Following Jesus

[00:00:00] Welcome back. You are now tuned in to the Prayer Is Breathing podcast. My name is Latoya. I want to thank you for listening. Thank you for subscribing. And today I just want to give you a very simple but powerful reminder, and that is to keep your eyes stayed on Jesus.

[00:00:17] I know there's a lot going on in the holiday season, and we're preparing for 2025. And I just want to share this passage with you from the story of Jesus' birth. And this story just reminds me to always follow the star, follow Christ, keep your eyes on what God is doing.

[00:00:35] So in this season and in every season, we have to be vigilant. We have to keep our eyes stayed on Christ, be sober, the Bible says. And it also means that we cannot allow ourselves to be given to distractions, but we have to keep our eyes on Christ.

[00:00:53] So let's read this very familiar Christmas story as we think about the birth of Jesus, right? So Matthew chapter 2, starting with verse 1, it says,

[00:01:03] Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who was born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.

[00:01:19] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

[00:01:32] So they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written by the prophet, but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.

[00:01:49] Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined them from what time the star appeared.

[00:01:56] And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the young child.

[00:02:01] And when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also.

[00:02:08] When they heard the king departed, when they heard the king, they departed and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was.

[00:02:21] When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

[00:02:25] I don't know about you, but this is how I want to be led by the Holy Spirit.

[00:02:28] All of 2024 and 2025, that as we keep our eyes stayed on Christ.

[00:02:34] I know you've probably heard this story a million times, but I want you to really think about them physically following this star all the way until this star stopped over the child Jesus.

[00:02:46] And when we have our mind made up and we are focused and whatever season you're in or whatever you're going through, you have to ask yourself, what is your focal point?

[00:02:56] What is your foundation of it all?

[00:02:58] And when you set that focal point on I'm going after Christ, I'm going after the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength.

[00:03:08] And my prayer for myself and all of us is that we would be on this journey to truly, truly, truly follow Christ.

[00:03:16] To not be halfway, but to surrender everything that we have to him and to pursue him.

[00:03:22] One of my favorite songs during this time is, Oh, come let us adore him.

[00:03:27] And when I think about us just adoring Christ, just putting all of our attention on him.

[00:03:33] And I think about Jesus having preeminence, meaning that he truly has first place.

[00:03:38] He has first place above anything that does not please him, where God has full permission to tear down every idol, to tear down any and everything that is not like him, that he will reign fully and truly and supreme in our hearts.

[00:03:54] And again, I just want you to think about these three wise men that they were focused on finding the child.

[00:04:00] They saw the star and they followed the star right up until the baby.

[00:04:05] And the Bible tells us in Romans 8, 14, as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

[00:04:12] And so we have to pursue God and be led by him, be led by his spirit.

[00:04:17] And God will show us all the things that we need to know when we are walking and pursuing him.

[00:04:23] Now, one thing that I also think is very interesting is verse seven.

[00:04:28] And it says,

[00:04:35] And one thing God put on my heart within the last week or two is that the enemy always has you on his radar.

[00:04:42] Okay.

[00:04:43] And clearly we know that Herod was not coming to worship Christ, but he sought to kill him.

[00:04:48] The Bible tells us later on.

[00:04:49] And so sometimes even while you're not understanding who you are in God, you have to understand how the enemy works as well, that he was keeping track and trying to put a radar as to where this star would be appeared.

[00:05:03] Of course, we know later on that the Lord tells Joseph and Mary where to go and where to flee to and all these different things.

[00:05:10] They didn't have a very easy path.

[00:05:12] But I just want to tell you that God is able to keep you.

[00:05:16] God is able to watch over you.

[00:05:17] And if you just make a decision to trust in the Lord with all your heart, to lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways, you acknowledge him.

[00:05:26] He will direct your path.

[00:05:28] And I think it's clear to say that he definitely, the Lord definitely directed the path of these three wise men.

[00:05:34] And so there's so many beautiful, beautiful, powerful passages and what we refer to as a nativity scene and the birth of Christ.

[00:05:42] And so my prayer is that we continue to pray for wisdom and to be led by the Lord and to keep our eyes stayed on him.

[00:05:50] Of course, Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith.

[00:05:55] And so we look unto Jesus because as we look to him, he is everything that we need and we can put our strength.

[00:06:03] We can put all our cares.

[00:06:05] We can lay everything down and every part of our hearts can be fully surrendered to God.

[00:06:12] And so this is where the Lord puts us through a process so that we can surrender our hearts to him so that we can lay everything down.

[00:06:20] Everything that would try to stop us from following Christ, we can lay those things aside so we don't have tons of baggage.

[00:06:27] But we can say, God, I'm ready.

[00:06:29] I'm so ready to move forward.

[00:06:31] I'm ready, oh God, to do your will and to be all that you've called me to be.

[00:06:35] And in order for me to do that, in order for me to surrender, in order for me to do all these things,

[00:06:41] I have to keep you as my focal point in order to continue to crucify my flesh, to not live for myself, but to live after you.

[00:06:49] I have to look to Jesus because it's only by his grace.

[00:06:53] It's only by his strength.

[00:06:54] It's not anything that we have done or can do, but it's by the strength and the grace of God.

[00:07:00] And so the Bible tells us in Hebrews 12 verse 2, looking unto Jesus.

[00:07:05] If I had to pause right here, I would ask you, what are you looking to?

[00:07:09] What are you looking towards?

[00:07:11] Where are you keeping your eyes?

[00:07:12] Where are you keeping your focus?

[00:07:14] We know that the three wise men, they were keeping their focus on the star.

[00:07:17] They had to follow the star and intently look at the star.

[00:07:22] And verse 2 in Hebrews chapter 12 tells us,

[00:07:25] Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith,

[00:07:29] who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,

[00:07:33] despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

[00:07:38] Glory, hallelujah.

[00:07:40] We celebrate the birth of Jesus.

[00:07:41] We understand that he is not a baby in a manger anymore,

[00:07:45] but he is seated at the right hand of God with all power and with all authority.

[00:07:50] And every knee will bow.

[00:07:52] Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

[00:07:55] And so we can celebrate the victory of the cross,

[00:07:59] the power of the cross that by the stripes of Jesus, we have been healed.

[00:08:03] We also have been forgiven as we repent of our sins and we look to Jesus.

[00:08:08] So be encouraged this season.

[00:08:10] I pray that the Lord fills your heart with hope because we have Christ in us, the hope of glory.

[00:08:15] Let's say a word of prayer.

[00:08:16] God, I pray that you would remove every distraction.

[00:08:19] I pray, Father God, that you would just touch every heart today,

[00:08:22] those that may be mourning during this time or just in sadness and grief.

[00:08:26] God, that you would be the lifter of our heads.

[00:08:29] God, I pray for the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

[00:08:32] I pray, oh God, that we would passionately pursue Jesus with all our heart,

[00:08:37] with all our soul and live a surrendered life unto you.

[00:08:40] And that we would keep our eyes stayed on you.

[00:08:43] We will not be focused on everything that's negative or what's going on around us.

[00:08:47] But Father, give us a focal point and attention that we would place Jesus as our priority.

[00:08:54] That in all things, God, you would have preeminence.

[00:08:57] You would have first place in our hearts.

[00:08:59] And so God, I pray that you would just continue to go before us.

[00:09:02] In the mighty, matchless, undefeated name of Jesus Christ, we pray.

[00:09:06] Amen and amen.

[00:09:07] God bless you.

[00:09:08] I pray that you have a blessed time.

[00:09:10] Be safe.

[00:09:11] Also, if you would like to check out any Christian clothing, you can visit AWAKE.

[00:09:15] That's A-W-A-K-E, ChristianClothing.com.

[00:09:19] God bless you and God keep you.

[00:09:21] Thank you for listening.