1 What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Is there a difference between a believer and a disciple? Only those who have accepted Jesus as Savior are His disciples, but are you a disciple of Jesus because you have accepted Jesus as your Savior?

2 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” Lk 14:26–33

3 Well isn’t this a heart warming passage of Scripture! Why would Jesus say such discouraging and exclusive things? He wants us to know that it is only the serious and the singularly focused Christian who can enjoy full freedom from selfishness and participate in “Heaven on earth”, living exactly as Jesus did on earth as a man.

4 Jesus turned to the multitude and preached a sermon that deliberately thinned out the ranks. He made it clear that, when it comes to personal discipleship, He is more interested in quality than quantity. In the matter of saving lost souls, He wants His house to be filled (Luke 14:23); but in the matter of personal discipleship, He wants only those who are willing to pay the price.

5 Jesus seems to make a distinction between salvation and discipleship. Salvation is open to all who will come by faith, while discipleship is for believers willing to pay a price. Salvation means coming to the cross and trusting Jesus Christ, while discipleship means carrying the cross and following Jesus Christ. Jesus wants as many sinners saved as possible (“that My house may be filled”), but He cautions us not to take discipleship lightly; and in the three parables He gave, He made it clear that there is a price to pay.

6 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” Lk 14:26–33 Well isn’t this a heart warming passage of Scripture! The truth is, the selfish focus that is inherent and dominant in the fleshly hearts of men, is the only thing that keeps us from experiencing the full Kingdom life that Jesus lived fully on the earth as a man. Therefore, a purging of that thinking and way of life is prerequisite to actually being filled with that Kingdom way of thinking and standing in the values that make it possible.

7 Do any of us really have an accurate assessment of how caught we still are in fleshly values that prohibit us from becoming free disciples of Jesus? I don’t want us to become focused on our failures in allowing Jesus to live in us. What I am trying to bring us to is a comparison of exactly how Jesus thought and lived, to how we think and live, so that we can see the bar raised to the position it deserves so that we may live higher lives, free of all worldly encumbrances and experience the fullness of God as much as Jesus did on earth. This is a study of how all of us may become free of the human baggage that shackles so many, and live the empowered, divine life of Jesus every day of our lives. I want you to get this. What God is offering to every one of us is this. You can come to the place where Jesus is so free to express Himself in you, in your marriages, in your families, in your friendships and work places, that being involved with you is no different than being involved with Jesus Himself! Everybody would want Jesus working in their place of business. (Potiphar and the jailor saw this as Joseph worked for them. Laban saw it as Jacob managed his herds.) Who wouldn’t want to be married to Jesus or have a wife who was a female version of Jesus? Jesus fixed, healed, multiplied and blessed every single thing He touched. What would it be like if you let Him do that in you as His favorite disciple? Now do I have your attention?