4th Lesson: Discipleship according to God's own heart.

Learning to engage in the conduct with God.

Objectives:
1. Learn to listen and to engage in the conduct as God instructs.
2. You will find God if you seek Him.
3. Now that you have learned, go teach and make disciples.
4. Learn the difference between Vessels for Honor or for dishonor.

God teaches Moses…
“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  God taught him to seek with all his heart and soul… in order to find God.

Bottom line, either you mean it or not, we cannot fool God. He sees the intention of our heart. God was already teaching Moses how to make disciples out of Joshua and the rest of the people. But, from there... where ever they were at that moment… ‘You will seek the Lord your God.  Once the leader shows you the way, and how to follow it… then… you have the means of doing it. In addition, God promises that if we seek Him with all our heart we will find Him.

So, the first thing we must do with our conduct, character and speech teach the people around us to seek the Lord with all our heart.  Meaning: if you say you are seeking the Lord, mean it. David said to God the following: ‘Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely’.

Psalms 139:1-6 tells us how David learned about it, and he says:
a. “1 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
b. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
c. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
d. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
e. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
f. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”


 The dictionary says that ‘lofty’ is: ‘A lofty ideal or ambition is noble, important, and admirable.’


A disciple knows that God searches his heart and that God knows him. He knows that God is aware of everything in his life, even when he goes to bed and when he gets up in the morning. A disciple learns the fact that God is walking with him, by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and that God knows all his ways. A disciple learns that God is always his shepherd, and that He cares about His people.

David also taught his son in the ways to go, and how he could serve God with a loyal heart. Let us read this verse in 1 Chronicles 28:9 (NKJV):
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”

First command:
a) Know God…
b) Serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind.
c) For the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.
d) If… you seek Him… He will be found by you.
e) If you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.

Question nº 1: Are you aware of whom you follow, and who follows you?



Task nº1: Read the verse and put your name in the blank: “As for you, my child _____________________, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you __________ seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.”


I believe God teaches us in the same way as He taught Solomon through David his father. I believe also that God is seeking today disciples according to His own heart. And the above verse describes it great.


And I would describe it this way based on the verse above:
“As for you dear child, know that the Heavenly Father, our God is seeking disciples with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for our Lord Jesus searches the hearts and understands all the intent of our thoughts. If we seek the Lord Jesus with all our heart, we will find Him, but if we go after our own understanding… as we see it best… we are in reality forsaking Him, and Jesus does not delight in it.”

He cannot use a follower that in reality does not follow the Lord Jesus and His way; but instead follows his own ways… Each person ought to decide whether it is the Lord’s way or his own way.

God has spoken in the past and speaks now the same message. In Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NKJV) we read: “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Question nº2: Now based upon the above, can one evaluate if we are teaching them to seek the Lord with all their heart, and that they will find Him?



The second thing that we must do. We are taught to make disciples, encourage people to follow Jesus and to become His disciple; and teach them to do the same. For this to happen we need to have the longing in us, to want to call upon His Name; and to seek Him and search for Jesus with all our heart. We ought to mean it and truly want it. This is what we need to convey in our message with tender loving care.

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

3rd Lesson: Discipleship according to God's own heart.

Lesson 3: Getting acquainted with the subject according to Scriptures.

Introduction: 

Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NKJV) “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Jesus always called upon the Father, He had an intimate relationship with the Father. We encourage you to complete each assignment before progressing to the next lesson. It is important to do as the Lord told His servant to do. Eat my words, and I believe it means to take it to heart what God tells us; in order to pass it on. Pay attention to these verses below.

Ezekiel’s Commission

     Ezekiel 3:1-4 “1Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. 4 Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.”

Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.”

God feeds us with the message that He taught the disciples and now He tells us to go the whole world and make disciples.

Objectives

1 You should have a clear idea of what the Bible refers to as a true Disciple in God’s Kingdom.

2 Evaluate where you are at and how you perceive a Disciple in your church compared to how God looks at one.

Introduction:

If we check the Scriptures, we will see that discipleship existed for many centuries already.  I quoted some verses in the beginning, which I want to talk about a little to start this lesson.

First of all, we need to learn to call upon the Lord and go and pray to Him as Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NKJV) teaches it very clearly.

Ø  Then you will call upon Me

Ø  And go and pray to Me,

Ø  And I will listen to you.

Ø  And you will seek Me and find Me,

Ø  When you search for Me with all your heart.”

There is only one way to talk to the Lord and communicate with Him. Let’s follow His command. He says: ‘Call upon Me’, ‘Go and pray to Me’. ‘I will listen to you’ says the Lord. ‘You will seek Me and find Me’.

We cannot expect to find God, if we go only to listen to the pastor preach on Sundays. We need to do our part to engage with God personally. We are asked by Him to seek Him with all our heart.

Secondly, we need to do as God tells us. Imagine being in Ezekiel’s situation. 

Let’s read it here again.

Ezekiel’s Commission

Ø “Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”

Ø So I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll.

Ø He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.”

Ø  Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth.

Ø Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.”

God gives us our Spiritual nourishment to every single one of us, just as He fed His people Manna in the desert. He feeds us, teaches us how to enjoy and absorb it and make the best use of the same. God told Ezekiel, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go to the house of Israel”. God told him to eat the scroll. He needed to take to heart first and digest the Word God gave him so that he would be able to speak that same message to the house of Israel.  That is why God sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us; so that we can have an intimate relationship, and learn as He teaches us.

Now, if we compare that to what Jesus taught his disciples, we will see that Jesus not only taught them; but, they had to learn to eat it and digest it also. We can only feed others with comfort from the Lord if we already received the same food of comfort, and learned how to process it.  You and I need to learn likewise.

Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your Words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” The prophet tells us that God’s Words were found by him.

-        The Word only can be found if the person seeks for it.

-        Once we process it we will learn to taste it.

-        It becomes joy and a delight to the heart as the prophet says.

Once we learn to take in the Word of God, it brings joy to us and we learn to delight in our hearts about the nourishment we receive from our God. God calls us to go in all the world and make disciples. We need to learn to take in the Word, digest it, be nourished by it; so that we can live by His Word and teach other people how to live by it as well. Amen, praise God.

Thirdly: The Bible tells us in the Old Testament in several passages where discipleship was at hand. We will quote a few people here.

Moses: In Deuteronomy 4:29 (NKJV) “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”.

Moses is teaching Joshua and all the people that were in the desert with them the instructions God gave to Moses for His people. Pay attention, this is how a leader brings back people that have drawn away from the Lord.

·  ‘You will seek the Lord your God,

·    And you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul’.

·     We must have the desire to seek Him, and when we do so with all our heart … we will find Him.

We have another passage that tells us how Moses was taught and he followed what his fathrt-in-law made him aware of.

Jethro’s Advice

Read Ex. 18:13-26 to see how Moses’s father-in-law was there to coach Moses how to do his work a better way. He got together, checked out the situation and then he taught him how to coordinate the whole situation in a more effect way. And in verse 24 it says: “So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.” Here we see the picture of discipleship as we learned before: ‘If you are someone's disciple, you are influenced by their teachings and try to follow their example. ó You are a follower.’  Jethro influenced Moses and he heeded his teaching and performed thus way.

 Question nº1: How well is discipleship executed in your congregation? Is it practiced as we have learned in the lesson so far?

Forth: Discipleship is one of the subjects we commonly hear about in the church. But what exactly does it mean to disciple someone? Who qualifies as a disciple, and what is required to become one? I believe the answer is the following:

A disciple is one who has accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior, yielded to Him as Lord, and received Him as one’s very life. A disciple is someone who can say with the apostle Paul:  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

All ‘Born Again Christians’ are disciples, but not everyone that attends the church is a disciple. Those who only listen to sermons without applying what they learn, nor share their faith are not disciples. A true disciple hungers for Christ and His Word and as a result grows in his/her Christian life. The difference between the two is: a Christian lives in Christ as the apostle Paul stated and lives according the Word of God, as he learns every week in Church or the Congregation where he participates as a believer. A person that is not a born again Christian, but only one that listens to God´s Word; does not bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. A Christian listens and applies it, just the same way as Jesus taught the disciples to do it. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? “Do you love me? Then go and feed my sheep.”

Many churches today are more focused on numbers than discipleship, but; Jesus was never impressed by the crowds that followed Him. In fact, He sometimes made difficult statements that caused the people to leave Him. This was the situation in Luke 14:25-33. When large crowds were following Him, He told them what was required to be His disciple. Now remember a disciple can be good, and can be bad. A disciple can be active and avoiding to be active/in-active.

Journal nº1: How do you see yourself based on the above description based on Luke 14:25-33? Active or in-active? Good or bad?

Blessings on to you all. 

Antonina Penner.

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

2nd lesson: Discipleship according to God's own heart

 We need to make our choice.

Ambassadors of the heavenly Kingdom.

Objectives:

A. Make a choice: whose Kingdom do you really want to belong to?
B. Do you wish to be a true follower of Christ in the Kingdom of God?
C. Am I willing to be an Ambassador of the Kingdom of God?

I doubt that anyone, at that time when they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, realizes what the future with Christ will bring them. In reality we enter into a new spiritual kingdom. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ trains His subjects under the laws of His Kingdom, by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
First of all: From the moment we are born again we have an identity registered in the kingdom of Heaven; and the Bible tells us that our names are recorded in the Book of Life and sealed with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13 says as follows: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
From thereon we are subjects of the Celestial Kingdom, and ambassadors here on earth of this same kingdom. Now the question might rise: Is an ambassador a leader? Certainly. He leads the representation of the nation which he represents. Having understood this, we will see in the dictionary that leadership and discipleship have the same description; and we will talk about it later in another lesson.
If we are an ambassador, than where we live is an embassy of the Celestial Kingdom. So, if a person (that is still in the worldly lifestyle and does not know about Jesus); comes in your home… can the person recognize into whose embassy they have entered?
We have three important passages of Scripture that talk about the Lord Jesus how He laid down His life for us. He obeyed His Fathers command.
Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.” 
John 10:18 “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
Galatians 1:4 “Who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.”


Should people who live with us see God within our lives? He has declared us to be righteous according to 2 Corinthians 5:21- “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
As born again believers we do follow after righteousness. We seek the Lord, the rock from whom we were hewn. We need to learn to look at the hole of the pit from which we were dug… Interesting isn’t it? Why would the prophet teach it if God had not directed him to do so? In the way we express ourselves in every manner, is it directed to the obedience of God, or is it to our own understanding? As Jesus chose to obey, you and I need to make the same choice. It is either His way or my way. As children of God we all need to learn His commandments. We would like to encourage you to study the course Faith Foundation, if you have not yet done so; before moving on in this course.
We need to know the ‘Foundation Of The True Salvation’, in order to live according to it. It is of vital importance to know the Word of God and His commandments before we move on in studying how to become a true disciple. A disciple must learn to practice what he has learned so far. I would like to encourage you to read the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Luke during this time that we study this whole course.
Jesus called the people to follow Him, He taught them about His Father’s command and; Jesus practiced it in front of them everything He wanted them to learn. God has given us everything we need in His Word to learn how to become a true follower and a true disciple.
Journal nº 2: How do you see yourself according to what we have studied so far about what the Word of God says about discipleship?

Secondly: An ambassador can be: active or inactive, faithful or unfaithful, trustworthy or unworthy. God gives us a choice to accept HIM, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life; and God gives us free will to choose whether we want to faithfully represent his kingdom as ambassadors here or not.

If we would describe an ambassador based on how the dictionary describes these words: active/inactive, faithful/unfaithful, and trustworthy/untrustworthy; it points out some truth that we see around us. Many people out there in the world do it exactly as they think it is right; but are not faithful, nor trustworthy, nor active as they should be. Let us check out the words and see how the people convey themselves that say they are ambassadors of the heavenly Kingdom.

ACTIVE IS USED TO EMPHASIZE THAT SOMEONE IS TAKING ACTION IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING, RATHER THAN JUST HOPING FOR IT OR ACHIEVING IT IN AN INDIRECT WAY.
IF SOMEONE IS ACTIVE IN AN ORGANIZATION, CAUSE, OR CAMPAIGN, THEY DO THINGS FOR IT RATHER THAN JUST GIVING IT THEIR SUPPORT.
SOMEONE OR SOMETHING THAT IS INACTIVE IS NOT DOING ANYTHING OR IS NOT WORKING.

Task nº1: _____________ is taking action in the Kingdom of God as His ambassador, in order to achieve the work God has intrusted her/him. (Place your name in the blank).  (Or would you say you are not taking action? => Inactive.

IF A PERSON OR THING IS WORTHY OF SOMETHING, THEY DESERVE IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE QUALITIES OR ABILITIES REQUIRED. A WORTHY PERSON OR THING IS APPROVED OF BY MOST PEOPLE IN SOCIETY AND CONSIDERED TO BE MORALLY RESPECTABLE OR CORRECT. (FORMAL)
IF YOU SAY THAT AN ACTION IS UNWORTHY OF SOMEONE, YOU MEAN THAT IT IS NOT A NICE THING TO DO AND SOMEONE WITH THEIR REPUTATION OR POSITION SHOULD NOT DO IT. (LITERARY)

Proverbs 20:6 – “Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, But who can find a trustworthy (faithful) man?”

Next question: How many of us can proclaim our loyalty, which would be confirmed by our God that he found in us a trustworthy person?

SOMEONE WHO IS FAITHFUL TO A PERSON, ORGANIZATION, IDEA, OR ACTIVITY REMAINS FIRM IN THEIR BELIEF IN THEM OR SUPPORT FOR THEM. THE FAITHFUL ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE FAITHFUL TO SOMEONE OR SOMETHING. A FAITHFUL ACCOUNT, TRANSLATION, OR COPY OF SOMETHING REPRESENTS OR REPRODUCES THE ORIGINAL ACCURATELY.
IF SOMEONE IS UNFAITHFUL TO A PERSON, ORGANIZATION, IDEA, OR ACTIVITY THE PERSON DOES NOT REMAIN FIRM IN THEIR BELIEF IN THEM OR SUPPORT FOR THEM. THEREFORE THEY DESCRIBE THE MESSAGE AS IT PLEASES THEM OR AS IT MAKES SENSE IN THEIR THOUGHTS; THEY GO ABOUT IT IN THE WAY WHICH DOES NOT MAINTAIN THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE.

Verses about faithful:
1 Corinthians 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.”
1 Samuel 26:23 – “May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 – “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
Proverbs 28:20 – “A faithful man will abound with blessings.”
Matthew 25:21 – “His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”


Question nº3: Does God assess each child/student in his Kingdom? Yes, based on what Scriptures state. If God would evaluate us in this moment, what would God’s description about you and me sound like?


The Bible tells us that God looks at us and evaluates our conduct. David was a shepherd, a young man who was at home taking care of his father's animals in the field. He played his harp, took care of the sheep; but he behaved in a way that was observed by the Most High. God watches every human being, nothing escapes the sight of our God.

Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
What does God see when He watches you and me? What report would He write in His Holy Word about us? Would we be described as David was?

Let’s check the passage: Acts 13:22 “After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will’ in its entirety.”
Discussion nº1: Discuss the verse above with each other. How would God describe you and me? Would God describe us as He described David?


How many examples of servants do we have in the Bible that did never make any mistakes?  Romans 3:23-24 (NKJV) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  Based on what we have studied so far makes it clear why the Lord Jesus told his disciples they were supposed to wait until they would be clothed with power from on high. “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49.
You and I need to also seek the Lord Jesus to receive the clothing with power from on high. I can do all things through Christ Jesus, this is what the apostle Paul said.  We can do God’s work if we do it as He has commanded it.


Homework = Scripture memory:
Be sure to commit this passage to memory before moving on to the next lesson. , Then, practice reciting it repeatedly throughout this course. Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Personal goal:  Make a commitment with the Lord. My suggestion is to ask Him to make of you a Disciple according to His own heart.

Till the next lesson, until then may the Lord bless you beyond comprehension. 

A. PENNER PUBLISHING.

 Discipleship according the heart of God

ISBN NUMBER:  978-0-9881063-2-1

Mrs. Antonina Penner.