Don’t Follow the Crowd, Part 3: Follow the Right People (Pastor Ron Termale) August 15, 2021
Both God and the devil will bring people into your life. You need to differentiate and know who God has put in your life to be an example to you. Following the right people will lead you to blessing, favor, and accomplishing the will of God, whereas following the wrong people or voices will always cause you to make wrong choices.
The most important person we are to follow is Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “Come, follow me” (Luke 18:22b, NIV), which is His invitation to come under His leadership and to listen to and obey His teachings.’’
The people God puts in your life are those who will help you to follow Jesus. The apostle Paul said to the Corinthian Church, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1, NIV).
Everything you see and hear in society through commercials, social media posts, billboards, teachings in school, speeches on television, etc. is calling out for you to follow it. There is a spirit behind each invitation to follow, and we need to discern whether that spirit is from God or is demonic (1 John 4:1).
Three characteristics of people you want around you:
1) People who put Jesus first in their lives – “the Ekklesia.”
Ekklesia means “called-out ones,” and is the Greek word in the New Testament for the Church. We need to get around people who have been called out of darkness and into God’s wonderful light as His chosen people, which is how the apostle Peter describes the Church community (1 Pet 2:9). Your brothers and sisters in Christ will stir your spiritual fire to put Jesus first in your life, as they do the same in their lives. Do not entrust your most sacred gift – your ability to live for eternity – with anyone who would trample on it (see Matt 7:6).
2) People who give you God’s Word over emotional advice, cultural thought, and carnal philosophies.
God will send you people who will speak truth to you rather than give a personal opinion that is rooted in society’s ideas (see how Ananias speaks to Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9:10-19). You are blessed when you do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly (Ps 1:1), for the minds of unbelievers are blinded by the god of this age (Satan) (2 Cor 4:4), and they do not understand the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14). Beware of advice that has good intentions but lacks the mind of Christ (such as Peter’s wrong thinking in Matt 16:21-23).
3) People who encourage you spiritually and bring you closer to Jesus.
Just as Jonathan helped David find strength in God (1 Sam 23:16), and Titus’s arrival consoled Paul (2 Cor 7:5-7), so God will send people to uplift you in your walk with Christ.
Know that God makes everything beautiful in its time (Eccl 3:11). Ruth followed the right person (Naomi) who followed the right God (Yahweh), and God brought her the right husband (Boaz) (Ruth 1:16, 4:13).
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