Moving Forward With Christ

Scripture Reading: John 17:1-21

Focus Verse: John 17:11  "Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you.  Holy Father, you have given me your name, now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are."

I remember going into a village in western Kenya to hold an evangelistic event.  At the invitation a man known as a drunkard in the village came forward to accept Christ.  Everyone there was amazed that this man would make a commitment to Christ.  I came back to that village a year later and that man was still a drunkard in the village.  The people in the village said that he came to church for a while but then he went back to his old way of life.  What happened to that man?  Perhaps after his decision to follow Christ no one came alongside him to encourage him in the ways of the Lord.  Or maybe he just missed his old way of life and wanted to go back to it. Maybe he didn't understand the power he had to resist temptation because he wasn't discipled.  Maybe you have wondered if you could fall away from Jesus like that?  

 

God has given you a free will.  So it’s completely up to you if you are going to fall away or not.  If you want to stay close to Jesus then that’s where you will be.  Jesus actually prayed for you in John 17:11and verses 20-21, before He went back to heaven.  Jesus prayed, “now protect them by the power of your name.”  We must do our part in moving forward with Christ.  The moment we stop moving forward we start moving backwards.  So don’t relax because that’s when Satan will come in.  We want to always continue moving forward with Christ.  This means reading the Bible, prayer, fellowship with other believers and walking in obedience out of love for God.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries