FOLLOW HIM

Dearest Saints, I always like to share what the Lord teaches me so that each one would benefit. This is the only real reason why we should write so that others can be blessed from it. There's no point in doing this otherwise. The passage I have been thinking about often lately is found near the end of the book of John in Chap 21:20-22. In a nutshell, the Lord is telling Peter to not to be concerned about others (in this case about John), but to focus on following Him (Jesus) instead. This is a lesson that is good for myself lately and hopefully many others. When God teaches us anything, it is always beneficial spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally that liberates us from any sitation that tends to drag us down and bring any discouragement. When Jesus tells Peter to focus on following Him, this liberates Peter from having any worldly concerns that often brings no inner peace. When we often focus on anything that distracts us from following Him, it usually takes its negative toll on us. We end up fretting, being worried, being overly concerned where our energy is normally drained rather then being refreshed. Jesus admonishes us to be free from what normally weighs us down and liberates us that gives us Hope, Peace and Joy that only He is able to give us when we choose to follow Him. A good example is when I drive down any road and someone behind me wants to go way too fast, it's not normally because I drive slow, but the one behind me wants to drive faster then he/she should. Many times in the past, I could be frustrated with someone tail-gating me and I could drive faster to solve this problem, but I would see myself in the wrong by doing this just to try to satisfy others bad habits. I can find myself get frustrated when I continually look in my rear-view mirror and be concerned about what the guy behind me is doing, or I can resolve this by realizing that what any person does behind me is their problem and none of my concern. I just need to be focused on driving forward by doing the right thing. This is why the front window is normally much bigger and wider then the rear-view mirror all because we should be more focused on moving forward more then being concerned what is behind. If the majority of drivers look more in their rear-view mirror instead of looking forward, there would definitely be traffic chaos on all our roads and highways. This was a good illustration the Lord was giving me. We can allow ourselves to be so distracted that we fail to move forward in the direction we should be going by following the Lord. Therefore, not looking forward tends to get us off the right path. I find we can't often move forward and follow Him when we are concerned about our past, our present by what others may be thinking, saying or doing or being overly concerning about the outcome of others and be side-tracked and distracted. This is why when anyone gets in an accident and the one behind you hits the rear end of your vehicle, the person in the wrong is the one who is behind, not the one who is ahead. The person ahead is not responsible for anyone behind you. Therefore, this is a good illustration that it does no good looking back but to move forward by Following Him. Just like Lots wife chose to look back and look what happened to her! When others may be having any negative reaction towards you or perhaps they fail to do anything positive for you, this is what often happens when a person gets side-tracked and distracted. I have to come realize that if anyone wants to do anything negative or bring discouragement to myself, I can either focus on fretting over what they are doing or not doing and become overly concerned and distracted by looking towards "self" or I can choose not to care by what others do or don't do and decide to follow the Lord and choosing to do what is right instead. When the Lord tells us to follow Him and not be concerned by the actions of others because He wants to give us what is BEST FOR US always!! He knows that being concerned about others actions will only be draining and discouraging. Following Jesus is by far better because when we follow Him, we are truly encouraged that strengthens and builds us up. Following Him brings healing to all our situations, He removes us from taking any responsibility to "try" to make things right and He is the One who Makes ALL THINGS RIGHT. He always brings Right out of any wrong, but we have to give situations that we are not meant to handle over to Him and quit being concerned about the outcome of others. Only He brings the right amount of correction that is needed when we give any situation over to Him that liberates us from having to think we need to be responsible to make things right, when often-times, we just make things worse for ourselves and others. If we would give the Lord everything about any of our negative past over to Him, He can bring beauty out of our ashes. A great example is reading Isaiah 61:3 about what the Lord can do for us. You will notice after this verse how He strengthens His people who receives all the benefits when you read the remaining verses in this Chapter. But again, to fully benefit from the Lord, we have to give our situation over to Him and trust that He will bring the right amount of correction and bring greater blessings to your situation (Isa 61:7). It is good about being concerned for others for their well being, but being concerned about questioning God about how He is going to deal with the situation, like Peter did about John, or anything about what God is going to do about our past is not good. He has a better solution and He tells us, like He has been telling me "Leave the results to Me, but you (Rick) follow Me (Jesus)". Following Him brings healing in every situation into our lives, brings healthy growth in all areas of our lives, brings total restoration and liberates us by casting all our cares to Him because He cares for us. It also helps us to get rid of everything that would otherwise discourage us, stunt our spiritual growth and drain us of any energy. We are not to treat the Scriptures just as a history lesson, we need to understand that there is often a message for us today so we can learn to grow from what we read. Whatever you have that is causing you to fail in focusing to move forward in what the Lord wants to do in your life, ask Him to help you cast everything that distracts you from following Him and let Him lead you and "FOLLOW HIM" like He tells us all to do. Our job is not to be concerned about anything we cannot change, but to Follow Him by trusting Him to work everything out for us and work through us and follow Him to truly love others, forgiving others and trusting that He works out every situation. Following His teachings is always liberating and beneficial. Following another path is anything but. When we choose to follow the Lord, we will never have any regrets! In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com