Welcome to Hank’s Place —
True Discipleship – what’s that? Doing everything the Bible says? Reading and doing? Hmmm.
Consider that Jesus never said “I do what the Scriptures command” or “I follow the Law perfectly and so should you.”
No, He said He did what He SAW the Father doing. Jn 5:19. And it is the same for us today dear friends. The Christian life is not following rules taken from the Bible. It is loving Jesus, receiving and sharing His love; seeing and hearing what Jesus is showing us by the Holy Spirit, and doing that.
That’s nothing new; it’s what the early disciples did. Remember when Peter and John were hauled before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4? Their defense reminded the leaders of Jesus, for Luke writes, “When they (the leaders) realized that they (Peter and John) were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13. Whoa!!!
Although not rabbinically trained, these men answered as if they had been. Where did they get this ability? The leadership had to acknowledge that they were trained through being with their rabbi, Jesus. These men had walked with and were now a reflection of Jesus.
So what is a disciple? You could say it is someone follows Jesus, who sticks around Jesus, who actually incorporates his master’s teachings in his daily life. And without purposefully trying it, showing in his behavior — JESUS!
It’s what Jesus said, “If you actually hold to My teachings, you are really My disciples.” John 8:31-32. This word for “hold” means to put them into practice. Put them into practice and THEN you would know what Jesus taught. And your life will be changed as you experience true freedom. And thankfully Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in this matter – We need the Spirit’s help and He is there to help.
Consider what Jesus said to His disciples in Jn 14:15 (paraphrasing), “You don’t obey Me because of tradition or religious beliefs. I didn’t give you a list of behaviors to follow. I gave you MYSELF. You do what you do now because you love Me.” Jesus’ disciples love and follow Him. It’s not about doing anything FOR Jesus, but about doing everything — living life – WITH Jesus.
There’s more to come, dear friend, but for today: walk with Jesus, talk with Jesus, eyes on Jesus, follow Jesus — and COME ALIVE!
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