āBlessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.ā Matt 5:11ESV
There is a very interesting series available online by Ray VanderLaan. Itās called āThe Dust Of The Rabbi.ā Iād never considered beforeā Jesus was a Rabbi of THE Rabbiās. His education was tremendous! At twelve, He held all of the Pharisees in rapt attention. Thatās big!
Jesus commanded respect because of His robe, tassels, and beard. He appeared as His station dictated. Educated men stood in line hoping to be His disciple. With His popularity, He couldāve called anyone into His discipleship. But no, Jesus chose fishermen, the most ordinary of men.Ā
Disciples trained thoroughly! Trainees did everything exactly like the Master Rabbiā even down to using the toilet. There was a ritual for, yes, even the restroom. Every ritual was accomplished per the Jewish laws. Folks, thatās dedication to discipleship.
We call ourselves disciples of Jesus. Do we follow Him memorizing theĀ scriptures? In holiness? In purity? In the simplicity the role of disciple demands? Doubtful!!!Ā
A truer description of the word disciple is described in Oswald Chambers book, āStudies In The Sermon On The Mountā pg. 17:
āāThe essential element in the life of a saint is simplicity, and Jesus Christ makes the motive of godliness gloriously simple. Be carefully careless about everything except your relationship to Me. The motive of a disciple is to be well pleasing to God. The true blessedness of the saint is in determinedly making and keeping God first. Herein lies the disproportion between Jesus Christās principles and all other moral teaching: Jesus bases everything on God-realization, while other teachers base everything on self-realization.
There is a difference between devotion to principles and devotion to a person. Jesus Christ never proclaimed a cause; He proclaimed personal devotion to Himselfā āfor My sake.ā Discipleship is based not on devotion to abstract ideals, but on devotion to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ; consequently the whole of the Christian life is stamped by originality. Whenever the Holy Spirit sees a chance to glorify Jesus Christ, He will take your whole personality and simply make it blaze and glow with personal passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus.āā
Jesusā disciples went from workersā the unlearned of Jewish society,ā to standing before thousands, quoting scriptures. They didnāt stutter, saying, āI think this is from Isaiah, they knew where the scripture originated. Acts 4:13TPTB āThe council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold courage of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training.ā
Two of my favorite preachers never finished Bible College, aka formal training. The passion of the Holy Spirit couldnāt be pent up long enough to finish. Instead, theyāve fed off of the spiritual tables of various godly men and women. Theyāve studied and scoured the scriptures for the truths, they heard in teachings and in their spirits. Preferring the meat of Godās Word to the tenets of a denomination, theyāre true disciplesā ever growing stronger in passionate devotion, simply blazing, and full of Jesusā originality. Because of their stance, they are reviled and ridiculed by many Christians leaders, and much of the world. Which qualifies them as disciples.
Do you and I qualify as disciples? Are we lovers of self or Jesus? Although a long way off, Iām closer than before. Where are you? Itās your choice. You choose.
PRAYER: Almighty God, We fall so short, forgive us I pray. Create in our hearts a blazing fire until weāre consumed by the stamp of originality, in Jesusā name I pray.Ā
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