Tag Archives: discipleship

November 5, 2025 · 5:53 AM

The Cost Of Discipleship

In one of my small groups we are talking about personal growth so we can become better husbands and fathers. The first question I ask is, “Are you committed to growth?” We then look for two areas to grow in over the next few weeks. Most of us want growth, but we don’t want to make changes in order to achieve it. We often have to let go of habits that are holding us back. We have to weigh what is more important to us: the things we are holding on to or the growth we want to see. It’s usually something that’s comfortable to us or makes our life comfortable that holds us back and causes us to fight change and growth.

In Luke 18, a rich, young ruler approached Jesus and asked what he needed to do to inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus recited some Old Testament commandments, and the guy said he had followed them all his life. “‘Ah,’ Jesus said, ‘there’s still one thing you’re missing in your life.’ ‘What is that?’ asked the man. ‘You must go and sell everything you own and give all the proceeds to the poor so you will have eternal treasures. Then come and follow me’” (TPT). Jesus was testing him to show him what was competing for first place in his life. He wanted what Jesus offered, but he wasn’t willing to make Jesus number one in his life. The man walked away sad because he wasn’t willing to let go of comfort for discipleship.

In Mark 8:34 Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]” (AMP). What are you holding on to that’s holding you back? Are you committed to being a disciple of Christ? Then we must make sure He is number one in our life and be willing to make whatever changes He asks us to. Discipleship is about conforming your life to His way of living. It’s not conforming His teachings to your way of life. The cost of discipleship is high and that’s why many walk away sad just like the rich young ruler.

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August 19, 2025 · 5:30 AM

The Process Of Growth

The Chinese Bamboo tree is one of the most incredible trees on the planet. When a farmer plants the seeds in the ground, waters and fertilizes them every day, nothing happens. He can keep tending to the soil for a year and nothing will happen. If he keeps going, years two, three and four will pass to with nothing shooting up from the ground. Then in the fifth year, suddenly the stalks rise up to 90’ in the air in just six weeks time. For five years, the farmer must trust that roots are forming underground while he does the preparation above ground. His faithfulness is rewarded in “sudden growth” that actually has been going on for five years where he couldn’t see.

This the same growth process God uses in our lives. We see it many times in Scripture. Take David for example. He was a young shepherd boy around 16 years old when he was anointed King. It wasn’t until he was 30 that he actually became king. During those 14 years or so he faced giants, served in Saul’s court, fled for his life, lived in caves and in foreign lands as well as became the leader of a group of outcasts. David wasn’t ready for the coronation at 16 so God sent him through a growth process that was masked in intense trials. One day his men were about to turn on him, and the next he became king suddenly. What seemed like a dark period of his life was actually roots of faith growing in the unseen to prepare him for what was next.

Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in” (AMP). If you’ve been in an intense season of trials or you have been praying over a situation for what seems like an eternity, don’t give up. God is working in the unseen. At the right time, those seeds will sprout and come shooting out of the ground. If you’re waiting on God to fulfill his promise, don’t stop being faithful in your preparation. It can often feel like nothing is happening or that God is slow concerning His promises, but nothing could be further from the truth. God’s promises are on the other side of His processes.

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July 24, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Seeking More

One of a kid’s favorite games is hide and seek. Since we had some kids over recently, we encouraged them to play inside. The last one caught got to be it each time. On one occasion, the youngest player got to be it. After a few minutes of trying, she couldn’t find anyone. She was ready to quit. We encouraged her by setting a timer, offering hints and walking with her. She found no one. After the timer was up, we had her call out, “Marco!” The older kids responded, “Polo!” She began seeking again and was able to find them. I realized at that moment that each person has a different ability and threshold for seeking.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him” (TPT). Each of us are called to continually seek Him even after we’ve found Him. There are greater depths of Him to know beyond what we find on the surface at salvation. He’s not asking us just to find Him. We’re to know Him as well. We can’t just give up or stop seeking Him after salvation. We need to seek the different aspects of who He is because we’re going to need them as we go through life.

Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek more of his strength! Seek more of him! Let’s always be seeking the light of his face.” Seeking more of who God is should be a daily discipline for believers. Our personal revival starts with seeking these different aspects of who He is. When we go through dry times in our relationship with Him, the root cause in a lot of cases is that we have quit seeking Him. He wants to be found. He wants to reveal more if Himself to you, but you must move and seek Him. We have a promise in James 4:8 that says if we will draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. Seeking Him is the pathway to the closeness we’re looking for.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word. 

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July 21, 2025 · 4:30 AM

Purposefully Planted

I grew up having watermelon seed spitting contests with my friends. These days you have to look hard to find a watermelon with seeds in it. There’s a lot of seedless fruit these days in the produce section. While it’s convenient to eat, I can’t help but think about we’ve learned to circumvent God’s process for growth and reproduction. Seedless fruits are created through processes where fertilization occurs, but the seeds to reproduce the fruit don’t mature. It produces fruit that’s easy to consume, but lacks generational continuance.

I love the story of the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus asked her for a drink to open the conversation and then let her know that He had living water to satisfy her spiritual thirst. Verses 28-30 say, “Then the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and began telling the people, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done! Can this be the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)?” So the people left the city and were coming to Him” (AMP). Once she experienced salvation, she ran into the city spreading seeds about Jesus. The people came out to the well and believed in Jesus as well.

In John 15:16 Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting.” You have been planted right where you are to plant seeds and bear fruit that remains. God isn’t looking for superficial results from your life where it’s busy with activity but doesn’t plant seeds in others. When we fail to share our faith, we’re just like a seedless watermelon. He’s purposefully planted you so you can multiply the kingdom the way the woman at the well did.

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July 17, 2025 · 5:30 AM

Your Holy Pursuit

Today’s world has us concerned mainly with our output. We measure what’s important to us. That could be our bank account, our income, our work, our busyness, etc. We’ve learned to value ourselves by our output. In this pursuit of value, we’ve overlooked our inputs. When do you feel most mentally alert? When are you feeling your best physically? When do you feel closest to God? Those are tough questions that we rarely give any thought to, but if you will think about them, you’ll notice patterns and behaviors that increase those feelings. Output activities drain you mentally, physically and spiritually, but input activities increase your energy in those areas. As I mentioned, we’ve become so focused on outputs that many of us feel tired, mentally drained and far from God.

Jesus constantly took time to get alone with God in prayer. That was His method of input or recharging Himself. All day long He would be doing output things like preaching, teaching, healing and forgiving. To make sure He had enough in the tank each day, He woukd withdraws to secluded places. David found his spiritual inputs in God’s Word and in worship. If you’ve ever read Psalm 119, you know it’s all how much He loved God’s Word. For the leaders of the Early Church, prayer was their input. In Acts 6, they appointed seven men to oversee some of the administrative side of the church so that they could give their full attention to prayer and the Word of God. So I’ll ask you again, what are your spiritual inputs? Have you been too focused on your outputs?

In Paul’s last letter before he was martyred, he wrote final instructions to Timothy on how to conduct himself. Part of 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Whatever builds up your faith and deepens your love must become your holy pursuit” (TPT). Your spiritual inputs must become your holy pursuit. They must take precedence in your life. While this world, and even the Church, is concerned with your outputs, God wants us to be focused on our inputs. An empty vessel will have nothing to pour out. An empty vessel simply goes through the motions. Yet, it’s the empty vessel who will say, “Lord, didn’t I do all these things (outputs) in your name?” And Jesus will reply, “Depart from me. I never knew you (you never took the time to know me (inputs)).” Outputs are important, but inputs need to be our holy pursuit.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word. 

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July 26, 2024 · 4:42 AM

Truly Following Jesus

When I was a kid, we followed trends sets by TV and movie stars. I remember vice jackets, pastels and sock ties being a thing. I also remember saying, “I pity the fool” a lot. Today we follow influencers who tell us things to buy that we never knew we needed. When we follow people, we usually try to become like them. That’s why Jesus sent out the call, “Follow me.” He was inviting the disciples and us to become more like Him by learning how to live His way. If someone were to look at your life to see how you talk, how you dress, how you behave, etc., who would they say you follow? Does your life reflect that you’re following Jesus or people? Jesus’ invitation wasn’t to follow Him geographically. It was to learn the meaning of Scriptures and the lifestyle they require. A disciple is a student who takes the time to study, learn and change.

Here are some Bible verses on following Jesus:

1. And He said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:19 AMP

2. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me.

John 10:27-28 GNT

3. If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me [without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven’s glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

John 12:26 AMP

4. Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

John 8:12 GNT

5. And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Luke 9:23 ESV

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June 13, 2024 · 5:02 AM

Listening To His Voice

Several years ago I read a book called “While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks” by Dr. Timothy Laniak. The author lived with nomadic shepherds in the Middle East in order to gain a greater understanding of what Biblical shepherding was all about. In one chapter he discussed the position of the shepherd in relation to the sheep. There are times when the shepherd is out front leading them, and other times when he’s behind them pushing them forward. When the sheep are an open area, the shepherd is out front. The sheep follow for protection and provision. When they’re traveling through a low visibility area, the shepherd will go behind the sheep to keep them moving. The ones in front feel the pressure of the movement to move forward.

In John 10, Jesus was using shepherds to teach the people about Himself in a manner they could relate to. He called Himself the Good Shepherd. He talked about being the gate as the shepherd. They would have understood the shepherds put the sheep in a pin at night and the shepherd sleeps in the doorway to protect them. He talked about how when dangers come, hired hands run, but the shepherd stays. He then discussed how the sheep know His voice and listen when it’s time to leave the pen. Verse 4 says, “When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call” (AMP).

Is Jesus out front leading you or is He pushing you from behind right now? Are you listening to His voice as He guides you? There are a lot of competing voices out there trying to get your attention. Jesus said His sheep know His voice and listen to Him. They know Him and He knows them (verse 27). We must be tuned into His voice each day in order to go where He leads. Whether you have low or high visibility right now for your direction, take time each day to be still and quiet your mind. Pray, “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.” Then wait in silence until you hear Him. He’s speaking to you constantly, trying to lead you, but you must listen for His voice and recognize His call. The more you sit quietly in His presence, the more you will hear Him speak to you.

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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June 11, 2024 · 5:36 AM

The Way

Have you ever heard someone say, “That’s their way of life”? When we say something like that, we’re referring to their culture, which encapsulates their lifestyle, Think about the different ways of life for people groups. The Amish way of life is without modern conveniences. There are still shepherds in the Middle East who live a nomadic lifestyle roaming between countries. Some cultures elevate social harmony, whereas other celebrate an individualistic approach. When we talk about the culture of a group, we’re usually referring to a way of living that defines them. It’s no coincidence that in Acts 9, before followers of Jesus were called “Christians”, they were called “followers of The Way.” The Early Church didn’t just accept Jesus into their heart. Their entire lifestyle and way of living was changed when they did so much so that people recognized it.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate because the wide gate and broad path is the way that leads to destruction—nearly everyone chooses that crowded road! The narrow gate and the difficult way leads to eternal life—so few even find it!” (TPT) Notice how there are two ways to live or choose from. Most people choose the broad way of living that goes along with the culture of the world. However, He started off by telling us to choose the narrow way that leads to life. He goes on to say that not everyone who says to Him “Lord, Lord” will enter Heaven. There will be those who took His name, but didn’t live the way He called us to. They never left the broad way and applied His teachings to their life. It’s a narrow way we must live that is often in contradiction to our culture.

Isaiah 35:8 says, “There will be a highway of holiness called the Sacred Way. The impure will not be permitted on this road, but it will be accessible to God’s people. And not even fools will lose their way.” When we accept Jesus, we’re invited to this highway of holiness. We put on the righteousness of Jesus that changes how we think and live from the inside out. For some, it’s an instantaneous change. For others, we go through a process of sanctification as we change. When the Holy Spirit enters our life,what was once acceptable to us on the broad way, will no longer be acceptable. How we live, how we think and how we talk begins to be noticeably different by others. This Sacred Way is what you and I are called to walk on throughout this life and to help others find it. Are you walking on the narrow way or the broad way?

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April 23, 2024 · 5:41 AM

Growth And Change

Have you ever thought about getting better in an area of your life that you wanted to improve in? Most of us have. We want to see growth in our relationship with God, a better position in our company or to learn a new skill. There’s something in us that isn’t satisfied with where we are and it drives us to grow. What we resist is change though. We don’t like the uncertainty, the the different schedule, the loss of control or the uncomfortableness that it brings. However, you can’t have one without the other. Anytime you grow, there is going to be change. Anytime there is change, it forces you to grow. Sometimes we seek growth or change, and other times it it pushed on us by our circumstances.

Think of Joseph who was a teenager when his dad gave him a colorful coat and God gave him a dream. His brothers brought change into his life by selling him as a slave. Being thrown into another culture, falsely accused and forgotten in prison brought change and growth into his life. God used that time to help him become the person who could save his family and the nation. While he had change thrust on him, Peter, I believe sought to grow after Jesus restored him. He didn’t want to be the person who denied his savior anymore. He made changes in his thinking and actions that caused him to become the leader of the Early Church. The guy who was quick to pull out his sword became one who stood before thousands proclaiming his faith boldly. Growth made that possible.

God desires growth and change in all of us. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart” (GNT). Have you been resisting the growth and change in your life that He wants? A new heart and a new mind are what He offers us to help us become more like Him. Salvation brings about new life for us. Discipleship brings about change in how we live and think. God is calling you to another level of intimacy with Him. He’s stretching you to grow you so He can put you in a new place. Don’t resist the growth and change He has for your life. Embrace it. You can’t fulfill your calling and purpose without these two things constantly happening in your life.

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March 18, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Absurd Faith

There is a church in Cairo, Egypt I used to visit when I lived there. They told me the story of a member of their church who stood up to the Ottoman’s as they were conquering Egypt. He was a man of great faith whom they nicknamed the Blind Shoemaker. They called him that because He saw a woman and began to lusted after her. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus said, “If your right eye seduces you to fall into sin, then go blind in your right eye! For you’re better off losing sight in one eye than to have your whole body thrown into hell” (TPT). He took that Scripture quite literally and blinded himself. He didn’t just take on eye out, he took both out. I remember almost laughing at the absurdity of that story when I heard it. As I’ve grown and my faith has deepened, I admire his faith now.

I’m in Rome today as I write this. As we were walking through the streets, we began to talk about the Apostle Paul and Peter who once were here. Paul was beheaded here in this city because of his faith. Peter was crucified because he refused to quit sharing his faith. One by one, when you look up the disciples and other members of the early Church, you find that they were tortured for their faith. Being dipped in boiling oil, facing an ax, being publicly humiliated, nor crucifixion could weaken their stance. They believed in the words that Jesus taught them so much that they were willing to lay down their life for it. I’m sure the Romans and others thought it was absurd that they would rather die and go through excruciating pain rather than to recant their faith.

In Matthew 16:24 Jesus said, “If you truly want to follow me, you should at once completely reject and disown your own life. And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to my ways.” When I read this in light of the early Christians who have gone before, it causes me to ponder how deep my faith really is. Am I willing to share and experience the cross as Jesus and His disciples did? Am I truly surrendering my ways for His? The mark of a disciple is surrender. He are to submit to his way of life rather than our own. We are to follow Him in a culture that is against what we believe o matter the ridicule we might face. Are there parts of your life you’re still holding onto rather than nailing them to the cross or plucking them out? It may seem absurd at the moment, but the more of ourselves we get rid of, the more of Him and the life He give we can receive.

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