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.
Soon I found that most every decision and conversation, whether at work or elsewhere, was based on what Jesus would do and how Jesus would respond, rather than on what I would say or do.
To deny ourselves, we should start asking this question every day and at every opportunity.
But with this question, I also discovered a prayer that aids in the entire process of denying ourselves by becoming more like Jesus. It’s a prayer I learned long ago from author Evelyn Christenson. It’s a prayer I share with almost everyone, especially those I counsel, because it speaks directly to the heart of discipleship. And I’ve seen it work.
The prayer is straightforward, yet deeply meaningful and transformative.
“Lord Change Me”
Whenever you get mad at someone or something, instead of praying, “Lord change them,” or “Lord change this situation,” pray that God would change you. When you start this inside-out change, you’ll become a little more like Jesus and fulfill God's calling for your life.
This is what spiritual transformation is all about.
And I promise you that when you start praying for God to change you, the other people you’ve been asking God to change, and the situation you’ve been asking God to change, will begin to change because you’re changing.
So, instead of beating yourself up daily for not denying yourself in some area, ask, “What Would Jesus Do,” and then pray, “Lord Change Me.”
The third aspect of Jesus’s instructions on how we can be His disciples is our need to die daily.
Dying Daily
Now I’m not talking about something morbid or anything like that; instead, this is all about what the cross represents.
“Take up his cross daily”
Taking up your cross isn’t about being inconvenienced or carrying a heavy burden. It doesn’t mean staying in a thankless, dead-end job, or having an illness that makes us say, “This is the cross I have to bear.”
What it means to pick up one’s cross is to die to our own selfish desires so that we can live for God and the destiny He has for our lives.
God has a purpose for each of us that includes our family, work, and ministry. His purpose is for us to become the men and women He calls us to be, to be men and women after His own heart.
Back in Jesus’s day, when Rome ruled the world, seeing someone carrying a cross never made you wonder what kind of burden they bore; instead, you knew they were headed toward their death.
To pick up one’s cross means to be willing to die for the cause of Christ. It involves being ready to surrender everything to God and doing so every day.
Jesus said, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” (Luke 9:24-25 NKJV)
And while the call to discipleship is tough, and listen, I’m not here to blow smoke, it’s hard and requires sacrifice. But the reward of heaven and spending eternity with God makes the effort and sacrifice worth it.
And finally, the last aspect of Jesus’s verse on discipleship is to identify with Him.
Deciding To Identify With Christ
“Follow Me”
What exactly does “following” Jesus look like? I believe it means identifying with Him. It’s what we call being “Christ-like.”
What motivated me to go in this direction is a story from the Old Testament, the story of Mephibosheth. And it’s the final part of his story.
The story goes that Mephibosheth was the last surviving son of Jonathan and the grandson of King Saul. After Saul and Jonathan died in battle, panic spread in the palace. In her haste, Mephibosheth’s nurse dropped him, which resulted in his being crippled for the rest of his life.
Once David was firmly established as king, he remembered the promise he made to Jonathan to take care of his family. He then inquired if any of Jonathan’s children were still alive. He was informed about Mephibosheth, who at that time was not even living in Israel but was residing across the Jordan River in a very barren and desolate place called Lo-Debar, which literally means “place of no-bread.”
After finding him, David restores Mephibosheth’s inheritance, brings him into the palace, and makes him one of the family.
But when King David’s oldest son, Absalom, rebelled, David left Jerusalem, and Mephibosheth stayed behind, not because he wanted to, but because he was still crippled. While David was gone, Mephibosheth lived in a way that showed he identified with David.
This is where the word “follow” comes into play. Mephibosheth followed David, not literally, but by identifying with David’s exile by disregarding his appearance. Mephibosheth was willing to give up the comforts of the palace to show his loyalty to the king.
We follow Jesus by aligning ourselves with Him in this life; it means living for Him rather than for ourselves or the world. Are we willing to obey God and give up what we may want or desire to truly identify with Jesus?
Let’s live our lives in a way that shows the world our love and loyalty for Jesus Christ, just as Mephibosheth showed his love and loyalty for David.
Let me conclude this part by describing what discipleship looks like in real time.
Discipleship starts with a desire, where we commit ourselves to the process.
We then need to deny ourselves each day by asking, “What Would Jesus Do,” and then praying, “Lord Change Me.” This is where true spiritual transformation begins.
We then need to die daily to our own desires so we can live the destiny that God has for us.
And finally, we must choose to identify with Jesus and live our lives in a way that honors Him and demonstrates our love and loyalty.
This is what discipleship is all about, and this is what it will take to become fully devoted followers—disciples that Jesus has called us to be.
Now, with all that said, I have to tell you that you can’t do it—that is, you can’t do what Jesus has asked in your own power.
The issue is that we can't live this way—deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow Jesus. We cannot do this on our own strength.
So where does the strength come from? From the Holy Spirit, so we need to be ready.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit
In Revelation chapter 22, I discovered something that broadened my understanding of the Holy Spirit and the power to live this life for Jesus — to be His disciple.
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1 NKJV)
This is a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem, and we see God’s throne. Upon the throne are the Father and the Son, the Lamb, or Jesus Christ. But where’s the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is nothing else than that pure river of the water of life flowing out from the throne. How can I be sure? Because the same word structure used here to describe the river is the same word structure Jesus uses to describe the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Jesus said, “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive.” (John 7:37-39a NKJV)
And so, the Holy Spirit is that pure river of the water of life that flows from beneath the Heavenly throne, and it’s the same river of living water that flows from every believer in Jesus Christ.
But the question becomes, “How much of this river, how much of the Holy Spirit do you want flowing in you and from you?” Do you want a small stream or a mighty river?
The Apostle Paul tells us that the Lord is able to do above and beyond what we can ask or think, and He does so through the power that works within us (Ephesians 3:20-21). And the power that works within us is Jesus Christ, who sits upon the throne of our hearts, and out from Him flows the Holy Spirit—these rivers of living waters.
I was then drawn to another river described by the prophet Ezekiel. It’s the river that will flow from the Millennium Temple, which is a copy of God’s heavenly temple (Hebrews 9:24). And what Ezekiel records for us is that wherever the river flows, there’s healing and new life. It says, and I paraphrase, “Where the river flows, everything will live.” (Ezekiel 47:9 paraphrase)
And this is not just a small river; it’s enormous, and it flows into the barren desert, bringing healing and life. The desert begins to blossom, and you’ll see trees everywhere along both sides of the river. The river flows directly into the Dead Sea, and the Dead Sea comes back to life, teeming with fish.
And what I saw is that Jesus will release a river just like that, flowing not only into us but out from us as well—the Holy Spirit—and He will bring both healing and renewal. Again, “Where the river flows, everything will live.”
Furthermore, what I find interesting about this river is its varying depth. First, it’s ankle-deep, then it reaches the knees, the waist, and finally, it’s over your head. But what you don’t see is that as Ezekiel wades into the river, you never see him come out on the other side. That's because once he reaches the middle, it becomes over his head, too deep for him, and the current is so strong it would sweep him away.
Then it says that he was brought back to the bank, and this is something the Lord began to show me as to the reason why.
And so, I have to ask the question that the Lord is asking all of us, which is, “How deep are you willing to go?” Remember that the deeper you go, the stronger the flow, meaning more healing and renewal will come.
So let’s look at these two statements.
“Where the River flows, there’s healing,” and “The Deeper you go, the mightier the flow.”
Please allow me to illustrate
Take the anchor out and tie myself to it.
The Anchor symbolizes all the things we’re unwilling to let go of in our lives, whether it's our comfort zones or how we do church. It’s those things that stop us from fully following God. You can also see it as the things we know we need to deny ourselves or avoid.
Illustrate each level
o Ankle deep – This is where we’re willing to get our feet wet, but we’re not actually in the current.
o Knee deep – This is where we begin to feel that tug of the Holy Spirit.
o Waist deep – Now we start being moved inch by inch, feeling the Holy Spirit’s call.
o And finally, it’s Over Our Heads. It’s where we’re being used in ministry and witnessing God do great and mighty things in us and through us.
But, we’ve tied ourselves to the anchor because, when it becomes too uncomfortable and the Holy Spirit starts leading us where we don’t want to go, we can always pull ourselves out of the flow, out of the river, and back onto shore.
What is that anchor we’ve tied ourselves to? Now, we’ve previously described it as those things we must deny ourselves—things that divert us from God’s plan and purpose for our lives.
But there is a Scripture that gives us further clarification on this whole thing.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1 NKJV)
When we reach the middle and the water is over our heads, being carried along by the flow of the Holy Spirit, we often become afraid because we want to hold on to control. We want to know where we’re heading.
But remember, if you want a powerful flow of the Holy Spirit and desire God's strength to help you on this journey of faith—this path to spiritual transformation, bringing life and healing—you'll need to loosen yourself from this anchor and allow the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and carry you into God's plans and purposes.
You don’t need to fear being in the middle of the river; you don’t have to worry about getting in over your head, because when you're in the middle of the River of Living Waters, the Holy Spirit will take you on the ride of your life. He’ll lead you to a new life, and for those places that once were dead, He’ll bring them to life.
Let me submit this to you: if you want to experience the full power of God in your life, you need to dive deep and let the Holy Spirit lead you. He will take you to places you’ve never been and show you things you’ve never seen because you’re allowing Him to do the work instead of relying on yourself.
Remember, the deeper you go, the mightier the flow. The deeper you go, the Holy Spirit will do mighty things in you and through you, shaping you into the image of Jesus Christ and guiding you along this road of faith we’re all called to travel.
So here’s the question, “How many of you want to go deeper with God?”
I want to pray that God will take you deeper, leading you to places you’ve never been before, and that this journey will bring healing.
Many things hold us back from going deeper, and God wants to speak to those areas today and remove the fear. The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Remember, wherever the river flows, there’s healing, and the deeper we go, the mightier the flow becomes. Are you willing to go deeper and become the man or woman of God that Jesus has called you to be?
