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by Deanna Kitchens (Photographer), Jimmy Kitchens (Author)
In today's Christianity, it seems people spend more time learning about Jesus versus learning from Jesus. Learning about Jesus creates a religious knowledge and a religious experience, but it leaves people wondering if church attendance, daily devotional book reading and singing religious songs brings results worth the time, energy, effort and expense. Some people receive legalistic lists of demands to follow the churches' rules in order to find acceptance in churches; other people receive instruction that we are sinners who can live any way we want and cannot change but, there is grace. Unfortunately, in both instances, people fail to find the quality of life they look for in churches, resulting in many people leaving their churches to try to enjoy life elsewhere.
However, learning and copying the life of Jesus creates life transformation into the way of living Jesus requires. Over 70 times, in one way or another, Jesus demands two things from all of His followers: know what He says, and practice everything He says. John 1:17 tells us Jesus brought grace and truth. After finding grace, we must first learn to live in the truth spoken by Jesus, not Moses, not David, not Isaiah, or anyone else. Jesus spent over three years teaching people the truths they must practice to experience the great life He created for them. These eternal truths will still work in your life today. As disciples today, our love for God should motivate us to know and obey the commands and teachings given by God through Jesus. His commands are very different than the legalistic rules people often receive in churches. Growing up in church, I am all too familiar with how church legalism helps people exchange the chains of sin and unrighteousness for chains of church guilt and shame through constant judgemental eyes of leaders and other people; Jesus sets us free of all of these chains! We all know we should follow what Jesus says, but many people struggle to know exactly what following looks like. In this study, you will explore over 100 commands taught by Jesus Christ for His disciples to know and obey. When we apply all of Jesus' commands to our lives, our lives transform into the image of Christ, and we really live the blessed life only Jesus provides.
