Disciples Follow Jesus

Good morning to our amazing online community!  I sincerely hope that you all are getting back into the swing of things now that the snow has melted and the wheels on the bus are turning again!

We had an AMAZING time in Bible Study last night.  I must say that Greater is the best church on this side of Heaven, and it’s always just so awesome to see God’s people come together and learn about His word.  It takes a hunger for God to push you to press your way to Bible Study, and it warms my heart to see our sons and daughters wanting more and more of God!

If you’ve never been to our Bible Study, please know that you are ALWAYS welcome!  We meet every Wednesday evening at 7:00 for one hour of power.  We learn, we share, we pray, and we allow God to minister to us and give us instructions for our lives.  It’s always a blessing to hear everyone’s perspective and to see how His hand is moving in all of our lives.  I never want to see anyone left behind – I want us all to grow together!

Having said that, even if you were not able to attend, the word that was released at Bible Study is something that I want to share with you because it was just that good!

We continued our discipleship series, and our focal scripture is Luke 14:25-35.  It reads:

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  ²⁸ “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?²⁹ For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, ³⁰ saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’  ³¹ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³² If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.  ³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵ It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.  

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

I’m going to give you a few of the key points that we discussed in Bible Study, and as always, I would LOVE to hear what God speaks to you concerning this passage of scripture!

• Jesus USED the disciples.  They did not live stagnant or dormant lifestyles.  They dropped everything to follow Jesus and they ACTIVELY followed Him.
• Jesus isn’t telling us to literally hate people – He is telling us that our love for Him should far outweigh our love for anyone or anything else.  We cannot be His disciples unless we love Him more than anything.
• We must change our mindset when it comes to the things of God.  We have to get to a place where NOTHING comes before the things of God.
• Some people followed Jesus for the wrong reason.
  • John 6:26 -> Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
• Matthew 16:24
  • Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
  • We have to put our personal agendas aside and be willing to give up our own desires in order to fulfill the desires that God has for our lives.
• People have rendezvous and affairs with Jesus just for the moment instead of having impactful encounters with Him.  When you encounter Jesus, your life changes and you will NEVER be the same.
• Disciples make things happen!
• If you want to grow stronger in the faith, Hebrews 6:12 tells us to “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Pastor Anthony gave us some awesome scriptures to build our faith, and he told us to be sure to meditate on them as often as possible:

• Mark 9:23 -> “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
  
• Mark 11:24 -> “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
  
• I John 5:14-15 -> “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

I pray that you have been blessed by this blog post!  Feel free to comment and let us know what God is speaking to you.  I would LOVE for you to be my special guest at Greater this Sunday morning at 10:00 as we continue our Walking Under An Open Heaven sermon series!  We love you!  Enjoy your day!  – Pastor Audrey