Real Discipleship

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.'" John 8:31

Real discipleship consists of living in the teaching of Jesus. The Greek word translated "hold to" by the NIV is the same word used in John 15:5 and translated "remain" or "abide." It means to make yourself at home and continue in something. Discipleship is not launching out on our own agenda with a prayer and hope for God's blessing. Discipleship is listening to Jesus' word and making our home in it. Discipleship is not merely believing Jesus' word. It is submitting to Jesus' word. Are you living as a disciple of Jesus today?

Lord, examine me and show me the true condition of my discipleship. Help me to become an attentive listener to Your voice and a faithful doer of Your word that I might be a real disciple of Yours.

I'm praying for you.
Pastor Mark

When the Going Gets Tough...

"On hearing it, many of his disciples said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'...From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:60, 66-69

How far are you willing to go with Jesus? Only until it becomes too hard? Or are you willing to go all the way?

The "disciples" who turned back on the occasion recorded in the text were not the last to start and not finish the journey of discipleship with Jesus. Those who turn back often begin with the wrong aim. They only want what Christ can do for them. Once the benefit gained is outweighed by the cost of discipleship they leave the trail.

Peter on the other hand represents the faithful who stick with Christ when obedience is hard as well as when blessings are abundant. Peter persevered because he had become convinced of who Jesus is and that the only life worth having comes through following Him.

If we are going to be in company with Peter then we must move from one who has set out on the journey with personal benefit in mind to one who has become so convinced of Jesus that we could not do anything other than follow Him. Are you there yet?

Father, I want to go all the way with Jesus through this life. Deepen my conviction of who He is and strengthen me for "hard" obedience.

I'm praying for you.
Pastor Mark

Jabez's Prayer and Ours

"Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, 'I gave birth to him in pain.' Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request." 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Several years back, Jabez's prayer was all the rage. Many people were praying it daily hoping it would produce the same results for them that it did for Jabez. But to simply repeat someone's prayer as a kind of magical omen is not true prayer. We can learn from and be inspired by Jabez's experience but we should not attempt to duplicate it.

What we should learn is that God hears and answers the prayer of "honorable" men and women who seek him in faith. Our situation and need is probably different than Jabez's but our God is the same God who hears and answers the prayers of those who seek Him in faith. Our God is a God who delights to bless His people and enlarge their boundaries within the boundaries of His own will. I'm quite sure God has much more to give us than we have yet to receive and places to lead us that we have yet to go. Let's seek Him in faith for the fullness of His will in our lives!

Father, help me to learn to pray with faith from an honorable heart as Jabez did so that I too might experience more of Your will in my life.

I'm praying for you.
Pastor Mark

Unexpected Opportunities

Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. - John 4:6

Jesus was tired. He had a moment to himself because the disciples had gone to get food. This was his moment to relax, to disengage, to not be "on." As a stranger approached it would been completely acceptable for Jesus to sit silently. In fact her ethnicity made it taboo for Jesus to ask her for a drink. So why did he talk to her? Why not avoid the potentially awkward encounter?

Jesus did not allow his exhaustion, selfish desires, or social norms hijack the opportunity he had to tell of His Father's love. Like Jesus we need to fight the feelings of entitlement that would cause us to miss an opportunity to share Jesus with somebody. We need to put to rest our concerns about what other people might think and be ready for the opportunities God gives us to share Him with others.

Father, I know I miss opportunities to tell others about Jesus. Please help me to be more attentive to the people you introduce into my life. Lead me to live in a constant state of awareness so that when the time comes to share I will be ready.

By His grace,

Matt

More of Jesus

"He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30

These are the words of John the Baptist. His assignment from God was to prepare people to welcome Jesus. Once Jesus was on the scene, John's role was to fade away and give center stage to Jesus.

Don't we all share John the Baptist's assignment? Every Christian has the opportunity and calling to prepare the way for Jesus into the lives of people. There are people around us to whom we can serve as John the Baptist. We may not have the same fire and peculiarities as John but we can be a voice that points people to Jesus. Our aim is to always be that Jesus will take center stage and at that point that we we'll gladly move to the side.

Father, help me to see the people around me today whose lives you desire to enter. Use me as a "John the Baptist" to them.

I'm praying for you.
Mark

Operation You

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). - John 1:40-41

These verses our the basis for our church's Operation Andrew outreach strategy. Immediately after he began following Jesus, Andrew found his brother and told him about the Messiah. This is God's design for evangelism. Once we have encountered Christ for ourselves it generates a desire within us to share him with those we know and love.

Another good example of this occurs in Mark 5 after Jesus heals the demon-possessed man where it says, "So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis (a 10-city region) how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."

But we sure like to complicate sharing Jesus don't we? Maybe we should try taking a more simple approach. Think about what happens when you read a good book or watch a good movie or discover a new restaurant - you let other people know about. You share the good news of your discovery. That's what Andrew did. That's what the demon-possessed man did, and that's all you need to do.

Father, help me to change the way I look at evangelism. Help me to operate free of pressure, guilt, fear and insecurity. Lead me to naturally tell others about the wonderful things you've done for me. Give me courage and confidence. I love you Father and I want others to know and love you too.

By His grace,

Matt

GROW

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day." 1 Peter 3:18 NET

Peter's last word is "grow." Spiritual growth should be the constant quest of every Christian. Paul believed this when he wrote, "Not that I have already attained this--that is, I have not already been perfected--but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me" (Philippians 3:12). Are you pursuing growth?

Our growth as Peter lays it out is to be "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Grace is the generous, undeserved love of God toward us through which He freely blesses us. We have been saved by grace. But we are not finished with grace once we are saved. We continue to need grace to grow to spiritual maturity. We cannot become like Christ merely through our personal striving. We must have grace to reach such heights and so daily we look toward God's throne of grace seeking the grace we need to grow (see Hebrews 4:16). In addition to grace, we need knowledge to grow. This knowledge of Jesus is gained through prayerful reading, study, and meditation over the Scripture wherein He is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. We must not only look daily up to God's throne for grace but we must look daily down to the copy of God's Word in our hand for knowledge of Jesus. Are you looking up to God and down to Scripture seeking to grow each day?

Father, may I never be content with the ground I've already gained in my Christian growth. Fill me with the continual desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm praying for you.
Pastor Mark