To Be His Disciple

Luke 14:26-27 (Amplified)
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters--[yes] and even his own life also--he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:33 (Amplified)
So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple.

I've been reading some articles about discipleship. D.T. Lancaster has written a really good article titled, The Great Omission: Raising Up Disciples, which can be read at Beth Immanuel>Study>click on the article title. This morning I've been reading articles from Perfect Word Ministries in their MessianicLife archives. The very first issue of the MessianicLife magazine contains an article titled, What Is A Disciple? Very thought-provoking and challenging! Here are a couple of quotes from that article that I highlighted:

"A disciple is more than someone who believes--a disciple puts actions to his convictions and allows his life to be transformed according to the teaching and pattern of His Master."

"Yeshua never taught His diciples to simply believe that He was the Son of God. He never taught them to make mental assent to the truth, and they would be saved. When Yeshua exhorted His followers to believe, He was calling them to a life of active faith--the life of a disciple."

"Yeshua gives us at least three indicators that one is a disciple.
1. "...abide in My word..." (John 8:31)
2. "...have love one to another." (John 13:35)
3. "...bear much fruit..." (John 15:8)
Each one of these requires diligence and faithfulness on the part of the disciple, but not without total reliance upon the Master. These characteristics come with consistent commitment, not merely to the concepts, but to the Teacher Himself."

"A disciple is not just who we are, it's what we do. We have to be active, deliberate and intentional in both being and making disciples."

"A disciple is not one who merely sits at the feet of his Master listening to and enjoying all the wonderful insights and truths he has to offer. Disciples are not just students--they are teachers. A disciple without a teacher is not a disciple--he is an individual. A disciple without students is not a disciple--he is a consumer."

"Being a disciple of Yeshua is not just following Him, but stopping following other things. It means separation from the world, denouncing of sin and worldliness, turning from what we think we want and toward what ADONAI knows is best for us to have. The choice is clearly ours. If we live by faith with commitment and dedication to the Master, acting upon what we have learned, we ourselves will be built up. We will be able to pass the living truth on to another generation."

So, more than a follower, more than having mental assent that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Savior from the penalty for my sins, but a do-er of His Word, a do-er of His ways. It comes back to 1 John 2:6: "Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself."

James 1:21-25 (Amplified) "So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).

Trust and Obey!