Category Archives: Discipleship

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Are You Complacent or A Zealous Jesus Disciple?

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Are You A Zealous Disciple of the Lord Jesus? If Not You Can Be.

How does a zealous disciple of Jesus behave? John Wesley was denied the privilege of preaching from the pulpit in the church; but with true evangelistic fervor took his father’s tomb for a pulpit and preached to the people the great truths of full salvation. Whitefield loved field preaching. Returning from a tour he lighted a candle and went upstairs to retire, weary after the journey; but the people gathered in front of the house and filled the street; and there on the stairway with a lighted candle in his hand, he preached his last message, retired and was no more; for God took him. John Knox, who cried out in his earnestness, “Give me Scotland or I die,” carried with him this zeal to the close of his ministry. Often he would be supported by attendants in order to reach the pulpit; but when he arose to speak the divine passion so filled his soul that one of his friends said: “So mighty was he in his yearning that I thought he would break the pulpit into bits.”1 How is your zeal for the things of God. On a scale of one to ten, where would you rank yourself? Here are some Bible verses to help stir your heart to full white zeal for the Lord.

[Tweet “People do not want to just see you hand out salvation tracts, they want to see your tracks!”]

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Family versus Discipleship, Do You Have These Right?

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Family Versus Discipleship: Do You Have It Right?

The family is such an important blessing from the hands of the God to the inhabitants of planet earth. We get to have a family in heaven and also experience family in the earth. Family is a bid deal. But, like all other blessings, there’s order and balance. We can allow any blessing from heaven to become bigger in our lives than the Blesser who bestowed it. That’s the danger. A Jesus follower has this issue to walk out. To enjoy the blessing of God all the while keeping God first in his heart and life. It’s a challenge for any disciple of Jesus. How are you doing in this all-important area?

[Tweet “Jesus, Abraham, Elisha, & the Apostles all fielded the family or God first question. What about you?”]

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Focused Cross Carrying Disciple of Jesus Is That You?

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Are You a Cross Carrying Disciple of Jesus?

It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple; to be a camp follower without being a soldier of the king; to be a hanger-on in some great work without pulling one’s weight. Once someone was talking to a great scholar about a younger man. He said, “So and so tells me that he was one of your students.” The teacher answered devastatingly, “He may have attended my lectures, but he was not one of my students.” There is a world of difference between attending lectures and being a student. It is one of the supreme handicaps of the Church that in the Church there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples.1 What kind of disciple are you?

[Tweet “Isn’t it telling, that there are believers going to ‘war’ in Jesus Name while others are just sitting around?”]

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How to Turn the World Upside Down

An Amusing Look

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Hpw to Turn the World Upside Down

It takes a certain kind of Christian to turn the world upside down. It takes a bonafide cross-carrying disciple. Are you that kind of believer?  While thinking about this subject for this week’s blog post, I ran into this rather cool illustration of the Apostle Paul. This amusing piece was so long, I decided to make it the entire blog for this week.

[Tweet “Those who’ve turn the world upside down have vision in their hearts and a Bible in their hands.”]

For more of this subject see the following: Looking for A Few Good Disciples, Can You Help?
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More of Why God Desires You to Live A Committed Life

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A certain dog had always boasted of his ability as a runner. Then one day a rabbit that he was chasing got away. This brought a lot of ridicule from the other dogs because of his previous boasting. His explanation: “You must remember that the rabbit was running for his life, while I was only running for my dinner.” 1 What are you running for in your Christian life? Paul said he was running for a prize and he ran in such a way as to obtain it. (1 Cor. 9:24). Commitment, consecration, and dedication are all words which should mark our race in God.

[Tweet “If man is a three part being, then your consecration to God must be in three parts.”]

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Why God Desires You to Live a Committed Life

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It’s amazing, how much the world generally or the church specifically is looking for better methods. They are continually looking for a better way to do something. Have you ever asked yourself, what does God look for? God does not look for better methods,  he looks for better men. This is not about righteousness here. This is not referencing your positional stand before God. Consecration is about availability; being available for God to use you. Living a yielding life to the Spirit of God so that God can do something with your righteous position in Him. Better men are available men. They are consecrated men.

[Tweet “God does not look for better methods, he looks for better men –  E.M. Bounds.”]

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More of What A Real Disciple of Jesus Looks Like

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All of the apostles were insulted by the enemies of their Master. They were called to seal their doctrines with their blood and nobly did they bear the trial.

  • Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.
  • Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.
  • Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece.
  • John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos.
  • Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward.
  • James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem,
  • James, the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club.
  • Bartholomew was flayed alive.
  • Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died.
  • Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.
  • Jude was shot to death with arrows.
  • Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded.
  • Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica.
  • Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.

Such was the fate of the apostles, according to traditional statements. 1 What is it about these kinds of men? What traits do these disciples of Jesus possess that they would be willing to follow Jesus to the end?

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What Does A Real Disciple of Jesus Look Like?

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George Stormount, who wrote a biography of Smith Wigglesworth, said of him, “Once, he stayed in our home, he came down early one morning and told me, ‘God spoke to me on your bed.’ Stormount replied, ‘What did He say?’ ‘He said, ‘Wigglesworth, I am going to burn you all up, until there is no more Wigglesworth, only Jesus.’ Standing at the foot of our stairs, he raised his hands to heaven, and with tears running down his cheeks, he cried, ‘O, God, come and do it! I don’t want them to see me anymore – only Jesus. Is that where your heart is today? Are you a cross carrying disciple of Jesus?

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What Can A Rabbi Teach Us about Selling Out to God?

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There’s always been much discussion in Christian circles on the subject of discipleship. And rightly so. Becoming a sold out disciple of Jesus is Christianity 101. Understand, though, the discipleship piece is a dependence piece. Dependence means a life of coming to Jesus and relying upon Him. In our day to day life, in our moment by moment walk with the Lord, should we not ‘come to Him?’ Why wouldn’t we? What is holding us back?  This idea of coming to Him is featured in the gospels and in the entire Word of God for that matter. What can we learn about the potential benefits of living a life that involves a constant coming to Jesus?

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#006: Are You Willing to Give Jesus Everything? [Podcast]

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Following God, reading His Word and hearing His voice, will keep your life on a razors edge. He will keep you trusting Him. He will keep you leaning on Him. He is going to give you assignments that require you to give up your security blanket and come out of your comfort zone.  The faith lifestyle requires a full commitment. It requires a giving of everything to Jesus.

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Looking for A Few Good Disciples, Can You Help?

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In this post, I want you to ‘catch’ vision. I want you to ‘see’ what discipleship really is. I want you to get a glimpse of what it is. But in order to ‘see’ Bible truths on discipleship, we are going to have to get a vision of what it looks like. We are going to have to see it before we can acquire it. The same principle works for any Bible area. Healing for example. You have to ‘see’ yourself well before you ever get well. You have to see yourself prosperous before the money comes in. You have to see yourself ‘used of God’ before you ever are. So, what does a disciple of Jesus really look like?

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Counting the Cost of Being a Jesus Follower

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Starting in Luke 14: 25 Jesus gives, us teaching on what a disciple really is. Jesus uses the same words: ‘sit down first’ in describing the man who built a tower and the man who deliberates for war. In effect what Jesus is saying is that “When you are considering the idea of becoming a disciple of mine, pull up a chair and have a seat.” And from this seated position, Jesus is saying, “Let’s talk about what discipleship means for your life. Let’s talk about what it means to count the cost.”