Daily Devotional For Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Well, the New Year is off and running and I pray you are doing well so far. When Jesus came here 2,024 years ago, He called 12 men to be His disciples. They spend 24/7 for 3 years with Jesus. Imagine all the conversations they had; all the experiences they shared together; and all the life changing moments that eventually turned them into committed discipels of Jesus Christ. Look at John 20:30-31, "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; (31) but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name" (ESV). John says He wrote His Gospel so that people would believe and receive Jesus Christ into their lives as a result of his testimony about Jesus. 

Then in John 21:25, John writes this, "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (ESV). John says in those 3 years with Jesus, if he tried to write down everything he heard and experienced, the world itself could not contain all the books it would take. That is God for you. He is too big to be contained in anything. Don't you wish John had tried? I do. The disciple John felt his testimonry and Gospel would be enough to convince us of Who Jesus was and is so that we would commit our lives to Him.

John was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He was probably the youngest and we learn from his life as well as the other disciples' lives, what a disciple is and does.

1. First, when we look at the New Testament word used for disciple, that Greek New Testament wod is [μαθητής, mathetes]. This word  means “one who sits of the feet of.” In those days, a teacher would have followers and they would sit on the ground or floor around his feet and listen from the master teacher.  Look at Matthew 4:18-22, "While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (19) And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (20) Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. (21) And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. (22) Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him" (ESV).
2. Second, the New Testament word translated as "disciple" referred to those followers who were committed to learning, not just listening, from their teacher, master or rabbi,. They were also called apostles. Look at Matthew 10:2-4, "The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; (3) Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; (4) Simon the Zealot,[b] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him" (ESV).
3. Third, Jesus oftent referred to His disciples as anyone who was willing to obey Him, were willing to pay the price and who  lived up to His requirements to be His disciple. Look at Luke 14:26-33, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (27) Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. (28) For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (29) Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, (30) saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ (31) Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? (32) And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (33) So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple" (ESV).

When we look at the New Testament , the most common  word used to refer to the followers of Jesus Christ is the word disciple. Anyone who desires to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, must be willing to make Jesus Christ Lord of their lives in three major areas: their personhood, their purpose in life and their possessions. Lordship is the vital key and sustaining bond of the relationship to anyone who wishes to be a disciple. This past Sunday, Pastor Hunter talked about abiding in Christ. The number one verse used for this is John 15:5, where Jesus says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (ESV).

The point Jesus is making in John 15:5 is that if we do not abide in Him, we cannot do anything on our own. NOTHING! NO-THING! Yet, so many Christians attempt to do so without abiding in Christ and live lives of conflict, failure and enslavement to sin and themselves. The key to discipleship is not attending church. It is not tithing to the church. It is not serving in a position in the church. The key to discipleship is obedience to Christ. This obedience, if done out of love, produces fruit and success. Back in the mid 1980s, I went through a discipleship ministry called MasterLife, published then by what was called the Baptist Sunday School Board, but has been renamed today as LifeWay. I have taught it so much I practically know it by heart. Here are some verses from it that I typically share with people:

• John 15:10, Jesus said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love" (ESV).
• John 14:21, Jesus said, "Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (ESV).
• John 13:34-35,  Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (35) By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (ESV).
• John 13:17, Jesus said, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (ESV).

In order to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ, you must know His commandments and teachings. To do that, you must be in His Word daily -- the Bible. Jesus says this in Matthew 7:24-27, “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (ESV).

The proof we love Jesus is that we obey Him, abide in Him  and fulfill His purpose for our lives. None of us are perfect and we slip into sin at times by our own choosing. When Jesus called His twelve disciples, He called them to drop whateve they were doing at time -- working, resting, conversing --and come and follow Him. Most of Jesus' disciples were fishermen. We know one was a tax collector. There will be times when Christ calls us to do something that seems strange, or odd or maybe even embarrassing. There is the story in Matthew 17, where Jesus told Peter to go catch a fish. Open he caught the finsh, then open its mouth where he would find a coin and then take that coin to pay their taxes. 

Now we are not left empty-handed here. Jesus provides His disciples some great resources to help them follow Him and obey Him. One is we can pray to Him. A second one is His holy Word -- the Bible. A third one is the indwellig presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Fourth, the church -- other fellow disciples to help encourage us and hold us accountable. So, here are some questions for you to consider:

1. How frequent do you "sit at the feet of" Jesus Christ to learn from Him through the Bible, Bible study and the Holy Spirit?
2. How committed are you to learn from Jesus Christ? Is it conce a week in a church service? Every day through a personal quiet time? If you were taken to trial and charged with being a disciple of Jesus Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you of the charge?
3. How committed are you to obeying Jesus Christ? Oh, you may desire to do so, but as you look over your life, what grade would you  give yourself for your obedience and why? What grade would Jesus give you and why?

As Pastor Hunter preached to us last Sunday, the Greek New Testament word for "abid" is [μένω, meno],  means "to remain in a place, to stay and to tarry." You do not leave. You do not abandon ship. You do not go AWOL.  You stay permanently. Does this describe you?

Scripture To Meditate On: John 15:4-5, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (5) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: "Dear Jesus, help me to abide in You. Help me to remain in You. Jesus, I do not want to live a defeated life. I do not want to be at the whim and mercy of any temptation or struggle. I want You producing Your fruit in my life so that id draws others to You. I want to love You. Obey You, obey You, and honor You with my life. Help me to do that as I pledge to abide in You. In Jesus' name, Amen!"