12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”
34 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
“The light was natural, physical light. Its creation was an immediate victory because it dispelled darkness. Light and darkness in the Bible are also symbolic of good and evil. Here began God’s work which will culminate in the age to come when there will be no darkness (Rev. 22:5). Israel would know that God is Light—and that the Truth and the Way are with Him. In the darkness of Egypt (Exodus 10:21-24) they had light; and in the deliverance they followed His light (Exodus 13:21).” The Bible Knowledge Commentary
“Most of us get up in the morning saying, ‘I am going to make something of my life, and I’ll follow Jesus too.’ But I just want you to know that we can’t have it both ways. We have to have the formula right. ‘Follow Me,’ Jesus said, ‘and as you follow Me, I will make something of your life.’” Joseph Stowell, III
“As followers of sweet Jesus we are to relinquish the reigns of our lives to the Lord. He is to be responsible for the governing of every aspect of our lives. We are to be “living sacrifices” holy and pleasing to God. Unfortunately, as living sacrifices, we so often find ourselves crawling off the altar when life gets hard. We stand firm when we are in the center of God’s will – mature and fully assured.” BHY
“He is the only One who is good. He doesn’t want to see us fail, but we can only succeed if we have His power—because ours is just as useless and fickle as the leek-lovers. We are utterly dependent on Him. But don’t miss this part: there isn’t some heavenly chart that docks us every time we wish we had our friend’s house. Or our friend’s summer body. (I offer these as hypothetical examples.) He knows we cannot do this without Him. But Christ sacrificed Himself on our behalf. And in His fulfillment of the law—in our place—we become free to follow, not forced to follow. This is where we find Jesus – the One who has set us free and the One who has fulfilled the Law on our behalf. He is our Rescuer; our good. When we forget His goodness, He is patient, kind, and compassionate.” Angie Smith
“You shall never lack the Spirit’s guidance as you seek to follow His leading. Do not count any sin small.” Samuel Annesley
“We often do not know what God is doing now. And the crucial truth is, we don’t need to know what God is doing now to follow him in faith.” Jon Bloom
“When God does things so confusing to us that they appear disorientingly inappropriate - as He did to Peter when Jesus washed his feet – His reply to us is the same as it was to Peter: ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand’ (John 13:7).” BHY
“I’ve been given freedom in Christ, and yet I often look back on the things I used to have, and they can seem pretty appealing. But remember this truth when you go through seasons where you’re grumbling. You’ve been set free. To go back would be to bind your own wrists and ankles. And trust me, you’d regret it.” Angie Smith
“Missionary - explorer David Livingstone attended a ceremony in his honor at Glasgow University. He told the crowd that he was determined to return to Africa. ‘But,’ he added, ‘I return without misgiving and with great gladness. For would you like me to tell you what supported me through all the years of exile among people whose language I could not understand, and whose attitude toward me was often hostile? It was the: ‘Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ On those words I staked everything, and they never failed.’” Robert J. Morgan
“The plain fact is, we often do not know what God is doing now. And the crucial truth is, we don’t need to know what God is doing now to follow him in faith. God has his reasons for concealing his purposes. Sometimes it has to do with his timing, as it did for Peter. And sometimes, because God’s ways and thoughts are so beyond ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), it’s simply God’s mercy toward us to withhold knowledge too heavy for us to bear. We don’t need to understand God’s purposes now; what we need to do is trust God’s purposes now. For it is through our trust, not our own understanding, that God will direct us along our confusing paths (Proverbs 3:6).” Jon Bloom
“As our Great Shepherd, He leads and directs His children in the way they should go. This is profitable for us, though often extraordinarily difficult, yet always for our ultimate good and His Glory – never one surpassing the other. Our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a high price and we are to honor God with our bodies. We are not to run ahead doing our own things, going our own ways, giving no thought to His perfect and pleasing will – which, BTW, is always for our best. This path will always lead to ultimate ruin. It matters greatly how we live our lives. Nothing done in the flesh sans His power is eternal. God will not own what mere flesh can accomplish. It will all be burned up. Seek to follow hard after the One who loves you with an everlasting love and rejoices over you with singing. You will not be disappointed.” BHY
“My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.” Charles Wesley