In my church family, there is much talk of "discipleship." I am thankful. But can I truly BE a disciple? Of Jesus? Like Peter and John were? Surely not.
However ... Jesus did say some things that make me think anyone who is willing can be His disciple.
Peter and John were Jesus' disciples by virtue of responding to His invitation to be with Him. Mark 3:14 Later, Jesus said, "Come to Me, ALL ..." Matt. 11:28 He invites me ... and you ... to be with Him, just as He invited Peter and John.
One of Jesus' most shocking statements was this: "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." Jesus plainly says that it is better for Him to be in us by His Spirit - making possible our knowing and hearing Him any / all the time - than to be with us, like He was with Peter and John. This is shocking! Jesus says that His indwelling presence by His Spirit is better than His being physically close (tangibly visible and audible) to us. His sheep DO hear His voice. We must so deeply believe that He speaks that we listen carefully! Then, we must learn to carefully discern His voice from our own thoughts, or even deceptive thoughts from the Deceiver/Tempter.
But, some might say, that is so much work! Let me ask, "How valuable is Jesus to us?" How important is it to us - if hearing His voice is, in fact, possible - to accurately hear God speak personally to us? If we have His Word (and we do), and if Jesus' Spirit indwells us to guide us into all truth (and He does), we can be WITH HIM, to watch what He did, to ask why and how, and to be guided and coached by Him as we haltingly fumble forward in following HIm.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
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3 comments:
It truly is a blessing that Jesus sent us His Spirit to dwell within us! What a blessing it is that we do not have to walk alone, but it is Him who comes with us each step of our journey!
I had never considered that Jesus was saying it was better for Him to leave physically so that the Spirit could dwell within us! Thanks for the perspective!
Well stated...as always. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for reminding me, again, what I am called to: to be Jesus' disciple and to help as many as I can to also be discipled by Him. I want to know Christ and help others also truly know Him.
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