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Monday—July 10•Defining Discipleship You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings...(2 Timothy 3:10–11) Anyone who faithfully cares for other people can follow in the footsteps of the apostle Paul to become a disciple maker. This great biblical hero passed on to Timothy an oral record of the things Jesus had accomplished in him, and he also passed on a written record that we still have today, in the form of most of the epistles in the New Testament. In these writings, he spelled out the gospel and explained in detail how being in relationship with Jesus should change the way we think, and how those changes should affect the way we live everyday life. But Timothy also witnessed how Paul’s beliefs and his worldview molded his daily attitudes and his choices. That’s the essence of a disciple maker, regardless of where you fit on history’s timeline. Discipleship is simply one man caring enough about another man to help him build a relationship with God, develop a biblical worldview, and live a lifestyle that is worthy of Christ.  MIMBS 1 That last sentence says discipleship is simply caring about another person enough to help him do three things. List them here, and then consider how those three elements influence one another. Daily Reading: 1 Chronicles 9:1–10:14, Acts 27:21–44, Psalm 8:1–9, Proverbs 18:23–24 Tuesday—July 11•A Disciple Must Have a Relationship with God 19 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5, 17) Formal Christianity tends to present the idea that if we give men the right information, their lives will change. Let’s think about that. If just having the right information could make us the men we want to be, then we’d all be perfect. Most of us have already heard all the information we need, a thousand times squared. Many ministries probably spend about 80 percent of their time and energy inundating men with information. “Do this...don’t do this...follow this rule...we have this tradition...” This presents a view that information will help men clean up their behavior and fix their lives. In reality, Jesus wants to change us from the inside out. The evidence comes when we take on His nature and depend on Him in the same way that branches depend on the vine or the trunk. Jesus said true discipleship happens as we remain in Him, and as His words remain in us. All true discipleship begins with a faith relationship with God, established through accepting the grace offered by Jesus.  MIMBS 1 Jesus used the image of a vine and branches to describe the relationship He wants to have with His disciples. Does that image currently reflect your relationship with Him? Explain your answer. Daily Reading: 1 Chronicles 11:1–12:18, Acts 28:1–31, Psalm 9:1–12, Proverbs 19:1–3


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