LIFE WITH JESUS HERE AND NOW

Every moment is precious, it is a present, but only if we are present with it.

 

Being fully preoccupied with things to do, to achieve, to obtain, to acquire, 

in other words; being in our minds, prevents us from living in the presence of God.

 

"No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Matthew 6:24-26

 

 

 

 

So many people lead empty lives, because they do not know God.

If we love Jesus we become His apostles, He will have first priority in our lives.

We will not be preoccupied with material things, we will not be constantly thinking 

and planning ahead, instead we live in His presence, His Life in us. 

We will proclaim the Gospel to everyone we meet, we can not keep it to ourselves,

because it is not just for private use.

 

He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere"  

Luke 9: 3-6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If we think that we will find time for Jesus after we have done the other things we deem more important in this moment, we turn down His invitation to live in His presence. 

It is immediate, it is here and now. It is radical.

We do not look back; we do not dwell on the past, nor do we project the future with ideas and concepts. We only follow Jesus.

 

"As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”He said to another man, “Follow me.”But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” 

Luke 9: 57-62

 

 

 

To follow Jesus does not mean  a comfortable, conventional lifestyle, a life of safety in the family circle, which gives a person an identity, a sense of belonging, his frame of reference in life. 

When we follow Jesus we leave that behind. It is a new life. Our only model, standard and frame of reference is Jesus.

 

"Large crowds were now traveling with Jesus, and He turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple" 

Luke 14:25-27