Exhortation (Jesus and I)

Recap

James 4:13–17 NKJV

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

We have studied this in the previous weeks to explain what it means for us to come up with both options.

One is, “My Plans, the other is The Lord’s plan”

Now, we see two things spoken of here by James, “I have to hold things open-ended, i.e. I can be called away from my plans, to God’s plan.

Let us examine some context;

Matthew 4:18–21 NKJV

18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,

Now, this is quite an interesting one, “Follow me” — They immediately left their nets and followed him.

This is quite important to see and understand, that the response to his invitation, is prompt obedience.

Notice, also, when he called them, he immediately said he is giving them a new purpose. “I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN”.

I wrote on Facebook or twitter back then “what he makes are fishers of men, don’t change his mission”

God still want to make you, and give your life a meaning.

Historical background of being a disciple, is that it is an honor, bestowed on the disciple by the Rabbi.

Jesus wants you and I to follow him everywhere. He wants us to go to nations with him, he wants us to go everywhere with him, not alone, but with him.

Now, often there are hindrances, obstacles to following Jesus;

The top on the list often, is “my legitimate needs and desires”

Jesus in Matthew 6 let’s us see this clearly; there is no greater thing that prevents service to God than legitimate desires.

Matthew 6:24 NKJV

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Now, the conversation is about loyalty and service.

Mammon — μαμωνᾶς -ᾶ, ὁ; (mamōnas)

The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament μαμωνᾶς, ᾶ, ὁ

Ὁ μαμωνᾶς appears in Q (

Jesus is rejecting the quest to secure one’s life through possessions of wealth.

It is impossible to follow Jesus, and follow uncontrollable desires. Look through your own life, it is as though those times, you have become stuck in your way, you hardly ever follow God, man cannot have his sight on two things.

Bishop Oyedepo’s statement, “a man cannot look up and down at thesame time” you can’t set your eyes on God and on yourself.

This becomes our greatest hinderance.

Therefore, Jesus called you and I to something; it is to count the cost of following Jesus; Luke 14:15-24

Luke 14:15 LEB

15 Now when one of those reclining at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Notice most times, all these said are legitimate things;

What are your legitimate restrictions, and hinderances? You can always have your own reasons and they can be very very legitimate,

But, that which is legitimate can rightly become a distraction, from the masters call.

Hence, in verse 25-33

Luke 14:25–33 NKJV

25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

The disciple follows, and Jesus said here, there is a cost to such following.

Speak about structure; — I was speaking with Brother Henry about this;

One of our greatest hinderances, is our lack of structure, i.e. legitimate things become hinderances because we leave it to chance.

For example, what is your structure to pray? You know if I plan to pray by 6am, but I didn’t wake up, then you could say, I have a 6pm to always handle it. This becomes essential.

When I am at home, while taking lunch, I will sit to listen to last week’s teaching, that is structure.

Structure is what allows us not to make legitimate demands on us, to become a distraction.

When all system fails, what we should see then is, our surrender.

Have you count the cost of following Jesus? If not, take today, tonight, to do this.

What is the cost of me following Jesus? What won’t I be able to give up? One of it, is our emotions also. “Things didn’t go well, hence,…” That means, the cost is not there anymore.