life He wants for us. This is the very thing that will give our lives meaning and lead us to our purpose. This is what will usher us past having Biblical knowledge into having experiences with God Himself. After we spend time reading God's word, praying, and listening to a sermon, we should get up and ask ourselves, "So what? Now what?"
So what?--- Why is it important that I know this right now?
Now what?--- How can I personally apply this to my life so that it makes a difference in how I think and act?
In taking it that one step further... we can then follow Jesus not by just having knowledge about Him but by personally getting to know Him.
For the more we follow Jesus the more we get to know Him. The more we know Him, the more we love Him. The more we love Him the more we want to obey Him. The more we obey Him, the more we experience life with Him and through Him. The more we experience Jesus in our every day lives, the more we become a beacon of light to lead others to follow Him. And so the cycle goes. And the world is changed. Just like Jesus asked us to do...
God, may it be so everyday of our lives.
36 Comments:
The first time I ever heard of you was just a few weeks ago from Big Mama's website, and since then I have been stretched in a different way than normal. Not so much in just head knowledge but in the actually doing something with it.
I think some of it is how real you are, it makes it ok for me to be real too. But at the same time the bar you set makes me have to stretch to reach and in some cases jump up to grab that bar.
I hope you have a great day, and thank you for being willing to help!
Jen
Amen!!
I really enjoy reading your blog every morning. Thank you for making me really think about my relationship with Jesus!!!
Lysa,
That's so true. I wonder why so many of us women get bogged down in this need to be perfect? You know, if we don't read our Bibles in a week we feel so guilty about our Bible that we can't even pick it up. Jesus doesn't say that. He just says, no matter where you are, get on the road and come after me. Pursue me.
That's cool. I may never be perfect on earth, but I can get to know the One who is. Isn't that what it's all about?
Visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum today!
Lysa,
Lelia is the one that pointed me towards your blog, and I have to say, I can't agree more.
We need to be real, and we need to fall more in LOVE with HIM EVERY SINGLE DAY! Why? Because that tenders our minds and hearts to walk in obedience, and then LIFE TRULY BEGINS!
Blessings
Ah Lysa, so true and so well spoken.
Luanne
Thanks Lysa for sharing this great word! It can be truly life changing to so many!!!! I love to see God's hand at work!
Amen!
I've learned the past few years to delight in Him...in Him, and He will give me the desires of my heart. (Ps. 37:4)
I pray all the time for my kids and my husband, and I pray specific things, but now....I've finally got it. I pray that HE will be their greatest delight and love and then all of the other things will fall in place. We are at peace when He is our delight.
Thanks for the wonderful posts every day.
Love,
Valerie
As always Lysa, WONDERFUL! I'm so tired of being a good Bible study girl and ready to walk in His footsteps. Following is so much more dangerous, more unknown, messier and a little bit scarier. But that's the place I want to be.
Question for you: Do you write things in your blog that are going into your book? How do you separate what you're doing in your published work and what you put on your blog?
Thanks for continuing to remind us to keep our eyes on Him.
Lysa,
Thanks so much for your words of wisdom. You have challenged me this morning. Thanks for the reminder to live for HIM everyday in every way!
Latanya
I have jumped into the blogging world. It is still a work in progress, but I would love any feedback I can get. Check it out: http://scentstosuccess.blogspot.com
The point of our Christian walk is to really get to "know" Him - know His character, know His word. We tend to forget that in our efforts to try to please Him (and others).
This is a good word for me today! Thanks!
What a great post! I also posted about following Jesus today. He always gets to be the leader. Come by for a visit if you get a chance! :)
Lysa,
Thank you for always finding a way to touch my heart through your words. God bless you!
In Christ,
Jackie
I have been so encouraged by your blog, and I especially loved this entry!
I have been praying for God to show me the "hidden things", and daily, I am reminded in some way of His love, compassion, sacrifice, and more!
Thank you for your ministry!
Amen! I especially love this paragraph, "For the more we follow Jesus the more we get to know Him. The more we know Him, the more we love Him. The more we love Him the more we want to obey Him. The more we obey Him, the more we experience life with Him and through Him. The more we experience Jesus in our every day lives, the more we become a beacon of light to lead others to follow Him. And so the cycle goes. And the world is changed. Just like Jesus asked us to do..."
Thanks for the blessing.
Much love,
May it be so, God, may it be so! :) Thanks, Lysa, for a timely reminder!
Why is it so hard for us to lay down worldly things to follow Him?
I love what Shelia said: "You know, if we don't read our Bibles in a week we feel so guilty about our Bible that we can't even pick it up. Jesus doesn't say that. He just says, no matter where you are, get on the road and come after me. Pursue me." This is a good lesson...Jesus says no matter where you are, I accept you...come to Me. Whew! Hallelujah!
Prayers and Blessings!
Rebecca
tiggerdaisy@gmail.com
Amen! Awesome..I so needed to read that today! I'd like to copy and print that for my small group Bible Study gals, if you don't mind..if so..email me!
Blessings~Alyce
I love the Bible, all it's mystery, all the ways it connects itself with other passages, all the ways God speaks in it. It really is not only what washes me, but it's a lot of fun too! What a wonder he is.
Hi Gals...
Thanks so much for responding to today's post. To answer your questions...
Heather... some of this will be in my new book that I am writing. I have to balance not putting too much of it on my blog so that if my blog readers eventually get this book, they won't feel like they've already read it. But at the same time, I want people's reaction so I can see if what I am writing is really connecting. So, it is a balance I have to find.
Alyce... yes you are welcome to share my blog with your Bible Study. If you print it out just add at the bottom... copyright 2008 www.LysaTerKeurst.com. And tell them I'd love for them to pop by some time.
Thanks!
Lysa,
I love that God always provides you with the perfect message for my heart. Follow me. I just can't imagine how that must have been to hear those words directly from His mouth. It makes me come all undone to just READ them, so to hear them face to face. Oh my, I've got the chills!
Somedays I wonder if God ever regretted asking me to follow Him, but then I read the Bible and see He chose people just like me all the time. Sinners in need of a Savior. Hallelujah!
Thanks Lysa, this was truly incredible.
Hugs,
Lelia
This post has been removed by the author.
Exactly. That is the essence of the life that we have been invited into. For so long, it was drudgery for me. I wanted it to be real. But it just didn't cut it for me. I didn't find God to be all that exhilirating like some. I didn't have a clue as to what it meant to get "high on God." HOnestly, I thought people who said those kinds of things were a little too dramatic and yep,a little out there. So I thought they were crazy or that somehow, I didn't measure up.
It all changed for me when I started actually talking to God about more than earthly needs and wants...a new car, a better relationship with so and so, a bigger house, more peace, a smoother week...When I got past my laundry list of "must-haves" He started to move to a place I didn't know existed with Him. For example, I started praying what some might call "dangerous prayers."
Humble me. Bring me low.
God, whatever it takes, make me like you.
Bring the pain...if it means change.
I also started responding to Him. So if I read in Matthew 5, "Seek first the kingdom of God..." I would say to God, "That's what I want. I want your kingdom and everything that comes with it. I want you."
Or if I read in Psalm 91 that He was a protective God, a faithful, nurturing Father, I would acknowledge those things and thank Him for His protection and for this relationship He has established with me.
As an extremely prideful person, I needed an antidote (medicine), so I started praying out loud, over and over a verse from Isaiah, "Your name and renown is the desire of my heart." I would say to Him, "I don't want anything for myself. I want to make you famous..."
That's when I started to morph into a seeker, follower, lover of God (treating Him like a real person...imagine!)from someone who was just a good Bible study girl. Because that's what I was. I just might have been one of the best too.
I wouldn't trade one tear or any ounce of pain to go back. He did and is doing what I asked Him to do...to change me...a prayer that He will always answer affirmatively.
Praise His Holy Name!!
Dearest Lysa,
Well said! That is so hard for us to do as busy wives, mommas and homemakers - to just stop long enough to not only ask questions but to think - not easy to do when we sometimes hit the floor running.
I think you have said it perfectly about our check lists. We can't just check off our time with God as something that has to be done on our "To Do" list but it has to be the footing to our day and throughout our day. It becomes that source in which we draw from when we start running on empty during the busiest of times. If He becomes just another thing to check off...we have completely checked Him off even before our pencil leaves the paper to mark it off.
Great post!!
Love and God's Blessings,
Cat
AMEN, sister! You spoke the words straight from my heart. Thank you for this great reminder
Christie
Thank you as always for your words. I have been feeling a bit challenged by God lately and so I am taking a breath and jumping in HIs arms....I want the adventure.
blessings
Thanks for your thoughts Lysa! I am SO encouraged and thankful that our God is a God of grace and mercy and doesn't just shove me aside when I'm having a bad day. It's been one of those days and I praise Him that even when I'm a grump, He still adores me and sees potential in me. Hard to believe but true! :)
God bless you!
Amen and amen! God has been convicting me so much lately of the fact that "knowledge puffs up." Being that Bible Study girl is pointless if I snap at my kids and have a critical spirit. I sooo don't want it to all be about head knowledge.
Thanks for another encouraging word!
Much love,
Linda
Lysa, This was such a confirmation for me that obedience needs a plan....we can never ever trust our emotions because they are always going to let you down....at least mine are! =)
The more I commit to having my quiet time each, commit to getting on my face before Him....that's when I truly see and experience God for who He is....it's not when I "feel" like I'm ready to experience God!!
Amen girl! Love it!!
I'm taking a new view of the Word after reading it for 39 yrs. and trying to do and be. Now when I read I try to figure out what the verses say about who God is, who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is--- I am changed by the people I hang around with so if I really get to know Him I will be changed--to be more like Him.
I agree with you Lysa, I have so been experiencing GOD in my everyday life, it has to be more than just in my quiet time. I talk about this on this week's episode of MOm-Daughter connection my radio show and podcast. I am currently reading your book WHat Happens When Women Say Yes to God and I talk about it on this week's show. I am so excited about meeting you this summer at She Speaks. Looking forward to it. Oh you can see my podcast and show at http://beautybydesignonline.com/moms this week is show #16.
And the more we search Him out the more we hunger and thirst for Him! You get to a point you can't get enough. I find myself constantly searching for Him throughout the day so I carry scripture with me, blog-hop :-) to be inspired bythese beautiful Christian women, and pray, pray, pray. I love loving Jesus!
In His Graces~Pamela
Lysa,
Your writing is beautiful! Thank you for the truths that you shared today. I love your last paragraph. It is so true, the more we know, the more we love our Saviour.
Thank you for sharing your heart so purely!
Blessings,
a surrendered sister!
The verses were great. I loved your pictures and tales from Wisconsin.
Have a great day,
Charlene
So true! First time I cried over Jesus...I was a little girl and the Bass/Rankin Christmas story of Little Drummer Boy...I still cry everytime I watch it. When Grier Garsons voice over comes on with Matt 5:8, I weep. Now I recognize that he was actually there when I was hurting even though I didn't realize it. For so many years I had a heart that didn't yearn to know him like it did as a child and because of that I hurt myself and others around me. Thank you for everything you are for Him!
Thanks again Lysa for showing us the WAY through Jesus and summing it up so precisely: chosen-follow-get to know Him-love Him more-and thus we must obey HIM and His Word.
It's not so easy to change that head stuff to heart stuff and action! I appreciate it that you took us one step beyond the obedience into how we experience Jesus and become more like Him, shining as a beacon in this dark world, so our ACTIONS not just words lead others to want and choose to follow or fill their
lives with Jesus and growing! And it IN DEED must be a complete cycle! Excellent writing and thought provoking to inspiring me to serve Him and be more like Him!
Since March began, I've been wanting to write you personally, because of your appearance on the Oprah show!(I'll skip my comments on how watching that blessed me). I know just because you appeared on her show that it doesn't make you a close friend or affliate you with her. But I believe, we must pray for Oprah and the influence, she is having on millions, with this new interactive class, on the book she is thus promoting, A New Earth by Tolle. I don't have it because I am out of the country, so I just saw the blogs and her show, and site. I believe she has done so much good and now she also has this BIG GIVE show! I do not want to judge her but only ask that others not be led astray by this new teaching but seek the TRUTH in God's Word! That Oprah's eyes would be opened to the impact and influence of leading others astray in finding their God given purpose. I will not put labels on her either but I ask you to address this and ask for prayer for her! May other's read BLOGS like yours and P31 offer, rather than seeking to align God's Word
with other authors in this day and age. We may or may not need to be
"More than Just a Good Bible Study Girl" and add Oprah's class on our checklist, Heaven help us...we need to still READ HIS WORD and
understand how deep is HIS LOVE for us, to do as you say, Shine His Light as a beacon. Oprah has allowed some of her childhood and early Christian experience and a statement she misunderstood, to seek God and spiritual truths elsewhere. She is highly influential throughout the world and what she is promoting can have GREAT future impact as she communicates to millions starving for meaning and purpose in life.
Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life and YOUR writings would bless and serve us and the millions MUCH, MUCH better. Let's pray! Thank you...Peggy Van Walton has my email if you'd be so kind to write me in Mexico. I'd appreciate it!
All I can say is FAB-U-LOUS! You have no idea how much I can relate to everything you have said. Early in my walk with Christ I thought it was all about "going, doing, serving", when in all reality all He ever wanted was for me to FOLLOW. Yes, there is some doing in the follow"ship" of Jesus, but that never takes the place of spending time alone WITH him.
Love it! My favorite part was this, "Knowledge is good but experiencing application of that knowledge creates life change...in both me and those I encounter." Well said and so true!
xoxo,
Melissa
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