I'm Following Jesus – Page 1137 – Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, March 15, 2021
Chapters: Deuteronomy 11-13
Message: Bring Forth More Fruit

Hello My Friend,

Thanks to the time change, I found myself waking up later than normal, staring at the computer screen, asking God to give me a clue on what He wants me to write about. As I read over the verses that caught my attention, God reminded me of just how prosperous I have become since I gave my life to Him. Yes, there have been famines, hills to climb, and valleys to muddle through, I have failed more times than I care to admit, but He continues to work on me. You see, each and every step we take with Jesus also includes purging from Him to remove the things from our lives that keep us from being fruitful, [John 15:2-4 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.]

[Fruitful; Very productive; producing fruit in abundance; Plenteous; abounding in any thing.] The life we live after we receive Christ as our Saviour ought to be one that does bear fruit, meaning that everything we do moving forward grows and flourishes as we learn of His ways and follow them. God does not expect us to be fruitful overnight, He does expect us to let Christ work in us to remove the things from our lives that prevents us from being fruitful. The only way we can do that is by getting in the Word of God and applying it to our lives. Moses reminds the Israelites that God has given them an abundant and fruitful land, flowing with milk and honey. If they want it to remain that way they need to keep His Word.

[Deuteronomy 11:2,10-12 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: 12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.]

[A land which the LORD thy God careth for:] The second we get saved we are given a new slate at life and start on a new journey with Christ leading the way. This journey cannot take us back to where we were, it has nothing to do with our past, and is not for anyone else. God cares for you, His eyes are always on you, and as long as you allow Him to direct your path it will continue to grow and become fruitful, [Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.]

We must understand that the life we live today with Christ has nothing to do with keeping our salvation, that is forever, through our faith in Him alone. God loves and adores us, He does not want us to live the rest of our lives muddling through life, He wants us to be fruitful. There is one condition, we need to get in His Word, follow it, and stay in it. Moses reminds the Israelites how important it is that they keep God’s Law with them,

[Deuteronomy 11:18,21,25-28 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. 25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you. 26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.]

[that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.] [Frontlet; Go around or bind;] Christ is the key to our prosperity, we are to set our eyes upon Him, learn of His ways, bind them upon our heart, and soul, and when we do we prosper in everything that we do, [John 15:7-11 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.]

[Abide; To rest, or dwell. To endure or sustain.] Our walk with Christ is eternal, that means we have an eternity to spend with Him because He abides in our soul. Now, with that said, and how we become fruitful is what we do with our lives while we are here. We must be careful not to bring any of the world with us on our journey, and as for those things that were with us prior to our salvation, we are to destroy them. Moses stresses that while the land promised was God’s gifts to them, it was full of idolatry, if they wanted it to remain fruitful then they needed to not only destroy the idols, but the places they used to worshiped them as well.

[Deuteronomy 12:2,4-5,30-32 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. 5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.]

[Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.] We are to remove the idols from our heart, and never worship God in the places where they were worshiped. For example, a person with an alcohol addiction has alcohol as their idol, they need to destroy that idol by allowing the strength of Christ to abide in them and strengthen them. Once they remove that idol they need to avoid the places, and people who would bring them to the temptation to sin. How Christ keeps us from going back into sin is by leading us to a church and people who will help us replace those evils with good. This is why it is so important to find a faith driven, King James only Bible believing church. Why? It does not add to or diminish from His Word. All Scripture is necessary if we want to be fruitful, [II Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.]

A King James only Bible believing church is the only church that God approves of in this day and age as it preaches, “Thus saith the LORD.” where as most churches today remove or add to the Scriptures in order to get their followers. Do you want to know why there are so many Christian based religions and “versions” of the Bible in the first place? People want the hope of heaven, but do not want to give up those idols. They have the, “Out of sight, out of mind” thinking that as long as it is not written in the version or religion that they choose then they are in the clear. Let me tell you just how dangerous that is, and how many people they send to hell each day because of their false doctrine. They are called false prophets, in fact, God Himself warns what happens to both, the ones who follow them and the false prophets.

[Deuteronomy 13:1,3,6-9 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.]

[for the LORD your God proveth you,] An interesting fact as to why God allows all these false religion has to do with our faith. Just think about that, those who want to know the truth will find it and accept it. Those who just want to do things their own way will be in the shock of their souls when they discover that they are in hell and not in heaven because they trusted these fools. And we cannot blame God because they are in hell, they trusted the lies over the truth, and if you are that close to heaven and yet refuse to accept the truth, then that is all on you. As for the fools, they too will be in hell, as they were the cause if leading so many astray. We who are saved and know the truth are responsible for making sure the truth is told, or else we will answer to God as to why we did not tell them, [John 4:35-36 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.]

[thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death,] Something occurred to me as I was reading the chapters for today, God did have certain laws according to their dispensation, meaning, how He dealt with His believers at certain times. The Israelites walk with God, although common sense commands still stood, was different during their forty years in the wilderness than when they went over into the promised land. God made an example out of them of what happens when both the false prophets and their followers choose the lies over the truth. Now, we are not to physically attack the false prophets today, but we are to destroy their testimony, [II Timothy 2:11-16 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Deuteronomy 11:22-23 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; 23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.]

Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your endless mercies and grace to save a sinner like me when I accepted Your Son as my Saviour. I will never forget the day that I dedicated my life to You, I too was doing what was right in my own eyes until I got in Your Word and discovered Your truths. Thank You for loving me so much that You wanted me to learn and teach the truth to the world, and thank You for using me, I know I fail You, and yet, You love me, and continue to bless me for my faithfulness. Lord, Lead me and guide me, search my heart, know my thoughts see if their be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. If there is any idol in me, help me to remove it completely so I do not hinder Your blessings. Keep my heart tender, always giving glory to You, and let me not forget that anything I do for and through You is fruitful. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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