Tag: discipleship

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Bible Original

Tagging along? Or following?

Cross

Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-27)

Jesus’ words are very hard here, but I think he wanted to know, “Are you truly following me? Or are you just tagging along? Are you truly interested in joining my kingdom or not?”

That was one of the points of his parable earlier. People initially showed interest in a man’s banquet (symbolizing God’s Kingdom), but ultimately, they valued other things more. (16-20)

What’s the main difference between a disciple and one who simply tags along? Disciples love Jesus so much that they value him and his kingdom over everything else: their families, their possessions, even their very lives.

Jesus, of course, isn’t literally asking us to hate our families or to sell everything we have. But he is asking us, “What am I worth to you? Do I have top priority in your life?”

Jesus loved us so much that he gave up everything for us. Will we value him as much? Do we believe that if we do, that he is good, and we will ultimately find life, not lose it?

Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live.

–Isaac Watts, Chris Tomlin

Categories
Luke Devotionals

Following Jesus

Path of the cross

If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

I was thinking on Jesus’ words today. If I were to paraphrase them, I’d put them this way:

If you truly want to be my disciple (and all Christians are Jesus’ disciples):

  1. Stop living for self. Get rid of the “my life” attitude.
  2. Rather, live in daily surrender to the Father, offering your whole life to him, obeying him in everything. (Philippians 2:8)
  3. Walk with me moment to moment, day to day. Learn from me. And just as importantly, join in what I’m doing: inviting people to come under my Father’s good reign.

One word that really struck me in all this was “daily.” The Christian life isn’t a once a week thing. It’s daily.

And not only did Jesus call us to live as his disciple, so does the Father.

This is my Son, the Chosen One; listen to him! (Luke 9:35)

And so my prayer:

Lord Jesus, my good King, help me live as your disciple, daily following you.

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2 Thessalonians Devotionals

Be an example? Me?

Praying by the lake

For you yourselves know how you should imitate us…we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us. (2 Thessalonians 3:7, 9)

Those words really hit me this morning. Paul’s words are pretty bold: “You yourselves know how you should imitate us.”

Honestly, I don’t know if I feel that bold.

I see all my flaws. I see all the areas I still need to grow.

Why would people want to imitate me?

But God calls all of us to make disciples. Not just the pastors. Not just the church leaders. All of us. He calls all of us to make ourselves examples to the people in our lives so that they would imitate us.

And I suppose that means them not only seeing our strengths and imitating them, but seeing us working on our flaws as well.

And to see us moment to moment, day by day, walking in God’s grace, not under condemnation for our flaws, but with full confidence as children of God.

Father, I desire to be someone others want to imitate. In a lot of ways, I feel unworthy of that.

But as people watch me, let them see not only my admirable qualities that they want to imitate, let them also see the grace I walk in each day as I’m working on my flaws. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Matthew Devotionals

“Following” Jesus, or truly following Jesus?

Following Jesus

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

It’s not clear in the English, but the first “follow” and the second “follow” are two different words in the Greek. Both are often used in reference to discipleship.

The first “follow” literally has the idea of walking behind someone, going where they go.

The second “follow” has that idea, but includes the idea of responding to his voice and of learning from him as his disciple. (Matthew 4:20; John 10:4, 27)

Lots of people “followed” Jesus in that first sense. Some wanted healing. Some were interested in this new teaching he brought.

But few truly followed him in the second sense.

Even his disciples struggled with it at times. Jesus told them what was “necessary” for God’s plan to be accomplished.

At that point, Peter stopped following Jesus and instead tried to lead him in a different direction. In doing so, however, he actually became a hindrance to Jesus.

It made me think.

“Am I truly following Jesus? Or are there times when I’m trying to pull him in the direction I want to go?”

“Am I following Jesus’ agenda? Or am I trying to get him to follow mine?”

How about you? Are you “following” Jesus, going to church, maybe even reading your Bible and praying from time to time, but ultimately trying to get him to follow you and your plans?

Or are you truly following him, learning from him, and responding to his voice and leading, moment to moment, day to day?

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Matthew Devotionals

Disciple? Or just one of the crowd?

Sermon on the Mount

When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. (Matthew 5:1)

For some reason, I’ve always imagined that Jesus went up to the mountain to in order to preach to the crowd.

But actually, it seems he went to escape the crowds. Most times Jesus went up to the mountain, it was usually to pray.

If Matthew 5 and Luke 6 refer to the same event as some Bible scholars think, then that’s why he went this time too.

And after he finished praying, it wasn’t the crowd that came to him at first, though they would apparently come later (Matthew 7:28). It was his disciples.

The crowd had mostly come to Jesus for healing. (Matthew 4:24-25)

But the disciples came to learn from Jesus.

It made me think. “Why do I come to Jesus?”

Is it simply to get something from him? Help? Healing? Blessing?

Or is it to learn from him?

Am I just one of the crowd?

Or Jesus’ disciple?

I want to be a disciple, learning from my Lord.

I want to be like him. Pure in heart. Hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Gentle. A peacemaker. Light and salt to this world.

Not just having superficial righteousness, but true righteousness that comes from the heart.

Loving others as he does. Being perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect.

It made me think of a song I learned long ago, and it’s my prayer today.

Lord, I want to be your disciple,
an example, the way you were to me.

And as I see your humble perfection,
let me be a mirror of your heart.

I want to walk in the image of you,
like a child imitating what his Father would do.

A mirror of your heart. — Chris Christian

Categories
Matthew Devotionals

The joy of following Jesus 

Jesus and his disciples

“Follow me,” [Jesus] told them, “and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-22)

I wonder. How did Peter, Andrew, James, and John feel when Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people?”

Inadequate? Unqualified? Scared?

Perhaps. But somehow, I think they were mostly filled with overwhelming awe and joy.

“Me? Jesus would choose me?”

And so filled with awe and joy, they immediately dropped their nets, left their family business, and followed Jesus.

They weren’t thinking, “Follow Jesus? I’d have to give up so much!”

They were thinking, “I get to follow Jesus! I get to join in his work! This is awesome!”

Often times, though, when we think about following Jesus, about joining in with his work, we feel uneasy. “I’m inadequate. I’m unqualified.”

Or we feel burdened by the “have tos.”

I know I sometimes feel that way.

But Jesus deeply loves us. And knowing everything about us with all our weaknesses and failings, he still looks at us and says, “Follow me. Come. Join me in my work.”

That’s the joy of following Jesus. It’s an awesome privilege that he gives us.

Following Jesus and joining in his work isn’t about the burden of the “have tos.”

It’s the overwhelming joy of the “get tos.”

How about you? Do you know that joy?

Categories
2 John Devotionals

The mark of a true disciple

Holding a Bible

This is love: that we walk according to his commands…Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son (6, 9).

As you read John’s letters, you can see that he spent a lot of time reflecting on Jesus’ words because a lot of what John writes is based on Jesus’ words.

And what John writes in this letter reflects what Jesus taught about loving him and truly being his disciple. What did Jesus say?

If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:31-32).

The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him…If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him (John 14:21, 23).

What is the mark of a disciple of Jesus? What shows that we truly love him?

We trust him enough to obey him.

In doing so, we find freedom. But more importantly, our fellowship with God deepens. He reveals more of himself to us, and we understand more deeply his love and goodness toward us.

I can honestly say that I’ve tasted these things in my life, and I have found that God is good. And because of that, I want more of him.

How about you? As you have followed Jesus’ words, have you come to taste the love and goodness of God in your life?

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Romans Devotionals

I believe in you

Romans

My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points…

God’s purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:14-16)

How often do we say, “I believe in you” to our younger brothers and sisters in Christ?

How often do we tell them, “I believe that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct others…to bless others.”

Of course, sometimes do have to remind them boldly on some points. Sometimes we need to remind them of the basic truths of their faith (Romans 1-11).

Sometimes we need to remind them how God has called them to live (Romans 12-13).

Sometimes they’re messing up and we need to correct them. (Romans 14-15)

But do we ever look down on them thinking, “They haven’t arrived yet” (as if we have), or do we keep believing in them?

Do we keep believing the Holy Spirit is working in their lives, day by day making them into acceptable offerings to God?

Do we join in with the Spirit’s work in their lives?

That’s discipleship.

That’s what Jesus did for his disciples.

That’s what Paul did for the Romans.

And that’s what we’re called to do for our younger brothers and sisters in Christ.

Holy Spirit, help me join in your work to raise people up for God’s kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Philippians Devotionals

Kingdom people

PhilippiansHope

Recently, I’ve been thinking about discipleship and what it means. What kind of people are we trying to raise? When Jesus raised his disciples, what kind of people was he trying to raise?

The best words I could put to it was: kingdom people.

What are kingdom people?

They are people who see life through a whole new perspective, and as a result, have totally different priorities as well.

When you look at the Sermon on the Mount in particular, but also all the other things Jesus taught, you see that he was trying to completely change the way his disciples thought.

He taught them that the Kingdom of God was not for those the world considers spiritual supermen and superwomen.

It’s for those who lack any “qualifications” for being loved and accepted by God (Matthew 5:3).

It’s for those who struggle with pain in their life (Matthew 5:4).

It’s for people who struggle with sin and yet hunger for thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6).

It is those people that Jesus says are blessed.

And as we see God’s grace and mercy in their lives, we go out and show mercy to others (Matthew 5:7).

Jesus opens our eyes and says, “Look at the fields ripe for harvest! Look at all the broken people out there! Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into the harvest field.” (Matthew 9:36-38; John 4:35-38)

But as we pray that, he desires that we ourselves would say, “Here am I. Send me.”

And so Paul says, 2 Corinthians 5:14-16,

For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If one died for all, then all died.

And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way.

That’s the perspective of a kingdom person. They view Christ differently now. Because Jesus died for them, it sparks love in their hearts and a desire to live for him.

And with that love and desire, comes a new perspective on the people around them. They start seeing people as Jesus did.

That’s why Paul could say in this passage,

For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)

His desire was to please Jesus. And as long as Paul was on this earth, he wanted to touch others for Jesus, bringing them into his kingdom and seeing them grow as kingdom people. (Philippians 1:22-25).

And so Paul challenges us,

As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. (1:27)

In short, “Live as kingdom people.”

Take on Jesus’ perspective.

Take on his priorities.

I don’t know about you, but that’s what I pray for myself.

Because that’s the kind of person I want to be.

And that’s the kind of disciples I want to raise.

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Luke Luke 9 Matthew Matthew 8

To follow Christ

The gospels

What does it mean to follow Christ?

That’s what three people found out, as they either approached Jesus or were called by him to be his disciples.

A teacher of the law came up to him first, and said,

Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. (Matthew 8:19)

This is very interesting to me. Most of the teachers of the law opposed Jesus. But this one, despite the opposition of most of his peers, was nevertheless full of zeal to follow Jesus. Zeal is good.

But Jesus warned him,

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20)

In other words, “I’m not promising an easy life. Following me is not all fun and games. You’re going to be away from home a lot. You may never have a family of your own if you choose this life. Can you handle that?”

Jesus went to another man, and said, “Follow me.” The man replied,

Lord, first let me go and bury my father. (Luke 9:59)

What was the situation here? Most likely, the father wasn’t dead. I strongly doubt that Jesus had walked up to the funeral and said to the man, “Follow me.”

I suppose it’s possible that the father had a terminal illness. However, it’s also possible that his father was perfectly healthy, and the man simply wanted to wait until his father passed away, whenever that was, before he followed Jesus.

Perhaps his father was opposed to Jesus, and if he found out that his son was following Jesus, the man would be disowned.

But Jesus said,

Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:60)

In this case, I think Jesus is talking about the spiritually dead burying the spiritually dead.

I was reading a book about Japan, and it said that some Japanese don’t become Christians, because they don’t like the idea that their family will go to hell if they don’t believe in Jesus, and that there is no hope for those who have already passed away without Jesus.

But Jesus basically says that you can’t control that. Don’t let the spiritually dead determine your spiritual destiny. Either in terms of your salvation or in doing God’s work.

There may be other spiritually dead people who, if you would just go out and tell them about Jesus, would be saved.

But if you don’t go out because you’re afraid of what your family will say, not only will your family go to hell, but also those you never told.

One last man said to Jesus,

I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family. (Luke 9:61)

But Jesus replied,

No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong in saying good-bye to your family.

But perhaps Jesus knew there was a deeper problem within this man’s heart. That there was a tie to this man’s family that would hold him back from completely following Jesus.

And if we’re constantly looking back at something we left behind, even something as good as family, it can hinder us as we try to follow Jesus. Jesus wants our whole heart, not just a part.

We have no idea how these three men responded. Perhaps the gospel writers meant to do it that way so that you would have to think about your response.

Are you willing to follow Jesus though it may be hard?

Are you willing to follow Jesus though your family and those you love won’t?

And are you willing to leave behind all that would hinder you from following Jesus?

In short, how will you respond when Jesus says to you, “Follow me?”

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Luke Luke 9 Mark Mark 6 Matthew Matthew 10

Discipleship: The spiritual and the practical

The gospels

Happy Resurrection Sunday people west of Japan! 🙂 I hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine. I’m now back blogging after a short one-day break.

Anyway, as I look at how Jesus discipled his men, he versed them in both the spiritual and the practical.

For a long time, he versed them in the spiritual. He gave them the Sermon on the Mount and on the Plain. He gave them the parables and explained them. And he gave them many other teachings as well.

But now as he was sending them out into the ministry, he gave them practical instruction as well as spiritual.

Among the practical, he told them to go to the Jews, not the Gentiles or Samaritans. Why?

Because the gospel was for the Jews first, as Paul mentions in Romans. The time to preach to the others had not fully come yet, although Jesus did do some ministry to the non-Jews as well.

In addition, he told them what to bring and not to bring. (Matthew 10:9-10)

He gave them instructions on accommodations. (Matthew 10:11-13)

And what to do in face of rejection and persecution. (Matthew 10:14, 23)

He was also fiercely practical in warning them not to trust everyone, and that they needed to be shrewd in dealing with people, while maintaining their innocence. (Matthew 10:16-17)

Among the spiritual reminders were to trust in God to provide for them and protect them, and that God loved them more than the sparrows which God cares for daily. (Matthew 10:9-10; 29-31)

He also reminded them that they needed to love him above all else, and that they were to take up their cross daily and follow him. That if they would try to save their life they would lose it, but if they lost it for his sake, they would gain it. (Matthew 10:37-39)

So what am I trying to say?

When we disciple people to do ministry, we need to teach them both the spiritual and the practical.

We of course need to teach them the spiritual principles that apply not just to their ministry but to their lives. But we also need to teach them practically how to do ministry.

Jesus himself let his disciples watch how he did things and then after a while, after giving them further instructions, sent them out.

And when they came back, we see that they reported to Jesus all that they had done, at which point, I’m sure Jesus gave them feedback. That’s what we should do with people we disciple in ministry.

Now this is not to say that people we train are to do carbon copies of our ministry. But we do need to teach them the basics, and then once they have that foundation down, let them build their ministry as God leads them.

The problem with many people that disciple others in the ministry is that they do one kind of training but not the other.

They may give the person spiritual training but not the practical, and as a result the person falls on their face simply because they were not trained practically on what is needed to make a ministry run smoothly.

On the other hand, other people focus exclusively on the practical, only to find that the person they trained falls because of pride, sin, or many of the other spiritual pitfalls ministers encounter. As a result, the “smoothly running” ministry collapses.

Let us not make that mistake as we train others in ministry. Let us be sure to teach both the spiritual and the practical. And as we do, we will see God’s kingdom grow on earth as he uses them and us.

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John John 1

To be where Jesus is

John

I almost feel like I’ve been rushing through the gospel passages at times, so I want to slow it down a bit and take a closer look at this passage.

When John the Baptist’s disciples heard John tell them that Jesus was the one they should be following, they immediately left John to follow Jesus.

One wonders how hard it was for them to do that. No doubt they had built up some kind of bond with John during the time that they were with them.

But there was a limit to what John could do for them. Why? Because greatest of the prophets though he may have been, he was still merely a man, with all a man’s limitations.

If they wanted to take the next step in their relationship with God, they needed to become disciples of God himself. And that’s what Jesus was, God in flesh.

I wonder what it must have been like trying to approach Jesus. How do you just approach the person that John says is the Messiah that God promised to send all the way back in the Garden of Eden?

I would guess they were intimidated and unsure. Perhaps they were going back and forth between themselves saying,

“You talk to him.”

“No, you talk to him.”

Eventually Jesus noticed them, and he stopped and turned.

When he did, they probably came to a dead standstill. Would he reject them? They were, after all, nobodies. No special education. No special background. Why would Jesus accept them?

Perhaps it was in the midst of their awkward silence that Jesus asked,

What do you want? (John 1:38a)

And they replied,

“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” (38b)

It seems a strange question in our culture. We would probably say, “How do you do. I’m Andrew.”

But in their culture, it was essentially the question of a person asking to become a disciple. The idea was that they wanted to be where Jesus was, learning from him. Not just his teachings, but how he actually lived.

Not much has changed in 2000 years. If we are to be followers of Jesus, we need to have the same attitude as these disciples: the desire to be near our master.

How about you? Do you have that same desire? To sit at his feet in the morning, reading his Word, and talking and listening to him in prayer? And do you have the desire to walk with him throughout the day?

Too often, people spend time with Jesus in the morning, but after that essentially say, “Well, it was great talking to you. Gotta go.” And they leave Jesus behind in their thoughts and mind.

But we need to be taking Jesus wherever we go. To learn to listen to his voice throughout the day and follow his leading.

That’s what it means to be a true disciple.

I’d love to say that I’ve mastered this. I haven’t. I’m still learning what it means to walk with him every moment of every day.

Will you join me in that journey this year?

I love the (semi-)old worship song that says,

I just want to be where you are.
Dwelling daily in your presence.

I don’t want to worship from afar.
Draw me near to where you are.

I just want to be where you are.
In your dwelling place forever.

Take me to the place where you are.
I just want to be with you.