WHO AND WHAT ARE YOU FOLLOWING?

by Tammy Phillips
January 31, 2023

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”. [Mat 16:24 KJV]

 Over the last few weeks, Holy Spirit has repeatedly led me back to this verse.  I have been stuck on a  verse in Genesis for about two weeks.  I have been asking the Lord what he wants me to say about the Genesis verse, and  he keeps leading back to, “Follow me.” When I did a Blue Letter Bible search of “follow me,” I was brought back to Matthew 16:24, again.

I am a follower of Jesus. Why does he keep saying follow Me?  I am his disciple. He is my Teacher.  He brought me down a different path this morning by asking  and saying,  “Who and what are you following? Follow me.”

Today,  I was stuck.  I have never had writers block like this.  Two weeks and the words were not coming. I was done. I started retreating a little from seeking God about this and going down a different path.  I was tired and did not seem to be going anywhere.  I felt like I was spinning my wheels.  I closed the computer and started to write in my journal.

 “I do not like this day on the calendar.  It was a painful day in my history.  It is not one I like to relive.  I have had to overcome it every year since 2017.  The pain likes to raise its ugly head, but I WALK BY FAITH.  I squish the thoughts from the enemy .  Not today!  I am not following you to that place. I follow Jesus.  I follow love!  I follow hope, joy, a future, patience, and endurance. I do not follow you pain.  I do not follow you thief who tries to steal, kill, and destroy my joy.  I do not follow you into enemy territory.  You cannot move me from my place in Him.  I choose the direction that I will go.  I go to Him.  I follow Christ.  I follow truth and life.  I go to the place He leads me.  I am in Him, and He is in me and that is where I am staying today.”

 Jesus said, “Follow me.”  Following Him is  every day, every time, and every second.  It is our choice.

I ask you the same question Holy Spirit asked me, “Who and what are you following?” 

Are you following pain down a path when the Lord has already healed you.  Are following shame down the path of regret when the Lord has already restored you?  Are you running after  offense? Are you allowing unforgiveness to take you to the place of bitterness?

Hear the loving  words of Jesus:  “Come after me, deny yourself, and take up you cross, and follow me.”

Deny yourself.  Don’t follow the dead end of  pain, hurt, offense, bitterness, unforgiveness, hate anger,  or selfishness.  They will take you places that you do not want to go.  Forget yourself!  It is all about following Him.  Walk in the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. (Gal 5:16) The flesh wants you to go one way and the Spirit another.

I enCOURAGE you to choose the right way. Deny the wrong ways.  Follow Him down the path of life into  health, wholeness, completeness, love, joy, and peace that passes understanding.  Live, breathe and be in Him.  Hear Jesus, “Be..following Me!”