Discipleship: Navigating the course.

Photo Credit: Johnny Torrey
The journey of being a disciple of Christ begins with 3 things:
Go: Starting at the beginning
Jesus said that “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Those commandments are found in Scripture. The only way to discover them is to read. No one expects you to read through the Bible tonight and immediately have a list of all God’s commands that you are going to implement in your life tomorrow. It must be done in manageable, bite sized chunks. The easiest way to do it is to read a portion of Scripture daily, look for what God wants you to do and then create a plan that will turn knowledge into action.
Routine: Integrating new habits into your daily life
Every day, you (hopefully) set your alarm for a specific time, (even if you hit snooze 5 times before you actually get out of bed.), take a shower, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, and drive to work. Through trial and error, you found a schedule that works for you – giving you the maximum sleep, just enough time to get ready, then getting you to your desk as late as you can without it affecting your paycheck.
Now it’s time to add a new wrinkle to your schedule. (Think back to that first crush that completely changed your schedule. You rearranged everything to maximize the time you could spend with them. Now we are talking about spending time with someone much more important!) The next page is just a guideline, but it is meant to get the process started. Most people do not plan to fail but do so because they fail to plan. Commit to a schedule that will allow you to spend time with God every day. Some times you will need to read and journal in the morning. Other times, it will work better at night. The time that works best for me may not work for you.
Encouragement: Joy along the journey
There are 5 areas that will cause your relationship with Jesus to explode. They will create intimacy that is unattainable with any other person or thing in your life. These will help give you strength when you are weak, provide encouragement through the toughest trials and create an unshakable foundation in your life.
Breaking it down into manageable chunks:
The first 3 are foundations that should be rebuilt daily and the last 2 are foundations that should be included in your schedule on a weekly basis.
Psalm 119 deals with learning Gods commands and the benefits and joys of learning them and putting them in to practice. Verse 9 asks the question “How can a young person stay pure”. It answers itself in the same verse – “By obeying your word and following its rules.” (New Living Translation)
II Timothy 2:21 talks about the benefits of being pure “You will be a utensil God can use for His purpose.” What an amazing privilege to be used in the salvation and discipleship of men and women God brings into our lives every day. But to share that privilege, we must first learn God’s commands and then apply those commands to our lives by obeying them.
Click here to get started…
- Salvation - It's not a set of do's and don'ts, it is a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is not our co-pilot, He is THE pilot. Surrender your life to Him, follow his directions and trust that He can get you where you need to go.
- Direction - God's Word (Bible) has the solution for every problem. Go there first when you have a question.
- Action - The Nike slogan sums it up best - "Just do it". All the great advice and counsel in the world does you no good if you do not act upon it.
Go: Starting at the beginning
Jesus said that “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Those commandments are found in Scripture. The only way to discover them is to read. No one expects you to read through the Bible tonight and immediately have a list of all God’s commands that you are going to implement in your life tomorrow. It must be done in manageable, bite sized chunks. The easiest way to do it is to read a portion of Scripture daily, look for what God wants you to do and then create a plan that will turn knowledge into action.
Routine: Integrating new habits into your daily life
Every day, you (hopefully) set your alarm for a specific time, (even if you hit snooze 5 times before you actually get out of bed.), take a shower, eat breakfast, brush your teeth, and drive to work. Through trial and error, you found a schedule that works for you – giving you the maximum sleep, just enough time to get ready, then getting you to your desk as late as you can without it affecting your paycheck.
Now it’s time to add a new wrinkle to your schedule. (Think back to that first crush that completely changed your schedule. You rearranged everything to maximize the time you could spend with them. Now we are talking about spending time with someone much more important!) The next page is just a guideline, but it is meant to get the process started. Most people do not plan to fail but do so because they fail to plan. Commit to a schedule that will allow you to spend time with God every day. Some times you will need to read and journal in the morning. Other times, it will work better at night. The time that works best for me may not work for you.
Encouragement: Joy along the journey
There are 5 areas that will cause your relationship with Jesus to explode. They will create intimacy that is unattainable with any other person or thing in your life. These will help give you strength when you are weak, provide encouragement through the toughest trials and create an unshakable foundation in your life.
Breaking it down into manageable chunks:
The first 3 are foundations that should be rebuilt daily and the last 2 are foundations that should be included in your schedule on a weekly basis.
Psalm 119 deals with learning Gods commands and the benefits and joys of learning them and putting them in to practice. Verse 9 asks the question “How can a young person stay pure”. It answers itself in the same verse – “By obeying your word and following its rules.” (New Living Translation)
II Timothy 2:21 talks about the benefits of being pure “You will be a utensil God can use for His purpose.” What an amazing privilege to be used in the salvation and discipleship of men and women God brings into our lives every day. But to share that privilege, we must first learn God’s commands and then apply those commands to our lives by obeying them.
Click here to get started…