Discipleship

WED., APR. 8, 1992, 5:19 AM
FARM, STUDY

This is an important theme, o son, for it deals with what is most important in the earth life experience. (Please settle yourself for this Teaching. Your mind hasn’t interfered like this in a long time.) A central purpose of your life is to be a disciple. You are to be a Christian disciple, with the good news that the God Who was and is in Jesus the Christ and was and is in the Holy Spirit is the dominant force in this earth scene. I love this earth, its people, and all of its life forms. And yet, in this love, I allow evil, that the good might flourish.

I manifest Myself in many ways, and I choose to have disciples who assist in many ways. The commonality in disciples is commitment to Me, but that commitment shows forth in a wild variety of manifestations. From My perspective there is no hierarchy… no way that is clearly better than others. I love those with a full, public, obvious relationship with Me, but most of these are responding to a call, which sometimes is quite strong and insistent. At the other extreme are some who serve Me in quiet, unobtrusive, not very faithful ways, but they come without a call, and I love these, too. It just is not important for Me to have obvious favorite disciples.

You are not a great, obvious, faithful disciple. Yet you are here at this early hour because you want to hear Me. Is all that you have heard and written over these years of great consequence in human history? Probably not, but that’s not important. There are great and obvious Christians who write, speak, and preach, and because of such My influence in the world is increased. I love “stars,” but I also love simple people who are Christians in their daily lives.

I also love you, who are somewhere between these extremes. You have few doubts about My influence, My power, and My sovereignty in this earth. Still, you are not a brave, fearless advocate of what you know. Because what you know does not fit perfectly with what is more commonly believed among Christians you often feel uncomfortable, and you withdraw from confrontation. But you return to Me. How do I judge such behavior?

First and foremost, you are to be a disciple. You are called to be faithful to Me, not to accomplish some great work for Me. In the great scheme of things… in the great panorama of history… you are of little obvious consequence. Yet you know Me and are faithful to Me. You serve Me in many ways, even as you are not greatly impressed by this service. You are a unique Christian, with opportunities galore to serve. Rejoice in this. Accept My forgiveness for your faults and shortcomings. Be the disciple you should be, and don’t regret not being some other sort of disciple.

Your family is a strange conglomerate of disciples. As you think of the individuals with diverse calls and diverse perceptions of their relationship with Me it becomes a confusing thought-picture. Is Mabel a truer servant than Michael? Should Wilma Ruth be the model for all? What about Joanne’s being and service? Is Matthew the least of all, in his lack of desire to believe and his profligate use of his wealth? How strong and how weak are you as one of the relative seniors in this family?

In your church you are an obvious leader, but should you be more or less so? Should you reinstitute your class, with the joy and the sorrow that could bring? How should you be as an active church member?