Archive for the ‘Growing At Gateway’ Category
Discipleship Basics
Jesus calls us to be his disciples and this can be thought of in three broad categories:
Revelation: we see the Lord and know that he is our king and our savior.
Consecration: we confess our desire to follow him and embrace his commands.
Imitation: as he was, we are to be and so we run after a life of transformation so that we become like him.
Jesus calls us to follow him on the Way! This means that we inculcate his commands into daily living and that his mission becomes our mission.
Open Eyes, Open Ears, Captured Lives
Our eyes have been opened to see the surpassing greatness of Jesus. Our ears have been opened to hear the magnitude of Jesus’ invitation. Our lives have been captured by the beauty of Jesus’ commands. These ideas were the basis of Peter’s greeting in his first letter:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:3-10
When we choose to be Jesus’ disciples we are given a new birth and enter into His family. This is a constant source of joy in our lives, it gives us hope in the face of every circumstance, and it energizes us as we serve to build his Kingdom.
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