Are you a fan or a follower?

This thanksgiving, we spent some time with some beautiful friends. We got to enjoy two awesome turkey dinners. We are very blessed and encouraged to have such good friends who care for us.

We have also been blessed with a new small group study that our church has organised. The book we are reading is called "Not a fan" by Kyle Idleman. It basically asks us if we are a fan or a follower of Jesus. 

As the book so rightly explains: " The dictionary defines a fan as an "enthusiastic admirer." Fans want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires sacrifice. Fans may be fine with repeating a prayer, attending church on the weekend, and slapping a Jesus fish on their bumpers. But is that really the extent of the relationship Jesus wants? 
Here is an other way Kyle puts it, : 

It's the guy who goes to the football game with no shirt and a painted chest. He sits in the stand and cheers for his team. He's got a signed jersey hanging on his wall at home and multiple bumper stickers on the back of his car. but he's never in the game. He never breaks a sweat or takes a hard hit in the open field. He knows all about the players and can rattle off their latest stats, but he doesn't know the players. He yells and cheers, but nothing is really required of him. There is no sacrifice he has to make. and the truth is, as excited as he seems, if the team he's cheering for starts to let him down and has a few off seasons, his passion will wane pretty quickly. After several losing seasons you can expect him to jump off the bandwagon and begin cheering for some other team. He is an enthusiastic admirer.

It's the woman who never misses the celebrity news show. She always picks up the latest People 
Magazine. She's a huge fan of some actress who is the latest Hollywood sensation. And this woman not only knows every movie this actress has been in, she knows what high school this actress went to she knows the birthday of this actress, and she knows the name of her first boyfriend. She even knows what this actresses real hair colour is, something the actress herself is no longer certain of. She knows everything there is to know but she doesn't know the actress she's a huge fan, but she's just a friend. She is an enthusiastic admirer.

Being a follower of Jesus would be considered to be inconvenient, difficult at times, uncomfortable. It is doing what you know is right even though you may be ridiculed. It might be stepping out of your comfort zone to stand up for Jesus. Constantly striving for the kind of life that Jesus wants us to have with a regular walk with him. It is not checking off a list of good things that you did in order to be on good terms with God. He wants our heart. He wants our all.

As a stay-at-home mom this challenges me in a way that it may not challenge people who go out to work.

Somebody who goes to work everyday has to deal with

people. They have to deal with their own attitude and responses to different situations that are stressful or frustrating. It is easier to see if you are a fan or follower if you have people there to judge you. 

In my case I have my two babies. I know that I have friends and family and probably even strangers who watch me. But when I am home alone with my kids it's just me and them. I have to think of how I can be a follower of Jesus in my own circumstances. 

It is hard to believe or understand how much impact we have on our children until they do something to imitate us. Either good or bad. I can tell that my baby girl watches me a lot. The way she talks to the dog or to anybody else. It can be pretty hilarious sometimes and also eye-opening.
I have to ask myself the question, how does God want me to obey him when I am home with my kids. Here are a 10 Bible verses that are encouraging tell us what to do (For some reason when someone posts a bunch of Bible verses, I tend to skip over them and don't read all of them, almost as if I'm good enough and I know them all so what's the point in reading them all... Or maybe I'm too lazy or don't feel like stopping to Read every one of them). I encourage you to read them all and pray about anyone that may have encouraged you.

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Colossians 3:14

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Matthew 7:12

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:12-14

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Philippians 2:2

Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

19. Romans 12:16

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Ephesians 4:26

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger..

I myself know that I have many things to work on. I need to learn to not yell so much when I am frustrated. I need to take more pride in my housekeeping and not procrastinate. I need to have more discipline in my prayer life and start of my day with a prayer similar to this one:

Lord, I pray that today will be a good productive day. I pray that I can find patience when I need it, and compassion more than anger and calmness more than stressful yelling. I pray that you will give me the strength to be like Jesus. And to laugh and be happy and have joy and peace. Amen."

And I also need to remember that God cares about all things. Is there and he hears me even when I feel lonely. I need to try and be more like Jesus with my children and husband. To be more patient, to  take things less seriously and have more fun with them. Looking back at old pictures shows me how fast my kids are growing. Time flies!

Isaiah 40:8

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. 

One thing I will always remember, in the movie Evan Almighty, Morgan Freeman as God said. If you pray for patience, God will not give you patience,  he will give you opportunities to learn patience.

May God teach us humility...