Bishop Wills' Life Journal entry for February 7, 2008: "Living as a follower of Jesus"

February 7, 2008
Living As A Follower of Jesus

S: Acts 14: 22
Putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it would not be easy: “Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times.”

O: There is a cross for everyone who is a Christ follower.

A: I think most persons go into the ministry thinking they will be loved by their congregation. At some point one realizes that not everyone will love you if you are being obedient as a follower of Jesus. Unless we learn that our need to be loved will only be satisfied by God, then our lives are hopelessly lost trying to please everyone in the church in order to be loved.

Once we begin to receive our need to be loved from the Lord, then the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to love the unlovable in our churches and community. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to pray for those who dislike us and if we pray prayers of blessings on those people, then the Holy Spirit will give us a heart of love for those people. That is the miracle which is certain to happen in us.

In the meantime we have to live through plenty of hard times. If we live through these hard times with prayer and scripture each day and pray for blessings for those who give us the hard times, at some point God will answer our prayers and the church will get much better. Believe me I know, from long experience, this is true.

What Paul wants us to remember is not to give up and not to adopt the ways of the world (an eye for an eye). We are to carry our cross and believe that one day the God of the resurrection will do the same for us.

P: Father, even in our churches, there are people who make living the life of a disciple of Jesus very difficult. Give to each of us (and especially me) a heart of love for those who oppose what You would want in our churches and Conferences. Love, Dick

Y: I yield any idea I will be loved by everyone and I will seek my need to be loved to be filled by the Holy Spirit.