Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self.” Luke 9:23-25 NIV
While I was reading this, I drew a correlation. Just after Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah (Luke 9: 18 - 21), Jesus goes ahead to tell them what it means to follow.
Looking at the body of Christ, I have noticed that we put discipleship as something people come into in their adult years in Christianity, or for leaders. This is why we see that there is a certain expectation of those who lead us, expectations that are exactly Christ-like but are not required of all who are Christians.
I've spoken with a Christian, telling them they are guilty of what they accused the leader/’Spiricoco’ Christian of, and the response was: "I'm not a deep Christian, they are". I didn't understand.
The bar is the same for everyone!
When does discipleship begin?
After you confess and accept Christ; because what we really accept is to begin living the life of Christ.
To live, you must follow. Discipleship, a way of life!
I will tweak this a bit: Discipleship is the way to live!
The Christian faith is to follow Jesus till we reflect Him. Discipleship isn't also for beginners in Christ. So after accepting Christ, I move to the discipleship course and graduate ❌ No no no! Discipleship is for everyone that claims to believe, for the rest of their years.
While we are taking this as a course, we must know that discipleship is also not a course that we just tick off our Christian journey. "Oh! I've done this, I'm now a disciple" It is more of, "I'm now a disciple, so I will be doing this." Discipleship is not one of the things that distinguishes us as Christians, no! It is who we are as Christians!
Discipleship goes beyond a lifestyle. Lifestyle is a style of living that reflects attitude or values of a person, but you see discipleship, it is our life in Christ. When we say In Christ, With Christ, you see that ‘In Christ’ part, the physical translation is following Christ.
Discipleship will birth growth in believers o, but it goes beyond our growth manual. It is our "In Christ" mandate. It is the very heart of God's work.
Look at Jesus' 3 years of ministry, this was His focus. He didn't give a great commission that He Himself did not live.
“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25-27 NIV
Large crowds were "following". They were following but they were not followers. Jesus saw all of these plenty people and He had to note it to them:
“You might be following me o, but if you really want to be my follower, there is a condition: You must carry your cross.”
I will like to ask us: What does it mean to carry your cross?
For breakdown context,
“Whoever will not carry the cross that is given to them when they follow me cannot be my follower.” Luke 14:27 ERV
ANSWERS:
“It means a daily commitment to Jesus. So, if it comes to choosing between my career and Jesus, it is Jesus. If it comes to choosing between flesh and Jesus, it is Jesus. If it comes to choosing between anything at all and Jesus, it is Jesus. The Cross is a symbol of total doing away of the flesh, and embracing life –Jesus.” (Samson)
“Cross here is yourself. I wake up daily to a fight between my mind and Jesus' word (one aspect). The cross I'm carrying is my "flesh". From the story in Luke of the leper who was healed in front of the whole synagogue, after Jesus healed him, he said take up your mat and go. When I read this now, this mat represented his past which became his testimony. Another thing the cross can be linked to (in my opinion) is my past/my testimony.”(Chelsea)
“It means to come with our totality.” (Tunmise)
Cross Bearing
“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:27 NKJV
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Matthew 10:38 NKJV
I saw this verse in Matthew and I ‘shooked’
"is not worthy of Me"
This is such a strong word.
I checked the concordance and I was even more shook
‘My shooked raised up’
G514Greek: ἄξιος
Transliteration: áxios
Pronunciation: ax'-ee-os
Description: probably from ἄγω(G71); deserving, comparable or suitable (as if drawing praise):
Translation: due reward, meet, (un-)worthy.
KJV usage: worthy (35x), meet (4x), due reward (1x), unworthy (with G3756) (1x).
The man who doesn't follow is not due of the reward in Christ.
What is the reward in Christ? Eternal life
I spent a lot of time trying to understand this part but you see one thing I've learnt about the bible is, you will not say Jesus meant A when He said B
He said what He said!
The man in Christ MUST be a disciple. He must follow Jesus. The man who follows Jesus MUST carry His cross.
We do not pick to be disciples. You know the way we say if you don't labor for God/work in His vineyard, it doesn't mean you will not go to Heaven.
You do not pick to follow Jesus. This is a truth most Christians hate to accept but I didn't say it Jesus did.
Discipleship is total surrender. That's why people say "I give my life to Christ."
I am giving up everything I am to accept the life of Christ. This is why I tell people that correct Christians that say they've given their life to Christ that it is wrong, context matters
Discipleship is total surrender.You must give up everything.
“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:33 NKJV
Everything changes from this perspective; even our earthly possessions, the way we view them change.
Discipleship is not a burden either, I don't want us to see it as this.
There is nothing Jesus has asked of us that He Himself has not done
To surrender? He already did!
He carried His cross also.
"Hate your father and mother", He loved God more than His earthly family. It was seen in His decision making.
Hate his own life? He gave it on the cross
Give up all His "material possession"? He was God but became man like us, owning nothing physically
Everything Jesus has asked us to do, He did!
He is our perfect example that we can!
What has Jesus asked you to do that you thought difficult? Did you do it and what did you learn doing it?
Submission.
That's one of the most difficult thing, Jesus ask me to do... It took me years to obey... I did eventually... And now find it more easier to obey His instructions, since I obeyed that one. (Ruthie)
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sighs, Jesus asked me to step up to a point of sanctification and gave some conditions I considered strict on my commitment to him and dedication. I struggled for a while and then I complied, with the help of the Holy Spirit. As I obeyed, everything became easier for me. Every aspect of my life became easier (Ayodele)
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Loving food less, for me. I like eating a little bit too much, hence, fasting used to be very difficult. 🌚I'm not there yet. But there's tremendous progress.
What I've learned?
1. You can't do it by your power. The flesh loves pleasure, and if you aren't careful, you'll keep falling and falling. Same for any addiction
2. With Christ's help, you can do anything. Be free from anything. (Samson)
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I have found that my life doesn’t follow the regular way that life/things go. For example, if everyone is going to the topmost floor, I already know that God is most likely not going to take me there and I am most likely going to go to another floor.
(Obedience? Consecration?) I’m not sure what to call it but I could say obedience generally with living life God’s way and not the way that seems right or normal for people generally.
Did I do it? Yes, I did it. When the realization dawned on me, I started praying about it and asking for grace and help.
What I have learned and I’m still learning is that God’s way is not my way and his thoughts are not my thoughts and no what happens I know that his plans for me are always of good. I can always be assured that if God says I should stay on the ground floor that it is the best for me and I will stay there conveniently and with gladness in my heart.
I have also learned to ask God for help when struggling, I can’t do things in my own.
I have also learned that there is peace when you submit totally to God. Genuine peace that the world can truly never give me. (Debola)
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Forgiveness
This was really hard at some point because people sometimes do the worse things to me and i tell myself I am never going to talk to them again
But after He told me to have a forgiven heart, and to forgive people in advance for their deeds. Sometimes my heart is very heavy anytime I feel like not talking to someone and then I just hear Him say: text them, call them ....... and I just find my heart very relaxed 🥰🥰🥰🥰 (Joy)
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Mine is love
To just sit and love regardless of how I feel
To share love even when my neck is paining in tears 🥲
I've been trying to
Sometimes it's hard until
But he always teaches me how to.
He also thought me through this that the way I see things and others affects my relationships cuz i feel that's how I'm bring looked at
But once I love like him, I'll be unbothered about it (Chelsea)
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I also want to add that we've been called to a life of total surrender. I surrendered yesterday doesn't mean I won't surrender today.
Discipleship is us surrounding till we exit this world
It is amazing how even after this world, the crown that we will receive as gifts, we will still go and surrender it willingly at the feet of Christ
Wow
You cannot enjoy this life in Christ if you do not surrender completely
Also, dead this idea that submission is God trying to find out which one of us can take suffering the most
So He can crown us best in suffering 😂. Submission is not suffering
It is because we have attached life to these things that we assume it is suffering to live without them
There is this hymn that has been playing in my head for over a week (Blessed Assurance)
I will share the first line of the second stanza to close today's teaching
The opening line is: Perfect submission, perfect delight
You are looking for joy in this walk? To delight in all the happenings embedded in it
It is in Perfect submission
It is in surrendering
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