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Are You A Christian -OR- Are you a Disciple of Jesus?

Discussing The Radical Decisions of The First Disciples And How They Effect You

"Just say Jesus..."

 

Many people sit on pews of Christian churches for the wrong reasons.  I have been one of them and you may be one of them.  Many of them are unwilling to make the radical decisions necessary to be a TRUE disciple of Christ.  Is this you?  Today, we will discuss the bold decisions that the first disciples made to follow Jesus, whether you are willing to make bold decisions like that, and I will give you action steps to implement today.  Lets get started.

 

I used to go to church dressed up, and at times, I have attended simply because I thought I was cute and wanted to share that joy with others. I have attended church out of excitement about a friend that I may see, or out of excitement about a trip that we may be going on.  I was wrong for attending church out of selfish personal reasons without the true desire to know Jesus better, and surround myself with people who wanted the same.  Have you done what I did?

 

As a result of my motive for church going, I experienced years of powerlessness in Christ.  I had little understanding beyond scripture memorization.  I did not know the truth of what I was capable of in Christ, and the supernatural realms of God was a historic rendition; a gift to Moses, Elijah, and the first century church (or, so I thought).

 

Jesus chose his disciples.  The word “disciple” means, “a follower, student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher”.  Jesus was and is a teacher, and as his disciple, you and I should be listening, learning, and growing with him.  Jesus wanted action-takers.  The people who will drop what their doing and their own personal agendas to align with the Kingdom agenda.  He did no convincing and no introductions.  Nowhere in the Bible will you read, “And, Jesus met another disciple.  He introduced himself to them saying, ‘Hi. My name is Jesus.  I am from Nazareth.  My parent’s names are Mary and Joseph, and I am good at carpentry, connecting with people, healing them, and making people whole”.  No!  It wasn’t his style!  He said “Follow me” and demanded instant action because he did not stop and wait.  Let me show you some examples…

 

Phillip: When Jesus met Phillip, he did not convince him, he did no persuasion, and he did not tell him the outcome.  Rather, Jesus simply said, “Follow me”, and Phillip went.  On top of being an action-taker, Phillip went and got his brother and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Phillip was an immediate believer of Jesus; even knowing who he was prophetically in the scriptures.

 

Nathaniel:  When Phillip told his brother about Jesus, he said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:43)  He had obvious stereotypes about Jesus’ hometown, but he followed his brother to Jesus.  Upon meeting Jesus, there was no introduction.  No, “So, tell me a little about yourself”, and no real dialogue.  Jesus demonstrated a supernatural knowledge of Nathaniel saying, ““Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” (John 1:47)  Then after astonishing Nathaniel with his knowledge of him, and telling him that he’d seen him under a fig tree prior to meeting his brother.  Nathaniel knew, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”  Nathaniel was not convinced.  He simply knew.

 

Andrew: Was a disciple of John the Baptist, but when he said, “Look, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36), he left John to follow Jesus.

 

Simon Peter: Andrew told Peter, “We have found the Messiah”, and brought Peter to Jesus.  Peter was renamed “Cephas” and began to follow Jesus; no second-guessing or thinking twice.

 

Matthew: The Roman government was very vicious under the rule of King Herod.  I am sure that there were many conspiracies about what would happen to them and “secret” evils that they had committed.  Jesus was not concerned about the evil things that the Roman government had been doing.  Matthew was an enforcer of Roman taxation.  Similar to the disputes with the IRS and other tax policies, many people completely disagreed with how they were being taxed.  Matthew enforced taxation regardless.  Jesus saw Matthew on the job, and said, “Follow me”.  Similar to how he called all of his other disciples with no persuasion, no explanation, and no details of destination.  Matthew got up from his job and left with Jesus.  Could you do that?  Are you that radical for Jesus that if he appeared to you today and said, “Follow me”,  you would leave your stable income to follow him?  Matthew did with no explanation.

 

 

James and John:  They were at the Sea of Galilee with their father and his hired help fishing.  Jesus said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men”, and James and John left their father, their careers, and the lives that they had chosen for themselves.  No persuasion.  No explanation.

 

The remainder of the disciples: The stories of the other disciples and their faithful departure from their lives  as individuals to follow Jesus are not as detailed, however Matthew 10:1-4 tells us:

 

“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

 

All of these men were bold, action-takers.  They knew the prophecy written in the Bible and knew he was the Messiah.  Some of them witnessed miracles, and were chosen disciples after they had seen miraculous “fruit”, they were willing to follow Jesus.  Jesus gave his disciples power and he still gives this power today!  You can remove people from the torment of unclean spirits.  You can heal the sick and raise the dead.  You can pray for revival and witness it in the lives of those around you.  His disciples did it, and he said that you can too.  My question to you is …”Are you an action-taker for Jesus?” or, “Are you still being convinced?”.

 

Action steps:

 

1. Examine yourself

 

2. Answer the questions:

  • What action am I doing as a disciple of Jesus?
  • Am I boldly telling others about him?
  • How am I demonstrating my friendship with him?
  • Have I seen him or do I talk to him in hopes of seeing him soon?

 

3. Write down 3 ways that you are going to walk in added boldness, increase your friendship with Jesus, and emulate his ministry in your life?

 

Let me share some personal examples:

-I will write a blog post twice weekly encouraging people to grow closer to Jesus

-I will ensure that at least one hundred people have access to the messages that I am sharing about Jesus

-I will personally make contact with at least 5 people and hold them accountable to a growing relationship with Jesus

-I will wake up and pray for at least 30 minutes and speak to Jesus sharing with him my desire to see him face to face

 

You can do it!  Jesus said that you could do greater works than he did!  His ministry was 3 1/2 years long, and you may have more time than he did, so let’s get going!  Be a true disciple!  More than the typical “Christian”, but a true Christ follower.

 

Here is a playlist that will spark some ideas about how you can increase your momentum as a disciple of Christ:

 

 

Leave your comments, questions, and testimonies below -OR- meet me in the Bible Remedy Forum. Hope to hear from you soon!

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