Being a disciple in Bakersfield

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in Bakersfield California today? That is how I choose to be identified but what does it really mean? Being a disciple when Jesus was physically there with you was exciting for the ones who were called during His ministry on earth. They followed Him everywhere, could get a hug when they needed one and benefitted from face to face teaching.

 
It is a little different today here in Bakersfield. For reasons understood only to Father God I was born in 1946, not 20 A.D..So I don't have the benefit of that physical, one-on-one contact that Peter, John and the others enjoyed.  Jesus understood that long before I was selected to be here in Bakersfield in 2016. So in Acts 1:8 he told the disciples (those who were there with Him and all disciples for ages to come) ,"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

 
The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that a disciple is "one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another." So if I understand correctly, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ today I must accept the teachings of Jesus and then do everything I can to spread that message utilizing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. That is the challenge and the mission should I choose to accept it. If only it were that easy for me. Stay tuned.
  

Be careful what you choose

We know God innately. We choose either to do His will or we choose to ignore Him. Choosing to do His will involves some effort on our part. We start with the recognition that there is indeed a God and we determine to seek knowledge about Him. This could involve picking up a Bible and reading it. Or we may seek the assistance of someone we recognize as a follower of Jesus, or it may mean going to a church to learn.

On the other hand, you can make the choice to ignore that still, small voice that says there is a God that desires to have fellowship with you. Ignoring that truth has its consequences, however, for rejecting God puts us into a place of unrighteousness and wickedness. We are not overcome by ‘the devil’ when we choose evil, we have ourselves chosen to follow this path by ignoring the call of God which is part of our very being.

So turning your back on the truth that God created you and has expectations of you to follow His way results in putting 'things' before a worship of God and causes us, in God’s eyes, to be wicked and unrighteous, deserving of His wrath.

Being complacent and refusing to act on what you know about God will have a bad ending – and no, the devil didn’t make you do it, you chose.

Sin and unrighteousness are not the result of God tempting you. Nor the result of Satan forcing you. Sin, ungodliness and unrighteousness are the result of our loss of “God awareness” and the lack of attribution to God of “the gift of life and the blessings of daily living to the generous bounty of God.” This lack of being aware of God’s work in our lives and His desire to do good works in us can only have a bad result

Dig in

It's time to dig in. I have been around the periphery of prayer for a while now. Though my prayer life has vastly improved, I feel the need to go deeper into intercession than I have ever experienced. I need the Lord to build a fire under me. I have a genuine concern for people and I want to honor that concern by bringing the before the Lord and asking Him to meet their needs.

40 Days of Intention

It is time for me to start living for and serving Christ more intentionaly. I can just amble along and do all the 'right' things and try to cruise into heaven in neutral. I am not interested in doing that anymore. I want to stand with my face forward and my heart engaged and advance in His direction, as He leads, and in firm determination to accomplish His plans for me. I have many things to be sorry for in my life, but I am confident in my Lord that He as accepted my repentance and sees me as His disciple ready to do His work. I have a lot of unfinished work due to procrastination and laziness. Instead of trying to go back and pick up the broken pieces I am ready for God to do a new work in me.  With that in mind, instead of celebrating Lent as a liturgical practice, I am devoting myself to moving in God's direction for the 40 days beginning on Wed 2/10 (Ash Wednesday) and continuing through Easter Sunday. In this blog post I will outline my intent for the next 40 days, my personal 40 Days of Intent. I will memorize and follow the admonition of Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT)

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

So, all that being said, this is my plan and sometime between now and Wednesday will likely become my commitment before God.

1. I will do a ten-day Daniel Fast starting on Thursday morning Feb 11 and will break my fast on Sunday morning Feb 21st. That means I will, with the Lord's help eat no meat, no leavened bread, no sugar, no milk or dairy products including cheese, eggs and yogurt, no liquids other than water etc. I will eat vegetables, fruits, protein powder, oatmeal, tortillas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice and attempt to make them as palatable as possible. I may even try to eat tofu. Lots of good recipes in the Daniel Fast book

2. I will pray every day. One day a week will be at least one hour of prayer for my church. I will intercede for my church, at the church.

3. I will participate in my churches Ash Wednesday service. I will fully repent and accept Christ's forgiveness before accepting the sign of the cross in ash

4. I will find a way to be of service above and beyond anything I am doing now.

5. I will do the War Room Bible study, the Prayer Warrior Bible study. I will finish the Prayer Warrior book (Stormie Omartian) and read at least one other book on intercessory prayer.

Jesus in Bakersfield?

What if Jesus was sitting in your favorite chair and you were sitting on the couch right across from Him? Would you feel free to talk to Him or would you be intimidated by His presence? Would you just wish He wasn't there? Would you be so over ridden with guilt that you would not even be able to look Him in the eye? Or just maybe you would be really happy to see Him and couldn't wait to engage in stimulating conversation .

Hold that thought and we will return to that potential conversation later .  In the meantime lets just think about what would he the response if Jesus came to Bakersfield and was reported by Channel 23 to be walking down Ming Ave by Valley Plaza. Would you jump in your car and drive too fast getting to Jesus, or would you stay put and wonder what in the world Jesus is doing in Bakersfield? l fear that many of us would not get too excited about getting to see Jesus. l fear we would he harboring guilt over unconquered sins and would not be comfortable face to face with the Savior.

If he did come and l went to see Him this is the Scenario that I envision.                              

I'm standing by a tree as the crowd following Jesus makes its way towards my position. l am still struggling with whether l want to greet Him personally, since I was dealing with some issues l wasn't comfortable talking to Jesus about. As Jesus gets closer l try to get the tree to hide me. Just as Jesus gets in front of me He stops and looks right at me. Chuck, don't hide behind the tree, You should go home because I am headed to your house. I of course am shocked. I say ok Jesus, my address:... Jesus says, really Chuck, l know exactly where you live and I will be there in two hours to talk to you.

In my next post l will try to imagine how that conversation might have gone.

Being a disciple in Bakersfield

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in Bakersfield California today? That is how I choose to be identified but what does it really mean? Being a disciple when Jesus was physically there with you was exciting for the ones who were called during His ministry on earth. They followed Him everywhere, could get a hug when they needed one and benefitted from face to face teaching.

 
It is a little different today here in Bakersfield. For reasons understood only to Father God I was born in 1946, not 20 A.D..So I don't have the benefit of that physical, one-on-one contact that Peter, John and the others enjoyed.  Jesus understood that long before I was selected to be here in Bakersfield in 2016. So in Acts 1:8 he told the disciples (those who were there with Him and all disciples for ages to come) ,"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

 
The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that a disciple is "one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another." So if I understand correctly, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ today I must accept the teachings of Jesus and then do everything I can to spread that message utilizing the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. That is the challenge and the mission should I choose to accept it. If only it were that easy for me. Stay tuned.