Disowning the Master

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” (Lk.22:54-56)

There are times in the life of every Christian when he/she is tempted, tried and pulled apart by circumstances. During these dark hours, our closeness to the Savior alone can keep us from disowning Him.

Following at a distance

Peter was grieved and terrified at the arrest of Jesus. Those were moments of confusion. Everyone ran to safety. Peter followed at a distance.

Following Jesus at a ’safe’ distance will be more disastrous than following Him closely. When we try to protect ourselves, we land in danger. If we lose our lives for His sake we will save it, said Jesus.

Warmth of the World

The fire place was an ideal one to keep himself warm while watching the events. But the company among which you seek this warmth can be the wrong one. There is the challenge of being identified and picked out as a follower of the Lord Jesus. That could be the worse place for being a witness for the Master.

First Love

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple...” (Lk.14:26-27)

Following Jesus is costly though the salvation He gives you is free. That was why the large crowds that were around Him often dropped out by the time He reached Calvary.

No Greater Love

There cannot be anything or anyone holding a better place in your life than Jesus. Your love for Him should be your passion and goal. Nothing should match it nor equal it, be it your spouse, children, parents, friends or members of family. Unless you are prepared to love Him even at the expense of all others-people and things- you cannot be His disciple.

‘Hate’ here is in comparison with the love for Jesus. The intensity of your love for Jesus should make all other loves look like hatred or if you are asked to make a choice between Jesus and anyone else, your obvious choice would be to choose against your own people.

No Lesser Sacrifice

You need to be willing to relinquish anything that can come in the way of your loving the Lord Jesus Christ-your personal rights, possessions, relationships, anything for that matter. These crosses you have to carry as you follow Him.

Jesus set aside the glories of heaven and took up the humiliating death on the cross by His own will. His cross was His choice for the salvation of mankind. Your cross is whatever you lay down for the sake of the Master and the after effects of it, may it be humiliation, persecution, financial loss, whatever.

Disciple and the Discipler

“”Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher…. “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers” (Lk.6:39-40; 43-44).

Discipleship is the process in which one disciplines his/her life to be a good/Godly person who can bear good fruit. Every Christian is called to a process of discipleship-a disciple first and then a discipler or disciple builder.

Like begets the like

This is a natural principle. Its true in the case of discipling as well. A disciple grows to be like his/her teacher or mentor.

Leader Leads the Way

A discipler is one who knows what he is talking about. He himself should be a disciple of the Lord first. If he is blind he will fall in the gutter along with his disciple.

A discipler should live a disciplined life and set an example for the disciple. He must clear the log in his own eye before he can clean the dust in his disciple’s eye. He should not be a hypocrite.

A discipler should build on the solid foundation that is Jesus and His Word. He should guide the disciple to do the same, to see not just good fruits, but lasting fruits.

Someone said,

“A Leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.”

Rules of the Kingdom

““If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.” (Lk.6:32-34)

The rules of the Kingdom of God where unlike that of any other. All the kingdoms, governments, religions and philosophies that human history has seen, were the exercise of human energies in pursuit of the ideal situation. Their rules were imperfect and biased, subject to change. But the rules Jesus laid down were never to change.

Don’t follow the crowd follow the King

The King sets the rules of His kingdom and the subjects just follow. When the trend is to follow the crowd we need to consciously follow the King. Offenders are traitors though they live inside the kingdom territory, and they will face judgement. We need supernatural assistance to keep the rules of the kingdom. Keep looking at the King who is leading the way and keep following.

Don’t try to grab give away

When you are tempted to hate, curse or avenge, remember, you are called to be radical, a trail blazer, to salt the earth and light the world. Be willing to give away, even your rights. We are not to be commoners for we are princes and princesses. We are to follow the example of our Father, the eternal King.

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Lk.6:35-36).

Someone said,

To do evil for good is devilish, to do evil for evil is beastly, to do good for good is normal, to do good for evil is divine.

The Master’s Strategy

“Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort….” (Lk.6:22-24)

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost human race, men and women of all generations. He made the provision for it through His substitutionary death on the cross, his resurrection and ascension. He achieved this in less than two months time-with a passion week of agony, his body in the grave for a couple of days and about fifty days of post resurrection appearances etc. before His ascension. This was probably less than five percent (5%) of the three and a half human years He spent on the earth. What was He doing 95% of His time?

The Strategy of the Kingdom

Discipleship was the Master’s strategy for the Kingdom. He could have just announced from heaven the offer of salvation. He could have used the angels to proclaim the message. He could have just commanded everyone into the Kingdom. But He entrusted it to a bunch of ordinary folks, low profile evangelists.

It was more of a one-on-one kind of approach, building one brick at a time. There was no mass appeal. It requires dedicated effort, quality time.

It was purely with the power ‘from above’ and not according to human wisdom and intelligence. Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before choosing the twelve on whom He would spend the rest of the time.

The same old silly-looking strategy is still the best way to spearhead God’s kingdom on earth. It works even when everything else fail.

The Attitudes in the Kingdom

What to expect in the process was outlined by the Master. This was the values of the Kingdom. Poor, hungry for righteousness, weeping, ostracised, insulted, falsely accused, and finally possessing the kingdom with a reversal of the experiences.

What are the characteristics of the kingdom today? What is the attitude of the kindgom-builders of today?

Cost of Discipleship

“”Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.” (Lk.5:27, 28)

Many want to follow Jesus but are not willing to pay the price. The first disciples of Jesus were convinced that Jesus was the Savior whom they had been waiting for. So they were willing to pay the price for following Him.

Reversal of Priorities

Levi was in a lucrative profession that made him rich and politically influential. He was collecting taxes for the foreign government extracting his own countrymen. For the same reason He was considered a traitor, an outcast and sinner by his fellow Jews. When Jesus walked into his office and called Levi to follow Him, it meant for Levi a total reversal of his priorities, setting aside his life’s ambitions and earthly passions to follow Jesus the rest of his life. It was a call to sacrifice his order of priorities and to accept the priorities that Jesus would set for his life.

Even the fishermen, when they were called, left what was precious to them-their boats and nets-to follow the Master (Lk.5:1-11)

Renewal from Inside Out

The call to discipleship is a call for total surrender to the Masters power to transform us. The Master will take us and reshape us for His purpose. A disciple must be willing to go through this process like clay at the hands of the potter. He can not fill the old wine-skins with the new wine.