Accepts and assists

Luke 14:26 “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.

The last 36 hours are a blur. I had some sort of illness that resulted in a fever, and almost no sleep the night before. On top of all that my mind was racing with thoughts of my testimony coming up this weekend; I knew this time was different, and I know God is laying the word disciple on my heart. Webster’s dictionary defines a disciple as: one who accepts and assists in the spreading of the doctrines of another. Do you? Are you? Is being a Christian different from being a disciple? It should not be for Christ last commands called us to go forth and spread the Good News that He brought to a dying world (Matthew 28:19-20). Christianity does not mean that you claim the security of Salvation and live a life unchanged after it. There should be such a change in your heart and life that the evidences of His Spirit living inside of you are there for all to see.

Take a real look at yourself; list your top five priorities in life. The true order of the things that matter to you the most. If you are placing your career, success, family, health, security, even your own life at number one, you are not a disciple of Christ. The realization of your eternal damnation as a sinner, and that God himself came to earth for your redemption, should humble your heart to a point of living a life dedicated to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The only way to justify sin before a Holy and righteous God is a holy and righteous sacrifice. There was only one that could do that; Jesus Christ came as fully God and fully man. He lived a life that we were originally designed to live, perfect and sinless. He died upon that cross and bore the weight of all sin upon Himself that God might see you righteous through His Son. He paved the way in a free gift of grace, and He will present the invitation to join him to humble, repentant hearts.

There must be a point in your life you realize that scale of your life condemned in sin. With this comes the realization of the need of a Savior; and the means of this which Christ provided for you. GOD sacrificed His Son for you! John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. You have no means by which you are ever to earn it, but you are called to work it out in the acts of being a disciple. You are called to “accept and assist” the ministry of spreading the Gospel. James 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. You are to live a life in daily pursuit of God and the things of God. You are to live a life with an eternal focus; a life that sees the struggles in it as temporary, as means to draw you closer to God. You are to place Christ above everything and everyone; He humbled himself to the point of death for you; can’t you die to Him?