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What
is your first impression of a disciple?
When
I mention the word disciple do you picture in your mind a little robed
guy that walks around with his head bowed in reverence to the Lord?
While is not such a bad idea to bow our heads to the Lord, if you
want to get a good look at true disciple of Christ, then put this lesson
down and go look in the mirror.
Go
ahead this lesson will wait.
Surprised?
Yes you are a disciple of Christ. When
you accept Jesus into your hearts and receive Him as Lord and Savior,
Jesus calls you to be Hid Disciple.
Read
Matthew 4:18-22
How
did Jesus deal with the people in these verses?
What
are the words Jesus uses when He calls each person to follow Him?
Can
you feel that same calling in your heart?
Just
as Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John, He now calls you as His
disciples. One thing you must remember being a disciple is not a part
time job. Being a disciple
is a 24/7, 365 day a year calling.
It is also an apprentice type position.
You do not accept Christ and instantly you know it all.
You learn as you grown from, reading the Bible, praying and
learning from those who go on before you.
Read
John 1:43-49
How
did Jesus deal with the people in these
verses?
There
is a certain prejudice in this world against Christians, how does this
affect your perception of the lost world?
Now
think about your perception of the world is there any prejudices that
hinder you being a disciple?
In
these verses Jesus calls Philip and Nathaniel.
As you can see Nathaniel has a preconceived notion of what people
from Nazareth are like. Nazareth
was sort of a party town, because it was on the Roman trade route so the
troops would stop over there and party Nathaniel because of his
preconceived notion or prejudice as to what a Nazarene was like figured
Jesus was not worth his time.
In
the end Nathaniel worked through his prejudice and recognized Jesus for
who he, our Lord and Savior.
These
are the first disciples if you would like to read more about them, look
at the four Gospels, this will tell of their life and training.
The following four verses are a good place to start
Ø
Matthew
4:18-22
Ø
Matthew
19:16-22
Ø
Matthew
9:9-13
Ø
John
1:43-49
Just
like the first 12 disciples, most us don’t feel up to the call to grow
deeper in our discipleship. After
all the first disciples were great men who had potential.
Well guess what the first disciples were fisherman who knew
nothing about discipleship. They simply said yes to Christ and He took
care of the rest.
And
when you think about it, when the going got tough at the time of Jesus
arrest, the first disciples ran, but Jesus saw there potential and came
to them again out of love. Just as Jesus sees our potential when we are
called to the job of being a disciple.
All you have to do is ask for His help and Jesus will guide you
and help you grow to the point where you are helping new disciples reach
their potential.
Think
about these 7 Guarantees in the Bible about how your life will go in
light of being called to a life of discipleship
-
If you trust in
God he will direct your path Proverbs 3:5-6
- God
has a plan for your life Jeremiah 29:11
- God
will direct the steps of a righteous man Psalm 37:23
- The
Lord’s purpose for your life will prevail Proverbs 19:21
- Remain
Humble and God will guide you Psalm 25:9
- You
will be led by the Holy Spirit Romans 8:14
- That
God will us guide us if we let Him Psalm 16:7
So
all we are left to do is accept our calling as a disciple and let the
Lord do the rest.
Move
on to the next lesson on Job qualifications
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