Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. —John 15:4-5

Introduction:

Our goal is to become radical Christ followers or

of Jesus.

“To follow Jesus is to become his apprentice. It’s to organize your entire life around three driving goals: 1. Be with Jesus. 2. Become like him. 3. Do as he did.” —John Mark Comer

You are already a disciple. The question is

.

“You’re gonna have to serve somebody. Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” —Bob Dylan 1979

Jesus was a rabbi, which is literally translated “

.”

By age 13, most children would have the entire Torah – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy –

.

By age 17, students had memorized the

, and after that the extraordinary could

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to apprentice under a rabbi.

If the rabbi thought you had the potential to become a

, he would say, “

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.”

The entire goal was being with your master to become

your master.

Jesus said, “I am

and the truth and the life.” (Matthew 7:13-14, 21-24)

Jesus’

of life leads to life.

This Week:

The first and most important goal of practicing the way of Jesus is to be

.

It is not a program, but a process and

of becoming like him.

One of the great things about the way God made us is that we can

our minds. (Romans 12:2)

“The first and most basic thing we can and must do is to keep God before our minds…This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls. Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to Him.” —Dallas Willard

The more you pray, the easier it gets, the more

itself comes to mind, and the more God-incidences you see.

But it takes

.

Watch a person’s

and you will see who they are becoming.

Simply spending time with Jesus makes us more

. (Ephesians 3:18-19)

“No family of origin is healthy enough to transform us into the kind of love we see in Jesus, and no family is dysfunctional enough to keep us from becoming people of love in Jesus.” —John Mark Comer

What happens inside of you when you here the phrase, “God wants to

to you?”

“When you sin (and I will as you will), don’t hide it from God. Hold it before God, with no excuses, no blame shifting, no denial, just utter vulnerability, and let God love you as you are. And then let God love you into who you have the potential to become.” —John Mark Comer

How to Pray:

Be

, be

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, be

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(no distractions), be open. (Matthew 6:5-10)

“Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.” —Henri Nouwen

“Spend one hour a day in adoration of your Lord and never do anything that you know is wrong.” —Mother Theresa

What can you

, delay, or delegate this week to create space to be with, hear, and fall in love with God?

You can’t love in a

.

Action Steps

Find a distraction-free place to sit or walk with God in silence with no

for

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.

When God is

, keep showing up. Get a pen and notepad and write down thoughts or

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.

Ask God, “What would you like to say to me?”