{Glory Art} Scripture Challenge #6, Follower

Note: Please click here to see today's Glory Art {Tip}.

The Study

A month or so ago, I had the privilege of listening to some of the youth in our congregation speak about their weekend retreat. They were each sharing what they learned about being a fan versus a follower of Jesus Christ. Here is how they defined each:

Fan: I like You when things are good.

Follower: I am with You through thick and thin.

So which are you? A fan of Jesus Christ or a follower of Jesus Christ? You can't be in the middle. Either you are all for God or you are not. If we are willing to follow Jesus in the joyful times, we must be willing to follow Him in times of suffering because that will bring us closer to Him who suffered the ultimate for us by dying on the Cross. Jesus calls us take up our cross daily and follow Him. He doesn't call us to be His fan. He doesn't call us to just 'like' Him. He calls us to have a daily relationship with Him. We are to be His follower.

Luke 9:23 "Then He said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.'"

Look how Simon Peter and Andrew respond to Jesus:

Matthew 4:19-20 "'Come, follow Me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.' At once they left their nets and followed Him."

And look how James and John respond to Jesus:

Matthew 4:21a-22 "Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him."

'At once' Peter and Andrew left and followed Him. And 'immediately' James and John followed Him. They didn't make up excuses or tell Jesus they would think about it and get back to Him. They immediately followed. Has your life been changed by being a fan of Christ? If you are honest with yourself, your life probably has not been changed as a fan of Christ. You are not experiencing that daily relationship with Him through thick and thin. So instead of just hanging out and being a fan of Christ, will you you immediately say 'yes Lord' and begin following Him daily as your Lord and Savior? And for those of you that are a follower of Christ, what changes can you make today to deepen your relationship with Him? Do you need to recommit to daily Bible study? Do you need to stop some habits that God has prompted you to let go? Will you leave behind whatever He is asking you to leave and commit today and everyday to Him? The Life Application Bible says this:

"For us, following Jesus means more than just acknowledging Him as Savior. We must leave our past behind and commit our future to Him." And I would add that we need to commit each day to Him. Will you do that as His follower? Will you follow Jesus and His plan no matter what it looks like? 

I want to leave you with this song by Jeremy Camp called "I Will Follow," Click here to listen the song and read the lyrics. Here is the chorus to this song. Can you say that you will be a follower wherever He leads?

Chorus
"I will follow, follow You wherever You go
And I will listen to the very promises I know
You are with me, always with me, keeper of my soul
I will follow, follow You wherever You go"

The Art

Today I decided to create four more Scripture Art cards. I just love making these. I also used hearts again instead of flowers because I follow Christ out of my deep love for Him. I used the wonderful new Blue Fern Studios Love Story Amazing Heart paper along with the Blue Fern Studios Grid Pieces chipboard. To see what I did with the paper, please click here to see today's Glory Art {Tip}.

Feel free to join us on the Facebook page where some people will be sharing their creations. We also have some discussions that will be going on there too about the study. If you don't use Facebook and want to share your creation here, do so below by using Inlinkz! To see all of the information regarding this challenge and the previous studies and art tips, please see this post here. I pray that you will commit to following Christ today and everyday!

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