A FAITHFUL FOLLOWER

A FAITHFUL FOLLOWER

 

This phrase is the result of several factors, reading two books I received as gifts from friends last Christmas, plus words from an old hymn. This often happens to me, the books were "Nourishing the Seed" by Bob Mumford and "Not a Fan" by Derek Idleman, and the words from some old hymn were

"A faithful follower I would be, for by His hand He leads me". A mixture of words from these three sources prompted me to put together this article. I believe as a follower of Jesus Christ the Son of God, and indwelt by His Holy Spirit, that I no longer am my own "boss", so to speak. Read (1 Cor 6:12-20) to hear what the apostle to the Gentiles has to say on this topic. If we believe the Bible is the Word of God then we must try to follow what it tells us to do, as closely as we can. This is the only way we can possibly live a life that will please our Father. And this is the only type of life that will bring you peace and contentment in this "fallen" world we are called to live in. Just read (Phil 2:12-18) for Paul's advice to us as to how we should live our lives in such a way as to be pleasing to Father.

 

We have been exposed to Bob's teaching on the Agape Road now for several years, plus his two books published since then, "The Mysterious Seed" (2011), and "Nourishing the Seed" (2012). The combination of this teaching has affected my life greatly in the past few years, which are all based firmly on a Biblical basis. I have witnessed many people being influenced lately by certain questionable teachings that contain a lot of so-called New Age doctrines that have been brought in to our midst from Eastern Religions. Without a solid foundation in God's Word it is very easy to be carried away by some of these teachings and become confused and deceived. That of course is Satan's plan, as the declared enemy of God and His children, That is why Father had the Bible put together (2 Tim 3:16-17), tells us how and why He had it written. Without a good understanding of the overview of the Bible, and how both the OT and the NT fit together to give us a complete "big Picture" of the subject of salvation, it is very easy to be confused and subject to deception. So I would suggest you get a copy of the Bible in one of the newer versions like the New Living Translation (NLT), which I consider one of the best and spend time in it every day. Start with the gospel accounts then Acts and the letters, save the OT books for later. And don't be shy about asking questions of some more mature believer who has been walking with Jesus for some time!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                        23/03/13

HIS-STORY

HIS-STORY

 

The study of history was always my most boring subjects in high school and my "freshman" year at UNB. And to add to my dislike of this subject, my professor was the driest, most boring professor of all that year 51/52. But when I finally came to "know" Jesus when I was nearly 30 years old, and realized that all of history was really His Story, what a difference it made! Probably it started when I first read (John 1:1-14) and realized that Jesus was God the Son, and that He had existed in the "beginning" before there was anything besides the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that Jesus was actually the member of the Godhead who was the agent of creation (Col 1:15-20) and in the NLT version of the Bible this passage is headed up as "Christ is Supreme"! Since those early days of knowing Jesus as more than a historical figure, I have gradually learned more about Him until in 2010 I was introduced to Bob Mumford's teaching called The Agape Road. I would have to say that by first reading his book, and then being exposed to the audio teaching on CD's, and then viewing the DVD's of a large conference he held in 2000, and now reading two books he has published since the Agape Road, I am starting to appreciate more than ever the truth about the Greek word "Agape"!

 

Since we know that Agape is the word used for God by John the disciple who wrote one the four gospel accounts in the NT, plus three letters and the book of Revelation, and is sometimes called the "Apostle of love". He states in (1 John 4:8) "But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love". And each time "love" is used here by John, the word used is Agape. So in other words "God is Agape"! This word is used many times in the NT and usually is used as a "synonym" for Jesus, as in (1 Cor 13:4-13) where every time you see the word love mentioned you could replace it with Jesus. This passage is often referred to as the "love chapter" of the Bible, and it is all about Jesus. So since He is the one and only "God/Man" who was sent down from heaven to become "Agape Perfected", or "God Incarnate" in the womb of the virgin Jewish maiden named Mary of Nazareth, who was told by the arch angel Gabriel to call her child Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. He is God Almighty in human form, and the perfect representation of His Father (Heb 1:1-4), so we feel confident in referring to Jesus as the main source of human history on Planet Earth. And therefore we can refer to His life as "His-Story"!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                    27/03/13

 

THE SECOND DAY

THE SECOND DAY

 

Today March 30, 2013 is the second day after "Good Friday" this year and the day between Good Friday the day Jesus died on the cross, and tomorrow which is of course "Resurrection Sunday", which is often referred to as the "Third Day". So I guess logically today could just be referred to as the "Second Day" after Good Friday. Some days are definitely more important than others, and to be crowded in between the day Jesus died, and the third day later when "He Arose" from the tomb in victory over death is a tough place to be assigned to. So what should we refer such a day to be called? Perhaps a "no name day" might do I suppose, and then we could refer to it as the filling of a sandwich between two slices of bread. These are undoubtedly the two most important days on our calendar for believers in Jesus. The day He died on Calvary's Cross as the one and only "God/Man" who was      qualified to be the "sinless" man who alone could die as the representative for "fallen man", to settle the debt that Paul mentioned in (Rom 6:23). Only the death of a perfect sinless man could possibly accomplice this. So it is no wonder that we refer to it as "Good Friday" for us lost sinners, but certainly not a good day for Jesus. But because He and His Father loved us so Much, (John 3:16) that He freely laid down His life for us. I have heard much discussion about "who killed Jesus"? Was it the Roman soldiers who actually crucified Him or the Jewish leaders who accused Him before the Roman Governor? Actually the truth is that no one hilled Jesus, He willingly went to the cross and "gave up His spirit" see (John 19:28-30) for details.

 

Then three days later on the appointed day, Jesus arose from the borrowed tomb he was laid in on Friday. We refer to this as "Resurrection Sunday" because it happened on the "first day of the week" which is Sunday. So read any of the gospel accounts like (Mark 16:1-8) for details of the happenings of early that day. This mighty miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is credited to the work of the Holy Spirit. See (Rom 8:9-11) for details of how the same Spirit of God is involved in both the resurrection of Jesus as well as our individual experience of our new "spiritual birth". And remember that our old "sinful nature" that we inherited from our original parents Adam and Eve died when Jesus died on the cross. So all we have to do now to establish a vital relationship with our Creator is to believe in Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for us on the cross, and receive Him as our Lord and Savior (John 14:6) and we have Eternal Life!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                   30/03/13