1.  We were never meant to be ourselves but what Christ meant us to be  Philippians 2:4 says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”  Disciple is used 269 times and the word Christian is used 3 times.  1Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

2.  Our desire is to ‘look’ like Jesus  Being a disciple is largely a ‘heart’ issue  We can only look like Jesus when we’ve been transformed by Jesus  Acts 15:9 says, “He purified their hearts by faith.”  The point of readiness for Jesus to work is our point of obedience

3.  We are to obey Christ’s commands – vs. 10  We come by disobedience naturally  Romans 7:4 says that “Christ died so that we could belong to another, to him.”  We are to obey everything he commands us:  John 15:12 he says, “My command is this: Love one another.”

4.  Mark 8:34, “Take up your cross and follow me.”  There are many ‘kinds’ of obedience:  Forced  Legalistic  Evidence of Love – This is the one we are growing towards  Obedience is the way of the disciple