The simple way to understand the seemingly complicated and hard way of following Jesus Christ is to listen to His voice of wisdom. He alone can enlighten us through His words.

To follow Jesus is to follow His words for they are the expressed will of His Father, our Lord our God. The foundation of discipleship is Love; First, loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all mind. And the second is like it, loving your neighbor as yourself. These two motivational factors, loving our father and loving our fellowmen are important to remember when we decide to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no short cut to it. True obedience is from your heart, soul and mind. Total obedience is the fruit or end result of our sincere love for our Lord God. How can you follow Jesus when you don’t love Him at all? It is so sweet to follow the Lord if you love Him dearly.

 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.”

Matt 22:37-40

Jesus told to His disciples that if anyone desires to come after Him, he must do two things; First, let him deny himself, by letting the will of his Lord God over his own will. The will of God prevails over your own heart, soul and mind. You surrender your whole self under the will of your Lord God. To follow the teachings of Christ is the follow the will of your Lord God which is your Father in heaven. You must deny yourself when it calls for your total obedience to His words. Jesus prayed to His Father at one time that not His will but the will of His Father be done.

Secondly, if anyone desires to follow Him, he must take up his cross. The cross is a symbol of love for humanity, for our neighbor. There’s no greater love than laying down our lives for a friend or others. Our cross is suffering for the sake of others. It may cost our lives in carrying the cross for others including our enemies. Jesus took up His cross for us as an example of unsurpassed obedience to the will of His Father.

How to follow Jesus Christ? Well, follow His words, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him. We don’t see Christ but we can follow His footsteps through His Words. His words reside forever in Him.

 Then Jesus said to His disciples,

 ”If anyone desires to come after Me,

let him deny himself,

 and take up his cross,

and follow Me.

Matt 16:24-25

 Then He said to them all,

 ”If anyone desires to come after Me,

 let him deny himself,

and take up his cross daily,

and follow Me.

Luke 9:23-24

Therefore all things whatsoever

ye would that men should do to you,

do ye even so to them:

for this is the law and the prophets.

 Matthew 7:12

Jesus made a simple definition of “religion” or whatever you may wish to call it.Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is essence of the Law and the Prophets in the scriptures. So in everything, let us do to others, again DO more than just talking about it, what you would have people do to you.

The universal law of men calls for justice and fairness to all. What is bad for you is generally bad for others. Of course, there is an exception to this rule. We don’t need more laws. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all moral codes of the land. His teaching to love one another including your enemies cannot be surpassed by allegedly new divine revelations. He is our absolute moral compass. What is right to Him is right to all of us.

Any law should not complicate our lives. Your religion must be simple enough to follow; if you are inclined to have one. If you want to be loved, love others without any malicious intent. Practice your religion of love like Christ loving the sinners through life and death. Our world would be peaceful had we followed His words. Blessed are those who believed in Him and yet had seen Him in person.

In Christ, there is no discrimination and favoritism according to social or ethic distinction. So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for these sums up the Law and the Prophets. Let us treat people, rich or poor, men or women the same way and more so, we want them to treat us. The Way is narrow and goes one way. The road has been mapped out through the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words

in this adulterous and sinful generation,

the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when

he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Mark8:3

Simple definitions of being ashamed

1. Feeling shame or guilt: Are you ashamed for having lied?

2. Feeling inferior, inadequate, or embarrassed: ashamed of my torn coat.

3. Reluctant through fear of humiliation or shame: ashamed to ask for help.

We are not ashamed to stand by His words alone. It is shame to know more about the prayer of Jabez, the dance of David, the songs of Solomon or the teachings of Paul than the words of Christ. We feel sorry if you think the words of Christ are inadequate revelation of God.

Christ has spoken the immortal words of His Father known as the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The four writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John recorded the oral gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ known as the Four Gospels.

The Four Gospels were included in the 17 books of the New Testament. They were incorporated in the New Testament by the church scholars of the early Christian Church.

The New Testament is a part of the Bible. The Old Testament is also part of the Bible and the Apocryphal books were also considered part of the Bible by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Bible is the word of God and sacred to many Christian denominations. They believe that the Bible does not only contain the word of God but is the word of God. All the words therein are holy and from God, therefore it demands strict obedience to its teachings.

The theory of all or nothing is a tradition imposed to the total adherence of the teachings of the Bible. All that is written in the Bible must be followed since it is the Holy Book of God. Exceptions are not permitted; one omission would question the veracity of the whole contents.

WOJC believes on the oral gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

No one can prove any written book is the sacred word of God including the Bible. We just believe it is holy and binding word of God. If you believe the Bible as the word of God, by no means follow all that is written in there. The Muslims believe that the Koran is the message of Allah to them so they obey it unconditionally.

WOJC masters the teachings of Christ and follow them carefully for we love our Father God and our neighbors. We don’t need volumes of books to obey and live for the Supreme Being. Trust and obey for there is no other way. We are not ashamed of Him and His Words.

(Wednesday, 14 February 2007)

“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

If anyone wills to do His will,

he shall know concerning the doctrine,

whether it is from God or

whether I speak on My own authority.

 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory;

but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true,

and no unrighteousness is in Him.

John 7:16-19

Doctrine (Latin: doctrina) means “a code of beliefs”, “a body of teachings” or “instructions”, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. The Greek analogy is the etymology of catechism.

Jesus spoke of His doctrine or sets of teachings. I copied and pasted above a definition of doctrine from Wikipedia. The doctrine of Jesus is not His own. It came from His Father who sent Him to manifest His Will. We’ve got to know the doctrine of Jesus that was expounded clearly to His disciples. We must distinguish His doctrine from the apostolic doctrines. It is important to segregate Christ’s teachings from the teachings of any religious denominations. The doctrine is the test for originality and acceptability. No man on earth can modify the doctrine of Christ. It is the rock and solid foundation of our faith.

If anybody wants to know the will of our Father in heaven, he must know the pure and unadulterated doctrine of Christ. Anybody who speaks of a teaching different from the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ speaks from himself and for his own glory. His or her teachings are not of the Truth. The only true doctrine is the one promulgated by the Lord. Is your doctrinal belief according to the doctrine of Christ? If not, you are considered a heretic and an apostate from the true teachings of Christ. Sorry for the strong assertions.

There are readers who think that WOJC is introducing a new doctrine. We do not teach a new or weird doctrine. The doctrine of Jesus Christ is our doctrine and we cannot depart from it. We don’t seek our own glory. As people would notice, we only lift up one Master and Lord— the Christ. How would we know if a religion is true or not? We can know it by knowing their doctrine or teaching. If a doctrine is cooked by a council of men and not according to His words, then it is time to post the red flag of warning.

(Sunday, 06 May 2007)

   1.    I WILL MAKE YOU “Fishers of Men”

Matt4:19

 And he saith unto them,

Follow me,

and I will make you fishers of men.

Only Jesus can make us “fishers of men” if we follow Him and His words; no man can do this if we analyze what He meant by it. There is no way we can catch a person to believe in Christ. It doesn’t mean that He will give us the hook, line and sinker with attractive bait to lure people to salvation and thus become “fishers of men”.

Besides He doesn’t want us to treat people like fish. We should not worry about converting people to Christ. The main task of the Holy Spirit of God is to draw men to Him. He doesn’t need us to be poor “baits” for church membership. The Holy Spirit convicts a person to change his or her ways whenever He wants to make a supernatural conversion. Religious enterprises have perfected the art of recycling old church members. The disgruntled church members are being converted to embrace another church environment.

How to have a real spiritual encounter is a personal thing. It is between you and your God. No quarterbacking is allowed. You must decide for yourself with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord knows exactly the mental and spiritual condition of every man and woman. Jesus can see where they are and to find them without unnecessary tedious seminary work.  Jesus knows where the fish are as it was illustrated in the John 21:4-6. The disciples caught a large number of fish because they follow the advice of their Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore,

 but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

 He called out to them,

“Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

 “No,” they answered.

 He said, “Throw your net on the right side

 of the boat and you will find some.”

 When they did, they were unable to haul

the net in because of the large number of fish.

2. I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH

Matt 16:18-20

And I tell you that you are Peter,

and on this rock

I will build my church,

and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

 Only Jesus can build His own Church. He never asked us to build a Church for Him. There are things He allows us to build but not the Church. The Apostles established the New Testament churches.They were the fruit of their missionary work. The Church that Christ will build is not necessarily the Apostolic Church that was full with imperfections. You can read the Book of Acts to see what I mean. We need to put a clear distinction between the Apostolic Church and the futuristic Church of Christ which many would call it the “Invisible Church”. The mark of the true church is the total obedience to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church that Christ is building is still in progress. If anyone who wishes to build a church, he can do it at his own risk. You cannot support church building program without a direct mandate from the Lord. Nowhere in the gospel, He instructed the disciples to build His Church. You may succeed building an edifice and call it a church but that is not even a part of the Church He is building.

3.      PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU

 And if I go and prepare a place for you,

I will come again, and receive you unto myself;

that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 14:3

Only Jesus can go and prepare a place for us. The place is unknown to us until He comes again and receives us unto Himself. If He calls us before that time of His coming, then we shall be with Him in Paradise . There is a prepared place for each and every one of us who follow His words. No one is delegated to do this task of preparing a place for us in Paradise. No religious leader can do this for you.

                                       4.  I WILL SEND THE COMFORTER.

 But when the Comforter is come,

whom I will send unto you from the Father,

even the Spirit of truth,

which proceeds from the Father,

he shall testify of me.

John 15:26

Only Jesus can promise and send the Comforter to His followers. He will send the Holy Spirit from the Father as He promised to His disciples. Jesus performed many miracles because of the divine anointing. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to unable Him to perform miracles.The Holy Spirit will help us to testify about the Lord.

We will do greater things than the miracles of Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. Now the greater things are limited to miracles and that doesn’t include the making of the “fishers of Men”, the Building of Christ’s Church, the Preparing a Place and the sending and anointing of the Holy Spirit. No servant is greater than his Master.

 John 14:11-14

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;

or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me

 will do what I have been doing.

 He will do even greater things than these,

because I am going to the Father.

 And I will do whatever you ask in my name,

 so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

 You may ask me for anything in my name,

and I will do it.

 John 15:20-22

Remember the words I spoke to you:

 ‘No servant is greater than his master.’

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

 If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

 They will treat you this way because of my name,

for they do not know the One who sent me.

Jesus presented Himself as somebody we should know and accept as the right able person when He started saying “I am.” It was what Jesus knew about Himself, from His own mouth came an admission that He is what He says and thinks. It was not something from the minds of other people. These “I am’s” should be taken more seriously than the inspiring words of the prophets and apostles because they originated from the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God.

Here are His verbal proclamation of “I am’s” in the gospel.

1.  “I am the Alpha and Omega.”

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the First and the Last,

the Beginning and the End.

Rev 22:13

 2.  “I am the Light of the World.”

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,

“I am the light of the world.

He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness,

but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

 3.  “I am the Bread of Life.”

And Jesus said to them,

 ”I am the bread of life.

He who comes to Me shall never hunger,

and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

John 6:35

 ”Most assuredly, I say to you,

he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

“I am the bread of life.”

John 6:47-48

 ”I am the living bread which came down from heaven.”

John 6:5

 4. “I am the Door.”

Then Jesus said to them again,

“Most assuredly, I say to you,

I am the door of the sheep.

“All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers,

but the sheep did not hear them.

“I am the door.

 If anyone enters by Me,

he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:7-10

5.  “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Jesus said to him,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6

 6.  “I am the Good Shepherd.”

“I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

John 10:11

 7.  “I am the True Vine.”

“I am the true vine,

and My Father is the vinedresser.

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;

and every branch that bears fruit He prunes,

that it may bear more fruit.

“You are already clean because of the word

which I have spoken to you.”

John 15:1-3

 “I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;

for without Me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

 8. “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

“I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

John 11:25

He is establishing a relationship with those who listen to His voice, uttering these powerful words of self disclosure. This proclamation of truth is uncontested. He is either what he says to you or consider Him as an impostor and a liar. The “I am” is face to face with who you are, in your strength and weaknesses.

Keep these “I am’s” in your heart. These are His assuring words to you. He won’t lie to you. His credibility is at stake. Your doubts would not change the truth about Him. There are not many self disclosures of Christ that are known to men. Meditate upon them and they would come alive in your spirit because His presence are in those words of “I AM’s”

(Tuesday, 07 June 2005)

1. Love the Lord your God- Matthew 22:37
2.  Love your Neighbor as Yourself – Matthew 22:39
3.  Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand—Matthew 4:17
4. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men—Matthew 4:19
5. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad—Matthew 5:12
6. Let Your Light Shine before men—Matthew 5:16
7. Do Not be Angry with your brother—Matthew 5:22
8. Be Reconciled to your brother—Matthew 5:24–25
9. Do Not Commit Adultery—Matthew 5:29–30
10.  Have a Word of Honor—Matthew 5:37
11. Go the Second Mile—Matthew 5:38–42
12. Love Your Enemies—Matthew 5:44
13. Be Perfect like your Father in heaven—Matthew 5:48
14. Practice True Humility—Matthew 6:1–18
15. Lay Up  For Yourselves Treasures in Heaven—Matthew 6:19–21
16. Take  No  Thought for your Life – Matthew 6:25
17.  Cannot Serve Two Masters - Matthew 6:24
18. Seek  First the  Kingdom of God—Matthew 6:33
19. Judge Not—Matthew 7:1
20. Do Not Waste your God Given Gift—Matthew 7:6
21. Ask, Seek, and Knock—Matthew 7:7–8
22. The Golden Rule—Matthew7:12
23. Choose Narrow Way—Matthew 7:13–14
24. Beware of False Prophets—Matthew 7:15
25. Pray For Laborers—Matthew 9:38
26. Be Wise as Serpents and harmless as doves—Matthew 10:16
27. Do Not Fear  the Unknown—Matthew 10:26
28. Take My Yoke upon you and Learn of Me—Matthew11:29
29. Honor Your Parents—Matthew 15:4
30. Beware of Hypocrisy—Matthew 16:6
31. Deny Yourself and Take Up your Cross and Follow Me.—Luke 9:23
32. Give to the Poor and Needy – Luke 18:22
33. Treat Good and Despise Not the Little Ones—Matthew 18:10
34. Beware of Covetousness—Luke 12:15
35. Forgive those who Sin against You—Matthew 18:21–22
36. Honor your Marriage Vow—Matthew 19:6
37. Be a Servant of All—Matthew 20:26–28
38. Ask in Faith—Matthew 21:21–22
39. Be Humble and not be overcome with Pride - Luke 14:11
40. Give your dues to the government – Matthew 22:21
41. Love One Another – John 13:34
42. Await for My Return—Matthew 24:42–44
43. Take, Eat, and Drink in remembrance of me—Matthew 26:26–27
44. Be Born Again—John 3:7
45. Keep My Commandments—John 14:15
46. Watch and Pray—Matthew 26:41
47.  Feed My Sheep—John 21:15–16
48. Receive God’s Power—Luke 24:49
49.  Be My Witness – Acts 1:7
50. Make Disciples and teach My Words—Matthew 28:20

 (THE SUPPORTING WORDS ARE FROM THE SAYINGS OF CHRIST)

1. Labor for food that perishes.

John 6:27

“Do not labor for the food which perishes,

but for the food which endures to everlasting life,

which the Son of Man will give you,

because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

2. Procrastinate.

John 4:35

“Do you not say,

‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest”

? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields,

for they are already white for harvest!

3. Store up material things.

Matt6:19

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,

where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;

4. Worry about our life.

Matt 6:25-28
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life,

 what you will eat or what you will drink;

nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

“Look at the birds of the air,

for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns;

 yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?

“Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:

they neither toil nor spin.

5. Give what is holy to the “dogs”.

Matt 7:6

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs;

nor cast your pearls before swine,

lest they trample them under their feet,

and turn and tear you in pieces.

6. Swear.

Matt5:34

“But I say to you, do not swear at all:

 neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

7. Judge our neighbor.

Matt 7:1-2
“Judge not, that you be not judged.

“For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;

 and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

8.   Despise a little child.

Matt 18:10
“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones,

for I say to you that in heaven their angels

always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

9.   Show off our goodness to others.

Matt 6:1-6

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men,

 to be seen by them.

Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“Therefore, when you do a charitable deed,

do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do

 in the synagogues and in the streets,

that they may have glory from men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

“But when you do a charitable deed,

do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

“that your charitable deed may be in secret;

and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.

For they love to pray standing in the synagogues

and on the corners of the streets,

that they may be seen by men.

Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room,

and when you have shut your door,

pray to your Father who is in the secret place;

and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

10. Be afraid of things that kill your body.

Luke 12:4

“And I say to you, My friends,

do not be afraid of those who kill the body,

and after that have no more that they can do.

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.  (John 21:25)

John wrote that there were many other things that Jesus did (not words He said) during the course of His ministry, which if they were written one by one, John supposedly believe  that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

 It is clear everything Jesus wanted to say, had been said and had been given to us as a complete message from our Father. His words were full divine disclosures; nothing is to be added or subtracted from them. No further revelation to complete His message is needed.

Every believer is faithful to His spoken words that is recorded in the Gospel. Don’t speculate a theory on the things that were not said. Don’t formulate a doctrine based on hearsay that was not verbally delivered by Jesus to His followers. We should focus on what He clearly said in the gospel. We are not supposed to major on the non-existent speculative teachings of the Lord.

The religious establishments are guilty of deviating from the clear message of Jesus Christ. They based their belief on denominational creed and not necessarily on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the New Testament. The Bible includes the words and life of Jesus Christ in the collections of sacred manuscript. It clearly contains the Logos of God, the real living word of God. It won’t be wrong then to assert that the Bible contains the Word of God which is Jesus Christ Himself and His Words.

The great commission of the Lord is to teach to do all things He had commanded to His followers. (Matt. 28:20) We’ve got to filter every human doctrine through the clear teachings of Christ, isolating the pure words from the adulterated teachings of the church. Our priority is to obey Him first and not the man-made doctrines taken from Bible.We will be judged by the Word He had spoken.

And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him;

for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 

 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words,

 has that which judges him —

the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 

 For I have not spoken on My own authority;

but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command,

what I should say and what I should speak. 

 And I know that His command is everlasting life.

Therefore, whatever I speak,

just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” 

John 12:47-50

For I have not spoken of myself;

 but the Father which sent me,

he gave me a commandment,

what I should say, and what I should speak.

 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting:

whatsoever I speak therefore,

even as the Father said unto me,

so I speak.

John 12:49-50

A commandment is a formal statement of a command or injunction to do something by someone you love dearly. The commandment is a voice of love and deep concern.

Our Father gave Jesus Christ a commandment to what He should say and what He should speak. Christ didn’t open His mouth for nothing. He spoke exactly what our Father wanted Him to speak. The commandment of our Father is life everlasting and cannot be duplicated nor ignored. This divine and sacred commandment was given to Jesus Christ alone to impart to us and live by it.

We are sure that the words of Jesus Christ are the teachings of our Father in heaven. The Ten Commandments were given to Moses for the Israelites to follow and obey religiously.

A new commandment I give unto you,

That ye love one another;

as I have loved you,

that ye also love one another.

 By this shall all men know

 that ye are my disciples,

if ye have love one to another.

John 13:34-35

A new commandment was given by Jesus Christ to His followers. This new commandment is vitally important in our everlasting living and existence. The command is we love one another as He has loved us. The quality of love Christ gave us is the same quality of love we should give to others. Without love, a church or mosque is like a prison cell under a totalitarian regime. Do we love another or do we hate each other? This commandment can never be old and must not be changed for the perpetuation of the religious establishments.

                                     These things have I spoken unto you,

that my joy might remain in you,

and that your joy might be full.

 This is my commandment,

That ye love one another,

as I have loved you.

John 15:11-12

 The joy of the Lord is for us to love one another. He had spoken His new commandment that His joy may remain in us. Our joy will be full as we love another. Our world needs this commandment to survive. We don’t need to hate each other in churches, councils and the congress to solve our problems.

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:21

He that hath my commandments,

and keeps them,

he it is that loves me:

and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father,

and I will love him,

and will manifest myself to him.

John 14:15

 It is not hard to follow Christ’s new command if we truly love Him. Love Him first, and then we can love our neighbor including our personal enemy if we have one. The foundation of loving others is our love for Jesus Christ. Our lack of love for Christ is why we hate our neighbors. Christ is confessing His love for us as we follow His commandments.

If ye keep my commandments,

ye shall abide in my love;

 even as I have kept my Father’s commandments,

and abide in his love.

John 15:10

Finally, Christ wants us to keep His commandments, even as He kept the commandments of His Father. If we abide in His words, we also abide in His love. How do we know He loves us? It is our verbal agreement with Him, that if we follow His commandment, He is committed in loving us. This is a special love for those who love Him according to what He said above.