Could Jesus Find a Disciple part 2 The description

"So, what exactly is the job that you are talking about?" you ask as you follow the man outside. This is supposing that you follow the man outside. Part 1 of this series actually looked at why you would probably not go outside to even find out. 

"It is to shepard my flock, and by my flock I mean all people of the Earth. I will give you the power to heal and cast out demons. You will be a teacher, and your job will be to lead by example. I want you to be virtuous, and to speak to all that you come in contact with about ways for them to live their lives better and become followers of me. If you listen to me, you will be able to do all of these things," the man replies.

You actually find yourself beginning to lean in with interest as He speaks. The thought that he might be a little egocentric if not narcissictic crosses your mind. That aside,he is a very powerful orator and you gravitate to the sound of his voice as he speaks. You are not sure that this guy could make changes that would allow you to be the speaker he is. And healing and casting out demons sounds pretty farfetched. You are really having some problems believing what this guy is saying.

He continues, "As for job perks, you will not get paid in money. You will not be given a vehicle. You will not even have an office that you will work in. No vacation time, no insurance and no expense card. You will get to travel........a lot. You will travel by foot. You will get fed............ if people are nice enough to feed you. You will sleep....... under the stars, unless someone puts you up for the night. What you will receive is the knowledge that you have helped others. You will also be granted everlasting life guaranteed!"

You no longer know what this guy is even talking about. "Everlasting life," you say, "why would I want everlasting life, this life sucks sometimes. I want to do my time on Earth and then die. I don't want to live forever, I just want to live to see my kids have grandkids and my grandkids get into college. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. At the rate we are going, this country will not even be here in 50 years, let alone eternity."

"I speak not of this world, but of eternal life in heaven. You may be cursed in this world, but you are fortunate to have the prospect of more to come. The finest day you have ever had on Earth will be as a nightmare in comparison to what you will experience in heaven. I tell you today that you should consider yourself blessed." 

With that, Jesus breaks into the beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(Matthew 5:3-10)

"What do you mean, blessed are the persecuted," you ask? "I don't want to be persecuted!"

"But you do want to be persecuted, it is part of the price you get to pay for following me," he says. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12)

"If this were an interview, it would now be done," you tell the man. "I do not want to waste any more of your time. I am both content and safe here. I may not be "saving the world" but I am appreciated. If I wanted to be persecuted and hated, I would have stayed with my first wife! Sounds like it is a lot more appealing to not follow you than to pay the price for following. I think that you need some help, and not the kind that I am qualified to give."

With that, you turn and walk back inside your comfy little office building shaking your head. You may never know that you could have made a choice that would have forever changed the course of not just your history, but the history of the world.

My point is this, JESUS WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO FIND A DISCIPLE IN THIS DAY AND AGE using the same method he once did. He may find disciples in undeveloped countries, but in most developed countries we have priorities that would supercede our ability to just quit our jobs and live as transients for the rest of our lives. We would not be willing to take that leap of faith. The good news is that we are not called to quit everything we are doing to follow Christ today. In fact, it is much easier to follow Christ today and to disciple than it was 2,000 years ago.

What we have to do is quite simple. We have to have a relationship with God. We show that we have a true relationship with God when we do two things. In Matthew 22 Jesus directed us to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind first and foremost. Secondly we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. That is what He said was most imporant for us to do! What does that mean? Tune in for the next blog, Could Jesus Find a Disciple part 3 Following Christ in the Modern Era to find out!

Holy Spirit

Today I was thinking about the Holy Spirit, which is a very regular thing for me. I have noticed the huge impact that the Holy Spirit has had in my life, and I cannot help but think on it all of the time. But today, I was thinking of how blessed we are in this day and age. When Jesus was here, He walked with the disciples. Can you believe actually getting to walk next to Jesus. I have some friends, that have visited the places that Jesus walked when the disciples were with Him, and they have always talked about how life changing that experience was.

That sounds amazing, walking beside Jesus. I would argue that we now have something even more powerful than Christ walking beside us. Something that is more life changing than walking the same paths that Christ walked, and we do not have to go anywhere to experience it. I am talking about the Holy Spirit and the amazing power that we are blessed with. It came when Christ left the Earth, and has been here ever since.

Jesus told the disciples that He had to leave so that the Holy Spirit could come.  He discusses this in John 14:16,17 – “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be IN YOU.”

This means that the Holy Spirit does not just walk beside us in our lives as Jesus did with the disciples, but instead lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit permeates our body and will guide us in all that we do, and can give us the power to do all that God has planned for us in our lives. Would you be a better basketball player if Michael Jordan coached you or if he took over your body and played through you? The last, of course. The same is true with the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked beside and coached, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and guides! 

Jesus speaks very highly of the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7,8 he says,  "But I tell you the truth:  It is FOR YOUR GOOD THAT I AM GOING AWAY. Unless I go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  When he comes he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...."

I would say absolutely no excuses can we truly make when it comes to sin for one reason. Jesus took our ability to make excuses away from us. In John 14:26 He says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will TEACH YOU ALL THINGS and will REMIND YOU OF EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE SAID to you.”

We were not only taught by the words of Christ and his disciples; we also have the Holy Spirit inside of us to remind us of what is right. The Holy Spirit is like a moral compass. We will know right from wrong, and we will know our sin is sin before we do it. Christ does not give us a way out. Will we all sin? Of course we will, sadly it is in our nature. But the Holy Spirit will guide us away from doing wrong and towards doing right!

We must rely on the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must learn to listen for its whispers in all that we do. If we can begin meditating that is a great start. Take solace in silence and prayer. That way we have a much better chance of hearing how the Holy Spirit would direct our lives. The Holy Spirit actually convicts us of right and wrong. To be convicted means to have a firmly held belief or opinion. That is what the Holy Spirit provides us with. Look at how it convicted the disciples:

The disciple that claimed to love Jesus the most denied that he was his disciple when confronted 3 times in Mark 14:66-72. He loved Christ, but yet could not stand up for the person that he loved out of fear. In fact, Mark 14:50 says, “everyone deserted Him and fled.” These are the same disciples that all agreed with Peter in Mark 14:31 in saying that they would never disown or desert Jesus. This is how the disciples behaved before the Holy Spirit was here.

After Jesus left and the Holy Spirit came down to dwell inside of the disciples, look at how strong and unwavering their faith was. Eight of the disciples were executed. They were martyrs when they died, which means that they were vocal about their belief in Christ, and never backed down when questioned. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit bolstered their spiritual strength and they became steadfast in their belief.

So never forget the power of the Holy Spirit. It will lead us into victory and allow us to accomplish things both great and small. It will mold us and make us more like Jesus every day. The Holy Spirit will guide our actions so we can be God's hands and feet every day. The Holy Spirit will show us how to be salt and light to all that we come in contact with, if only we listen and follow where we are led!