Modern Day Disciples of Jesus

What does that mean?

(I am resending this blog post a free post instead of just to subscribers because I think it is so important for the journey!)

“Go therefore, and make disciples….”

“Follow Me,” Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men.”

Wouldn’t it be wild, if we could in our own hearts and minds, clear the slate (so to speak), and read the four Gospel accounts of Jesus with absolutely fresh ears?

Obviously, this is impossible. But I do believe, that if we pay close attention, we can see that Jesus was investing His love, His life and His teachings into a core group of people, and He was expecting that this core group of people were going to impact the world with what He was showing and teaching them. (There are numerous Scriptures that I can sight for this, but in John chapter 17, Jesus first prays for Himself, then He prays for His disciples, and then in John 17:20, Jesus says, “And I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word…”) Jesus, led by the Holy Spirit, knew what He was doing! He knew what God, His heavenly Father, was doing!

During Jesus’ time when He was on earth, when He would invite someone to be His disciple, He would say, “Follow Me.”

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed him. (Matthew 9:9)

For Matthew this meant that he would leave his life, his fairly lucrative, although despised job of being of tax collector, and he would begin to “follow” Jesus; to literally go wherever Jesus went. This was true for all the disciples.

But what about for us today, as “Modern Day Disciples of Jesus”? I so strongly, to the core of my being, believe that Jesus still comes to us today and is calling us to “Follow Him!” I pray that you can hear it today in your heart and in your soul!!! But for us today, it is going to look SO different from what Jesus’ disciples first experienced when we make the choice to follow. For us it is going to look much more like what the disciples where learning to do in the book of Acts as they sought to learn to be led by the Holy Spirit!

Hold on tight for a moment as we make a dramatic turn…. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? (Whether one of the first disciples or a modern-day disciple of Jesus)

Jesus defines this for us saying, “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.” (Matthew 10:25)

That’s what it means to be a “modern-day disciple of Jesus! To live a life that looks like the life of Jesus today! It seems to me that we have lost this somewhere along the way. It is not about going to church! It involves, but it is certainly not “just” about being saved! We are called to be like and to live like Jesus! What a calling! It is absolutely beyond us! But what God calls us to do, He will enable us to do.

We will keep going through this step by step in the coming days and blog posts. I hope that it is making sense at some level for you now so you will stay engaged. My prayer is that God would speak to your heart through this and that You would hear Him!

I also want to mention the recent series “The Chosen”. I love this series. Currently there are three seasons out, and hopefully the fourth season will be released soon. This series makes me fall in love with Jesus all over again (and again). I want to be like Jesus!

Now, one last thing: When I was a sophomore in high school, I had gone to church all my life. I joke that I had a drug problem growing up. I got “drug” to church every Sunday no matter what. (My mom recently found my four year Sunday school perfect attendance pen! Point made.) As a sophomore in high school, I could see numerous people at church who seemed loving and genuine, and then I could also see a lot of hypocrisy, a lot of painting the fence white! During this time, I prayed to God to help me understand what it meant to be “a Christian”. Over the course of the next couple of weeks after this prayer, I felt as if God directed me to Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Whoa! It is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me! Ok, there’s a challenge for you! The life I know live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God! God knows I am trying! He also knows how many, many times I fall short, but His grace is sufficient, and His love is strong! This has been a life verse and life calling for me!

What is God stirring in your heart today?