“Christianity does not begin with our pursuit of Christ, but with Christ’s pursuit of us. Christianity does not start with an invitation we offer to Jesus, but with an invitation Jesus offers to us.” – David Platt

Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. – Matthew 4:19

Last night my bible study group finished for the year. I have been in my group for 3 years and God has led us down many different ways to discover his word; however, I believe our group would agree that this time has been the most challenging yet. Our group read through Follow Me by David Platt. We did not do the videos or the bible study, but chose to simply read and dive into the book to see what God would reveal to us. It. Was. Incredible! We were stretched, broken, lifted, & questioned weekly. We wanted to hold ourselves to a high standard of accountability and honesty, and the Lord poured His grace and love over us as we read words that were sometimes tough to read. If you want to be challenged deeply, read this book. Read it with friends. See what the Lord can reveal to you day by day.

Just a few of my favorite passages: (spoiler alert!)

“Faith is the anti-work. It’s the realization that there is nothing you can do but trust in what has been done for you in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Faith is the realization that God’s pleasure in you will never be based upon your performance for him. Instead, God’s pleasure in you will always be based upon Christ’s performance for you.”

“When you come to Jesus, his Spirit fill yours spirit. His love becomes your love. His desires become your desires. His will becomes your will. His purpose becomes your purpose. His power becomes your power. The Christian life thus becomes nothing less than the outliving of the indwelling Christ.

“Forgiveness is God’s greatest gift because it meets our greatest need.”

“Jesus is worthy of far more than intellectual belief, and there is so much more to following him than monotonous spirituality. There is indescribable joy to be found, deep satisfaction to be felt, and an eternal purpose to be fulfilled in dying to ourselves and living for him…. For the few who choose to abandon themselves to the will of God and put their trust in the character of God, following Jesus wherever he leads, no matter the cost, is the only thing that makes sense.”

Jesus, we will follow you. Make us fishers of men.

xx

Hannah

p.s. Shout out to my bible study gals! Thankful for another fun, hilarious, challenging & truthful time together. Thank you for sharing life with me weekly. I am encouraged daily by the way y’all live, speak, & strive to know  the Lord more. Love you all! (Kisses & Cookies)