If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלוהים) says:
When My Son called those whose hearts were towards Him to be His disciples and join in His mission, He simply said, “Follow Me.” Two words and the adventure began that changed the life of each one who answered the call and the lives of all of you who believe in their words.
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:20-21.
And those two words, “Follow Me,” led you straight through this life into eternity. Follow Him and you will never go the wrong way. And that is the very best Way to prepare for eternity, just follow Him. And He is My Word, so if you follow My Word in everything you will arrive safely home in My everlasting arms. No matter what others are doing, if you want to come safely home to Heaven only one thing is necessary: Follow Him. Where He is, His servant will be, and when you serve Him, I honor you forever.
Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” John 21:20-22.
To Jesus, “follow Me,” meant “become one with Me,” and one with Him, you are one with Me. For I was in Christ reconciling the world to Myself not counting your sins against you and He was in Me. He came forth from Me into the world and came back into Me from the world, and He brought all you who believe in Him as Lord back into Me with Him. Adam took you out of Me, like a branch severed from the vine to dry up and die, and Jesus put you back into Me, attached to the vine to bear fruit that endures.
If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:3.
And where is He? In My very depths, in My bosom, in My heart, at My right hand, and in the very center of My throne.
No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. John 1:18.
“For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” John 16:27-28.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:1-4.
For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7:17.
His body is in Heaven and on earth, the Head is in Heaven, but you as members of His body, the Church, are doing the works He did and greater at the direction of your Head upon the earth. And where He is, there you should also be. The body stays with the head or it goes no where.
I sent Him to seek out and save the lost, to undo the works of the devil, and to go about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by the devil. And as I sent Him, so He sends you.
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21-22.
When Jesus said to Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, and Matthew, “Follow Me,” it did not mean that they would never have another challenge. In fact, on the night He was betrayed, during the Passover seder, He told them they would have trials and tribulation in the world, but to cheer up and take courage for He had overcome the world. Satan had no place in Him, not even the slightest toehold, and yet Jesus face great trials, rejection from His own people, and divine wrath for your sins. He underwent scorn, ridicule, violent abuse, and death on the Cross as if He were a criminal. He was humiliated and never retaliated for He knew He was bearing the punishment due to you so that you would never have to experience that.
But that is not to say you will not experience persecution, and, indeed, there are the daily adversities that the devil shoots your way by his control over others, storms, or unclean spirits trying to gain access to your minds and put sickness on your bodies. And this will continue as long as the devil is still roaming the earth and is not locked in the abyss or permanently thrown into the lake of fire.
There will be times when you just want to run away from everything that is bearing down upon you. Sometimes there seems to be so much evil or workload that is all around you demanding your attention—those whom you serve in your families and others at your home and at your work, that you just want to get out of it all and hide away in Me. And there are many who begin to ask Me to take them home to Heaven and get them out of the mess of the world.
Elijah did that after he had set off a revival in Israel by working a very great miracle proving that I alone am God. He called down fire from Heaven to the earth. But the devil did not laud him, back down, or leave him alone after that great event, Jezebel threatened his life and, because he had let himself get too tired, even running all the way to Samaria in front of Ahab’s chariot, he gave up and ran off. It suddenly all accumulated what had been taking place in the last three years of the drought he called down. And what did he pray?
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.” 1 Kings 19:4.
Have you ever felt like that? I had him lie down and sleep, and then I sent an angel who awakened him and told him to eat the bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water, that I sent there for him. So he ate and drank and lay down again. I then sent the angel again and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, My mountain where I spoke with Moses. And there I questioned Him as to why he had run away and I comforted him and sent him back again with new assignments.
But I have a Word for all of you who are behaving in a similar manner. You want to run away and be caught up to Heaven now. Close your eyes, I want to show you something. See before you as open to your view, the two hands of Jesus with the nail marks in His hands and hear these words of Mine to you and you will understand: “It was hard, but He did not run away.”
Where He is, His servant will be. He came to serve, not to be served, and although for a brief time in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed that the cup pass Him by without Him drinking of it, He did not run away or ask Me to take Him back to the Kingdom.
Do you understand? Maybe now you will understand His words that so many people have misinterpreted and but burdens on others I never meant them to bear.
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23.
You will not have the same Cross He did, only He was the sinless One born of the Word from above after Adam corrupted the seed, but the people you serve, the work you do, offenses offered to you by others, and even your own thoughts and imaginations can become burdensome, especially if you have let yourself become too tired and instead of joy and gratitude all you have in you is tears and fears, but remember the only way out of trials is joy. Jesus told you that you would have trials in this life, Adam made sure of that by giving his dominion authority to the devil and letting death and the curse into the earth, but cheer up and take courage because Jesus has overcome the world and He is in you as your ever present help in time of trouble. Jesus came out strong from Gethsemane because He saw through the burden the joy that lay before Him of saving you for eternal life and it led Him to deny Himself so that He did not walk off and leave you all in your sins.
I have brought you this far, I will take you the rest of the way. And I will share My joy with you. Just remember what Jesus did for you so that you can have eternal life with Me in the Kingdom forever. It was hard, but He did not run away.
The people you are serving and your work may seem to you beyond what you can bear, but look at the nail prints in the hands of Jesus that were incurred to nail your sins, your debt to divine justice, to the Cross as paid in full so they are no more and suddenly you will say, “I will not run away, I will take up My Cross daily and follow You.” Do not see your work and the people you serve as a burden, see them as an opportunity for you to grow in holiness, to save souls, and to increase the Kingdom. But above all, see them as an opportunity to be where Jesus is, seeking out and saving the lost.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12.
Love will make the burden easy and the yoke light. Your love for Me and My love for you. For Jesus is Love and when you follow Him, He will carry you like a lamb in His bosom.
I love you. Follow Me in love and your life will be eternal. And when you follow Me, I can make you a leader of others, a shepherd for My sheep, and a fisher of men.
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” John 21:15-19.