Follow Jesus
FOLLOW JESUS
Jesus said His purpose for coming to live among man was to help them live fully (John 10:10). To live fully is to experience life the way He created us to experience it. This is the purpose of those who gather together as Common Ground. Jesus also taught us that the way to live fully is to follow Him (Matthew 28:19-20). Are you following Jesus? There are three words that define following and help you answer this question: learn.live.love. If you are living these words you are experiencing everything God has for you. To help you better understand living fully we’ve defined each of these words:
LEARN. Are you actively learning about God and His plan for your life? This is the beginning of living fully. Do you read the bible? Do you make it a habit to be a part of Sunday Gathering? Do you gather with other followers to get and receive encouragement? If not, make it a habit. You can’t experience life if you don’t know what life is.
LIVE. Are you applying what you’re learning about God and His plan for living to your life? This is so important. Life is experienced in the living not in the learning. Learning = living = life! Have you learned something about God and His ways that you haven’t applied to your life? Are you learning but choosing not to do anything about it? If so, today is the day to start living life as God designed.
LOVE. Are you giving to other followers and non-followers what you have learned and lived out? A huge part of following Jesus is living a life of love. As we have personally experienced with God’s love, love leads to life. It always does. To love is to give to others of what we have received from God. Are you actively loving in this way? Can you think of someone you’ve loved? Are you loving people that don’t follow Jesus? If not, get loving. Think of someone right now who you could love, make a plan, and love away.
Learn.Live.Love. = Living Fully. Of course what makes this all possible and real is salvation. Salvation is God’s offer to forgive us of our sins (doing, saying, thinking things inconsistent with God and His plan for life). We’re all honest enough to say we’ve sinned. When we recognize our sin and our inability to fix our circumstance we’re headed down the right path. The bottom line is that not only have we all sinned but sin has changed our nature. We were created to love God and others but sin changed everything. Now, if we’re honest with ourselves, our nature is committed to loving self more than anyone or anything. The result is that no matter how hard we try to “fix” sin or get it right we can’t. Jesus knows this and He chose to die for our sins. Basically He paid for our sins. When we ask Jesus to forgive us is the moment everything changes. Our relationship with God is restored. God gives us a new nature that wants to, even if we fall short often, love God and others. Lastly, He puts His Spirit in us to help us follow Him day to day in order to live fully. Have you asked Jesus to forgive you? It’s a must to have life. There’s no shortcuts. There’s no magical formula simply talk to God. Tell Him you know you’ve sinned and that you are incapable of fixing it. Ask Him to forgive you and to help you live fully. God will do it. If you have any questions please let us know. Email us, cg@ecommonground.org. If you have made this decision and are ready to start following let us know as well. We’ll help you.
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