Follow Jesus To The Places You Don't Want To Go

John 21: 18 - 19 [NLT] 

"I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go." Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, "Follow me."

 The life cycle of a Christian can sometimes be a complicated one that can be described by John 21:18-19. Before truly giving our lives to God we did whatever we wanted, how we wanted, when we wanted -- usually as long as it was not in disagreement with the rules and laws of our community. Our faith was young and many times disobedient. Depending on where we were in our walk of life we might deliberately told God no for the simple fact that we "knew" our plans were in perfect alignment with what we wanted to do with our lives.

But many times God's plans are different from our own. It can be scary and disappointed to find out that God is pulling you in a different direction. However remember, since God knows everything and is king of all creation when his vision for us is in misalignment with that of our own it means that he wants us to do something much greater than we could initially imagine. He changes our plans because he has specifically chosen us for a purpose in advancing his kingdom. If it makes you feel better think of it as an Emergency Special Ops because your skills on a particular subject is exactly what is needed to save a life.

When I read John 21 I had the biggest "OH MY GOODNESS" moment. Verses 18 and 19 were so simple yet brought such a huge revelation. Like I said earlier, the first half of verse 18 describes how life was before becoming a Christian as well as being young in the faith. That was the time period we did what we pleased because there were no restrictions governing our actions. But when we are maturing in our faith that is when God is stretching out his hand with a big smile on his face saying "follow me." You know that your faith has matured when you can give God your hand whether or not you are in agreement with where he wants to take you. That is because your love for Jesus will cause you to go to places you don't want to go.

Take Peter for example. Although he was a follower of Jesus, out of fear he denied to be three times (chapter 18 verses 17, 25, and 27). In the final chapter of John the disciples were fishing. After Jesus died and resurrected they went back to doing what was familiar to them without having any success. And them along came Jesus telling them to do something different and the moment they obeyed they were catching far more fish than they possibly needed. When Peter realized that the man on the shore was Jesus he immediately put on his tunic and jumped out of the boat. The love he felt for Jesus made him do something the other disciples could have categorized as ridiculous or irrational. Not even "the disciple Jesus loved" was moved to exit the boat as Peter did, but remained with the other disciples to pull the net to shore. Getting to Jesus wasn't an urgent matter because they were only about 100 yards from him and knew they could get to him pretty quickly without the burden of getting completely soaking wet like Peter.

I personally feel that the other six disciples didn't follow Peter's actions not because they didn't love Jesus but because it wasn't yet their time for God to do something great in their lives and remove boulders that were in their path to God. God gave Peter a burning desire to meet Jesus at that specific moment because there were some things Peter HAD to deal with.

In the paraphrased words of my pastor, Jesus was taking Peter to his "greatest place of pain." Jesus was bringing Peter back to the moment were he denied to even be associated with the man he just jumped out of a boat for. All tree times Peter denied Jesus he was standing by a charcoal fire (chapter 18 verses 18 and 25) watching Jesus being taken away and mocked. This time Jesus took Peter to a charcoal fire (chapter 21 verse 9) to redeem him. Jesus will lead us back to the very places that causes us the most pain and where we denied him. He brings us back to these places to show us that he is much greater than our past and certainly greater than anything that is blocking us from him.

God has brought me back to my dark places so many times, and being the stubborn person that I am I fought him every single time (which is probably the reason why I had to keep going back). I know how much it sucks to have to remember specific events that you tried so hard to burry in the back of your mind. God knows how difficult it is for us to follow him wholeheartedly when all we can think about is how we hurt him. Just like Jesus did to Peter, God is asking us each and every day if we love him, and for every single time our actions seem to question that. Every time we tell God yes he will always then tell us to care for his people. For us to care for others and show God we truly love him then we must allow him to bring us to the end of ourselves where the most important things is God and what he desires because that is what stretching our hands back and following God looks like.

This Weeks Challenge: Allow God to bring you back to your dark places. Not as a way to wallow in your sorrow and pain but as a way to let Jesus illuminate the darkest corners of your heart. Even the smallest amount of light has enough energy to break what we preserve as the deepest darkness. It may take some time but with each encounter with your living God your dark places will get brighter and brighter. You'll notice as time goes on that you will be less emotionally drained and not as hurt as you once were. Remember God's grace, love, and favor is sufficient and in our weakness God can show his power even greater (2 Corinthians 12:9).

4 Signs Your Taking God for Granted

It is so easy for us to take God for granted because sometimes we forget that everything we have came from him. He created everything for a specific purpose and season. God blesses us with so many things daily, that we just sometimes over look what he has done and is continuing to do. Because of who God is and what he is doing it is never a good idea to take anything he does for granted. But in order for us to appreciate God in every way we must first realize when we are taking him for granted.

1. You are no longer giving God thanks.

God is a provider and gives us the things we need for survival. Whether or not we are trusting and being faithful to him he will continue to provide because that is his nature. Because he is always giving us what we need we have come to the point where we expect to receive things. We don't give God thanks because we expect him to give us food, clothing, a place to live, and a job to buy nice things. When we start to feel entitled to what God has we start to live beyond the means of the limitations God has placed over our individual lives. Giving God thanks for all we have humbles us because we acknowledge that we would be in a far worst place if it were not for God's hand in our lives.

2. Your not taking the time to be alone with God.

When you love someone you take the time to show them that love. You buy them things. You change they way you are around them. You do every thing possible to be around that person. But as time goes on if you are not continuing to renew the love you had for that person you may start to distance yourself from them. It's the same way with God. When we first because Christians and encounter God's love it was the most amazing thing ever and we did everything to be in his presence again. But as life continued, hardships became more difficult, and life became busier we start to push God further and further down our daily to do list. The time we spend with him became less to almost non existent. A simple verse on a phone app is what has become sufficient in our minds, but God requires more. Using your phone app in between daily assignments is pleasing to God, but when that becomes your only source it then becomes for of an annoyance. God wants us to center our day around him and not him around our day.

3. You are not giving or sharing what God has given you with others.

Being selfish is a definite sign that you are taking God for granted. God blesses you so then hence you bless other people. You are to use everything God as entrusted you with as a way to bring others into the family of Christ. It is God's nature to give and because we are supposed to be Christ like it should also be in our nature to give. When we are hording the gifts and treasures God has given us then we either do not know who God is or just don't care to do what he asks of us.

4. You have become too familiar with God and no longer find him amazing.

When you are in the Christian faith for a while you can start to think God is boring. There are times when God will not cause the oceans to move because his purpose is not to be entertainment to us. God is always doing little things showing us that he is around and for that we should find him amazing. We should see his beauty and wonder in the diversity of the way birds chirp. Each species has a different sound and for different purposes. We should notice his divine intervention in what were once medical mysteries. He has given some of his knowledge to scientists and doctors over centuries to cure what used to be incurable diseases. The fact that we can see in color should stir something in you. The stimulation you get when you see so many different colors in nature working together to create a beautiful scene. If the everyday things around you don't make see how amazing God is, then pick up a bible (or bible app) and read it. God has documented some of his most miraculous wonders in one place for us.

Where are you directing your frustrations?

For some there comes a point in life where you are just tired with the monotony of certain activities and waking up every day knowing you have to do a particular task. It seems to be a battle to get yourself out of bed and sometimes even out of the house. Well that particular activity for me is my current full time job.

 

Looking back from my undergraduate graduation to now, I feel like I have accomplished absolutely nothing with my life but paying bills and making/revising numerous budgets. This past year has been very interesting to say the least. Spontaneously word vomiting all the emotions I held in for years just to have the other person see me as a disrespectful child and then in turn rebelling against every single person who "caused" me to feel the way I do. Having a relationship be completely severed over an orange -- I know that sounds utterly ridiculous, but was bound to happen after months full of disrespect, disregard, and deception. There were family issues on both sides. Financial issues. Issues with trying to get into a graduate program... This past year was just drama filled.

 

The build up of all these things, one issue after the next, just brought me to the point where I was just overwhelmed. I just wanted to be angry and upset because every time I thought things were getting better something would happen to over shadow that progress. One thing that was constant throughout this past year was my job. It was so easy to transfer the frustration I felt with the way my life was going to my current job situation because everyone who knows the details of my job expected me to be miserable. And as time went on and  I was reaching my one year mark, my attitude about my job slowly changed. I allowed my frustration with life to make me miserable at work.

 

This job was literally holding things together and I slowly started to hate it. Guys really think about where you are directing your frustrations. Besides God, are these the people and relationships that are holding you together. Is your frustration being intertwined with the stress of schoolwork or a job? How about with the stress or disappointments that are associated with being in a family unit? It is so easy to misdirect negative feelings towards people and things, especially when there is a root of bitterness.

 

My bitter root stemmed from feeling stuck at my job because it was so "safe." As long as I followed the rules I still had a job -- which I guess is the theory behind most companies unless there is an unforeseen financial hit. But being safe made me feel comfortable. I got too comfortable living a life where I was no longer being mentally challenged. I got comfortable working a job that I knew wasn't benefiting me professionally, especially as a college graduate. All these thoughts floated around my head for weeks causing me to dislike my job more and more everyday.

 

During this time period God was convicting my heart because I started to loathe the gift he gave. I started to be angry with the prayer he answered. I was taking his love and providing nature for granted. I knew the way I was feeling about work wasn't how God wanted me to feel because it was no longer bringing glory to him. I was no longer thanking him for providing a job I desperately need, but was thanking him the moment 9 o'clock hit so I could leave as soon as I possibly could just to do nothing at home. I was able to see that I was no longer pushing myself to be the best employee I could possibly be. At that point I realized I was no longer the hard working daughter God created me to be and I had to change that.

 

This Weeks Challenge: Identify where and how you are directing your frustrations. Is it in a way that if others where looking into your life they would be able to see God? If not, then how can that change? Google additional scriptures to help you change your attitude and maintain a positive outlook about where you are currently placed. Allow this week to be the starting point of misdirecting love to people and situations that don't deserve it, because in all reality you too are not deserving of love but Christ still gives it to you freely.

Sunset Above Haiti

Hello Children of a BEAUTIFUL God

Last time I wrote, I told you that my grandmother died. I went to Haiti for the funeral and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I'm so happy God heard me and gave me the strength to get through the weekend. The night I left Haiti I was able to watch the sunset through the airplane window. It was so beautiful!

When you least expect it, God shows you a glimpse of who He is. His Majesty. His Glory. His Beauty. My mind will never fully comprehend how great He truly is until the day comes when this Earth is no more and I am in His presence along with my Grandmother and the rest of my family. Oh, what a WONDERFUL day that will be!! ♥

-:- PeaceLoveHarmony -:-