7 helpful points to discipleship

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7 Helpful points to discipleship
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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• I recently wrote about why discipleship is so
  important and why we need to be a follower of
  Jesus before we can disciple others.
• Following on from that I have listed out 7
  points which will help make us disciples of Jesus

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (1) Understanding Grace
• I have put this first because if we do not
  get this, the following points will be a tick
  list of things we have to do and if thats the
  way you are thinking, then you will have missed
  the point. Grace means unmerited favour,
  something we get that we dont deserve,
  everything we get is a gift and everything we
  pass on is a gift. We dont deserve any of it.
  For instance, we dont do good works in order for
  God to save us, they come out of our desire to
  follow Him. Our discipleship is based on our
  desire to follow Him not because we have to out
  of a sense of duty but because we love Him and
  want our lives to please Him.

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (2) Assurance of salvation
• A disciple of Jesus is secure in the knowledge
  that they are a child of God and that Jesus lives
  within them. We can walk in confidence knowing
  that God has called and chosen us and what He
  says about our salvation is true. This leads me
  onto the third point

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (3) Knowledge and love for the word of God
• We cannot be a disciple of Jesus without
  knowing what He teaches in the bible. A disciple
  will be hungry for Gods word reading it,
  meditating on it and even memorising it. It is
  the bread of life and Jesus himself said Man
  shall not live on bread alone, but on every word
  that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4 v 4)

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (4) Filled with the Holy Spirit
• The difference between being filled with the
  Holy Spirit and not is so clearly demonstrated by
  the disciples before and after the day of
  Pentecost. Before they were filled they were
  timid and frightened, abandoning Jesus, and after
  he ascends, cowering in an upper room. When the
  Holy Spirit fills them they preach boldly and
  3000 are added in one day. What a difference! You
  can know that difference too. Jesus said But
  very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I
  am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate
  will not come to you but if I go, I will send
  him to you. (John 16 v 7)

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (5) A person of prayer
• Jesus spent whole nights in prayer, He was
  constantly communing with the Father and wouldnt
  do anything without receiving instructions. How
  much more do we need to pray? I find it one of
  the hardest Christian disciplines but when I push
  through one of the most rewarding. The disciples
  were so impressed with Jesus prayer life that
  they asked Him to teach them. The 'Lords prayer'
  is a pattern of prayer, never intended to just be
  recited verbatim. Push through on this and you
  will reap the rewards.

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (6) A worshipper
• Has your heart been captivated by your
  saviour? Have you grasped how great and wonderful
  He is? Just a short time reading a bible passage
  and praying should cause you to worship. It flows
  out of an understanding of what he has done for
  us by His grace, enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
  In other words, if you have started to consider
  the previous 5 points then worship should come
  easily!

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• (7) A witness
• This doesnt mean you are going to be a great
  evangelist, but you should at least tell others
  the good news. Our witness will come out of our
  very lives but we still need to proclaim it.
  Being filled with the Holy Spirit will make a big
  difference. He will fill us with boldness.

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7 Helpful points to discipleship

• This is of course just a start. There are other
  things I could mention  and will do over the
  coming weeks. In future posts we will examine how
  we can continue being discipled by Jesus and how
  we can go about discipling others. If you have
  any thoughts about this subject why not contact
  me at www.adrianpursglove.com or add a comment
  and I will try to cover any queries you have.
• Speak soon