Thursday, April 14, 2011

That's it, that is discipleship

From the mind of J. Herbert Kane:

"This is what our Lord had in mind when He said, 'Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.' It isn't enough to confess Christ as Savior. We must go on to acknowledge Him as our Teacher. We must attach ourselves to His person, Enroll in His school, listen to His words, walk in His way, surrender to His will.
Slowly but surely we will undergo a complete transformation of life and thought. As a result we will come to have a new center of gravity, a new system of values, a new standard of morality, a new frame of reference, a new purpose in life. We are now His disciples because we have accepted His discipline. The two words come words come from the same root. As the discipline deepens, something of His spirit rubs off on us-the spirit of humility, sincerity, service, and sacrifice. We become a carbon copy of Him. That is discipleship."

Monday, April 4, 2011

always humbled

while spending some time in the Word and reading through a devotion I stumbled across a few simple statements that hit me pretty good. of course when that happens I feel the need to share, hoping that it will help someone else as well.

"Our citizenship is in heaven."-Philippians 3:20
"The Christian life depends heavily on perspective."-Chris Tiegreen

We have to daily remind ourselves that this is not our home. This is not our "destiny."
This place does not define us. And when we can take grasp of that, truly, then we can live into the truths that set us free. Free from the need to impress others. Free from titles or status. Free from being emotional driven by the things around us. We are free to live for God with our eyes set on heaven.

Get this...here's what hit me hard.
"You can take some risks, although nothing God calls us to do is really risky by eternal definitions. You can follow Him without fear."-Chris Tiegreen

How often do we talk about taking risks and stepping out in faith although there is always fear behind it?
The true risk would be not stepping into God and His plans. It only seems like a risk to an unbelieving world. So all the better witness Jesus will get through the "risk" when He proves to be faithful!
Why would we consider it a risk when God has called us to it? He is the Creator and Sustainer of this world and us, therefor He probably knows what He is doing.