Thoughts from the Weekend....Follower vs Disciple

This weekend, our pastor posed this question before us, "Are you a follower or a disciple of Christ?" He proceeded to distinguish the difference in the two. As I have been thinking since the service, there is a huge difference in being a follower of something or someone and being a disciple.

Followers, they can say all the right things; they dress the right way; they look the part. Think of a follower of a team...they wear the team colors, they go to all the games, they cheer obnoxiously and boo just as loud, they know the stats of the players, they know the history of the team. Or a follower of a band or musician....they know all the songs and can sing them at the top of their lungs, they have been to multiple concerts, they follow the band or artist around the country, they even begin to dress and look like, they know every detail about the band or musician. Now think of a follower of Christ...they wear the shirts, they have the cross necklaces, they listen to the Christian music, they know Scriptures and can spout them out at the snap of the fingers, they honk at bumper stickers, they look the part and sound the part. But when it comes to a "follower" of Christ, how many of us our followers in name only and neglect to become disciples? How many of us can talk a great talk, walk a great walk, but that is where it stops? Am I a disciple or a follower?

A disciple...a student, a pupil, a learner. If you are a disciple of someone, you have come under them and are learning from them and learning to be more like them. Back in the time Jesus was living, young men would enter into the synagogue and study under the leaders, they would become disciples of the leaders. Same as in science and with philosophers, we see it with Plato, Socrates, Copernicus, they had disciples who would learn under them, imitate them, take on parts of their identity and philosophies. We see it still today with many other religions, where young men will enter into a time of learning with their leaders and shape their views and thoughts and identity from the views and thoughts and identity of their leaders. Even if I want to choose certain careers, there are apprenticeships, where one becomes an apprentice under a "master" of their chosen career and learns all the ins and outs, takes on the ways and the skills of their "master." So to be a disciple of Christ, there must be something that marks me as different than a follower, there has to be something that will distinguish me from others. 
A disciple is called...the Lord has chosen us, we have not chosen Him. He is the initiator, He is the caller. The Lord chose His apostles, the Lord chose His disciples, He did not choose His followers. Our calling is a supernatural act of the Spirit. (Mark 1:17, Mark 3:13-14, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Thessalonians 2:14, 2 Peter 1:3) If we are a disciple there has been a supernatural calling of the Spirit on our lives. 
A disciple is in a relationship with Jesus....Ken had a great quote: "The action of a disciple flows from a relationship with Jesus. The relationship is first, not the task." (1 Corinthians 1:9) I will desire a fellowship with Christ, I will desire a deepening relationship with Christ. I will desire to know Him intimately and passionately.
And because of that relationship, I will desire to obey Him. I will desire to obey His will, His word. I will desire to live a life of obedience out of the outflowing of my relationship with Him. As I grow in Him, obedience is a desire not a chore. It is something I want to do, not something I have to do.
And as I deepen in my relationship, as I desire to obey, I will be transformed. My life will become more like His life. My heart will become more like His heart. My actions will become more like His actions. What I say and what I do will reflect what He has said and what He has done. I must continually be progressing in my faith, continually be changing, continually becoming more like Him. And I can not help but changing, I can not help but sharing, I can not help but letting the world know I am not a follower, I am a disciple.
A disciple will study, will question, will doubt, will continue to study, will pray, will ask for wisdom, ask for discernment, will realize is is the supernatural working of our Saviour and nothing we have done, He has chosen us, we in our sin could not choose Him. A disciple will grow in a relationship with Him, will desire to be obedient to His Word, will be transformed daily by a renewing of their mind, will daily study, daily prayer, will daily share of what He has done. For He has done and will do great things to those who are called according to His glorious grace and mercy. Am I a disciple or a follower?

Just Thinking...Second Chances...

It's been a week since I have written.  I am exhausted in every form of the word. This is a season of testing and of wondering. I was talking with the dearest friend and as we were talking I thought about second chances. They themselves have realized some things about choices  and decisions they made in the past and are now being presented with similar decisions and soon similar choices. Second chances, there are things in life you may not get a second chance to experience, to go through, to be a part. But there are things in life the Lord allows you to experience again, to go through again. There are decisions, tests, circumstances, and trials that the Lord gives you a second chance, a do-over. Even if we feel we are desiring the Lord's will, sometimes we still let ourselves, others, our feelings, and our flesh get in the way of making a true "not my will but Your will" decision. There are times where we may be faced with two decisions and we feel we are making a choice based on neutrality, based on the Word not the world, but we still have not surrendered the decision and the circumstance fully to the Lord. We are still holding on to some aspect, to some thing. There are other times when we are faced with a decision, a change, a choice to make, and we are completely following the Lord's will. Yet, it is tough, it is not easy, it takes us out of our comfort zones. And the Lord continues to place us in these circumstances. Other times it could be a loss or certain situations the Lord continues to bring. But no matter what the decision, loss, circumstance, or situation the Lord is allowing us to go through it again. Does it mean each time we "fail?" No! Does it mean each time we have not followed the Lord? No! Does it mean that we may not have truly let the Lord lead? It could! Does it mean we "should have made a different choice the first time?" It could! Is it easy to excuse away our choices and our decisions as "well, it was the Lord's will" instead of wholeheartedly pursuing "what is the Lord's will?" Yes!
Does it mean that each time the Lord is trying to show us something, teach us something? Yes! I will always say and always believe, He will do and He will use whatever it takes to show us He is faithful, to show us He is Sovereign, to teach us to follow Him, to teach us to rely on Him. He will do whatever it takes. If it means putting us through trials again and again, if it means bringing us back to the same choice again, if it means showing us yet again we need to change be it a relationship or circumstance, if it means we are to move or stay, sometimes, He will. Why? Because, "I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

A Repentant Heart...

Repentance, how many times in Scripture do we see a call to repentance, a call to return back to the Lord? How many times does the Lord have to remind us to seek forgiveness? How many times in Scripture does the Lord command us to repent and do no more? Repentance is a forsaking of our wrongdoing, a forsaking of our sin, returning back to the Lord, obeying the Lord, and changing our hearts. 

Her little hands are clasped tightly, she folds them in prayer. Even as they are young, we teach our children to pray. We teach them the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," or some say "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We teach repentance, and how many times do our children still commit the same sins, still lie, still take a toy instead of sharing, still touch when we've told them not to. And we too are like children, we kneel in repentance, we pray our prayer. And how many times do we still commit the same sins, still lie, still stay in relationships, still cover up sins, still are selfish, still hold pride, still cheat at work, still live inappropriate lifestyles, still make excuses for ourselves and for others. We ask forgiveness for the moment but neglect to realize what true repentance is. 

We can't understand repentance until we understand the condition of our heart. Our heart is sinful. We were born into sin and we are totally depraved apart from the saving grace of our Saviour. We are NOT GOOD. The world will teach otherwise, the church may teach otherwise, but scripture clearly states we are sinners, we are saved by grace, and we can not do anything without the saving grace of our Lord. Can the world do good acts? Yes! Can we do good acts? Yes! But only through the common grace given to man that keeps this world from going into total chaos and corruption. Our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately sick, no one can understand them. (Jeremiah 17:9) If our hearts have not been redeemed by the Saviour, we can not and will not be able to make decisions that are godly and wise. And if our hearts our redeemed by the Saviour, we must still realize we are human and we are flesh and our hearts are deceitful and sinful and we must DAILY renew them, DAILY refresh them, DAILY feed them with the Word and the Spirit. Apart from Him, DAILY we can do NOTHING!

Repentance is a daily coming to the foot of the cross and letting go of all the wrong we have committed, all the deceit and sin in our lives and in our hearts. But repentance is a turning away. We do not and can not use repentance as an escape card, a get out of jail pass. Repentance is not an excuse to do wrong. Repentance is a recognizing of our sin, a turning away and a doing no more. If we are truly repentant, if we are truly sincere, we will with the help of the Holy Spirit do that sin no more. We will not hold onto it because it is fun, because everyone laughs at the joke, because everyone talks about others, because we don't know what to say to get out of it, because we are happy, because I can ask for forgiveness, because everyone else is doing it; we each have our excuses! But holding onto our sin is not true repentance. Repentance brings a change, a heart change, and a life change. There may be things we have to stop doing, places we have to stop going, technology we have to stop or limit using, people we have to change relationships with, things we have to stop eating or drinking, people we have to stop talking to....whatever the sin is there will have to be changes made. True repentance comes through the work of the Holy Spirit convicting the saints, placing them on their knees daily before the cross, and giving them strength to turn and sin no more. 

Repentance must also be immediate. My sister and brother in law are doing a wonderful job in teaching my nieces repentance. They make sure they see their wrong and repent immediately. There is no greater joy than to see a 3 year old asking for forgiveness and in her own little heart meaning it. Will she mess up again? Yes! Will she daily do things that cause her to go in time out or have to apologize? Yes! But is her heart being transformed daily into a heart that one day the Lord will grab hold of, work in to convict of her sin, and bring salvation? That is my daily plea! If we have wronged, if we have sinned, our repentance must be immediate! We must not continue living in that sin or with that sin in our heart. We must immediately repentant, and if it is against another, we must immediately seek forgiveness. Repentance is an immediate response to our conviction and a complete turning away from our wrong doing. 

When we understand the condition of our hearts, we understand our need to repent and our need for the Saviour to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. When we understand our hearts, we understand the cross. We understand that daily we must meet at the foot of the cross, where all our sin was taken upon our Saviour, and we must cry out in repentance. We understand that we must daily take up the cross and follow Him. When we understand the condition of our hearts, we understand the joy that comes from salvation. We understand that daily we are being sanctified, daily we will be tested and we will be tried and emotions will come like the waves, but there is a joy and a peace that come from living a life of repentance and restoration. "To the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness because we have rebelled against Him." (Daniel 9:9) 

Wednesday's Thoughts...

In all honesty and truth, I have more thoughts running through my mind and I have two blogs I have been working on since JANUARY! I guess it has not been the appropriate timing to finish and publish them.What a season in life this has been....and something that keeps coming up in my mind is "pruning." I was running the other day and I saw someone in their yard pruning back their bushes. A few weeks ago, my neighborhood pruned all of our shrubs and bushes. Pruning...we prune in order for the plant to grow back fuller and healthier. As I think about my life, how many times the Lord has needed to prune areas so that I can grow back fuller and healthier spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally. How many times have I been put to the sheers because there were areas the Lord needed to cut off from my life? How many times have I tried to resist pruning and tried to hold on or re-attach those things back to my life? Only to find the self grafted area becoming an irritation or a stumbling block. How many time have I closed an eye and made excuses for things I have done, things people have done, people in my life, things in my life, instead of realizing the Lord was trying to "cut them off" in order for me to have full and abundant life in Him? Pruning, it is not easy; it does not feel good. It is not a massage on the shoulders, a pat on the back, or a walk in the park. The Lord refines us through fire, He molds us and shapes us, it burns, it hurts, but what we sometimes forget to realize is the Lord is also the Great Master Gardner, The Vine, and we are the bushes, the shrubs, the branches. His command is for us to remain IN HIM and He will remain in us, apart from Him we are and we can do NOTHING. But there are times where He comes in as the Master Gardner desiring to turn us into His prize winning flower and we have to be cut and pruned and sheered. There are things in our lives we have allowed in that He wants out, and "clip" He cuts it off; there are people in our lives we have allowed in that He wants the relationships changed and "clip" He cuts it off; there are places in our lives He no longer wants us to be and "clip" He cuts it off; there are jobs and careers He is no longer calling us to and "clip" He cuts if off. But what happens is that we blind our eyes to the truth and only see what we want to see, we hold on tight with white knuckled hands to possessions He is wanting us to release, we try to re-attach and graft back into our lives the things He has in love showed us need to be removed and we resist. Or we know deep down in He is calling us elsewhere and we are scared, we are unsure. How many missionaries and preachers resisted their calling only to have the Lord make their spirit so uneasy that there was no way around what they were called to do in life? How many times have we held on to our money our possessions our earthly and worldly desires only to have a yearning in our hearts for something more? How many times have we placed people around us and have developed relationships that were not what the Lord was desiring but we went ahead out of "ministry" or out of pure desire for relationships only to look back and see what we became or what the Lord was really desiring? How many times have we made our career our idol and have forgotten the Lord is our assurance not our career? Or have we given so much of ourselves to our work that when we are with the Lord we have nothing left to give? Pruning...in each season of our lives the Lord is working to prune us, to grow us, to make us healthier, to make us more like Him, the Lily of the Valley, He is the one Who can make us into the prized flower. What needs pruning in our lives today? We need to take time daily to see what areas the Lord is wanting and desiring to "cut off" from our lives and not worry if it is a move that is going to make us happy or sad, those are purely emotions that are fleeting, but realize is for His glory and for a greater Joy which can not be taken from us. 

When You Cant Sleep...You Think...Today's Thoughts

"Open my eyes, that I may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free. Open my ears, that I may hear voices of truth Thou sendest clear; And while the wave notes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear. Open my mouth, and let me bear, gladly the warm truth everywhere; Open my heart and let me prepare love with Thy children thus to share. Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready my God, Thy will to see, Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine!"  Oh how I love the words to the old hymns, the depth and maturity of the words, the truth behind them. As I was laying wide awake in the bed last night, I heard this song in my head and as it came to mind, I began to think about the truth in these words but the difficulty in acting them out. I claim and state through prayer "Lord Open My Eyes to Your Truth!" but I still clasp my hand and cover my eyes to the unveiling of the TOTAL truth. I still try to keep control of the things I can control, I still try to turn a blind eye or make excuses for things instead of seeing them for the truth they really are. I listen to voices of the world, I heed advice from those who are not attune to the Spirit, and therefore I can not bear the warm truth of the Gospel everywhere I need to. Through every season of life, I need the Truth, I need His direction and will. I want to know what He desires me to know. So why do we shut our eyes, yet claim they are open? Why do we hold things in our grasp, yet claim we have unclasped our hands to freedom? Because of fear, we are afraid of losing control, we are afraid we may not be provided for, we are afraid of losing all we have, we are afraid of yet again starting over, we are afraid of losing friends, we are afraid of what others may think, we are afraid we may not please our boss our family our friends, we are afraid to trust the Lord, we are afraid of change, we are afraid of being different, we are afraid to be set apart, we are afraid we may have to speak up, we are afraid of what the truth really may reveal about others and about ourselves, we are afraid of where the Lord may send us, we are afraid of the unknown, we are afraid....fear drives us to worry, it drives us from lacking courage, it drives us from having the truth revealed. We say we want to know the truth, we want to be set free, but deep down we are afraid. And pride, we are proud of where we have come, what we have done, we do not want people to know we have made mistakes, we are proud we felt we were in the Lords will, we do not want people to see our sins, we do not want people to think differently of us, we make our boast in others and not in Him, we make our boast in what we do and not in Him, we are to proud to change what needs to be changed because it may make us look weak, we our proud of relationships even if they are not what the Lord intended, we are proud of our job because of the status it gives us...pride drives us to a selfish heart which drives us from having the truth revealed.  How I desire to be free! Set free and know the Truth...you will know the Truth and the Truth is what sets you free!! How I love the words to this hymn! Place in our hands Lord the key that will unclasp Your will for our lives! Open our ears to Your Voice, Your Truth, may everything false disappear from around! You are speaking clearly, be it quietly or loudly, You are speaking! Unveil our eyes, take the scales away! May we sing these words over in our heads and in our hearts and truly mediate on the power of their words. And may we once and for all break the chains, unclasp our hands and see the Truth and be set free! 

A Thought for This Moment....

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16 ESV) What an image..how many times have you heard it said, "you can not serve two masters?" Now granted the next phrase is "you can not serve both God and money," but it is clearly declaring we must love one and hate the other. With the Lord there are no lukewarm attitudes and behaviors allowed. With the Lord we must either love Him and follow Him or we become like spit from His mouth. I look around modern Christian culture today and we have become a lukewarm culture. Look around, can you distinguish Christian from non-Christian? Can you honestly point out those whose lives are being transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit and those who claim to be Christians? We are afraid to stand up for what we believe because we are afraid to be called radicals or conservatives or intolerant. We are letting the minority rule our schools, our jobs, and our government. We are afraid to speak out because we are afraid to be shut down. We lack boldness and courage to stand up and be set apart, to be different, to pull ourselves away, yet still maintain an appropriate relationship with the world. We embody and emulate the world instead of embodying and emulating the Word; we desire to be more like those who are less like Him than more like those who are more like Him. We lack discernment and we push back the Spirit instead of enabling the Spirit to open our eyes to the truth about what and who is around us. We see "fun" and "greener grass" in the world and a life of "do's and don'ts in the Word."We forget that there is freedom in Christ not bondage. I recently had a student tell me he hates not being able to laugh about what the other guys are laughing at and all he wanted was to participate with them because it looks fun; he said he wanted to do what they do and be with them because then he would fit in. I nearly knocked him upside the head and I know everyone walking down the hall heard my response! Poor thing his eyes were like a deer caught in headlights when I was finished!:) (It was all done in love!) But that is the view we all take! How many times have we changed who we are and what we believe because we hate not being able to talk about what others are talking about, and it looks like they are having more fun?? 
I would rather be anything than be spit out of His mouth. I pray we as a body of believers begin to set ourselves apart in a godly manner; we become in this world not of this world. We begin to be on fire and passionate not lukewarm and dying. May we become a people of change, a people that desire to help others, widows, orphans, needy. May we be a people that emulate Him and Him alone. May His Word speak through our actions, in love, towards one another. May we change our church culture into a culture of love. May we get past the lukewarm attitudes and either desire to be all in or all out...He wants either hot or cold, not riding the middle of the fence.