What Does It Mean to Follow JESUS?

What does it mean to follow JESUS?

Question to ask your kids: What are the four Gospels? Answer: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Question to ask your kids: How many times do you think Jesus said, “Follow Me,” in the four Gospels? Answer: 13

Tell your kids: Jesus used the words, “Follow Me,” to call His disciples.

Question to ask your kids: How many disciples did Jesus have? Answer: 12

Bible Study on Jesus calling the 12 disciples to follow Him from the four gospels (you could have your kids act this out)

Simon Peter (Fisherman) and Andrew (Fisherman) (Matthew 4:18-20)
18 Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

James (Fisherman) and John (Fisherman) (Matthew 4:21-22)
21 Jesus saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Philip and Nathanael/Bartholomew (John 1:43-51)
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Matthew/Levi (Tax Collector) (Matthew 9:9)
9 Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. He said to him, “Follow Me.” So, he arose and followed Him.

The Twelve Chosen (Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-19)
13 Jesus went up on the mountain and prayed and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16 Simon and Andrew,
17 James and John, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
18 Philip, Nathanael/Bartholomew, Matthew/Levi, Thomas, James, Thaddaeus/Jude, Simon the Canaanite/Zealot;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Question to ask your kids: What does it mean to follow Jesus? Answers: May vary, but some answers may be to love like Jesus loved, to walk like Jesus walked, to talk like Jesus talked, to live like Jesus lived, to obey like Jesus obeyed (discuss what they share)

Game to play with your kids: Follow the leader https://www.considerable.com/entertainment/games/follow-the-leader/

Song to sing with your kids: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8jvfdDtoqY

Prayer to pray with your kids: Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Your son, Jesus, to not only die on the cross for our sins, but to show us how to love, walk, talk, live, and obey. Please help us to follow Jesus and share Him with others. Amen.

Be Humble

Help/Serve Others
   Mark 9:35 – “If anyone desires to be first, 
                        he shall be last of all and servant of all.” – Jesus
   Mark 10:43-45 – ⁴³ Whoever desires to become great among you 
                                    shall be your servant. 
                               ⁴⁴ And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 
                               ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

“Me first,” is not just something that little kids say.
It’s a heart attitude that many people struggle with.
Jesus told His disciples if they wanted to be first, they should be last and serve everyone.
How can you turn from “me first” to “me last”? How can you serve others?

Use Your Gifts for Others, Not Yourself
  1^st Peter 4:10 – Each of you should use whatever gift you have received
                            to serve others.
  God has given everyone different gifts, not to use for themselves, but for others.
  What gifts has God given you? How can you use them for others?

Mimic/Model Jesus to Others
   Philippians 2:3-11 – ³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit,
                                      but in lowliness of mind
                                      let each esteem others better than himself. 
                                    ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests,
                                      but also for the interests of others.
                                    ⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 
                                    ⁶ who, being in the form of God,
                                       did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 
                                    ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation,
                                       taking the form of a bondservant, 
                                      and coming in the likeness of men. 
                                    ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
                                       He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point
                                       of death, even the death of the cross. 
                                    ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
                                      and given Him the name which is above every name, 
                                    ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
                                       of those in heaven, and of those on earth,
                                       and of those under the earth, 
                                    ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
                                       to the glory of God the Father.
When we come to Jesus as believers, we are to be like Jesus.
Jesus was a humble servant.
How are you mimicking Jesus to others? How can you model Jesus to others?

Be Honest With Others About Your Mistakes and Sins
  James 5:16 – Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another,
                        that you may be healed.
We all sin (Romans 3:23).
We don’t have to hide that from others and try to look like we are awesome.
How can you humble yourself and share your mistakes and sins with others?

Listen to Others
  Proverbs 12:15 – The wise listen to advice.
  Humble people listen to others. How can you be a better listener?

Edify/Build Up Others
  Romans 15:2 – Each of us should be concerned for our neighbors’ good,
                           to build them up (edify them).
  Humble people look for ways to build up others. How can you build others up?

The 3 Rs of Homeschooling (Not What You Are Thinking)

This year starts our 10th year of homeschooling (not counting what we did before Kindergarten). In a decade of home educating, I would like to think I've learned a few things along with my kiddos. LOL! Lately, God has really put it on my heart to focus on the 3 Rs of homeschooling.
It's not what you are thinking.

The 3 Rs of Homeschooling:

1) Relationships 

    Other than God calling me to homeschooling, which was reason enough, one of the biggest reasons
    we started homeschooling and continue homeschooling is to build relationships, both vertical and
    horizontal. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see The Great Commandment:

    "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
    Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
    and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. 
    And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 
    On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” 
    (Matthew 22:36-40)

    Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, 
    perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him,
    “Which is the first commandment of all?”
    Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: 
    ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 
    And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,
    and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 
    And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
    There is no other commandment greater than these.”
    (Mark 12:28-31)

    So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
    with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
    (Luke 10:27)

    This actually isn't just in the New Testament. You can find loving the Lord all throughout the Bible
    especially in The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:

    “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 
    You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

    The part about loving your neighbor as yourself is also in the Old Testament in Leviticus 19:18:

    "But you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."     

    It is our greatest desire to love God with everything we have and then love others.
    It is our next greatest desire for our kids to love God with everything they have and love others.

2) Rhythm

    I don't know about you, but I am naturally a person who thrives on structure, routine, and order.
    I love charts, checklists, calendars, planners, and all things that can make me more organized.
    Over the years, I have learned that it is really hard to get not just myself, but my husband, my kids,
    and anyone else to stick to a "at this time we do this" routine.

    Instead, I have been finding that it is better to have a rhythm to our life and our days.
    What does this mean? Well, we wake up, have time to get going for the day, eat breakfast, 
    do some chores, start school, have breaks as needed, have food as needed (LOL), stop for lunch,
    finish up school, have breaks as needed, have food as needed (LOL), have room time, eat dinner,
    have family time, get ready for bed, do family devotions, read books, and go to bed. 

    Having a rhythm keeps everyone from being stressed out about calendars, clocks, time limits, etc.
    It leaves room to breathe and room for flexibility. It's awesome.

3) Responsibility

    As a mom it is super easy to want to do too much for our kids. I am guilty of that myself. 
    I have learned over the years that the more I do for my kids, the less they do for themselves.
    We are working on taking as much responsibility for ourselves as possible. 
    This is not just with our actions, but also with our attitudes and responses to things.

    Obviously a 4-year-old can't clean an entire bathroom by himself, but he can collect towels for the
    laundry. A 9-year-old can't do all of the yardwork by himself, but he can pick up sticks and pull 
    weeds. A 14-year-old can do a lot (even if they don't agree LOL). 

It is my prayer this year that we will build our relationships with the Lord, each other, and others. 
It is my prayer that we will find and maintain a rhythm for our days and this season.
It is my prayer that we will each take responsibility for our tasks and our attitudes.

I hope this has helped. :)