Beginning another journey

God has been laying so many things on my heart lately. Pretty sure I should be journaling more often in order to remember everything that He has been teaching me. One of these life lessons has been that of another journey, the journey of creating a better understanding of discipleship. What does it mean and what does it look like in my life? How do I practically apply it?

To be a disciple means to be a pupil or learner. A disciple is intentional about what he/she is studying. Discipleship then is the process of learning about the teachings of another, internalizing them and then acting upon them.

via

Recently I was at a bible study where we studied Mark 8. Several of these verses and thoughts have challenged me in the weeks since then. In verse 33, Jesus rebukes Peter and says to him,
"...You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Oh, this went straight to my heart. Far too often, I have my focus on earthly things that hold no eternal value. My desire is that I would instead savor the things of God.

The following verses, 34-35, are familiar ones:
"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.'"

I'll be honest and admit upfront that I often struggle with denying myself. As humans, placing ourselves first comes naturally. Yet our Lord desires that we would give up that right. I like the way that Greg Laurie states it-
"No, Jesus did not say that we need to love ourselves (we already do that). He told us to deny ourselves."
Denying our desires and plans may not feel natural, but doing so and taking up His cross is a daily choice we must choose to make.
"God wants us to be the vessel through which He can affect people on a daily basis. How do we respond as compassion moves us?"
I pray I could be more intentional in these areas.

I found this great article on discipleship if you'd like to do some further reading. From it, I found the following quotes to ponder::

"Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have." -Billy Graham

"In every Christian's heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Man's soul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility." -A.W. Tozer

"The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or you see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether."-C.S. Lewis

More than likely, you'll be hearing more about the journey of discipleship that God has been continuing to take me on. Blessings, my friends!