Hey guys! This is the fourth session of the discipleship class. Previous sessions would be linked here for those who are new here. I pray you learn something and you don’t leave here the same as you came, thank you!
First session: DID YOU KNOW?
Second session: IMPORTANCE OF CHRIST LIKENESS
Third session: THE STANDARD SET FOR US
This week we’d be discussing:
Resources for Christlikeness
1. Grace is such a broad topic that I personally believe should have an entire blog post to itself. There’s so much to it and understanding it in full detail comes with so many revelations. What is Grace? – Grace is unmerited favour; supernatural energy to do what is humanly impossible. This one word is what justifies many of the events in our life we have no words to explain. It is the reason we are still alive, the reason we can go to God in prayer to ask for forgiveness and the reason He forgives us. Moreover it is the reason He sacrificed His own son as a Holy Lamb to die for us. Grace is the energy which keeps the earth rotating.
2nd Corinthians 12:9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Titus 2:11-14 “For the Grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”
1st Corinthians 15:9&10 For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I am not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His special favour on me – and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God Who was working through me by His Grace.
2. Our predestined nature (Proorizon)
God didn’t create mankind to rebel against Him. Neither did He create us to live in depression, pain or suffering. God wants to bless us abundantly for the whole world to see His glory in our lives. He wants to use our lifestyle to communicate a message to the entire world that people will see us and see His mighty hand, that’s what He wants for us. But we have to take note that He can’t do this for us unless of course we grant him access. If we depart from God we are closing the door on Him into our lives.
Romans 8:29&30 For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having giving them right standing, He gave them His glory.
3. The Holy Spirit
John 14:15-18 “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.
John 16:13 “When the Spirit of the truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future.1st John 2:20-27 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us. I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as He has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
4. Examples of others
There are some people around us who inspire us to be the best version of ourselves. People who push us to always do what’s right for ourselves and encourage us whenever the turnout of events isn’t exactly what we’d had hoped for. People we could always turn to for advice whenever we are in a space we would rather blow up. Sometimes it just takes this one person to stop you from doing that one thing you know isn’t right but the urge is overwhelming. People who always make you mull over your decisions and your actions, drawing you closer to Christ or to a more peaceful haven you’d rather be in mentally or physically. Well it’s high time we emulated the behaviour of these people and do what we’d expect them to do whenever we find ourselves in a trying position.
5. Personal encounters
There are some people who for some reason don’t believe in the God and moreover the death of His Son Jesus Christ. Their reasons could be based on so many factors and as a matter of fact sometimes it stems from the behaviour we Christians put up. We are supposed to be ambassadors of Christ here on earth, moving with the favour of God upon our lives and making sure to live by His standards. So when we have Christians who judge others and take sides in a national argument or discussion such as racism, homophobia and genocide it means we are not living by the standards Christ set for us. It’s okay to have an opinion or a belief in whatever you think is right but what is not okay is subjecting someone to the fear of denouncing their faith or opinion because you believe you’re right in the decision you have made. There are much better ways to express your opinion; communicate and make others find reason, there’s never a need for violence. Sometimes God must reveal Himself to change the course of events permanently. Just as He did with Paul.
Acts 9:1-9 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.
Thank you very much if you made it this far. I hope you learnt something from this week’s class and please continue to follow us in this journey. If you like what you read today please share it with a friend.
The next update would be next week and we’d be discussing ‘Daily Quiet Time’Please subscribe if you haven’t so that you’d be the first to receive a notification when the next post is published. Please do well to like this post and share it with a friend. Thank you very much again and have a blessed week ahead.
P.S. All scriptures in today’s text were taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) bible.