Vital signs- Wednesday, November 16th, 2022
Today begins your journey to become a full-fledged disciple of our King. Kingdom disciples are in short supply these days. The result has been a whole lot of powerless Christians who attend powerless churches that embody a powerless presence in the world.
Until we return to lives of discipleship, we’ll continue to fail in our calling to live as heaven’s representatives on earth. This is because the power, authority, abundance, victory, and impact promised in God’s Word to His people is ours only when we align ourselves under Him as His disciples. Until then we can anticipate that chaos and crisis will continue to reign supreme in spite of all the Christian activities we engage in, the Christian books we read, the Christian songs we sing, and the small groups we join.
Discipleship is a very personal decision. It starts when a person commits himself or herself to God as His follower and allows the results of that commitment to overflow into everything else in life.
Surrender to Christ’s lordship and obedience to His rule of love unlock God’s power to bring heaven to bear on earth. A kingdom disciple lives out this divine power and influence.
I define kingdom disciple this way: A believer in Christ who takes part in the spiritual-developmental process of progressively learning to live all of life under the lordship of Jesus.
The goal of kingdom disciples is to live transformed lives that transfer the values of the kingdom of God to earth so that they replicate themselves in the lives of others. The result of such replication is God’s exercising His rule and His authority from heaven to history through His kingdom disciples.
The word translated as authority in the English version of this verse essentially means “power, right, liberty, jurisdiction, and strength.” When Jesus said all authority was His in heaven and on earth, He was saying that He possesses the legal right to use that power.
When you understand the importance of authority, you’ll grow as a kingdom disciple to the point that you can not only resist the devil but also call on heaven, as Jesus did, to bear in your earthly endeavors.
Jesus offers you complete authority in Him when you live as His disciple. Many powers are coming against you that are stronger than you could ever be on your own, but He has overcome the world (see John 16:33). Consider the comfort and peace that come from knowing you have access to the authority of the Creator of the universe. Let that reality motivate you to grow as a disciple of the King.
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Matthew 28:18-20 NASB1995