The Way Of Jesus - Marker#1 - "I Have Begun Following Jesus, And Am Depending On The Spirit Of Jesus In My Journey”

The Way of Jesus #1 - “I have begun following Jesus, and am depending on the Spirit of Jesus in my journey”.

What does your life say? What does your life say? That’s an odd question perhaps, but I think it’s a good one.

What does your life say? Today, in part, we’re going to consider what the lives of some of the disciples of Jesus say to us.

Our lives speak. And ultimately our lives will say what we want them to say, as we put the energy into being the person that we want to be; the person we by God’s grace and goodness are becoming.

So today I don’t want us to consider our New Year’s resolutions

Rather, today I’m looking for us to talk about something that takes the focus off of ourselves - of living in our heads, struggling with the day to day challenges of living and puts the centre of attention onto God and God’s kingdom.

Off of thinking about ourselves so much and onto focussing on the well-being of others.

I’ve come to the conclusion that when we live in our own heads, when we put our energies toward trying to make ourselves happier, we never achieve that goal.

The writer Dale Carnagie said: “It isn’t what you have or who you are, or what you’re doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about”

Charles Colton said: “The person of pleasure, by a vain attempt to be more happy than any person can be, is often more miserable than most people are”.

When we make the choice to not live in our own heads and instead focus on caring for others, that’s when our own lives start to come together.

Personal happiness never comes from seeking personal happiness.

Joy, which is much deeper than happiness, comes from living for God and living to be a blessing to others.

So what I want to talk about today is the first message of what is going to be a seven-part series on the Way of Jesus.

Why the Way of Jesus? Simply put, in Jesus there is purpose and meaning. In Jesus we have a spiritual anchor, we have a moral anchor.

In Jesus, because of His grace, because He laid down His life to forgive us our sins and to reconcile us to God, we have access to the throne room of God.

And that’s because in Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Jesus there is abundant life. In Jesus Christ is life eternal. In Jesus life is overflowing with meaning and purpose and joy in the Holy Spirit.

That is why Jesus matters. That is why the Way of Jesus matters. The way Jesus calls us to live our lives matters, because He is God and we ain’t.

The Way of Jesus is a lifestyle that helps you to live moment by moment, genuinely aware that you belong to Jesus. It helps you embrace being the beloved of God. (Pause)

So, over these next weeks we will look in some depth at each of the 7 markers of the Way of Jesus.

Those 7 markers are:

1. I have begun to follow Jesus, and am depending on the Spirit of Jesus in my journey.

2. I am being sent by Jesus to bless others and invite them to follow Him.

3. I am learning to be like Jesus in my attitudes, behaviours, character.

4. I am learning to love God and to love others.

5. I am learning the teachings of Jesus.

6. I am helping someone and someone is helping me to be a growing follower of Jesus.

7. I am participating in a community of followers of Jesus on mission to the world.

What I have experienced in my life is that transformation, real positive change, comes through following the way of Jesus, aligning ourselves with His will and His ways. It simply just works.

The way of Jesus is God's way for us to lead the best possible lives.

Today we are looking at the first marker of the Way of Jesus platform.

It is about beginnings and it is about dependency. It’s also about honesty and humility.

1) “I have begun following Jesus, and am depending on the Spirit of Jesus in my journey”.

It makes sense that the first marker is one of beginnings, and one that recognizes the person of the Holy Spirit in the beginning.

The Holy Spirit is always around for good beginnings. The first book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”.