DISCIPLESHIP SERIES 4: ACCOUNTABILITY

Q1: What does accountability mean to you?

Answers:

“Accountability. From the word I hear keeping account, getting the details or run down of an event. Accountability in our context is keeping someone updated on the particular events in an aspect of your life or all of it.”  - Chelsea

“Accountability is to be held responsible for an action.”  - Chijioke

“It means being able to give details about what is being given to you either Money, task, etc” - Bisi Kalejaiye  

“The acceptance of responsibility for one's own actions.” - Ewadunni

 

Q2: Can you name 3 people you are accountable to (Please don't say God or any other member of the Trinity 😁)?

Bisi Kalejaiye - My husband, My Aunt, A sister friend.

Chijioke - My biological parents, my leader in choir unit, my fiancee

Chelsea - I'm accountable to my mum, My pastor, My choir head

Debola - My mum, My dad, My siblings and friends

 

Accountability is simply the act of submitting ourselves to at least one other person. Accountability is not just I'm accountable to xyz so I'm telling them my plans. It goes beyond that.

Accountability is submission to the people we have chosen to be accountable to.

 

Why is accountability important in discipleship?

Discipleship requires constant/consistent training and discipline and if we look at our last prophetic meeting where we all discussed our struggles, a common factor for most of us was self-discipline. This will mean that if man is left alone to disciple himself, he will struggle with it and maybe fail thanks to inability to stay consistently self-disciplined.

So yes, Accountability is also us giving another the key to helping us stay disciplined. So when we think of accountability in the body of Christ, the first thing that comes to mind is, "someone you can report another to when they mess up". Yes, the person you are accountable to is this. They hold you responsible when you fail to meet up.

But accountability is way beyond this.

Accountability is a principle that helps you not to fail in the first place, of course, you will have to be submissive.

Think of accountability as your help towards staying committed to God and keeping your commitments (to God, self and mankind), just like a life chaperone.

It is allowing another to speak truth to your life. That's such a very powerful thing.

Who can we be accountable to?

Your accountability partner can be anybody:

1. Friend

2. Spouse

3. Groups

Most importantly, spiritual leaders. The reason spiritual leaders fall into this category is that accountability involves submission and most people do not know how to submit. So because I cannot change it for my pastor, it is easier for me to be accountable to him.

For those of us that already have people we are accountable to, what is the process like?

Debola - For me, it’s informing them of my struggles or asking advice from them or just talking to them really. Alternatively, it’s them seeing me do wrong and they calling me out on my wrong and setting me straight.

QUESTIONS

Q1 - First, the person I'm accountable to has the right to question me and demand for necessary information on details concerning my life right?

A1: Yes. And you should also be submissive enough to let go of this information and take their input

Q2: So I spoke to a female pastor and told her I want to be accountable to her. Funny enough, she doesn't ask me anything? Is just like I'm forcing myself to be accountable by her. What should I do??? That's why I didn't put her as someone I'm accountable to in your previous question.

A2: On this, 2 will walk together only if they agree. If you feel led to her, this is fine. Continue to update your actions and all to her. If you are not sure this is a leading, you can find a spiritual leader more accessible to you. Because leaders are largely busy you may not be able to get their attention 24/7, but at least they should be there to an extent.

Q3: How about if you don't have someone? How about if you are not accountable to anyone?

A3: So you have to have someone. There is someone in your circle, from your friends to leaders. There should be someone you are accountable to at every point in your life

 

DISCIPLESHIP SERIES 3: THE TRUE DISCIPLE

What makes one a disciple?

What are the pieces of evidence to show that a person is a disciple?

Do we just take people's word for it? If person A says they are disciples, then disciples they are, or are there things we will see in common with these sets of people that qualify them as disciples?

We will be exploring these questions tonight as we provide answers to them.

One thing I have found so far from scripture is that Jesus was an interesting man. I sometimes try to imagine Christ in our world today and what the media paparazzi will be like. This man had random people leaving their businesses, their lives essentially, to follow Him up and down.

Though the Return on Investment for that is priceless, but look deep and you find these guys didn't even really understand the ROI from the beginning.

Jesus was captivating. I think this is the word. A lot of people were always around Jesus. He had the crowd around Him every time.

If I see you with a person more than 10 times, I will automatically assume that you are their follower. But this logic is flawed when it comes to discipleship. You know why?

Even the Pharisees were always present with Jesus. They were always a part of the gathering. But were they disciples? No! Were they following Him in this sense? The answer is No.

For some people, they were captivated by the man Jesus and the way He spoke, though they never understood anything He said. For some, it was the miracles. For some, just curiosity. Nothing more than that. For some others, it could even have been joblessness. Lack of better things to do with their time. And there are people that would have joined the crowd because there was a crowd, “Everybody dey go, so make I join.” There were also people like the Pharisees who were following Him up and down largely because they hated His guts but somehow couldn't ignore Him completely. They had to be there to poke holes in all of His stories. Everyone was present with Jesus, but not everyone was following or were disciples.

While preaching in church on Sunday, the Holy Spirit pointed something out to me about the resurrection of Jesus. The angels had to remind the women who met the tomb empty that Jesus already told them He would rise. But if you go to Matthew 27 from verse 62, you will see that the chief priests and the Pharisees did not forget Jesus saying this.

They remembered clearly. So much so that they met Pilate to guard the tomb heavily. They knew the very words of Jesus but this did not make them disciples. Their reason for knowing was of course wrong.

30 “As he spake these words, many believed on him. 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8: 30-32 (KJV)

I noticed something here. Jesus was speaking to them about the Father and Himself. And the bible says many believed Him.

Faith!

But then you move to the next verse and you find a shocking revelation;

Their faith/belief in what He had said doesn't translate into them being disciples. Their proof of discipleship was if they abide in His word. It wasn't in believing or accepting His word.

That's a start, a good one, but not the evidence we are looking for.

“If you continually obey my teachings and live in accordance with them”

The first evidence that anyone is a true disciple of Jesus is them abiding in the word. Do you continually obey God's teachings and live in accordance with them? Or you keep telling yourself that Grace covers all?

Your answer to this question helps you to know if you are a true disciple or not. There is also a reason this abiding and obeying is continual.

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” John 6:66 NKJV

See what happened before they left Jesus and dropped the discipleship cap? 

“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” John 6:57 NKJV

The requirement was they will live by the word. People want to be free, people want to do what they like, they want to lead themselves. But you see disciples? We are led by the word. No buts.

Discipleship is not a once in a while decision of following in the footsteps of Christ, we must continually abide here. We must make that effort. Just as we discussed last week on cross-bearing. Every one of us must give something to follow. You like it or not, you will drop something.

I mentioned as we started that the disciples gave up their very lives to follow Jesus. Discipleship is seen in the sacrifice we make to continuously abide in Christ and in His word. The proof of Faith is continuing in Faith. To continue in Faith is to continue in the word (to continually live by its principles).

So,

1. A true disciple is one who abides in the word

2. A true disciple is one who imitates Jesus and does His will

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” John 8:44 NKJV

We are marked by what we do and what we desire.

What do you desire?

These are questions I'd like us to pause and ask ourselves.

It is important that we end this series with a huge change and improvement to our lives as believers.

What do you desire?

Jesus told them they were not of the Father because they didn't love Him.

“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.” John 8:42 NKJV

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”  John 14:15 NKJV

This brings me to the next piece of evidence of discipleship.

“This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.” John 15:12 AMPC

Our third evidence of discipleship is:

3. Loving, Just as Christ loves

This is the benchmark. We are not true disciples yet if we do not know how to love like Christ. Not based on what people do to us but loving exactly as Christ loves.

Nothing like love your neighbor as yourselves. No! Love your neighbor as Christ loves you!

Our lifestyle of love stands as a witness to our discipleship call. No one will say He is a follower of Jesus and refuses to love as Christ does.

How exactly then has Christ loved us? Find a previous teaching that answers this question HERE

The proofs that you are a true disciple are:

1. You abide in the word

2. You imitate Jesus and do His will

3. You love others just as Christ loves you

Based on these, sit and ask yourself today, Am I a true disciple of Jesus...?

To be continued…

DISCIPLESHIP SERIES 2: DISCIPLESHIP: A WAY OF LIFE

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

DISCIPLESHIP SERIES 1: THE DISCIPLE

We will start part 1 of this series by opening our Bibles to Matthew 4

Matthew 4 opens with Jesus being led into the wilderness for 40days and 40 nights, after which he was tempted. He came out of the wilderness to find that John had been imprisoned. Note that John was the one preaching that men repent before he was arrested.

In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 3:1‭-‬2 NKJV

Like a town crier, he went about telling this to men.

I noticed something for the first time when the Spirit was teaching this. After Jesus came out of the wilderness and got this bad news. What did he do?

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 NKJV

The first time Jesus opened His mouth to preach and to say "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand" was when John's voice was silenced in prison. And He didn't stop here

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:18‭-‬19 NKJV

FOLLOW ME

Why the call to follow?

Bisola: To build their capacity for a bigger commission

Sumi: I think he asked them to follow because he wanted to show them the way to salvation which was himself.

Samson: Jesus was a fisher of men. For Simon and co to also become fishers of men, they had to follow Jesus, to "learn the ropes"

Bukola: So they can learn and continue the spread of the gospel after He's gone.

Bisi Kalejaiye: To be like him and to follow in his footsteps after he leaves.

Basically, John started the work, then John was arrested. Jesus came out of the wilderness to learn of John's arrest and immediately knew that John's work had to continue

In fact, his leading to the wilderness was majorly because John's part of the work was about to end and His, properly begin.

So He started and as He went, He called men. He called men to join Him

To learn from Him

To watch Him and become like Him

Then they will in turn fish men

Men who will also continue in this template.

For at no point until His return should the work John began stop.

Jesus did not call to Himself believers. Jesus did not call to Himself Christians. Jesus called to Himself Disciples!

The terms Christlike and believers are embedded inside of the call to follow.

For the one who follows must first believe the one He follows. And as he follows (is discipled), he begins to appear like this Jesus he follows. He becomes Christ-like (Christian)

So when we say we are Christians, what it should really mean is that we are disciples of Jesus.

No one can become Christ-like except they have first been disciples. The word disciple simply means Learner.

A learner or pupil who has accepted Christ not just as Saviour but also as Lord.

A student who accepts Christ's teachings and lifestyle.

Whoever is a disciple learns with the purpose to Obey

To act out that which they've been shown and taught

The life of a believer is that of discipleship and it is a whole lot of discipline and commitment. You can't cherry-pick.

All of these things seem like really hard work. Actually, they are 😁

So does it mean Jesus has called us to hardship? As I thought on this, I was drawn to when we shared from the Sermon on the Mount.

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:3-12

This sermon came before Jesus taught about being the salt/light of the earth in Matthew 5, from verse 13. “Blessed  are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 NKJV

Blessed are the poor. Happy are the poor

Which poor person is happy in their poverty? 🌚

But there is a context

The poor in spirit

The one who sees himself as inadequate. Completely dependent people

Blessed is the man who is completely dependent on the spirit for such receive the kingdom of God. The one who is a disciple must be completely dependent on the spirit. And while this looks like work (like I said, discipleship is work and commitment), it is a blessing.

The commitments we make on this path of becoming Jesus is a blessing for us. It is added as happiness to us, not burdens.

Never burdens!

We must note these qualities expected of us individually.

We cannot say we are disciples and we do not depend on the Spirit for everything! Even the things we know/have.

To become a disciple is to be a lifelong learner and partaker of the life of Jesus.

We share in His joy

And Happily (I was going to type sadly before o 😂 but it is happily), we share in His suffering.

So I have questions for us 😁

1. What Qualifies one as a disciple?

Ayodele: Constant learning and followership of the master. Total dependence on the Master...

Bisola: Your total belief in the one who has reached out to you

Samson: Being teachable. Humility. Willing to pay the cost

Sumi: One is qualified as a disciple by deciding to completely submit his or herself to the ways of the Lord

2. How can one become a disciple?

Bisola: One who is ready to have a servant attitude and obey instructions given 

Sumi: Obedience, discipline and consistency

Samson: Look up to the Master and do everything he says you should do

3. Should people be allowed to disciple themselves?

Bisola: Disclipes follow!!! You can't be the passenger and the driver at a time. So no, no one can disciple themselves.

Ayodele: No, discipleship requires guidance

Samson: Nope

“It is the same for each of you. You must leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower. Luke 14:33 ERV

Every time I think of this particular scripture and the way it began, I want to laugh and cry at the same time.

It almost feels like an attack sometimes.

Many people were traveling with Jesus. He said to them, “If you come to me but will not leave your family, you cannot be my follower. You must love me more than your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—even more than your own life! Luke 14:25‭-‬26 ERV

See them..They were travelling with Jesus o but yet Jesus said they weren't following.

And this is it with so many believers, we are travelling with Jesus o but not following Him anywhere

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26 NKJV

The man who follows Jesus cannot tight anything to their chest 

Nothing is important 

Nothing!

And this begets the question: Are you really following? Are you a disciple of Jesus?

DISCIPLESHIP SERIES: INTRODUCTION

Discipleship.

This is a very interesting topic as it is a mandate for the church in this season. Actively or passively, people are being discipled in various areas of life.

Tinubu has disciples. Even Guru Maraji has disciples

Church pastors have disciples.

If this is something everyone is doing, what is it to us as believers? Is it God's will?

Is it something we should be doing?

As we begin this series, let's note that it will be a very interactive one.

I will start by asking us: What does discipleship mean to you?

Louisa: It’s the process of becoming like Jesus

Debola: Discipleship to me is followership, following in the ways and steps of someone

Bukola: Discipleship to me is the process of submitting oneself to be led and taught in a particular manner or with set principles in order to replicate someone.

While the term discipleship is not expressly used in the Bible, we see the use of "Disciple" - a noun used for a person who is a learner, follower or student. In fact, this is the word Jesus used to describe His followers.

Discipleship is an invitation to a process of submission to be led and taught in a particular manner with set principles. Why?

So we can become like Jesus....so we can replicate Jesus

Not duplicate, replicate! In fact, this is what the great commission is.

It doesn't stop at preaching to men. Go into the world and make disciples of all nations 

We move into replicating Jesus on Earth. This is the great commission.

Our assignment: Creating mini Jesus'

How? Through discipleship

In our world today, we see a lot of pastors actually disciple people but instead of raising men as replicas of Jesus, some have been raising men to look like them. They've been raising men to act, talk and behave like them

Peter had disciples. Paul had men actively following him. But you see, these men spelled out who exactly was being followed: "Follow me as I follow Jesus"

We will be unpacking so much in the next couple of weeks

Who the early followers were as disciples.

What it means for us in such a time as this.

Is it the work of the spirit alone to disciple us? 

How to be a disciple.

How to disciple others.

At what point can we even say we "are Jesus enough" to disciple others 

Discipleship and mentoring, what is the difference

We will be answering a lot of questions on this.

YÂSHAB

One thing the Lord has kept highlighting to me since last year is how our prayers have turned to intimacy.

Not like it is bad to ask our father for things o but our prayers moved beyond this completely last year

And this is collective, as a family

Don't know if we noticed. We moved from focusing on our individual needs to wanting to just spend time with the Father. 

Towards the end of January, the Lord gave us a theme for our 2022 nightly prayers 💃💃💃💃💃

Let's open our bibles to Psalm 27:4

The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. Psalms 27:4 NLT

I ask only one thing from the Lord. This is what I want most: Let me live in the Lord’s house all my life, enjoying the Lord’s beauty and spending time in his palace. Psalms 27:4 ERV

I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet. Psalm 27:4 MSG

If you read from the beginning, the chapter opens with songs of celebration from David but everything changed in verse 4

I'm not sure what his Eureka moment was. I also know that David did not decide to seek God because he needed to conquer nations or win a battle.

One thing I crave the most

The only thing I want

The one thing I seek above every other

The one thing I really desire

Amplified says The one thing I ask, and I do not just stop at asking, I will proceed to seek..Omo

This was David with not just a desire but a will to make sure that desire comes to pass. David would do anything to actually dwell in the house of God

Anything!

I remember the first time this scripture hit me, I wrote my own version out and will just say it every day in prayer :

I long to be in the secret place, you and I alone. Have the privilege of living with you DAILY and communing EVERY moment. I want to find the sweet loveliness of your face, touch the fine lines on it, gaze upon your beauty, stay in awe of how wonderful you are. Delight in your glory, think of your greatness and just revel in it. I want to just ponder on your Grace and burst into tears at how amazing you are. I want to live so close to you that we both find pleasure in this friendship

Prayer is warfare, true. But you see, Prayer is way more than warfare. It is intimacy, dwelling!

I will come back to verse 4

That’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. Psalms 27:5 MSG

Did David live in Lagos? 😂😂

I don't know how I found that verse in MSG but i did and it just gave a new meaning

Felt like I had a shared struggle with David. This is what prayers have been to me really

Away from the noise and all the troubles of the day

You know, sometimes when we give testimonies, we are testifying of what God has done o, but it comes to me sometimes as if we are gisting God about our day. The way we detail and express

I pick really little things, so I noticed.

You know when you've gone out since morning and you are coming to just tell your lover everything 😭

Or just snuggle up close. This is how prayer has felt

Our prayer theme is a reality we are already inside. One that David understood and lived too

“One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” Psalms 27:4 (KJV)

"That I may Dwell"

Our prayer theme for the year is Yâshab

💃💃💃💃💃💃💃

It is pronounced yaw-shab

It means to dwell

To remain

To settle

To ease self  (verse 5 makes sense from this angle)

To tarry

Inhabit

Marry

Remain

To seat

To sit still!

Why did David want to stay here?

To behold the beauty of the Lord 😭😭😭

We will find God beautiful. Kai!

As we gather and continue alone also, we will find God's richness

Ah! We will know His laughter, his chuckle and we will love the sound of it

We will remember it while we work

To enquire in His temple

First to just take in His beauty

Do His eyes twitch when He smiles? 

Are there lines on His face? 

Does the richness in the sound of His laughter give me a tingling?

No one dwells and not fall in love 😭

Nobody

Take in all of Him

And then ask Him about Himself because the more we know Him, the more we know us. Our lives are hidden in Him

The things we don't understand, we enquire. We do not bother about them, we just ask Him

We take His thoughts. We take His opinions

I am excited about this word (theme). I am excited because it is a love journey. Yes!

It is prayers but this is a journey of love I see before us. And I am so delighted that we will be doing this together

Knowing God this intimately together

I want this to guide us every time we come to pray

On some days prayer becomes an obligation. On days when you feel prayers have not been answered. On days where you really can't see the use of prayers

Please find this message and go back to your habitat. Let it guide you back here in love

And when we gather?

Please behold His beauty. Don't ever forget to take it all in. Allow yourself to be lost in the sweetness of His fragrance

Sniff Him. Take it all in

Take Him in!

So much that even when you are not here, His fragrance is on your body

You know when you cuddle someone so much and they leave their fragrance on your body

I am looking forward to experiencing all of God alongside you. I cannot wait for the seeds borne of love

Make it a date

Mark it out on your calendar.

Invite people

You know when you are blushing at work and they think it is (wo)man but they don't it is God 😂. Invite them to enjoy this too

So yes...

Our Prayer theme for the year is yâshab.

Mon - Sat

9pm

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