Tag: Disciple

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Disciple see, disciple do.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, “Please come as soon as possible!” So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, “Get up, Tabitha.” And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive. ‭‭Acts ‭9‬:‭36‬-‭41‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When we read about the amazing outpouring of miracles God did through the apostle’s lives, we are immediately reminded that Jesus said this is what His disciples would do. Just the paragraph above this story is about a man who was “paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.” Peter, now filled with the Spirit of God, now more comfortable with the mantle of spirit-empowered miracles, does exactly what Jesus had shown him.

Here, we have Tabitha/Dorcas, which means a gentle gazelle. Tabitha was busy serving others, especially widows, when she became very sick and died. They got Peter to come over and pray for her. When Peter arrived, Tabitha had already been washed and prepared to be buried, she had been dead for hours. In an upper room, widows had packed in to honor a woman that showed them love by making coats and clothes for widows in town. There, in the middle of this solemn widow’s honoring moment, Peter does what Jesus had done with the little girl in Mark 5:41. Peter does what he had seen Jesus do!

This surreal moment surrounded by death and mourning, Peter remembered exactly what it felt like before. There’s something spectacular about experiencing something so overwhelming, but someone in the room knows what they are doing! And when you experience the tension, the emotional state of the people in that space, at first it’s so very very hard, so awkward. Yet, once you’ve experienced it, it gives you an opportunity to hear, see, smell, and feel these powerful sensations in a slightly safer state of mind the next time you are in that situation – especially when you are with that one person that knows what they are doing.

Jesus knew exactly what he was doing with the little girl and it marked Peter’s life simply by being in the room! Notice that Peter does exactly what Jesus had done in Mark 5:40, he asked everyone to leave the room. Jesus held the little girl’s hand. Peter simply knelt and prayed. Jesus spoke to the body, saying “koum” (Aramaic for arise). Peter turned towards the lifeless body and spoke directly to it, saying, “anistémi,” (Greek for arise)! Tabitha’s eyes opened and she sat up! Then Peter also extended his hand to help her up – an invitation to rejoin the living, just as Jesus had done. Peter called in Tabitha’s widow fan club and I am sure they all praised God together.

Discipleship is all about first BEING, but then also DOING. Jesus taught by BEING one who obeys God and also DOING the will of the Father. Jesus disciples, his followers, also learned by being obedient to his commands, his teachings. But, they had to also follow in doing what he said to do.

Disciple see, disciple do.

Peter watched Jesus raise the little girl’s back to life, then he did exactly what Jesus had shown him to do. Do we want to be a follower of Jesus? It hasn’t changed – we must see and do. If we only listen, if we only learn but never do anything with it, we aren’t really a follower – we are just an observer. And if we are just an observer, then there is no one to see and follow us as we follow Christ! If we say, “well, I can’t raise people from the dead!” Then, that sounds like the life of an observer, but not a disciple. For Tabitha’s sake, I’m glad Peter didn’t depend on his own abilities to raise the dead! Peter was just a doer of what he observed. Disciple see, disciple do.

Prayer

​Dad,
This life of faith goes so much deeper than I ever realized! No wonder it pleases you. This unusual, life-altering trust in you is WILD and untamed. It’s dangerous and mysterious. This follower’s faith is radically different from an observer’s faith. Believing and doing puts it all in perspective of setting aside my fears, comparisons and doubts and going straight to obedience. It’s not a blind faith, it’s a terrifying confrontation of my own abilities yet knowing that you are all powerful and do all the work, through miracles we need. Help me with my unbelief. Help me to be and do, to see and do! Amen.

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God wants seekers.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven. Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Mark gives a now famous parable (a simple story with a hidden truth), and gives us the Jesus’ commentary, like the director’s comments about the story and the bonus explanation. Jesus wants his disciples not only know the meaning of the parable, but maybe even pickup the teaching style itself.

Does God hide for us to find him? Both Matthew and Mark write, “Then he told them many things in parables.” An old quote rings true, “For when the disciple is ready the Master is ready also.” Learning seems to require curiosity! Parables and object lessons both help us to mentally dig a little, forcing our brains to get a little messy meddling in the dirt of a plethora of information. Parables encourage us to connect the dots, to make sense of what we hear. How often do I approach God with everything but patience, humility and a holy openness of curiosity? I have needs. I want answers. But to sit and be still? Or to come to God’s Word just to hear His voice echo through the pages. As the reader, what am I looking for? Truth? Knowledge? Results?

I come to the words in this story without the context of the original listeners. I am missing the wispy-wind off the lake. That smell of fresh water mixed with what reminds me of lake-life. The feeling of sand beneath my feet. And hearing the Master’s words reverberating off the water.

I am not lost to the irony of Jesus telling a farming story while delivering it from a boat! Jesus often told stories while he was in the environment of the story itself. Picking a grape while talking about wineskins or picking figs along the road while teaching about the dangers of looking like religious leaders, but not capable of producing real spiritual fruit. Jesus speaks of sowing seeds while on the water. Maybe it was a farmer’s meetup at the Galilee shores that day?

Jesus, remembering the words of Isaiah (6:9-10), knew that he was both experiencing and fulfilling what the ancient prophet foretold – they will see and hear, but will learn nothing! Jesus was also fulfilling the truth of what Ezekiel was teaching the Israelites about disappointment of hearing, but never following through with doing. Ezekiel (33:32) writes, “Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.”

Doesn’t that just sound like us today? We may know a lot of God’s Word and even about God’s character, but it MUST show up in our lives as behaviors. Followers of Jesus were never meant to be simply Snapple-cap facts or some form of Bible-pedia. Jesus promises, when we seek we will find him. However, the proof of finding is most effective in others when we DO what God’s Word says to do. If you have found Jesus, now what are you going to do with your life?

Prayer

​Dad,
You found me. And, I was a mess when you did! I am so thankful you rescued me when you did. Now, I have spent the entirety of my life fulfilling Your calling on my life. The sum total of my life will be seen as a surrendering to Your will and Your ways. Let my actions always reflect what I know about You. May everyone see Jesus in and through me. Amen.

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Paul’s neighborly prayer.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I’ve been thinking and talking about how to be a neighbor, a good neighbor. I believe it’s all about listening and watching for opportunities, being led by the Holy Spirit. Times where we should see moments that appear to be odd or random as providential not accidental. Those moments could be happen at the grocery store, the gas pump, the quick-serve lunch or while walking through our own neighborhood.

I think it’s important to swap names, introducing ourselves like well-mannered people used to do. I think it’s important to write those names down to be able to do the exact thing that Paul is doing with the folks he met in Colossae. To be able to remember people’s name, because it’s very important for them to be seen and known. The other is to speak their name, before God, in prayer. Then using Paul’s prayer as a template, we can begin to pray for them and trust God for future moments of opportunity to love and serve our new friends.

Paul’s prayer is simple and can be easily memorized. We can ask God to give our neighbor and new friend a complete knowledge of his will, spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then we can pray that God will help them to live a life that honor and pleases God, producing every kind of good fruit (think of the 9 fruits of the Spirit). Then, wanting them to keep going and growing, that they would learn to know God better and better.

This prayer, that Paul prays over Colossae’s community of faith affirms something else I believe. Something simple, but should remind every one of us as believers that we are all responsible for. The word is DISCIPLE. And the thought is BE ONE, MAKE ONE. If we are a disciple, a follower of Jesus, we should be learning about God more and more, just like Paul stated. However, as believers, we should also be doing what Jesus commanded as he left for heaven. We should all be about making disciples. Who are you following, and who is following you? Who are you walking with to strengthen your faith, and, who is walking with you to do the same.

Being a good neighbor has the potential to being a good friend and hopefully that can turn into being a disciple by having someone follow you in your faith. Jesus had a group of 70 following him. Jesus chose to focus on 12 of them. But he specifically mentored 3 of them. This pattern is for all of us who say we are followers of Jesus! Who’s your 70, 12 and 3?

Prayer

Dad,
I am so thankful to not only follow you, but also have several men and women that have poured into my life. Some have discipled me, a few have mentored me. Thank you for Paul’s written pray for the folks in Colossae. It helps me know what to pray for with so many people on my own “neighbor” list as well as those who more closely follow me as I follow Christ. Most of all, thank you for continuing to help me grow and learn in wisdom and understanding, as well as grow in my faith.