{"id":1698,"date":"2020-05-06T08:39:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T14:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=1698"},"modified":"2020-05-06T08:44:10","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T14:44:10","slug":"thoughts-from-the-bible-05-06-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=1698","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from The Bible: – 05\/06\/20"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAre You A Disciple Of Jesus?\u201d<\/strong>
\nby Terry Broome<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age\u201d (Mt 28:18-20).<\/p>\n

The above statement was made by Jesus to His apostles shortly before He ascended to heaven. It\u2019s commonly called \u201cThe Great Commission.\u201d Notice the main thought of Jesus\u2019 command: \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations…\u201d To \u201cmake disciples,\u201d therefore, is the GOAL of evangelizing the world for Christ.<\/p>\n

Are you a disciple of Jesus? More than likely you believe in Jesus. You might even be one who attends church services regularly — But is that what it means to be His disciple? Take a closer look at what is involved in being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The word \u201cdisciple\u201d literally means A LEARNER. According to Vine\u2019s Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, it denotes \u201cone who follows another\u2019s teaching.\u201d But a disciple was not only a learner, he was also AN ADHERENT to the teachings of Christ. For this reason disciples are often spoken of as IMITATORS of their teachers. Jesus gives us this picture in Luke 6:40. To be Christ\u2019s disciple, then, is to strive to be like Him!<\/p>\n

According to the apostle Paul, this coincides with God\u2019s goal in the redemption of mankind, that they be conformed to the image of His Son – Romans 8:29. Do you have a strong desire to follow Jesus and become like Him? Unless you do, it cannot be said that you are truly His disciple!<\/p>\n

A disciple is also one who ABIDES IN JESUS\u2019 WORDS – John 8:31. This would imply being a diligent student of the teachings of Christ. It also requires one to be a \u201cdoer\u201d of the Word – Matt. 7:21-27; James 1:21-25. In view of this, a true disciple would not fail to study the Bible diligently, nor would he willingly refrain from opportunities to study with others (e.g., Bible classes, church services, special gatherings).<\/p>\n

A Disciple is also one who LOVES THE BRETHREN \u2013 John 13:34-35 \u2013 with a love patterned after the love of Jesus (\u201cas I have loved you\u201d). This is a love that is visible to the world (\u201cby this all will know\u201d). Therefore, a true disciple would make every effort to get to know his brethren and take advantage of occasions to encourage and grow closer to them.<\/p>\n

A disciple is, furthermore, ONE WHO BEARS MUCH FRUIT – John 15:8. Notice the word \u201cmuch.\u201d Jesus is not talking about an occasional good deed, but a lifestyle which prompts people to glorify God! – Matt. 5:16. This is so important as evidenced by the fact that failure to bear much fruit will result in being severed from Christ – John 15:1-2.<\/p>\n

The point should be clear: to be a disciple of Jesus Christ means more than being just a casual church member. It requires COMMITMENT, especially in regards to: The teachings of Christ, the love of brethren, and bearing fruit to the glory of God. This kind of commitment involves a \u201chigh cost\u201d of discipleship as demanded by Jesus in Luke 14:25-33. This kind of \u201chigh cost\u201d of discipleship demanded by Jesus caused many people to turn away from following Him. But Jesus wasn\u2019t trying to attract large crowds, He wanted disciples! Is the cost worth it? I believe so when we consider the rewards of such discipleship.<\/p>\n

The author can be reached for comments at 256-574-2489.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAre You A Disciple Of Jesus?\u201d by Terry Broome \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1698"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1703,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698\/revisions\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}