Choosing to Follow God: How to Follow God

This Sunday, Pipeline.Church had the pleasure of hearing from Pastor Chuck Atherton. He shared with Pipeline.Church the story of Moses and showed us how we too can choose to follow God no matter who we are or how difficult it may feel.

Before reading this post, I encourage you to stop right now and read the story of Moses in your own Bible (Exodus chapters 1-14). You can also click here to read it.

Now, here is a run down of what he shared!

Moses was the greatest leader that not only Israel, but the entire world has ever known, and that's a fact.

He was God's agent of salvation. He was a divinely called leader. His story leads us to the ultimate redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased, redeemed, bought back people, by His own death on the cross of Calvary. Over in John 1:17, the word tells us that the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Aren't you glad?

Listen, if Moses went forward, he was going to drown. If he went backward, he'd be killed by the Egyptians.

Such a choice, so what did he do?

 He followed God's leading. He went forward through the Red Sea on dry ground to safety on the other side. Like Moses, we're all trapped many times between a rock and a hard place.

The devil's nipping at our heels and troubles stirring all of us in our face from time to time, or am I the only one in the house that ever faces those things? I don't think so.

What do we do, if we're wise like Moses, we'll follow God's lead through the trouble and find safety on the other side.

Many times, throughout Moses' life he had to make hard choices to continue to follow God through difficult situations and circumstances.

How would you like to tell the king, the Pharaoh to his face that his stubbornness was going to cause the death of his own son?

How would you like to deal with 2 million people grumbling and ungrateful every single day?

How would you like to wander around aimlessly in the desert heat for 40 years, eating the same food every day, wearing the same clothes and the same shoes every day?

Moses' choice was to go forward and to follow God, not to back up, but to go forward and to follow God in his life.

He made that choice new every single morning.

Dear ones, you and I as Christ followers, as Christians, have to make that same choice every single day because the world and the things that are going on around us would pull us away from following after the Lord.

How do we do that?

The answer is to be safely and selflessly dedicated to God as was Moses. He saved us and He'll provide the ground that we need, dry ground in the midst of our storm. He will provide for us and it changed Moses' life. Dear ones, it will certainly change your life and mine.

Can you agree with that?

Here is an incredible story that's often overlooked in the life of Moses.

God instructed Moses to take his rod because the people were thirsty and to speak to this huge rock that was in front of them, speak to it and it will yield water.

Instead, Moses struck the rock twice with his rod and water came out. This was a case of outright disobedience to God, and it cost Moses his ability to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. See, Moses had finally had it with these grumbling and complaining people, and so he was ticked off and he let them have it, and Word tells us here in that passage. He says, "Hear you now, rebels." He said, "Must I bring water out of this rock?"

It didn't focus on God at all, but it focused on Moses. He said, "speak to the rock." Instead, Moses spoke to the people. Then he struck the rock twice with the rod. God allowed it, and He got the water for the people because I think He was more concerned about the people than He was at Moses at that point, but it brought no glory or honor to God, and the focus was on him.

I want you to know, loved ones, disobedience always has consequences. When you know what the word of God says about something and you deliberately disobey it, it will always bring a consequence for that. You can count on it.

I've counseled with people numerous times and explain the word to them and show them where they need to go and what they need to do, and, well, "I can't do that. I don't want to do that. I'm not about doing that." I've had them sometimes stomp out of my office.

Guess what?

They paid a tremendous price for that. Things cratered on them, caved in, lost their families, lost their mates. They lost out on so many things, not because of what I said, but what this Bible said. Disobedience to the word of God will always bring consequence into our lives.

Moses spent the first 40 years of his life thinking he was somebody in Egypt. Then he spent 40 years learning he was a nobody on the backside of the desert. Then he spent 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody. That's his life summed up in a sentence.

All of us have a story to tell as well. How has the Lord helped create your story, and how has his story empowered you in your life and family?

Listen, men and women, if we desire to have the faith that's been expressed by Moses, the faith that enables you to forfeit the security of this world and to take on the security that God has for us, we must develop a deep-seated quiet confidence in Him who works all things after the counsel of His will. Fortunately, that's easier than it sounds because God does all things right.

Moses discovered that by long experience, and so can you and I.

Have you cashed in all for a genuine relationship with a living God who loves you and cares about you more than I have words to describe?

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. Why? He's crazy about you. He really is.

I urge you to surrender your life and your future into the hands of a loving and caring heavenly Father. You'll be amazed what He'll be able to do for you and how He will use you.