Committed & Devoted To Jesus - Part 2 - Pursuing Intimacy With God

Committed & Devoted To Jesus – Part 2

In Part 1 of Committed & Devoted To Jesus we began to look at the type of follower that Jesus is looking for. God wants Christians to be fully committed & devoted to Jesus.

Jesus is fully committed to His followers. And He proved that when He came to earth to suffer and die a horrible death so that we could have a restored relationship and fellowship with God.

We will continue to look at what it takes to be the type of Christian and Christ follower that God wants. We will look at the examples that we can follow from God’s Word.

Committed & Devoted To Jesus

The Early Church & Apostles In The Book Of Acts

The early church & apostles in the book of Acts is our example of what a Christian and a church ought to look like. The believers and church leaders were Spirit-filled, powerful, fruitful and victorious servants of Jesus. The main key to being this type of Spirit-filled, victorious and fruitful Christian is to be fully committed & devoted to Jesus… no matter the cost.

The early church & apostles lived in a period of time that was very dangerous for Christians, and yet they were faithful and obedient to Jesus. The cost was great for many of the believers in the early church, and many suffered and even died… not for a religion, not for a church, but for Jesus.

True commitment and devotion to Jesus is doing whatever Jesus tells us to do, and being willing to pay the cost. Even if it means suffering or dying. Here is how committed and devoted to Jesus the early church & apostles were, and how they suffered and died for Him and His Kingdom work.

The Deaths Of The Apostles & Other Faithful Servants

Every one of the original apostles paid a great price for serving Jesus, and suffered and died for Him. And others died following and obeying Jesus, such as Steven and Paul. Here is how some of them suffered and died:

Matthew – Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.
Mark – Died in Alexandria, Egypt , after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.
Luke – Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.
John – Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation there. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He is the only apostle not killed for following Jesus.

Committed & Devoted To Jesus – Others That Died For Jesus

Peter – He was crucified upside down on an x shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died.
James -The leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller’s club.
James the Son of Zebedee – was a fisherman by trade when Jesus Called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.
Bartholomew – Also known as Nathaniel. He Was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

Other Examples Of People Fully Committed & Devoted To Jesus

Andrew – He Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words, “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it”. He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he died.
Thomas – He was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his mission trips to establish the church in the Subcontinent.
Jude – He was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.
Matthias – The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot. He was stoned and then beheaded.
Paul – He was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in AD 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many letters to the churches he had founded throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

May we have the faith and courage, by God’s grace, to be totally committed and devoted to Jesus. And do the things He commands us to do. Especially share the Gospel with others, and make disciples. No matter what it costs.

Luke 9:23 – “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

To truly follow and obey Jesus, and to be fully committed & devoted to Jesus will cost you. You must deny yourself (deny your will, your desires, your dreams & goals, your rights to lead & control your life…). And you must take up your cross daily. This means surrender your will and follow God’s will instead. Then you will be a fully committed & devoted follower of Jesus Christ. The kind of person that God can bless and use in a great way.

Pursuing Intimacy With God is committed to helping you with the most important thing in your life… your intimacy with God , your fellowship with Him, and your partnership with God in His Kingdom work & mission.

There are hundreds of Bible verses and great truths & promises in the Pursuing Intimacy With God studies book

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