The call to be a disciple of Jesus.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

The call to be a disciple of Jesus. In this mini series as believers I have tackled being a child and being a servant. Now I want to share about being a disciple where I think most Christians including myself fall short. Either because of a lack of consistency, sheer ignorance or doing it in our own strength. Jesus had followers and He still calls us to follow Him today. Not by clicking likes but by deliberating giving ourselves over to the Holy Spirit so that we get transformed to be like Jesus. This is only possible through the spiritual discipline of submission, ‘not my will but your will be done‘.

Standard as a disciple of Jesus

The standard as a disciple has been sent very high by none other than the Master Himself. However, Jesus assures us through His word that the expectation is not impossible because He sent us a Helper. Who is none other than the Spirit of God. At salvation we not only receive the forgiveness of sins but we also receive the Holy Spirit. Who comes to make His home in us and to start the transformative work of making us more like Jesus. I have found that what I need to do to remain focused on the mission is to deliberately seek to learn and understand what I am called to do. I function best as a disciple when I consistently seek out this knowledge. Doing this daily is the target.

Power to be like Jesus

It takes power to remain on course to being like Jesus, to being a disciple of Jesus. We cannot do it in our own strength. We could try but we will surely fail. Before starting His ministry Jesus was baptised and received the Holy Spirit. I am amazed that God decided that for us to do battle for the kingdom here on earth we too would need His Spirit. The enemy has managed to downplay this awesome power. But just remember that the power that raised Jesus from the dead lives on the inside of us. Now we as disciples are called to set an example that acts as a witness to the world. The vision is people should see us and be convicted to change, to desire what we have. The world should see us and recognise their Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Trusting God to use us

Trusting God to use us is not as easy as it sounds. First we have to fight our inborn reluctance to give authority to someone else. We have to give up the right to choose what and how we will do something. Trusting God requires us to let go of our preconceived notions of how we need to complete the tasks and assignments He has prepared for us to do. However, whenever we let go and trust God we attain a new level of maturity and increase our faith in Him. What I have come to realise and believe is that God knows the steps or the path that we need to take. He can see further than we can see, He has taken the route before and He knows where all the pitfalls are. He is an excellent guide and our success depends on trusting Him!