DISCIPLESHIP

For us as Christian’s, lifestyle and discipleship is synonymous. It is following Jesus, doing the will of the Father, being obedient to His commandments and, walking in step with the spirit. The 5 Marks of mission: Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure, provide a framework with which we are to build our lifestyle. We must be committed to Prayer, Study and work so that our discipleship is useful to Christ and build the Kingdom.

Created in God’s image we were tasked with caring for the world that we live in, and loving it back to God. Central to discipleship is the task of reconciliation. Repentance is an act of reconciliation, and we must see the changes in our lives, that Jesus brings about. Reconciliation must lead us to take stock of our lives and see where we need to submit to God’s Spirit and be transformed for His good. We must see fruit in our lives. I pray that by now that you are seeing fruit in your Lent journey.

 We need to approach the task of Discipleship as our duty and our joy, we must treasure the task, we must tend to the task, the task must transform.  There are three habits that I would like to encourage us to nurture in our own lives. Being Curious, being present and re-imagining.

The habit of “being curious,” means taking an interest in people and things and seeking to see past the circumstance to what God is doing in and through it. This habit will assist us to do what Jesus instructed us to do in our relationship with others. If we show an interest in them if we are “curious” about God’s intentions, every encounter becomes a divine appointment. Let us all approach life with “curiosity,” with an intentional seeking of God in every situation and through every person.

We must be present – giving of ourselves to the task of submitting to God as we read scripture, study the word, interact with each other and pray. We must give of ourselves fully to the transformative power of God.

We must re-imagine, we must allow our hearts and minds to be recalibrated, reordered and reformed by our prayer life, our scripture reading and our circumstances. We must embrace the changes that God brings. As hard as change is – we must seek it!

I hope that you remain curious about what God is doing in your life, and then commit to receive it and re-imagine what life will be when guided fully by God.

*Prayer*

Give me courage oh Lord, to embrace what you want for me and release my misguided desires. Amen.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away;

 behold, new things have come.  (2 Cor 5:17)