Three non-negotiable free-choice requirements for a Disciple of Christ

In the gospel written by Apostle Luke, Jesus states to his disciples some very powerful requirements if they want to remain as His disciples (Luke 9:23). Remember, Jesus does not say, that "You should", Jesus says "Whoever wants to be my disciple". Sort of a choice, Jesus gives this choice to all of us everyday, as we go about our every day life as "nominal Christians", but not as His "real disciples" that He wants us to be. Yes, a choice, nevertheless a requirement too, if you want to be Jesus's Disciple!

In Luke's gospel, Jesus tells His Chosen Twelve who have already been with Him, as His disciples, for a considerable amount of time - may be more than a year by then, that if you want to continue to be my disciple (after I am gone from you), you need to satisfy these three non-negotiable requirements: 

1) Deny yourself 

2) Take up your cross, DAILY   

3) Follow me 

These requirements are meant for every disciple of Jesus Christ. First requirement needs no explanation.You just have to put God first in everything. Second requirement was interpreted by Dallas Theological Seminary Chancellor, Dr. Charles Swindoll as: "saying no to your will and doing His will"). And, the third requirement is a continuous tense which means "just keep following Him, keep following Him, keeeeeeep on following Him constantly". 

We can expand "following Him" in many ways but I like to bring your attention to Paul's letter to Colossians chapter 1 starting in v.10. "...that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light".

Most of us who have a "day job", attend churches, Bible Study and prayer meetings and other fellowships and consider that we have done quite enough for the week or month for our Jesus. Was there a cost in such discipleship activities? If you really examine you will realize you did not have to endure any pain or patience or sacrifice in those Bible-based activities. Because most of these activities are carried out in the comfort of a temperature-controlled room/space, well appointed chairs/sofas, with sumptuous snack/meal/drink to go along with those activities. What was the cost of discipleship that was paid in these activities??? Let that soak in a bit.

I seem to have a new appreciation to these two scripture references from Luke and Colossians and have begun to internalize the relvelation of its deeper meaning and purpose in my life. The Holy Spirit is working pretty constantly in me as he is shedding new light as He enlarges God's will and purpose as to what God is wanting of me.

Reference:

Luke 9:23-26

"...Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

JD

Unplanned

Yesterday, I saw the movie "Unplanned". Maybe it wasn't the right choice of film for my tired soul which wanted to relax. I went to my bedroom and cried my lungs and heart out. I hugged and kissed my child, not letting him move for at least half an hour. I wonder if he thought what made his mom cry and hug-arrest him frantically.

I sense that many of my dear friends are going to disagree with entirely or even unfriend me for what I am trying to share in the next few sentences. Every child was, is and will be born in God's heart first (Jeremiah 1:5) and a blessing (Psalm 127:3). He/she is a child and a human being from the day of conception. Please do not consider brutal manslaughter by means of abortion, of a helpless little baby in the mother's womb.

For those who are pro-freedom, pro-choice, yes, you have the freedom and choice, but please have the wisdom to choose virtue over evil.  Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, flee from sin, choose to lead a holy life so that you will not face the temptation of abortion.   Dear parents, teach your sons and daughters to lead a respectful sexual life which incorporates God's design of family and parenthood.

Again, this is my plea to all doctors and those who work in the medical profession. Please do not use your position to manipulate facts or exert influence on anyone to select this kind of killing. If a fetus is diagnosed with a disability, kindly encourage and strengthen the parents to raise the child, instead of getting rid of such an 'imperfect' creature. In this perfection-obsessed world, use your designation, knowledge and talents to add some room for imperfections too, and lend your hand to help, nourish and above all, love children with special needs.  Their souls are perfect in God's eyes.

To those who went through abortion, the grace of God is not short not to forgive you. Jesus paid the ultimate penalty for ALL of your sins. All you have to do is to repent and turn back to God who is waiting for you with open arms. God bless!

SJ

The Pillars of Cloud and Fire

By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light so that they could travel by day or by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22

The story of God's guidance to the Israelites during their epic 40-year exodus from Egypt to the promised land is one of the exhilarating stories in the Bible. The pillar of cloud during the day and of fire during night enabled them to travel day and night.  I had personally witnessed my son's amusement when I taught this Sunday School story; he even went out to monitor in the sky to find the pillar of cloud.

Where is the Cloud Today?

I don't know about you, but I am one of the believers who asked God to make me see Him physically and hear His voice and His plans from Him so that I will not make any gibberish decisions in life. I also feel green-eyed when I hear powerful testimonies of people to whom Jesus made a personal encounter.  It would have been easier to make sound decisions that have 0% chances of going wrong if God Himself is directing us. I am sure this could be the spiritual battle many of the fellow believers are facing today. The truth is that we can still hear God's voice through a tangible object - THE BIBLE! Yes, the very much God-breathed, Holy Spirit -inspired Word of God.

Learning the Bible 

The need to learn the Bible is undoubted as the need of God, except for the minority who have no access to the Bible or cannot read it. It's sturdy, alive, active and can deeply penetrate to the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It can transform even an atrocious criminal into a servant of God.

The movie 'War Room' stresses the importance of praying with the word. One thing which caught my attention is the effectiveness of writing the prayers and answers, bible verses etc. and framing them on the wall. This habit could help in remembering the prayer requests and the ways God answered your prayers (even differently, but beautifully). Our human minds are fragile and can be easily sidetracked by the enemy employing storms, but having these visual reminders can get us back to the One who created, guided and sustained us in the past and still does in the present and future. You know what - it's biblical practice too. God instructed the Israelites to engrave the commandments not only in their hearts but also on hands, foreheads and doorframes.

Learning the Word without a heart to follow Him could be disastrous. King Solomon portrayed this clearly in Ecclesiastes 1:18. More than the head - knowledge, God looks for heart -  knowledge; your trust, hope and your willingness to be submissive to His will.

Stay abundantly blessed!

SJ

Know Your Father: This Man Welcomes Sinners

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Luke 15:1-2.

Whenever I read this portion of the Bible, which is followed by the story of the lost sheep, my mind goes through a roller coaster of emotions. At first, I could visualize myself as one among the group of sinners. Secondly, I feel ashamed that my sins failed God to the extent that Jesus had to come down and sit with me. Grace is not depicted just on the cross but throughout the life of  Son of Man.

The world is full of weirdo's - people who love (God) with words, not by action, people who claim themselves as God or Godly, people who do not believe in their creator, and the ones who genuinely understand their helpless estate to save themselves. Have you ever thought of a state where our minds can be read by everyone just like how God can?  Will anyone on earth be able to hold their head up?

The good news is, we have a loving Father. He loves you with no strings attached, no matter how much ever you messed up or how much ever you are defiled. He welcomes you to experience His unmatchable love and joy. Are you ready to open the door of your heart to let Him inside?

SJ

Know Your Father : The LORD is My Shepherd

Psalm 23 is one of the most read and favorite chapters in the Bible which gives revival to anyone during their distressed period of life. It is great to be reminded that we have a LORD in authority who has a shepherd's heart -  a loving heart which is ready to lay down his life for his sheep. However, this psalm is just a mass of words unless one admits that he/she is a sheep.

Let me explain this with a cute real-life event in my personal life. My God-given little wonder of life, who has a plethora of passion in construction (mostly legos) spent around 2 hours of his time on building his lego set that we gifted for his birthday. In the end, he called both of his parents to show his masterpiece. It broke into small pieces of lego's as he was pushing a door of his construction. OOPS! He held his head down and told us that this had happened three times as he was building it. A customized lego piece was missing the set, and he thought it should be okay to move forward, trying his luck to build the set without the right piece which resulted in a mass of shattered pieces of legos.

God has intricately designed all of us in His image, a unique style, but with a hollow in our souls, which can be filled perfectly only by our Creator. We often overlook it and pass on or try to replace it with some other lego pieces in our lives like money, fame, beauty, accomplishments, exercise...the list goes on. All these material blessings are not a problem as such, but these by no means can substitute the contentment that He offers. It is as gibberish as my then 6 -years old's idea to build his lego set without the correct foundational piece.

Dear reader, whatever is the phase of your seeking, you have to realize that you are a sheep; prone to wander, incompetent to face danger and moronic to survive all by yourself. However, you have a Good Shepherd (John 10:11) who loves you despite all of your shortcomings. All you have to do is to open the door of your heart and let Him in. God bless!

SJ

Christian Contentment - II

We identify contentment mostly with financial possessions - houses, cars, cash balances, assets and net worth. But contentment need not solely refer to financial aspects alone. It can also include what a person is endowed physically with, such as God given external appearance, health, abilities, talents, etc.

It is almost always certain when we are in the company of people who are either more beautiful, or taller, or lighter in complexion, or with lovely hair, or have a great voice, it tends to cause in us a sense of subtle envy. If we let these characteristics dent our self-esteem, or direct our behavior, Christ is not in us. 

Imagine there is a person who is blind, or deaf or both. Will physical beauty or height or complexion or hair color or voice matter to this individual? Yet this person is made in the image of God, too. 

We have learnt from the Bible, that God made us in His own image (Gen 1:27), no matter how we look. As Christians, we know what we can see with our eyes are temporary and what we don't see is eternal! Christian Contentment distinguishes those things that are eternal from those things that are temporal.

What should be more important to us than all the physical attributes of oneself is to realize about our heart and soul (these are figuratives for love and inner self/conscience). Where is our heart and soul now and where is to going to be? And ask God to remedy any misgiving or misplacement. Because He will help you realize if there is a REASON for your misgiving, it is called SIN. You cannot afford to take the doctrine of sin lightly. It will turn out to be a cause for a costly (eternal) error waiting to happen, and life comes at you fast, sometimes really too fast! Lest, you overlook.  

-JD

HIGHER PLAN AND HIGHER LIFE IN CHRIST

Isaiah 55:8-9

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

In our Christian life several times we come across confusing states where our plan and God’s plan are not matching. There may be times we doubt about Gods plan and purpose in our life. Also when we face some unexpected struggles in our daily life, we start doubting the love of God towards us.

Above bible verses gives us much clear direction in confusing times. The above passage provide an assurance and guidance in such situations. I want to encourage you with couple of biblical truths which will give you hope and peace.

1.       God has a plan for you

God is having a perfect plan for each one of us. It also means God knows you personally. God didn’t create us without a plan or purpose in our life. God is watching over us. God never forgets his children.

Isaiah 49:15 says “can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

2. God's plans are much higher than our plans.

When we plan for ourselves, we plan it according to our abilities and resources available with us. But when God plans for us, He plans according to His Riches and His abilities. Bible says “now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”( Ephesians 3:20)

We always ask or imagine things within our reach. It is having a limitation. But Gods plan is much higher than this and beyond any limitation

3.      God's power always working within us to take us to the plan of God.

       Ephesians 3:20 says that God’s power is working within us. God has put His power

       inside us so that God can fulfill His plan in our life. God doesn’t need our abilities  

       for that. Instead we need to depend on His power (Holy Spirit) which is inside us to  

       take us to the Plan of God. This power of God is always working within us.

Dear Child of God, today someone is feeling depressed and sad as you are not able to move as per the plan you have, may be in your education or finance or in job. But God has opened some other ways. You are not much comfortable with that plan and you think that it is an inferior plan than what you have. Still you are in a confusing state. I want to assure you that the way God opened for you is the most suitable plan for you and you will never turn back and regret about it.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for knowing us and remembering us always. It is a great assurance to us. Lord we know that you have a plan for each one of us. It is not  possible for us to reach your plan with our abilities. But we know that your power is working within us to take us to that level. Help us to believe your plan beyond our Human understanding. In Jesus Name Amen

Blessings in Jesus Name.