Elevate To The Next Level: "Living In The Flow”

Elevate to the Next Level

“Living in the Flow”

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As we conclude our series on elevating discipleship to the next level, I’d like to take time to look at the classic definition of discipleship given by Jesus in Luke 9:23.

It reveals the entire process of discipleship, and after we consider this verse in its fullness, and afterwards, I’d like to share with you the power available to be fully devoted followers of Jesus.

So let’s examine this first passage about what a disciple of Jesus looks like.

Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23 NKJV)

To fully understand, I’d like to break down this verse and explore what discipleship looks like in real time. In other words, what I’m going to be talking about is reality, not necessarily theology, although theology is highly involved.

The first thing we see is that there must be a desire on our part.

Desire To Be A Disciple

“If anyone desires to come after Me”

What I’ve learned over the years is that discipleship doesn’t happen by osmosis. We don’t become believers in Jesus Christ by just raising our hands in service to accept Him and then think we’re now fully operational.

Instead, there needs to be a sincere desire on our part. Only then will we achieve the goal Jesus has set for us.

There’s a verse I love. It tells us that this whole idea of discipleship and fulfilling God’s plan and purpose for our lives is actually a packaged deal, meaning it requires both a sincere desire and a commitment to the process.

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:4-5 NKJV)

If we sincerely desire to follow Jesus Christ, we must fully commit to doing so. That’s when discipleship becomes truly exciting and a pure joy.

Now, the second point we see in this passage is that we must deny ourselves.

Deny Ourselves

“Let him deny himself”

But what does that look like? What I can tell you is that this has caused more frustration and concern among Christians than almost anything else, and that’s because there isn’t a day that goes by without us falling short in this area. Maybe that’s because we have a false understanding of what it truly means to deny ourselves.

In Greek, the word means to give up something or have no connection with it. But what I’d like to give you is a working definition, and that is, we’re to stay clear of, and have no part in anything that goes against God and His word, which takes us away from God’s plan and purpose for our lives.

Unfortunately, most of us have a convoluted idea of what it means to deny ourselves. We picture ourselves as monks, living in a monastery, giving up all worldly possessions, and even taking a vow of silence. And we all know how that’s going to turn out — we’ll blow it on the very first day, because the first thing we’d do is ask, “Where’s the bathroom?”

Let me share what I see happening in real time. It’s becoming just a little bit more like Jesus every day. It’s where today, we’ve decided to try to be more like Jesus Christ—more Christ-like in how we treat others, our families, and those we work with. It’s about making decisions not based on what we want, but on what Jesus would do.

Charles Sheldon, in his book “In His Steps,” popularized a phrase that greatly influenced 20th-century Christianity. The phrase was “What Would Jesus Do” or (WWJD). The idea is that before you do anything, you ask yourself, “If Jesus were here, how would He handle this situation, how would He answer this person, how would He respond to this challenge?” In short, it’s about considering, “What Would Jesus Do?”

When I owned my stores in Las Vegas, I had this statement on the back of my nameplate, and whenever I needed to make a decision or talk with someone, that’s the first thing I’d see and consider. This caused a lot of frustration because sometimes I just wanted to “go off” on some people.

Like when I had to fire someone for stealing. But instead of getting mad and irate over what they did, I found myself asking “What Would Jesus Do,” and this would not only calm me down, but it also allowed me to get at the heart of why they stole, and help them in whatever way I could. I still had to fire them, but now it was with understanding and compassion instead of anger, and hopefully with a view to helping them in the future.