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“Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even their own life — such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-27, NIV)

A disciple is a follower. A disciple aspires to be exactly like his or her teacher. As Jesus is Truth, we must be scrupulously truthful — and everything else He is, including a cross-bearer. Anything less is not true discipleship. Anything else is not obedience.

A disciple is holy. The disciple’s holiness is measured in the points of similarity to his or her teacher; and in the degree of difference from the “common way” in his or her way of thinking (e. g. love for enemies, blessings for curses, concern for the poor, readiness to reconcile, etc. . .).

Today’s scripture takes us to the bedrock of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus: Holiness, obedience, and cross-bearing. – Luther

Tagged cross-bearing, discipleship, the book of Luke

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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

Tagged correction, discipleship, discipline, the book of Proverbs

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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

Tagged discipleship, judgment, the book of Mark, the Second Coming