How to be a Disciple (Stephanie Grant)

So you want to change the world? You want to accomplish great and mighty things for God? I don’t blame you. In fact I’m with you. I want to too. But you know what I realized? I can’t. Hmm… sounds pessimistic, doesn’t it? Actually it has been some of the most freeing news I have ever heard. I cannot do great things for God. I cannot reach people. I cannot even bear the fruit Jesus says we are supposed to bear. Actually I cannot even witness.

Does that sound lazy to you? It’s not. It’s the truth.

Wait you say, “That is so contrary to everything the Bible teaches.

No it is absolutely Biblical. Jesus taught it. Shocking huh?

Jesus was able to bear fruit. Jesus was relevant. He could and can do anything. But there is only one thing that made Jesus able to go to the cross. It is this thing that enables me to be a daughter of God. It is this thing that enables me to bear fruit. To witness. Reach people. And it is not myself.

It is a relationship with the true and Living God.

Think about John 15: 4-5: “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit” (TNIV).

So what is the secret? Abiding. Abiding in God. Hanging out in the secret place is the only way we are able to be obedient. It is the only way to bear any kind of fruit. It is the only way to be successful in the eyes of God.

Why is this so? Because God is after a relationship. He doesn’t want your works as much as He wants your heart. For the longest time I failed over and over again. I tried to read my Bible, pray and walk in freedom. I was failing fast and feeling bad about it. I was trying to do the “thing” (whatever I felt it was at the time) without the relationship. No abiding. Without putting my relationship with God first.

God isn’t looking for people to order to around. Will He ask you to do things? Yes. However, if you have been abiding in Him you’ll be able to do whatever He asks you to because it won’t be you doing it, it will be Christ in you! He’s more after having someone who wants His hearts rather than His hand, His money, His promotion. He is after a friend, not a slave. Jesus spent a huge amount of time with God so when it was time for Him to be crucified He was ready. Why? He abided. He knew His Father. His Father knew Him.

Know Him.

To know God is true success. Regardless of what you accomplish in life, knowing Christ is what makes everything worth it. It is what makes life worth living.

Yeah, I didn’t have a passion for the unsaved either. I couldn’t seem to put Him first. I couldn’t seem to get it right. Then I realized without God’s help I couldn’t do anything. I had to quit trusting in my own ability to please God and realize that without Him I can’t.

Do you want to be relevant? Abide. Are you ready for some fruit in your life? Abide. I can do nothing, but “I can do all this through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13, TNIV).