Reflections On Follow Me by David Platt Intro & Chapter 1

I got Follow Me today and started reading it! I just finished the introduction and the first chapter.

I gotta say, Platt makes a lot of points that I agree with and have thought of in the past. Our culture has a bad taste for Christians because so many people claim to be Christians when they have no idea what they mean!

It's challenging though, I mean, I agree that faith and works are intertwined, hand in hand, and/or build off of one another. Our beliefs create action and action leads to a deeper love/knowledge of God & Christ which effects or beliefs, and they cycle repeats!

Now, I agree with it and have said that I agree with it, so I must allow God and others to show me my inconsistencies and change. OUCH

The Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

'Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The "What do you want me to do with my life?" question we've asked time and time again, waiting and praying for an answer Jesus answered quite clearly after he rose from the dead, and no it isn't an option, it is a command."THEREFORE GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEN IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU."

Feel overwhelmed?  Keep reading! "AND SURELY I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS TO THE VERY END OF THE AGE." We are not in this alone, and we cannot do this alone. We died to ourselves and repented of our old life (which means to turn and go the opposite direction), we do not live for ourselves once we've declared Christ as our savior, our actions have to go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. That'd be like saying saying you were on an all meat diet and never eating meat; you'd be saying it, but not living it. Like I said earlier, it's a circle.

No where in the bible does it say pray a prayer and you are saved, but it does say in Matthew 16:24-25 NIV "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants 

 to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

When it was said in John 3:16 that "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and calling him to a new way of life, a new way of living, it isn't just words we say it's truth we live with our entire being.

David Platt says this on pages 23-24 "Ultimately, our reason for living changes. Possessions and position are no longer our priorities. Comfort and security are no longer our god. We now want God's glory more than we want our own lives."

CITATION and RECOMMENDED READ:

Platt, David. Follow Me: A Call to Die. a Call to Live. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2013. Print.

Mountain Tops and Valleys

"There is still work to do, and that work is down the mountain." (Ackley, Curtis S. "March 8." The Upper Room Disciplines 2009. Nashville, TN: Upper Room, 2009. 79. Print.)

The summer I spent in Zambia was ended with a week long debriefing during which we worked through a book entitled "Miraculous Mountains to Victorious Valleys." The title has stuck with me since then and I've referred to it many times in conversations. While as Christians these "mountain top" experiences we have, the times when we are filled with joy, laughter, and/or in awe of what we are seeing and experiencing, are fantastic and encouraging, we do not stay on the mountain tops forever. Our life changes, we hit rough points, death, stress, sickness, world events, and so much more can leave us in a dark valley.

I've come to know that these dark valleys can be places that I see, experience, and trust God more fully then the mountain top places. One such experience would have been the sudden passing of my 16 year old brother Shaun when I was 8 years old. God was the one who understood how my 8 year old self was feeling and doing, and it was God who stayed each moment with me, cried with me, and understood me. God carried me through that dark valley. I came out stronger and more confident in God and over time as I have experienced many ups and downs my faith has grown and desire more to know God and to share God with those around me.

Today I was spending some time reading Mark 9: 2-10 a passage about Jesus' transfiguration on a mountaintop with 2 disciples (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%209:2-10&version=NIV). As I was reading the coinciding devotional referenced above the author wrote about how the disciples must have wanted to stay on the mountain top to soak up, understand, and mark this event (the passage says they wanted to set up tents), but the event ends and they go back down the mountain. The author writes "There is still work to do, and that work is down the mountain," while the author was referencing the rest of Jesus' time on this earth, I cannot help but see how applicable this sentence is to our lives. While we desire to stay on the high mountaintop moments of life, Jesus knows that we have more growing to do and more of God to share with others so that all may experience the Mountain Tops with God, and grow  in the Victorious Valleys. So that together we can encourage one another, know God more, and journey the valleys and mountain tops together.