Follower of Jesus

10/12/2025

Luke 1:37 ‘For with God nothing shall be impossible.’
His word will never be without power.
Things that seem impossible to us are possible with God.
Whoever He calls, He will equip for the task.
Whatever He asks us to do, He will supply all we need to do it.
Where He leads us to go, He gives the grace to do His will.
His word is our steadfast rock.
We need never fear to do His will.
In Christ we have all we need.
His presence with us is enough.
His word to us is sufficient for us to obey it.
He will never ask us to do what we are not ready to fulfil.
It is not our ability but His power that works in us.

03/09/2025

1 Corinthians 1:31 ‘That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.’

We have nothing to glory in except what Christ has done for us.
It is His goodness that saved us.
Not because we deserved it, but because He loved us.
We rest in His work not our works.
It is not our ability but our responsibility to put on Christ in our daily life.
We live the Christian life in His strength, not our own.
We stand by the power of His might, not by our efforts.
We are led by His Spirit, not by the desires of a carnal mind.
We walk in His love and are kept from the futility of the world.
It is all in Christ.

Daily Verse

30/01/2025

Romans 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”

Division is not caused by those who stand for the truth of scripture. Division is caused by those who do not obey the scriptures. We are told to avoid such people. Often these people are leaders in the church. If we do not seek to know and understand scripture, then we can be led away from truth by those who twist scripture to suit their own ambitions. Scriptural doctrine is vitally important to the believer, and everyone should be diligent to understand foundational doctrine.

There are doctrines which are not essential to the believer. When these doctrines are given more importance than foundational doctrine then they will either cause divisions in the church, or the church will be led astray by them. A church that seeks after supernatural gifts rather than preaching the gospel of repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be led into error. It is important to warn these churches but if they do not listen then they should be avoided.

Many Christians who love and obey the scriptures have been labelled as divisive. This has always been the case. Churches that have a hierarchical leadership do not like ordinary Christians questioning their authority or their doctrine. They only want to be followed and not questioned. It is not right to cause divisions over doctrines that are not essential, but we should never compromise the foundational truths of scripture. There are scholarly theologians and church leaders who do not understand the gospel. But there are many others who do not have their education but they have a clear understanding of the gospel.

29/01/2025

Romans 15:32 “That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.”

Paul desired fellowship with the believers in Rome. There were many he knew even though he hadn’t been there. He prayed for them constantly. The importance of fellowship for Paul is evident because he writes that they will be refreshed together. He didn’t just consider his ministry as being important for others, but he needed the fellowship of other believers as well. Paul longs for fellowship among those who are united with him in the faith. In the world he faced severe opposition, but among the believers it was a time of refreshing.

Paul was not ashamed to preach the gospel regardless of the consequences. He did not preach to please people; he preached that others might be saved. When we are living for the Lord and telling others about Jesus, we need the fellowship of like-minded Christians. It is sad when a church becomes so interested in enlarging the congregation that they lose the message of the gospel and seek only to fulfil their own ambitions.

Paul wanted to go to Rome because the believers in Rome were one with Paul in serving Christ. Paul did go to Rome but not the way he would have anticipated. He came there as a prisoner of Rome. Paul knew that he was in the perfect will of God. He was the prisoner of Jesus Christ, and he served the Lord in all circumstances. His joy was not in favourable circumstances, his joy was in obeying the will of God. Paul commended the Roman Christians because their faith was spoken about throughout the whole world. This was the reason for his joy.

28/01/2025

Romans 15:31 “That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;.”

Paul requests the believers in Rome to pray specifically for his deliverance from the Jews in Judea who were hostile towards him and the gospel. Paul has also collected money from the churches to help the Christians in Jerusalem, and he asks for prayer that this will be well received. Paul would not be hindered from going to Jerusalem even though he knew he would face severe opposition. He knew it was the Lord’s will, but he still needed to be supported by the prayers of other believers.

The prayer for Paul’s deliverance from the unbelieving Jews who would have killed him, was answered by Paul being held a prisoner. This was the perfect plan of God, but it was completely contrary to human thinking. It was in prison that Paul was able to give testimony before two Roman Governors, Felix and Festus, and before King Agrippa. It was also while he was in prison that he wrote his epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and to Philemon.

God’s ways are not our ways, He sees the end from the very beginning. The Lord answers prayer, but not always in the way that we are expecting. The Lord knows how to deliver His people from evil, from temptation, from adversaries, but He will not always keep us from trials. Some have laid down their lives, while others have been kept from being killed. It is the responsibility of the church to pray for those who serve the Lord, especially those who are in difficult or dangerous circumstances, but the Lord does not always answer prayer in the way we hoped or expected.

27/01/2025

Romans 15:30 “Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;”

Paul is not requesting prayer for his own benefit. He has one desire and that is to fulfil the will of God. Everything Paul did was for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake. He knows that in his own strength he is weak, he needs the body of Christ to pray with him. When we pray, we see the wonderful plan of God for His people. We come in the name of Jesus and for His glory, the Holy Spirit is our helper enabling us to bring our prayer before the Father, and we come boldly before the Father because we stand righteous in Christ.

Prayer involves spiritual warfare. We have an enemy who seeks to prevent God’s people from fulfilling the will of God. That is why we are told to strive together in prayer. There are prayers we can pray daily for one another but there are prayers where we must strive like Jacob who would not let the Lord go until He blessed him. Paul is asking the believers in Rome to pray like that because he knew the Lord was leading him to Jerusalem where hostility awaited him.

Prayer is always directed to God, no one else. Only God is able to answer prayer. When we strive together in prayer, we are striving with God. Nowhere in the Bible do we see the Christians speaking to the devil when they pray. We are not striving against the devil in prayer, we are striving with God so that He will fulfil His will in a person’s life or in a particular situation. Everyone in the body of Christ is to be involved in prayer. Empty words mean nothing but when our heart yearns for God to answer prayer, and we are diligent in our prayer life then we will see God move in answer to our prayer.

26/01/2025

Romans 15:13 “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

The attributes of God are unchangeable. His promises are certain. He is the God of hope because His purposes will always be fulfilled. He will never fail. It is faith in His provision that fills us with the joy of knowing our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus, and peace floods our heart and mind because we know that through Him we have been reconciled with God.

It is with joy that we worship the Lord. We rejoice in the Lord. It is with joy we give, with joy we serve, with joy we offer up praise and worship. Joy because Jesus has brought us out of darkness into His wonderful light. Joy will attract others to Christ. When a church is preaching the true gospel so that the congregation know they are united with Christ through faith in His death and resurrection then there will be great joy expressed in congregational singing. When a false gospel is preached that “God loves you just the way you are”, instead of preaching the need to turn from sin to Christ, then the singing will be without joy and no different from the world.

The Holy Spirit brings peace to the heart of all who have new life in Jesus. It is not the peace that the world seeks after. It is the peace of knowing that although we have done many wrong and foolish things, and many things we haven’t done that we should have done, that we are in right relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace even in a troubled world because our hope is in Jesus. Whatever circumstances we face, good or bad, we know that we have an eternal inheritance in Christ and one day we shall see Jesus. How do we know? Because the Spirit of God dwells within us and we know that the scriptures will be fulfilled.

25/01/2025

Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

New Testament Christianity is a new heart and a new nature. It has nothing to do with which meats we eat or don’t eat. We have been brought into the freedom of new life in Christ Jesus. The commands of the Old Testament concerning which meats were clean and which were unclean were not given to the Gentiles. Jesus told His disciples that it is not what a person eats that defiles a person, it is the evil things that come out from the heart that defile a person.

The kingdom of God is the power of God working in us, the presence of God with us, and the purpose of God being fulfilled through us. We are righteous, not because of what we do but because of all that Jesus Christ has done for us. We have peace with God, not because of our good deeds but because we are justified by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We have joy in the Holy Ghost, not because we have favourable circumstances but because the Holy Spirit fills our heart with the joy of being His people.

The kingdom of God in us separates us from the world. We belong to a different kingdom. We look not for the things that are temporal, but for the things that are eternal. We seek not to please ourselves, but we seek to please the Lord who saved us and gave Himself for us. The Christian life is not rules and regulations, it is learning to put on Christ, and to put off the old man. It is not the externals of only eating certain meats or what not to drink, it is being careful not to cause others to stumble and being faithful in serving our Lord and Saviour.

24/01/2025

Romans 14:6, “He that regards the day, regards it unto the Lord; and he that regards not the day, to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he that eats not, to the Lord he eats not, and gives God thanks.”

There is flexibility in Christ concerning the days we respect or the foods we eat. The Sabbath is no longer a requirement to keep. The necessity to keep the Sabbath is never mentioned in the New Testament. We have been brought into His rest through the finished work of Jesus Christ. The same applies to what we eat. The food laws do not apply to Christians. The food laws were given to Israel as part of the Old Covenant. The externals of the Old have been replaced by the inner transformation of the New Covenant. The kingdom of God is within the believer whereas under the Old Covenant every external law anticipated the coming of the New Covenant.

There is wonderful freedom in Christ. Throughout church history Christians have kept one day separate so that they could meet for preaching, fellowship, to break bread together, and to pray. It is not the Sabbath because that was fulfilled in Christ. It is more appropriate to keep the day on the first day of the week in remembrance of the resurrection of Christ. It is false teaching to place the church under the obligation of the Old Covenant.

Whatever we do should be done as unto the Lord. Scripture tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. In regard to food and drink we are to be careful not to cause others to stumble. The Christian life is not legalistic. What we eat or drink, or days we keep special, let it be done as unto the Lord with thankfulness. We are free to be the servants of the Lord. We are free to love as Christ loved us. We are free to build one another up in Christ and to walk in the new life we have in Christ, glorifying the Lord in all that we do.

23/01/2025

Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.”

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ means the same as “put on the whole armour of God”. In Christ we have sufficiency to live a holy life, to stand against the deceit of the devil, and to be prepared for every circumstance that we face. The Lord also protects us from being overwhelmed by temptation or trials. The scripture tells us to keep away from lust. Like Joseph we should run from any situation where we could fall into sin.

It is through the scriptures that we are equipped to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the devil seeks to remove the scriptures from our homes, and from the church. The 16th century Reformation had the primary objective of putting the Bible into the hands of the ordinary people. It is through the scriptures that we are made wise unto salvation. It is through the scriptures that we can stand against the deceitfulness of the devil. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He answered with the words, “It is written”.

We can only put on the Lord Jesus Christ when we put off the “old man”. We must put off resentment and bitterness so that we can put on the love of Christ. We must put off evil thinking so that we can put on holiness and purity. We must put off covetousness and foolish desires so that we can put on godliness. When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ then we can pray for one another and build one another up in Christ. We will also be an example to others. The tragedy is that sin will destroy a lifetime’s reputation. If we serve Christ, then we must guard our heart and mind at all times.

22/01/2025

Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

The greatest danger in the church is pride. Maturity is essential in leadership. We must always be aware of the schemes of the devil. Church leaders can easily fall into the error of thinking highly of themselves when praised and admired by other leaders, who welcome them as part of an elite group. There are many who have fallen into this trap. When we think more highly of ourselves than we should then we will be more concerned about gaining respect from others than serving Christ.

All that we are is by the grace of God. We are one body in Christ. Workers together so that we can build one another up in Christ and be effective in reaching out to the lost. We are all to be involved in ministry. We are all at different stages in our Christian life. But every person is needed so that there is no lack within the body of Christ. Whatever we do whether it is in the church or in our daily work, we are servants of Christ. We are not to look more highly upon ourselves because we think our ministry is more important. We should seek to help those who are not so strong in the faith and to encourage them.

Humility is essential in ministry. Humility and love must always keep us from pride and arrogance. Pride will move a person out of the will of God and into a self-centered ministry. Many who have begun with the desire to serve the Lord have become hardened by the deceitfulness of pride. It is for this reason that an inexperienced person should not be put in a position where they can stumble. If we keep the scripture continuously upon our heart, then we will walk in truth and not be deceived. We should serve the Lord with joy and thankfulness, praying diligently for one another, and rejoicing when others are regarded more highly than ourselves. We serve the King of kings and that is the greatest honour.

21/01/2025

Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

If we conform to the standards of the world then we will become like the world. The world is covetous, which is idolatry. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. We are to be faithful to Christ and His word. If we desire the pleasures of the world then we will be drawn away from Christ. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin so we can walk in new life. If we are ambitious like the world then we will seek to advance ourselves rather than to walk in His will and His way. Our ambition should be to do that which is pleasing to the Lord because we know we have an eternal inheritance in Christ.

We are to renew our minds daily. We need to guard our heart and mind continuously by keeping our thoughts pure and filling our minds daily with the scriptures. We are a new creation in Christ, and we are being transformed daily by the word of God that abides in us. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an example of how we should serve one another, but also it shows how we need to be washed daily because we live in a world that is in rebellion against God. We need fellowship with Bible believing Christians so that our minds can be renewed through teaching, fellowship and through prayer. It is through obedience to His word that our minds are renewed.

We must continuously keep our minds fixed on the scriptures, then we will not follow the standards or the pleasures or the ambitions of the world. If we are not conformed to the world, then we will be an example of holiness, we will walk in humility, we will be prayerful, and we will love one another without partiality. When a church follows the pattern of the world then it will become money orientated, pleasure seeking, it will seek after selfish desires, and it will be friends of the world and unfaithful to scripture. We must never allow ourselves to be conformed to the world. We are to be transformed daily by keeping our minds renewed through the scriptures abiding in us.