by J.L. Morgan
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What does a Disciple look like?
Many often struggle with what God wants them to do. They study hard, get good grades, and even receive some titles and degrees.
Many are looking at their life and feel pretty secure where they are, they have a nice house, nice car, nice family.
Some have gotten so comfortable in their “life” that they think there is nothing more they need.
While many others are struggling. Struggling to find a job, struggling to pay their bills, some are even struggling to find enough food to eat for today.
So we have two camps of people. Those who are comfortable with their surroundings, and those who are struggling.
Within these two camps there reside those who are comfortable, but desire more, and within the struggling camp some have actually found contentment in their situation.
Jesus has made some interesting statements in His ministry. He tells us in Matthew 19: 23-24
And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
This statement even threw His disciples for a loop, and they asked “Who then can be saved?”
Matt 19:26 says “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Jesus also says in Matt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
In Matt 6:31-33 He says, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
There is a distinction He is making. He is contrasting two things. The Bible tells us plainly, and Jesus confirmed it, John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The only way to worship God in Spirit and truth is by having the very Spirit of Jesus living in and with you. The Holy Spirit is the person that enables us to worship in spirit. The Holy Spirit indwelled Christ while He was on earth. Now He wants to indwell believers.
When you look at Jesus’ example of how He lived, we see statements like Matt 8:24 “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
What is He saying here? When we look at Jesus’ life, at least His ministry years, He relied on the kindness and generosity of others. He didn’t build a mansion for Himself. He didn’t take lots of tithes from the people and reward Himself with all the amenities of life.
No, he lived a very pious life. One of servitude to His Father. Jesus was not distracted by the “things” of this world.
In fact Jesus was clear to tell us that we must choose between one of two possible choices. Either you choose to live for God, or you choose to live for the World (yourself).
When you understand the seriousness of Matt 10: 34-39 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
You will start to understand that the cost of discipleship is a very steep price indeed. He is in fact telling you that when you accept His lifestyle and become His disciple you may lose your friends or even your family. You must be prepared to lose it all, everything that you hold dear to yourself. You must be prepared to say “No matter the cost, I will follow Jesus, even if it means I lose my job, my house, my friends, and yes, even my own family members.
If you think you can come to Jesus and say “Jesus, I want to keep everything I have, and I want to get even more, can you fit yourself into and around my life?” You have just encountered the eye of the needle, and are not ready yet to follow Jesus.
Every person must face their eye of the needle. Every person must approach the cross, count the costs, and decide whether you will give Jesus all of you, or if you will walk away because the things of the world meant too much to you. You can’t have both.
We live in a world that tells you to “find yourself”. We live in a world where we are told to strive for the American Dream.
Some are even convinced that the whole reason Jesus died on the cross was so that you could be the best version of you there is.
But Jesus didn’t come to earth to make “your life” easier, in fact, His whole ministry was to tell you the exact opposite. He said that His yoke and burden are light. That means you are taking on His yoke, not your own. We each have a yoke around our neck, It is our daily life. The only way to take on His yoke, is to live the life He prescribes, with His desires, and His heart.
When you understand that man’s definition of life is “Everything that I know is because of my experiences” you are beginning to understand why He said that we must worship the Father in spirit.
There is another reality beyond our scope of measurement. There is an entire whole other reality known as the Heavenly realm. There is another “place” where God the Father and the angels exist, Jesus even went there to sit at the right hand of the Father.
Since the dawn of time man has wondered if the spiritual realm exists, and if so, is it somewhere else, or does it exist all around us, just on a level that we cannot perceive it.
It really doesn’t matter, other than we are told in the Bible about this other existence and that it in fact exists.
Jesus was in fact telling us that this world we call reality is a fallen world. It is riddled with Sin. You cannot escape it, it exists all around you, in fact it even resides in you. Jesus defined looking at a woman with lust as equal to committing the sin of adultery. You and I are born into sin, whether we like it or not.
When you read the Bible, especially Jesus’ words, you will come to understand that He didn’t come here as some kind of coat, or something you put on over yourself to protect you from the world. He said the world will hate Christians because the world hated Him first. If you’re not hated, you are living for the world to like you. You want to be friends with the world and just wear a Jesus Jersey so you can tell the world who you really root for. This is futile thinking, you must renounce your earthly desires, and exchange them for Spiritual desires.
This is not the life that those with “earthly eyes” would ever consider the smart choice. They will tell you that “you only live once” and “you better enjoy this life while you can”, but that actually goes against Jesus’ teachings.
He wants us to not be drawn to the distractions of this world. He tells us that if we want eternal life then we must look to Him. According to Jesus, we must follow His example, not to the degree of perfection, for no man can do that. This means that even Born Again believers sin. We all, everyone, still sin because we live in a fallen sinful world.
The difference between the believer and the lost is that the believer should be examining Himself daily, in fact begging the Holy Spirit to purge him of anything that stains him. A true Born Again believer knows that it is only by Grace and Mercy that the Father can look upon us. Our goal is to reflect the best image of Christ we can to please the Father, and this is a daily, if not hourly and every minute that we examine ourselves.
The cost is steep, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Anyone who tells you that you just need to say a short prayer, give a little money to the church, and try to make it to Sunday Worship so you can be “recharged”, is missing the mark immensely. (You don’t get “recharged” at the church, the Holy Spirit actually resides inside of every believer, any sense of being recharged comes from reading His word. You go to church to edify and fellowship with other believers, and worship the Father through Jesus with other believers.)
If you are questioning that last paragraph, then I suggest you sit down and actually read your Bible. Read it for yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom as we are told in James 1:5-6
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”
If you sincerely go to God with the intention of knowing Him more, He will reveal to you what the scriptures actually say.
Read the book of John, in one sitting, read it as if it was a letter sent to you. Then read Matthew. You will be amazed at what God’s Word actually says. In fact, you will see that what He says is different than what you have thought all this time.
Once you know what it actually says, it will then be up to you whether you choose to believe it or not.
And that means more than just proclaiming it out loud. Anyone can claim to be a fan, but if you wear the other jersey, then your cheers do not match your appearance, you are a hypocrite. You cannot put on the Jesus Jersey then continue to watch the filth on tv, or listen to the secular music, or do any number of “worldly” things. Matt 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Discernment is the ability to judge something right or wrong, and if it is wrong, then you don’t participate in it.
You have to come to the place where you choose to either believe what the world tells you “It’s all about you”, or whether to believe the Bible which says “It’s all about God”, and Jesus is the only way to the Father.
It is a tough decision, one that should not be approached lightly. One must come to the realization that it matters not what other people say and do, but rather what you will take a stand to believe in. If there is an Almighty, Righteous, and Just God, you will stand before Him one day and give account for your choices and actions. You will not be able to blame anyone else, no matter how hard you try. And if you are relying on your “good deeds”, I will tell you that compared with the Almighty Creator of Everything, your good deeds are only a small fraction above Hitler’s actions. All have sinned, it doesn’t matter the severity, to break one law, breaks all of the law. Without Christ‘s atonement, your actions in life mean nothing. Even with Christ’s atonement, your actions look like a baby flailing in the bathwater. But at least with Christ’s atonement you are now a new creation, and it’s time for you to grow up from being a baby spirit. You must learn to crawl, eat more substantial food, and walk, it is a process, but it cannot start until you become Born Again and receive the very Holy Spirit that Jesus said He would send to comfort us and show us truth.
There are 2 kinds of “Christians” in the world today, and I want to be clear, this scripture is talking to Christians.
Matt 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Make it your goal to be the Christian who hears “Well done my good and faithful servant” when you come before Jesus, exchange your yoke of the world, with His yoke of righteousness, His yoke of Salvation, His yoke of Freedom.
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