Tag Archives: discipleship

March 17
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“People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray.”  (Proverbs 10:17, NLT)

We, who have lived more than half of our allotted years, are at heightened risk of “going astray” in two basic ways: (1) Because we’ve “seen it all,” we are less open to a corrective word from someone else, especially if they are younger or less experienced than we, and; (2) people who might help us may be put-off when we don’t appear approachable or teachable.

Truth is truth, whether from the lips of an angel or from the mouth of a jackass (that is, the jackass of Numbers 22); and help is help, whether from a brother or from a stranger.

Endeavor to be open to God’s discipline and His words of correction.  The Lord uses many personalities, agents, and circumstances to guide His people in the way that leads to life!  – Luther

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March 9
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“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  (Mark 8:38, NLT)

In today’s reading, Jesus illustrates for us the following principle: The relationships and values that we esteem in this life are the relationships and values that we shall inherit in eternity.  In other words: If we are ashamed of Jesus and all that He stands for here in “time”; we shall forfeit Him for all of eternity because He will be ashamed of us for having been ashamed of Him during our time on earth.

The Christian disciple’s challenge in these “adulterous and sinful days” is to be faithful to Jesus and to His message (e. g. the Gospel) in all that we say, and in all that we do.

This means that with joy, we love our enemies — all of them — as He did.  This means that with boldness, we seek reconciliation — always — as He did.  This means that with confidence, we pray for those who abuse us — as He did.

May we be as Paul declared to the Christians in Rome: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God to bring salvation to everyone that believes.”  (Romans 1:16a)  – Luther

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February 27
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“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”  (Isaiah 38:6-7, NIV) 

Particularly during this Lenten season, we often think of fasting as something from which we refrain or abstain — and that is a true definition.  However, according to our reading from Isaiah, God’s chosen fast can be as much a time of engagement as it is a time of denial or retreat.

During this season, disciples will often give-up something.  This is a good thing if only as a reminder that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4)

Yet, we also need to remember that God is as interested in what we have chosen to take-up as He is in what we’ve chosen to give-up.  There is as much for us in the “taking up our cross” as in the “denying one’s self.” (Please see Matthew 16:24.)

Let us strive to maintain balance in our discipleship!  – Luther

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