{"id":1887,"date":"2023-09-18T09:37:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T09:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/are-you-a-disciple\/"},"modified":"2024-05-13T13:33:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T13:33:06","slug":"are-you-a-disciple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/are-you-a-disciple\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You a Disciple?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Then Jesus told his disciples, \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me\u201d <\/em>(Matt 16:24).<\/p>\n

In 1957, Mickey Cohen, the most powerful mobster in Los Angeles, attended a Billy Graham Crusade. Cohen announced that he had become a Christian. He began attending church and preparing for baptism.<\/p>\n

But within a few months, it was clear that Mickey had not abandoned his old career: a mobster controlling the gambling, prostitution, and protection rackets in Los Angeles. When his pastor confronted him, Mickey Cohen said, \u201cPreacher, you never told me I had to give up my career. There are Christian football players, Christian cowboys, Christian politicians. What\u2019s wrong with being a Christian gangster? If I must give that up, count me out.\u201d Mickey Cohen claimed to be a Christian, but he did not want to pay the price of discipleship.<\/p>\n

Jesus said that a true disciple must take up a cross and follow him. You cannot be a Christian without answering Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be a disciple?<\/h2>\n

A disciple has placed his faith in Jesus for salvation.<\/strong> He does not rely on good works or church membership. He has repented of his sins and trusted in Christ alone for salvation.<\/p>\n

A disciple is living in daily obedience to Jesus.<\/strong> Discipleship is not a one-time decision. It is a daily life of obedience and surrender. It means dying to your own sovereignty and submitting to Jesus\u2019 authority.<\/p>\n

In the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, a person who willing to die for the Oba<\/em>, the chief of the tribe is called an abobaku<\/em>. Are you an abobaku<\/em>? Have you taken up your cross to follow Jesus? Are you ready to die with Him? That is what it means to be a disciple.<\/p>\n

A disciple is becoming more and more like Jesus.<\/strong> Through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, a disciple shows increasing similarities to his Master. Day by day, he learns to respond to situations in a Christlike manner. Day by day, he becomes more like Jesus.<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/h2>\n

Jesus, you have called me to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow you. At moments of great emotion, it is easy to make this commitment. But in the day-to-day journey of discipleship, it is a challenge. A cross is painful! But I want to be your disciple. So today I renew my commitment to follow you step by step. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, please continue transforming me into your image day by day.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

To read more about Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship, read Lesson 16 (\u201cReal Disciples\u201d) in the Shepherds Global Classroom course, Biblical Evangelism and Discipleship<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus said that a true disciple must take up a cross and follow him. You cannot be a Christian without answering Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotionals","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13471,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1887\/revisions\/13471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}