Thursday, March 20, 2014

Lent: Day Sixteen ~ Disciples of Christ



John 14:16-17  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Disciples of Christ

We are called to be Disciples of Christ. The Christian life is all about discipleship. What does this mean? Isn’t it a bit of arrogance to say, “I am a disciple of Christ”? No not at all, a disciple is a follower BUT and this is a big BUT to BE a follower you must walk in the Lord. I’ve already touched on, YOU are the Church, I’ve brushed on you being a reader, believer, follower, and I’ve also asked which are you: soil, flower or ROCK.

Did you ever have someone knock on your door handing you a tract and say can we talk to you a minute? When you open the door you’re offended by seeing this person spewing Jesus stuff. NO, I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness, I believe in the trinity and they see God as God, Jesus as a man. But I’m not here to debunk their Commission of Christ in which they take to a level you and I might never understand.

God commands us to a Great Commission and that is discipleship. Spreading His word is a part of that commission but you must be well versed in what you’re doing. You must know the bible not just spew it out with a pretty pic. I’m sure all manner of putting out the Word of Christ is acceptable to Christ but also He is watching the character of who is doing the spewing.

I’ve said before people think I’m a Jesus freak and I’m okay with that. But let me tell you, if a person ever said one time to me, “You sure don’t act like a Christian.” That statement would offend me. You know why? Because they are seeing my character as hypocritical to the message and Light  that I’m putting out there.

I’m not saying this out of arrogance or conceit, but people HAVE told me that they see a Light shine from me and the only explanation they have is that God is shining His Light through me.

I John 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him”

As a writer, I learned about character. The character in a book is a person that you create, give personality to and allow people to see them and judge for themselves if they are the protagonist or the antagonist. Even if your character is a good person, loving, giving caring, then they rob a bank, shooting five people in the process, you get the idea of their character and what has shaped them.

The same goes for a Christian; character is what has shaped you and what you carry and show to the world. Jesus’ disciples show to the world the Light of Him and all he has done and will continue to do.

A false witness is one who carries the Word but his character reveals something else, something hiding, lurking like a shadow instead of a Light. He pretends to carry the Light and sometimes shows the Light to the world, but the character of his actions speaks volumes.

What you do that you DON’T show the world is your character and this is exactly what the world can see coming from you. To be a disciple of Christ, you must carry Christ with you in all aspects of your day, not just what you pick-and-choose to show the world because more times than not, they’ll see through the veil.

I think of Judas Iscariot, he was a reader, believer and follower of Christ but in the end, his true character showed through thus betraying the very Man that had come to save sinners. I do not see him as a disciple of Christ because he betrayed the trust the apostle’s and Christ himself had put in him.

To be a disciple of Christ is not to betray Christ, His mission, His commandments or His work by picking and choosing wrong over right. Being a disciple is to choose RIGHT every time even if it hurts, through patience, diligence, honesty and righteousness. Men, who see through the veil and into your soul, thus exposing the inner depth of Light in your character, see discipleship.

Go with God my friend…

Matthew 28:19–20 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”

 

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