DISCIPLE FOUNDATIONS
Growing in Your Relationship with Jesus Christ
DAY 1
As believers, the Bible tells us we are “new creations in Christ,” (2 Corinthians 5:17) but we quickly find out that while that is true, it seems like plenty of our old ways try to cling to us.
Have you ever driven out of the church parking lot with wonderful thoughts and resolutions to change filling your head, only to get cut off in traffic and blow it? Why does that happen?
Do you have an old habit you can’t break free of? You tried promising God you would quit, but it didn’t work. Why not?
Perhaps stress dominates your life, or you are under a cloud of guilt over something? Your life has so many spiritual highs and lows, it’s like a roller coaster.
God’s desire for us is found in John 10:10. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.”
The Problem.
We know God desires the abundant life for us, but many believers live in frustration. Inside, behind the Sunday morning smiles, there is a battle going on. Too often, we sound like the man Paul describes in Romans 7:14-19, 24:
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me."
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing….
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (ESV)
-
Have you ever felt like the person in this passage? What's one area of your life you wish you could change?
Trying harder, willpower, checklists, promises….none of these things do any good. That’s because all of these have one thing in common: they are all the efforts of our own flesh (our willpower, strength, resolve apart from Christ) to reform itself. They are human effort.
We need a different source of power for living the Christian life because, “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”
- Reflect: Are there "power sources" you've relied on more than God?
Memory Verse: "Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. " (John 15:4)
DAY 2
What is the source we need? Jesus gave a word picture and described it this way…
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper…. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me." (John 15:1, 4-5, HCSB, emphasis added)
-
Since Jesus gave us a command to “remain” whose choice is it whether we “remain” or not?
-
A branch can't “produce fruit” unless it “remains” connected. How is that like our relationship with Christ?
Jesus said our daily relationship to God as believers is like branches growing out of the main part of a vine. Those branches have everything they need. The natural result is plump, ripe fruit.
From Jesus’ illustration we can see two main principles:
-
Closeness – branches need to stay intimately connected to the main Vine (“remain”) to stay healthy.
-
Dependence – branches are totally dependent on the Vine for life and fruitfulness. The branch is not the source. Likewise, we must become increasingly dependent on God to mature and bear fruit!
We remain in Christ as we follow Him in faith, depending on Him momemt by moment, putting Him in control. As we live obediently, that “abundant" life Jesus intends for us is the result.
-
When is a time you felt like you were truly relying on God and trusting Him for something?
- What prevents you from living that way every day, as a way of life?
Stay Close!
So, what happens if one of the branches in Jesus’ illustration got disconnected?
Have you ever cut a vine that grows way up into a tree by severing it near its root? At first it looks unchanged. But you come back two days later and it’s all shriveled. A month later it is totally dried up. It’s has been cut off from its source of life.
Jesus is saying, "Don't be that vine! Stay close and depend on Me."
While Christ will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5) and our salvation is secure in Him—because it is based on what He accomplished on the Cross—nevertheless we can choose to live life depending on ourselves. We can rebel. We can say, “I’ll take over on this one, God.” We do it the old way, the way our flesh (our old sinful self) wants to handle things.
When we take back control of our life from God it’s as if we cut ourselves off from the vine. We have grieved God’s Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
The fellowship, joy, and closeness with God is temporarily broken. We must turn from that me-centered life.
Growing spiritually is moving from a me-centered life to a Christ-centered life.
- Reflect: Are you living a me-centered life right now? If so, you'll want to pay close attention to the next part of this study. In fact, you might want to read it now.
DAY 3
Walking in the Spirit.
What Jesus called “remaining” in Him, Paul called walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16):
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.”
To walk means to live step-by-step, moment by moment depending on God’s Holy Spirit (click for more) who has taken up permanent residence inside you (John 7:39). He will empower and guide you!
Learning to depend on and follow the Spirit is like walking. If you stumble or trip, you don’t give up on walking. You get up, dust yourself off, and keep going.
Likewise as a believer if you sin, you repent and confess your sin to God by admitting it was wrong. Then get back up and keep walking in the Holy Spirit’s power. If you’ve offended someone, you make it right with them too.
As you learn to live by faith, by following God’s Spirit and the teaching in His Word, you will begin to see God remake you from the inside out. Galatians 5:22-23 says,
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
You can be sure that whenever the impulse or thought is to return good for evil, or to be kind when in the past you would have been rude that it is the Holy Spirit working inside you. Go with it!
By contrast, when the thought pops into your head to do it the old way, to lie, cheat, hate, take revenge, etc., you can be sure it is your flesh speaking. Don’t listen! Instead ask God to help you do the right thing, then do it. Living the Christian life without the power of the Spirit is like trying to fly without an airplane.
Who's On the Throne?
The Bible says, “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
This command is in the continuous tense, meaning to be constantly filled, that is, empowered and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Walking by the Spirit is when we are continually letting God's Holy Spirit fill us. And that means putting Him in control. Spiritual growth means moving from a me-centered life to a Christ-centered life, with Him in control, putting Him on the throne:
Confession
and Repentance
When we take over we see the sinful “deeds of the flesh” start to appear in our lives (Galatians 5:19-21), and it’s a mess.
- Where are areas of your life where Christ is seated firmly on the throne, in control?
- What areas have been hard for you to “give up your seat?”
The Christ centered life is described in Galatians 2:20,
“I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.”
This verse is talking about a whole new reality and mindset. Now I live for Him and His purpose, not mine. I’m no longer trying to live “my life.” I have a new identity in Christ. And I live out my life by faith in Him, one step at a time.
When we live like Christ, people see a glimpse of Him in us. We aren’t perfect, but we are forgiven, reconciled to God through Christ. In fact, the longer we seek to walk with God the more we will realize just how great His grace truly is.
- Reflect: "(Fill in you name)______________, God is greatly and totally delights in you as one reconciled to Him in Christ." What was your reaction as you read that? Doubt, wonder, awe, fear, skepticism?
DAY 4
How Do We Live the New Way?
First, as soon as we realize we have sinned and taken control back, we need to repent and confess our sin to Him. To repent simply means to turn around - to change direction. It involves a change of mind too. Old ways I once thought were OK I now see as sin. To confess is to agree with God that our sin is wrong. He already knows our sin but wants us to “own it,” and be completely honest and humble about it before Him, instead of excusing it, ignoring it or blaming others. Check out David’s experience:
“When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me….
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (Psalm 32:3-5, NLT)
- How does your experience compare to the David’s? Are there things to confess?
Here is a promise to stand on:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
You can simply pray something like, "God, I know that when I did ______, it was wrong. I'm sorry and I turn from that. Thank you for forgiving me in Jesus name!"
Second, yield control to God again. You can pray something like, "God, take control of my life, fill me with Your Spirit, and make me who You want me to be, in Jesus' name!" That isn’t always easy. You may wrestle with an old attitude or opinion. Take it “captive” to what you learn from studying God’s word (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Third, pray specifically about what you face each day and each moment, trusting that God is at work. Specific prayer is a practical way to put God in control and rely on him. It is a step of faith.
Jesus said to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), meaning to pray even about the routine daily activity you must do to earn a living.
Pray about that presentation, that deal, that co-worker you are in conflict with, for opportunities to share your faith, for wisdom and to be able to work heartily as unto the Lord for his glory:
“Cast all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:)
If you don’t bring it to God, you will be tempted to handle it in your own strength or the old way!
Jeremiah the prophet warned if we rely on our own strength we,
...will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness… (Jeremiah 17:5-6)
That bush doesn’t know when good times have come. It’s in a desert! God is working all around them but, prayerless, they can’t see it.
- Reflect: Take some time now to list out at least two or three things you will face today and pray for God’s wisdom, the power of His Spirit, and help in them:
DAY 5
This all makes sense, so why don’t we always walk in the Spirit?
It’s not automatic!
God is not in the business of overriding our choices. We must choose to walk by faith moment by moment, AND….
We have three enemies that try to prevent our remaining in Christ, our walking in the Spirit:
The World – not the people in the world (God loves them, John 3:16), but the prevailing system of thought, values, and culture around us that is opposed to God.
“You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God” (Ephesians 2:2 NTL).
The Flesh - Though as believers we are forgiven, have a new nature, and are destined to become like Christ, for now we still live in fallen bodies in a fallen world.
That means that a part of us—what the Bible calls the flesh—still tries to entice us to sin, and do things the old way. And the flesh is also “weak” when it comes to doing anything positive for God (Romans 7:14-20). Willpower is no substitute for the power of God’s Spirit in us to live for him and to transform us.
The Devil - There is an intelligent, active supernatural being who is constantly devising ways to deceive, accuse, discourage and tempt us and everyone in the world to disobey God.
He can’t make me sin, but he knows how to push just the right buttons! Unfortunately, my old flesh is ready to respond. But we can trust in this: God is infinitely greater than Satan.
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
“Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
-
What are some ways the world encourages us to live counter to what God commands?
-
We can err in our attitudes towards Satan by either ignoring his influence, or by giving him too much credit by blaming him for everything wrong we do. Do you think you lean one way or another? How can you remain alert without constantly worrying?
Joy Despite Trials, Not a “Charmed” Life.
Perhaps when you first came to Christ someone gave the impression that now you are “home,” and it would be all smooth sailing. But our true home is in heaven, not here (Philippians 3:20).
While here on earth, we are Christ’s ambassadors to share the gospel in the midst of a spiritual war.
James tells us that as believers we are not exempt from facing troubles. In fact they can strengthen our faith as we depend on God (James 1:2-3). Trials can cause us to “remain” in Him even more. Jesus called that “pruning,”
“...every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2)
-
Why would God be more concerned with your character becoming like Christ than your circumstances remaining comfortable?
Where do you go from here?
In the next two units you will learn how to grow strong spiritually through the habit of a regular time in God’s Word and prayer. Nothing will make as much difference in your walk with God as these life long habits.
Your Spiritual Growth Plan
We grow by taking a next step!
| Take an inventory of your life and note everything you have not surrendered to God. Share your results with a friend. How can you work on these things to surrender them to God? |
| Ask God to show you things you need to confess to Him. Confess each to God, then read and believe the promise of 1 John 1:9. Know that you are forgiven based on God's promise! |
Resources
-
Victory Over the Darkness - Neil Anderson
-
Identity - Eric Geiger
-
Discipleship Essentials - Greg Ogden
FAQ’s and "Hard Questions"
What if I have a habit I just can’t seem to break?
I have a hard time believing God has forgiven me for something thing I did.
To MAIN MENU
What you have learned in this Foundations Study we encourage you to pass along to others by taking them through this study! You can access all the materials online free anytime, anywhere.
