How do we follow God?

How do we follow God?

1)      We should deny ourselves

2)      Take up the cross

3)      Then follow Him

Mark 8:34

                ³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Mt 10:38

                ³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

Luke 14:27

                ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 9:23

                ²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Do we say Jesus as Christ our savior?

Do we say Jesus as Christ our savior?

Mark 8:29(Peter replied to Jesus that He is Christ, the Messiah)

            ²⁹ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
   Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

John6:69(Peter replied we have come to believe and know Christ is the Holy One of God)

                ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

John11:27(Martha replies to Jesus that she believes Christ the Messiah, the son of God)

²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
 ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
 ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

We learn the following from the above verses

1)      Do we say Christ is our lord and savior? So that we can have eternal life

2)      Peter replied to Jesus that He is Christ, the Messiah – How about us?

3)      Do we believe and know Christ is the Holy one of God like Peter.

4)      Are we acknowledging Jesus as the Christ the Messiah, as Martha Did?

hardened heart

hardened heart

Mark 8:17(If we do not understand God’s command Or what His word indicates our hearts are hardened)

               ¹⁷ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?             

Isa 6:9, 10(if we do not understand and perceive even after seeing God’ wonders our hearts are hardened)

               ⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:
   “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’

                   ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”            

Mark 6:52(if we do not understand God’s word our hearts are hardened)

⁵² for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

We learn the following from the above verses

1)      If we do not understand God’s command Or what His word indicates our hearts are hardened

2)      if we do not understand and perceive even after seeing God’ wonders our hearts are hardened

          3) if we do not understand God’s word our hearts are hardened

Honoring parents -- continued

Mal 1:6 (Honoring God as Honor your parents)

                ⁶ “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty.

   “It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

   “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

Lev 19:3(God wants us to respect our father and mother)
            ³ “‘Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.

Eze 22:7(father and mother should not be treated with contempt)
            ⁷ In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Mt 15:4(God wants us to honor our father and mother)
            ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b]

We learn the following from the above verses

1)      We should honor God as we honor our parents

2)      God wants us to respect our father and mother

3)      father and mother should not be treated with contempt

4)      God wants us to honor our father and mother

Honor your father and mother

Honor your father and mother

Mark 7:10(we should not curse our father and mother)

            ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’^[a] and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b]

Ex 20:12(Honor our father and mother so that we may live long)

                ¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Deut 5:16(Honor our father and mother so that we may live long and it may go well with us)

                ¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Ex 21:17(Punishment of cursing father or mother is death penalty)

                ¹⁷ “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.

Lev 20:9(Anyone curses his father and mother invites death sentence)

             ⁹ “‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.

We learn the following from the above verses

1)      we should not curse our father and mother

2)      Honor our father and mother so that we may live long

3)      Honor our father and mother so that we may live long and it may go well with us

4)      Punishment of cursing father or mother is death penalty

5)      Anyone curses his father and mother invites death sentence

Doing prayer everyday helps us see God's remarkable things in our life

Doing prayer everyday is an essential thing

Mark 6:46(Jesus prayed whenever He had time)

                ⁴⁶ After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

 Luke 3:21(When Jesus was praying the heaven opened)

                ²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened

Mt 14:23(Jesus was praying and spending time with Father in the night)

            ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,

Mark 1:35(Jesus prayed early in the morning)

                ³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Luke 5:26(Prayer of Jesus made people see remarkable things and they were praising God)

            ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Luke 6:12(Jesus spent the night praying to God out on the mountainside)

                ¹² One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

Luke 9:18, 28

                (Jesus was praying in private – we need to pray in private)

                ¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

                (Jesus took His disciples to pray with Him. – We also need to pray together)

                ²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.

Luke 11:1(When we do not how to pray, we should seek His help so that He will guide us)

                ¹ One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

We learn the following from the above verses

1)      Doing prayer everyday is an essential thing

2)      Jesus prayed whenever He had time – we need to pray in our spare time

3)      When Jesus was praying the heaven opened

4)      Jesus was praying and spending time with Father in the night

5)      Jesus prayed early in the morning

6)      Prayer of Jesus made people see remarkable things and they were praising God

7)      Jesus spent the night praying to God out on the mountainside

8)      Jesus was praying in private – we need to pray in private

9)      Jesus took His disciples to pray with Him. – We also need to pray together

       10) When we do not how to pray and what to pray on, we should seek His help so that He will guide us

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Wishing you all a wonderful New Year 2012)

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Wishing you all a wonderful New Year 2012)

Psalm 37:4(How to get God’s blessings? – By delighting in the Lord)

                ⁴ Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Job 27:10(Delighting in the Lord makes us call on God at all times)

                ¹⁰ Will they find delight in the Almighty? Will they call on God at all times?

 Psalm 21:2(Delighting in the Lord will give us our hearts desire and request of our lips)

                ² You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.^[a]

Psalm 145:19(God fulfills the desire of those who fear Him)

                ¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

Mt 6:33(When we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, what we need will be given to us)

            ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

We learn the following from the above verses

1)      Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart

2)      How to get God’s blessings? – By delighting in the Lord

3)      Delighting in the Lord makes us call on God at all times

4)      Delighting in the Lord will give us our hearts desire and request of our lips

5)      God fulfills the desire of those who fear Him

6)      When we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, what we need will be given to us