A REAL Disciple of Jesus

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”      Matthew 22:37-40 (WEB)

They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”        John 6:28-29 (WEB)

I was away from home most of Sunday and that away time included about seven hours in the car. I enjoy the time that my husband and I have in traveling like that because we have some wonderful conversations.

A subject very much in my heart is discipleship. After a person has heard the Good News of Jesus and has made the commitment to follow Jesus – what then? Or maybe they always knew about Jesus but there is a desire in their heart to learn more. In this time they may be looking for that peace that is beyond their understanding and the assurance and hope that can cover every aspect of their life.

I was discussing with Henry about the need for discipleship but what was in my heart was how Jesus connected with people without the requirement that they come to His classes cleaned up first! I would like to explore – for our thoughts (even discussion if you feel led to write me back!) – explore some of the people that Jesus met and forever changed! But what kind of change took place?

I wanted to start with the Scriptures from Matthew and John in which Jesus says that God’s greatest commands were to love Him, love my neighbor, and love myself. EVERYTHING else came after that. And He said that if I want to do God’s work – believe in Jesus – all the other ‘work’ comes after that.

Give that some thought today and how those two statements from Jesus line up with your personal expectations of yourself to be Jesus’ disciple and the expectations of those who are in your church or fellowship on what a real disciple of Jesus is.