The Healing Word

Guest (Male): The healing word ministry on one place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the links provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in him.

Pastor Jack Morris: Commitment is the secret of following Jesus and excelling and being more than just mediocre. I want to excel and I believe you do too or you wouldn't be here today for this holy communion service. You want to excel. Let's excel. Let's commit to the Lord today perhaps like we have never committed to him before.

Guest (Male): Welcome to the healing word, a radio ministry of the Largo Community Church. Here's Pastor Jack Morris with today's message that will grow your faith in God and lead you to a closer walk with Jesus.

Pastor Jack Morris: Today's message, following Jesus. I've been reading many times in the scripture where Jesus said to individuals, follow me. Well, I begin to wonder about that. I've heard that. I've read that. What does that mean? What does he mean? What is he saying to me when he says follow me? And how is that done? So, I'm going to try to expound that truth today so that you and I will know how to follow him and do his will and experience his nearness in our lives. Let me ask you a question. Why do some musicians or athletes excel while others are mediocre?

Mediocre simply means moderate performance. Well, a study was done on that. Very thought, why do some musicians and athletes excel and others are mediocre? And the research revealed that there is one common denominator, commitment. Commitment. You know, I don't want to be a mediocre husband. I get up here where she can't answer back. But that sign language I get it every time. I don't want to be a mediocre father. I don't I I don't want to be a mediocre pastor. I'm trying not to be a mediocre preacher. I I don't want to just get by.

Just follow Jesus afar off or perform my my worship and my service to him at a distance. I want to be close to the Lord. I want to excel in following Jesus. I don't want somebody to question, you know, is he a disciple? Is he really a follower? Is he really a Christian? I thought he is. I I think he is. I want people to be able to say I see Jesus in him. Now, we make many mistakes and no one is perfect like Jesus was. But commitment is the secret of following Jesus and excelling and being more than just mediocre.

I want to excel and I believe you do too or you wouldn't be here today for this holy communion service. You want to excel. Let's excel. Let's commit to the Lord today perhaps like we have never committed to him before. Jesus was calling disciples. Now, before he officially called disciples, John the Baptist was baptizing and he saw Jesus and I spoke to you about this last week. He saw Jesus and he said, look, the lamb of God. And two of John the Baptist associates began following Jesus. And Jesus turned around and he saw them behind him following him.

And Jesus inquired as to what they wanted and they wanted to know where he was staying and so Jesus says come and see. They spent about 2 hours with him. Well, later Andrew called his brother Peter and said we have found the Messiah. And then there was Nathaniel and then there was Philip and others began to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. But now comes the official call to discipleship. Jesus is officially calling. Officially. Here it is. He walks by the seashore one day, the Sea of Galilee. And there's a lot of boats there, men mending their nets.

And he sees Andrew and his brother Peter. Now, they had already determined that he was the Messiah. There's only only people sitting down. That's all. You've seen people sit down before, haven't you? That's all that is. That's wonderful that they're here, that you're here. But they saw Peter and they saw Andrew and they said Jesus said follow me. And the scripture says immediately, there was no question about it. Their hearts wanted him. And they left the boat and the nets immediately. They didn't question. They didn't dialogue with somebody. They didn't put it off. They immediately so they started following Jesus.

Jesus goes on down the seashore. Lot of boats. He stops at another boat. Here is James and John, the sons of Zebedee Zebedee and Jesus says to them, follow me. And immediately Friend, why why are we having so much difficulty making up our minds that we're going to obey the word, all the word, not part of it, and truly follow the Lord. Come on, friends. Let's get with Jesus and go all the way with Jesus and and not this this mediocre discipleship, this mediocre, this 50 or 65% Christianity, 95% Come on. Let's be 100% for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at this table. Friend, this is a 100% love for you and me. Jesus didn't go halfway to Calvary. Two thirds of the way, he stayed on the cross until it was finished. That's that's love. That's commitment. That 's excelling. That's how I want to follow him like he gave himself for me. And this is what he did. Now, he continued to call people to follow him. In Matthew chapter 4, he sees these people and he says to them, follow me. He's now in in Matthew 4. We're now in Matthew 4. You see at the screen.

You see in your bulletin. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. These four men, Andrew and Peter, James and John immediately began to follow the Lord. The Lord goes on. He sees another young man who has a very strong interest in Christianity. He's intrigued by what's going on at the church. He's interested. And he says to the Lord, I will follow you. I really want to follow you. But first, let me go bury my father. Come on, friends. Get with that on the screen, please. He said he said let me go bury my father.

Now, Jesus said this, let the dead bury the dead, but you follow me. Now, what was Jesus saying to that man, that young man? The young man's parents were not dead. They were still very much alive. Those people had maybe 20 30 40 more years, those parents to live. And this is what this young man was saying. I'm going to give my allegiance to you someday, but I can't do it right now. I've got to take care of my parents. And when they die, 10 20 30 years from now, man, I'm going to be all in all out for you.

And that's when Jesus said let the dead bury the dead. Your parents are dead in spiritual life. Now, the Lord Jesus wants us to care for our parents. There's no doubt about that. We are instructed to take care of our parents, to love our parents, to provide for our parents. Matter of fact, there's even a blessing from God that says those people who take care of their parents will receive long life and many days on this earth. But friend, when you're too ashamed or embarrassed, I've had people say to me, Pastor, I can't come to your church or I basically I can't come into the Christian faith not not while my mother or my dad is living.

But when they go, I'll be there. Jesus says you're not worthy of me. You're just not worthy of me. You are not aligned with my purposes. You're not a follower of the Lord. Friend, let's think about it today. What is it that's standing in the way of all in all out for Jesus and receiving this precious gift of love and forgiveness and true discipleship. Well, Jesus went on in Matthew chapter 9 and he saw another man named Matthew. Matthew was a toll collector. He was a Jew that had given himself to the Roman government. He was making big bucks.

He was making a lot of money doing what he was doing. And Jesus walked by and he said, it's me or your money. It's me or your career. Follow thou me. No question about it. He got up and he says you're more important to me. I'll follow you. He left it all behind and he began to follow the Lord Jesus. Jesus went on a little further and in Matthew 19 he met the rich young ruler. Rich young ruler really wanted eternity. He was very interested in life after death. And he said to Jesus, I'll follow you whithersoever thou goest.

Jesus said the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests nests. But I don't have a beautiful house. Matter of fact, I don't even have a place to lay my head. And he told this young man, your idol is your money. And he says, sell what you have and give to the poor. And the scripture says the young man hung his head and walked away sorrowfully. In other words, not everybody is going to follow the Lord and excel in their Christian walk. There are going to be, there always has been, mediocre, moderate performers in the Christian life.

But today we're coming to an altar today where Jesus was not a moderate performer, but Jesus gave his all in true discipleship. Disciples follow the Lord. Now, what to again, what does it mean to follow Jesus? How does one follow the Lord? One follows the Lord by putting Jesus first above everything else. That's true discipleship. Letting Jesus sit upon the throne of the heart. Jesus said in Luke 17, the kingdom of God is within you.

Guest (Male): We will return for the conclusion of today's message following this important update on how you can make a difference in lives across the world by supporting the healing word ministry. Would you consider partnering with Pastor Morris and supporting the healing word ministry with your prayers and donating to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ reaching thousands? Go to thehealingword.com and click the donate button to pledge your support. And remember, the faith building message you heard today is our gift to you. Your donation is your gift to God. I also invite you to check out all the ministry resources available for you at thehealingword.com.

There you can search and listen to messages that match your need. Pray with Pastor Morris using the pray now app and send your prayer request directly to the pastor and he will pray for you and return an encouraging note. You'll find all these gifts waiting for you at the healingword.com. Now, let's join Pastor Jack Morris for the conclusion of today's message.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, put it on the screen, please. The the two um thrones we'll get a look at it now. Jesus sitting upon the throne of the heart. Okay. Let me see if I can explain this. You see this one over here, right here? Here's a life. Here is a mediocre Christian. Self is seated upon the throne of the life of the heart. Christ is in that life, but he's not on the throne. Now, all of these dots are our life's ambitions. One of them maybe is our our our job, maybe our houses, maybe our parents, maybe our avocation.

They're all there. Some are more predominant than others, but they're they're not all the same. They not all organized. They're rather scattered. As long as self is dictating, self is the boss. I'm yielding to my own desires and my own wishes. I have Jesus in my heart. You see the cross? When I die, I know I am going to go to heaven, but my life is not totally given to Jesus, not like he totally gave himself to me. But now look at the other life. Here is Christ on the throne. Now, self is still there.

My parents, my job, my avocation, my money, but they're all organized around Jesus Christ. You see it? That's discipleship. That's following the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus being upon the throne of my heart. Now, friend, something or someone is going to sit on the throne of your heart. If it is self, you're going to be influenced by other influences other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He will have a minor influence in your life. You will have the major influence. You will decide what you're going to do, what you're going to give, when you're going to go.

You will make up all those decisions and occasionally Jesus will be part of it, but Jesus will not be the predominant one. So, something is on the throne of your heart. Something is ruling your life. Now, think with me in think with me, think with me now. Is it Jesus or is it you that's dictating your life? Somebody said it's like a pilot in an airplane. I'm going to fly the airplane. Jesus is going to be on the plane, but he's going to be back there as a passenger. I'm going to take Jesus where I want him to go.

But today I want to put Jesus in the pilot seat. I'm going to be the passenger and let Jesus take me where he wants me to go. But what is it that's influencing your decisions? Something is altering your moods, controlling your emotions. What is it? Put a crown on Jesus' head. All hail the power of Jesus name we sang. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. We sing it. Friend, it's time that we do it. Put him on the throne. Put the crown on Jesus' head. Take it off of my head and put it on his head.

Now, this is what he says in Luke in Romans 14. He said the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, peace and joy. Say those words. Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Now, let me put them two together. The kingdom of God is within you. What is the kingdom of God? Righteousness, peace and joy. Well, if the kingdom of God is within me, then righteousness, peace and joy is within me. You see, friends, God is not trying to make your life miserable. God is trying to make your life beautiful and wonderful with a right relationship to God, with peace that transcends all understanding, with joy that that that is a rapturous happiness.

Friend, when you let Jesus control your life, you get it all. Everything he has, every blessing of heaven will come to you. The very things that you're laboring, struggling, sweating over, you get it all when you give Jesus your heart and put him on the throne of your heart. Can you say amen to that? Amen to Jesus and amen to what he gives. Now, sometime ago, a minister friend to me said something to this effect. And I I think he was he was directing this remark to me, maybe. I don't know. Who else was there?

Well, there was one other minister there. But he said something to this effect and he's a minister. He said, you know, you evangelicals or evangelicals are always getting people ready to die. He said, how about getting people ready to live? Well, he's making a distinction between being ready to die and being ready to live. I don't know how you can separate the two. Listen, friend, if you're ready to die, your heart is in Jesus. Jesus' heart is in you. You're ready to die. You now you're really ready to live. And if you're really ready to live with righteous a right relationship with God, with peace and with joy, if you have that in your heart, then you're also ready to die, aren't you?

The other day I got this letter from one of our parishioners, William and Annie Hopkins. Are you here this morning, Mr. Hopkins? Oh, there they are. Wait wait, put your hand up and wave. There they are. Okay. Now, when I tell stories about people in the congregation, I'm very careful. Uh I can tell stories about people outside. I'm not too careful. But when they're there, I'm very careful. Well, is it okay if I read this? Okay. I just now got their permission. See how careful I am? Well, I won't read the whole thing, but he said, dear Pastor and Mrs.

Morris, his daughter uh Deborah just passed away at age 56. And here's the paragraph that I want you to hear. When I, the father of Deborah, visited her in one of the hospitals in Florida during her last dying days, I told her, Deborah, I can feel your pain. She responded, this dying daughter, Daddy, I wish you could feel my joy. Those words triggered a happiness in me, said the dad, that allowed me to know that she will be with the Lord in paradise. And he concludes, thank you, Jesus. Amen. Friend, that's discipleship. You can live with joy.

And if you live with joy, you're going to be able to die with joy with that rapture of happiness in your heart. You can have it today. Stop struggling. Give up. Give in to the Lord Jesus and let him take control of your life. The first disciples, before they were called, they started following Jesus. It was Andrew and the other disciple associates of John the Baptist. The other disciple was no doubt John who wrote the book of John. Jesus turned around and he saw them following. And I read that and I I try to apply it to my own heart.

I thought if if Jesus were to turn around, would he see me following? He saw those disciples following. And how close were they following? Close enough that they could have a conversation. And they began to talk. But you know, I also read about Peter, the night Jesus was put to the trial. He was arrested. In a few hours he's going to be crucified. The scripture says Peter, who had followed so closely all those years, those 3 years, now the scripture says in these words, Peter followed afar off. You can allow things to cloud your vision of Jesus.

You can allow things. I can. You can allow things to come between you and Jesus. And fear took over. His life, his livelihood took over. Jesus was unseated for a moment from his heart. And when he followed afar off, the scripture clearly says he denied the Lord. When somebody ask him, are you a follower of Jesus? Oh no, not me. I'll take an oath. I'll swear on a stack of Bibles. I'm not a follower of Jesus. How could this man who had that revelation saying you are the Christ, the son of the living God, the rock, how could he do that?

Friend, some of us today may have drifted and allowed things to come into our life that we're not as close. We're not following as near as we should be. We don't have that joy and that peace and that wonderful comforting relationship that we once had. Why am I telling you this? Because God wants you back. He wants to give you that relationship. He wants to impart that peace and that joy to you. There was a woman that came through the crowd one day. She had had a hemorrhage for 12 years and no doctor was able to help her.

And as Jesus was walking along, she pressed through the crowd and she got so close that she touched the border of his garment. And when she did, power went out of him into her. And Jesus turned around and he said, who touched me like that? Friend, you can touch God and receive that power of peace, that power of joy, that power of a right relationship. She touched him and power went out. But notice what she did. She had to press in. She couldn't linger back hoping someday I'm going to get spiritual. Someday he's going to come my way.

Someday it's going to be different. Friend, today's the day of salvation. This is the someday. Jesus is passing by. Press in. Reach out. Get close. This is your day. We're going to come to this altar in just a few moments and we're going to press in. We're going to get out and we're going to come down here. And we're going to press in. We're going to think, here's the the Savior giving his all for me. Here is the Savior excelling in doing the will of the father, so much so that God says this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

I want to excel. I don't want to be a mediocre. I want peace. I want joy. I want a right relationship with God. Today I know where to get it. You know where to get it too. It's through Jesus. It is Jesus. Come and press in today. Be restored. And friend, if you are restored, only you know who's on the throne of your heart. Let him bless you. Let him caress you. Let him put his arms around you, be near to you, hold you close to his heart. It'll be a new day, a new day for you.

Guest (Male): Do you need Pastor Morris to pray with you about a struggle or decision you're wrestling with? The pray now app is available to you right now. Go to thehealingword.com. Click pray now and select the topic that matches your request. Pastor Morris will provide encouragement, pray with you, and deliver a brief message on overcoming and living in victory. Again, pray now at thehealingword.com.

Guest (Female): Join us tomorrow for another healing word message. Until then, blessings on you.