WILL YOU LEAVE YOUR BOATS BEHIND?

WILL YOU LEAVE YOUR BOATS BEHIND?

"Jesus continued to say to all of them," “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you every day for following me. Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me will save it. It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are destroyed or lost. Don’t be ashamed of me and my teaching. If that happens, I will be ashamed of you when I come with my divine greatness and that of the Father and the holy angels." - Luke 9:23-26 (ERV).

In Luke 9: 23-26, Jesus Christ engaged His disciples in a conversation. He told them in clear terms to deny themselves, to take up the cross daily and follow Him. This implies they must willingly renounce their right to choose for themselves, recognize His lordship in every area of life, and without hesitation, to choose the kind of life He lived. That, If they sincerely want to follow Jesus, then they have to leave some things behind. For example, Peter and Andrew left their fishing nets to become highly anointed vessel of honour in God's hands (Matthew 4:18-19), James and John left their father's business to work in the highly exalted office of the Almighty God (Matthew 4:21-22) and Matthew left his fishing profession to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ (Matthew 9:9). 

Friends, what are those things you have to leave behind to experience God in His fullness this week? Don't you think it would be wise to leave them behind now before it is too late? If you don't, the Saviour will leave you behind when the trumpet sounds. Don't you know that Christianity is a call to a life of cross-bearing and sacrifice? Think about it! What do you have to leave behind in order to closely follow the Saviour today? Will you leave the ungodly lifestyle, pride, and arrogance? Will you jump out of the comfortable boats of sin, prayerlessness, stubbornness, anger and rebellion? Will you sacrifice your comfort zones to please the Master? If Apostle Peter could walk away from his nets to follow and embrace the Saviour, you need to do likewise. 

"Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.  And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him" -  Mark  1:16 -18 (KJV)

No other song summarises the teaching of Jesus in the above scripture better than the hymn titled "The Galilee Song". This hymn about the call to discipleship, was written by Frank Andersen.  Could you please let us make the chorus of this wonderful hymn below our prayer focus and watchword throughout this week and beyond. 

THE GALILEE SONG

Deep within my heart, I feel
Voices whispering to me:
Words that I can't understand,
Meanings I must clearly hear.
Calling me to follow close,
Lest I leave myself behind!
Calling me to walk into
Evening shadows one more time.

Chorus :
            So I leave my boats behind!
            Leave them on familiar shores!
            Set my heart upon the deep.
            Follow you again my Lord.

In my memories, I know
How you send familiar rains,
Falling gently on my days,
Dancing patterns on my pains!
And I need to learn once more,
In the fortress of my mind.
To believe in falling rains
While I travel deserts dry.

As I gaze into the night,
Down the future of my years,
I'm not sure I want to walk
Past horizons that I know.
But I feel my spirit called
Like a stirring deep within
Restless 'til I live again
Beyond the fears that close me in.

Beloved, my prayer for you and my humble self is that God will give us more grace to step out of our comfort zones for Christ. May we be bold enough to leave our familiar shores and launch into the great deep for our saviour. I pray for the grace for us to walk away from all that can cause us to be left behind when the trumpet sounds. May we not miss our crown and mansions in the City of Gold. (Amen)

On behalf of my esteemed father in the Lord, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church Of God, - Pastor E. A. Adeboye,  I will like to invite you to the 2018 Holy Ghost Congress. Theme: GLORY AHEAD. Date: December 3rd - 8th, 2018. Venue: The Redemption Camp, Km 46 Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State, Nigeria.  Ministering: Our beloved Daddy G.O - Pastor E.A Adeboye and other anointed Ministers of God.

Good day and God bless you. Amen.

Maranatha!

Bro. Okanlawon Taiwo

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