Fundamentals For Following

By Larry Royster

Are you a follower or a leader? The answer is both if your desire is to truly serve Jesus. Every Christian is by definition a follower of Jesus and every Christian's calling is to lead others to Him. If we are to fulfill our calling, we must prepare ourselves to show Jesus to the world. As you begin to practice the "fundamentals" found here you will be on the way to growing closer to Jesus day by day and living a life filled with awesome new relationships built on faith, hope and most importantly-love!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644714003

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Fundamentals for F

ollowing

Larry V. Royster

ISBN 978-1-64471-399-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64471-400-3 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Larry V. Royster

All rights reserved

First Edition

All scripture quotations are in italics. The source for all scripture is the New International Version ® NIV ® Copyright © 1973,1978,1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Start at the Beginning

Learn to Walk

Know Your Enemy

Eat Spiritual Food

Talk to Daddy

Live Out Love

Be a Jonathan

Turn the Key

Lead a Believable Life

Doubt Your Doubts

Examine Without Condemning

Finish Strong

God’s Promise Scriptures

About the Author

Acknowledgments

There are many people who have helped to shape me into who I am in Jesus. I want to take a moment to acknowledge and also to thank those who have been the most influential in my walk with Him.

First is the love of my life, my wife Debbie. She has been at my side for over nineteen years now. Debbie did more than anyone else besides my mom to bring this wandering soul back home to Jesus. She has experienced every facet of my being, and I’m sure that has not always been an enjoyable experience for her. If I had to use just two words to describe her they would be loyal and patient. Our life together testifies that our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of second chances.

Family—I have been blessed to have had the have the best parents period. As Mom and Dad raised me, they always pulled on the same end of the rope. There was no divide and conquer at my house. My parents worked together as a team to raise their three children, teaching us the value of hard work and honesty. I’m also blessed to have two great sisters who put up with a lot from their baby brother growing up.

My best friend, Jerry Holbrook —Without a doubt our friendship is an answered prayer for me. Jerry and I have ministered together, had many deep spiritual discussions and shared lots of laughter.

Life Group leader Steve Barber —Steve was my first Life Group leader, and it was through his friendship, unique personality and teaching that a desire sparked in me to lead a small group and teach the Word of God.

Pastor Mark McKinney —No one has helped me to understand the Word of God as much as Pastor Mark has.

Pastor Kevin Fraley —A valued source of biblical wisdom, leadership and friendship; Kevin’s dedication to his church and community has been an inspiration to me and many others.

Pastor Jason Lykins —A light on my path during a time of wandering and to this day a vital voice of God’s Word in my life.

Pastor John Faulkner —John’s teaching during his short time at my church as an intern helped me to begin leading a believable life.

Podcast and radio ministry teachers—When I am alone I often listen to Greg Laurie or Jack Graham. I have learned so much by tuning into these great teachers. Even though I have never personally met these godly men, they have been a big influence in my spiritual growth. I would highly recommend their teaching to anyone wanting to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus.

And also all my Life Group, Breakfast Club and Men’s Lunch friends past and present. Each of these godly people helped me grow in the faith thru fellowship, friendship, and a shared passion for God’s Word.

Thank you all! This book is because of and for each of you! May God bless you all!

Larry~

Introduction

God put this book on my heart. And even after working to complete it for nearly two years, I still don’t completely understand why God prompted me to write it. But I do know this: The thought of writing this book would not leave my mind.

I have absolutely nothing in my background that would show that I have any literary skills. My education consists only of a high-school diploma. In fact, I have never attended even one day of college. So, writing this book is way, way outside of my comfort zone. I guess this grants me some insight to the saying God doesn’t always call the qualified, but He always qualifies the called.

God not only put this book on my heart, but He also named it Fundamentals for Following. So why this title, and what’s His purpose for this book?

I believe that in anything you do, be it sports, your career, or any other activity, if you don’t first understand, then put into practice the most basic principles of it, you will fall short of your God given potential. One of our main goals as followers of Jesus should be to show others the way back to their Creator. Realizing this, and then acting on it, is of the greatest importance for any Christian.

That’s one reason that the fundamentals of our faith are so important. We will not be very successful in pointing others to Jesus if we don’t have a clear understanding of who He is, how to begin a relationship with Him, and how to apply the fundamentals that are necessary to closely follow Him.

A basic fundamental of construction is that the foundation is the most important part of any well-built structure. It’s the same with our Christian faith: If it is to flourish and influence others, it must be built on rock, not sand. This is the very first step in our Christian walk: Find the Rock (Jesus) and start building on Him. So here’s the purpose of the book:

To help you walk with Jesus before you try to run your race for Him.

To help you build the foundation of your faith on the Bible.

To help you be well prepared to share the Good News about Jesus with a lost world.

To prepare you to achieve these three goals, this book is meant to be a very simple blueprint to guide you in the construction of your spiritual house. My hope is that this book is a useful resource for any Christian (or for Christians to be) who are ready to plant their feet firmly on the Solid Rock that is Jesus Christ. And because we make our stand on Jesus, the Devil will become less effective in his many schemes to discourage us. As we take up this position of strength, we will become more and successful in reaching others for our Lord.

John Wooden was one of the greatest college basketball coaches ever. He won ten national championships in a twelve-year period (including seven in a row) during his twenty-seven years as the men’s basketball coach at UCLA. At one point, his team amazingly won eighty-eight games in a row over the course of four seasons. Coach Wooden really believed in fundamentals. It is said that he began each new season with a meticulous presentation for his players on how to put on their socks and shoes. Seriously. That seems a little strange, but it does make a lot of sense. Think about it: If you don’t know how to put on your socks and shoes properly, you certainly won’t be able to grasp what it takes to be a champion in basketball. It’s the same for Christians; all too often we want to skip over the fundamentals of our faith such as prayer and Bible study and try to live our spiritual life without drawing closer to Jesus and other Christians day by day. Let’s face it: Fundamentals are not very glamorous or flashy, but they are vital fuel as you run your race on the road to eternity.

So let’s put our socks on, lace up our sneakers, and get ready to dive on the floor after every loose soul in the name of Jesus. He has already given us the victory on the cross, so all that is left for us to do is to give our very best effort to follow Him as closely as possible until the final second ticks off the clock of our earthly life.

Let’s tip this thing off!

This book is dedicated to Mom.

Without her, I would not have been born either time.

Fundamental 1

Start at the Beginning

In the beginning…the first three words in the Bible. The first book of the Bible is named Genesis because the word Genesis can be simply defined as origin or beginning. Everything and everybody in existence now, or that has ever existed had a beginning. In Genesis Chapter One we learn that at the very beginning of time God created everything, and mysteriously His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ was right there with Him.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness… Genesis 1:26

Your Genesis

Think of your personal beginning inside your mother’s womb as the starting point on a journey that never ends. This is a simple, yet all important truth: Everyone one of us had our first beginning in our mother’s womb. That’s where we began our life, both physically and spiritually. From our beginning in the womb, we were a new, one-of-a-kind, one-hundred-percent original creation with a soul made to last forever. Israel’s greatest hero, King David, described it perfectly in just one sentence:

For you created my inmost

being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13

It’s clear that David is teaching us that God, our Creator, begins His relationship with each of us as He forms us in the womb. This is where our earthly life starts, and this is also where we receive our eternal soul. But even before He began to knit us together