Quality Discipleship

The Lord chose us out of many in this world for a special purpose.  The purpose of God can be fulfilled in our lives by being true disciples of Jesus.  Who is a true disciple? We learn an important lesson of true discipleship from the teaching of Jesus in Mat. 16:23-24.  

1) Set our mind on God’s interest (V23). The interest of a child of God is always set on the things above, not on the things of the earth. The cares of the world should not bother, trouble, or worry us. When we follow Jesus whole heartedly, the thoughts of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. 

2) Deny ourselves (V24). Denying ourselves does not mean that we ignore our responsibility towards the family, personal life and society.  Denying ourselves means:

a) Deny our will before God’s will

b) Dethrone our ‘self’ (Pride, ego, jealousy etc)

c) Withdraw ourselves from the goals which are temporary and materialistic

d) Deny wasting time for personal interest.

e) Our entertainment and comfort will not be in our top priority list

f) Stop doing things for self glorification and honour

3) Take up our cross (V24). The cross of self denial, the cross of rejection, the cross of humiliation, the cross of denying our rights, the cross of physical and mental pain, will not be burdensome for a disciple.  

4) Follow Jesus (V24). A believer who sincerely seeks to implement the above 3 steps are the followers of Jesus.  Do we follow Jesus for some material prosperity and physical gain?  Let us examine ourselves.   

 

 

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What is our mind set?

If our mind was an organ that speaks out what you think in your mind we all would have been in deep trouble. God created our mind in such a way that whatever we think and entertain in our mind is known only to God and us (1 Chron 28:9).

When Peter stood against fulfilling the purpose of God for which Jesus came to this world, He said, “you are not setting your mind on God’s interest but man’s…” Mat.16:23. This statement of Jesus is very relevant for us today. I realized that many things I do in my life is to please men or considering the interest of men. If we examine our lives daily, in the church, at work or at home we set our minds to the interest of man, not God. This attitude of ours is a deception of Satan because we expect honor and appreciation of men more than God. When we set our mind on God’s interest we may have to face rejection, misunderstanding or discouragement. But God’s name will be honored and glorified.

 Apostle Paul says in Col 3:2 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth”. We often do not take this verse seriously and come to a conclusion that no one in this world can live without thinking about material needs. Yes, it is true and the Bible doesn’t teach that we should not think of our needs or else we would be irresponsible towards our life. The word of God teaches us through this verse – DO NOT SET YOUR MIND. What comes first in our priority list? Is it our job, spouse, children, investments or ministry? We fulfill God’s purpose in our lives only when we set God Himself our first and foremost priority.

Dear Lord, “Help us to set our mind on God interest” Amen

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Amazing Love

God’s love toward man is so amazing that our human minds find it difficult to comprehend it.  There are many things that God’s love as done to us. It has chosen us in Him. Sanctified us. Made us, His children.  God’s love has taught us what love is. 1 John 4:19, tells us that He loved us at first. We did not know how to love but God has taught us. The love of God has been poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The love of God cannot go out from our hearts.

God continues to love us. Revelation 1:5 reveals that God loves us even today. We are not alone. His Presence and love is with us. What more do we need. Feel it. Enjoy it. Proclaim it.

Another aspect of God’s love is that He loves us till the end (John 13:1). Isn’t that comforting to know? He showed us love at the beginning, continues to love us and loves till the end.

This the reason we can say, Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and forever (Hebrews 13:8)

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Our Desire in life…

In our daily life we are mostly occupied with our personal or material matters. It can be anything that troubles us, the problems or the target in the office, the problems in connection with our children, some financial worries etc.  We carry these burdens with us throughout the week, on Saturday we prepare ourselves to worship and give exhortation at the Church, most of the time to create a spiritual impression among the folks.
We are deceiving ourselves and Jesus is not pleased with us.  The blessing in our lives and prosperity in our church ministry is not an approval by Jesus that He is pleased with the life that we lead.  

Who is a true worshiper? A true worshiper always seeks the kingdom of God first in his life, rest all comes second in his priority list (Mat. 6:33).  We allow Jesus to take full control of our lives.  We allow Him to sit on the driving seat of our lives.  We acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus and say He is the Lord of my life, not that I live but Christ lives in me. 

A true worshiper would say that I desire nothing on earth beside You (Ps. 73:25).  It is a very strong statement and we might as well find it difficult to say this prayer.  However, God expects that we would grow to a higher level of spirituality that enables us to worship Him more meaningfully. 

Dear Lord, “We desire nothing on earth beside You” Amen   

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