WBS.045
FUNDAMENTALS
OF DISCIPLESHIP
A KINGDOM HEART – XV
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance of the will of IAUE.
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
In the 4th lesson in this blog (WBS.004), I related to this verse as the
first lesson in discipleship. That
lesson focused on being yoked with Messiah.
The following lessons dealt with what it means to be meek and lowly in
heart. One of the key concepts of the
yoke was that “there is
no freedom inside the yoke to pursue one’s own will.” To take upon myself the yoke of Messiah is to
voluntarily relinquish my right of self-rule.
Inside the yoke, I am harnessed to be the servant of another; and his
will alone is all I am free to pursue.
The yoke reveals this truth:
Until one embraces a master, one may not be called a
disciple. This is why this is the first lesson in
discipleship. It is our starting
point.
Matthew 16:24 Then said Yahushua unto his disciples, If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me.
Voluntarily entering the yoke with Messiah necessarily means
we have made an active choice to deny ourselves. It is an intelligent decision made that recognizes
that following the Master’s will is more honorable, more desirable, and
produces a better outcome than following our own will. If we do not understand this simple idea,
then we cannot be his disciples.
We are now 45 weeks into this study; and there are three
categories of readers who are still following this blog:
1. Casual readers who
are not looking to learn anything or grow spiritually; but are looking to see how
they can disagree with the ideas or doctrines expressed herein. The Holy Spirit has enjoined them to this
blog because their hearts are in conflict; and their wills are still stallions
in need of breaking. They have to be
able to refute what is said in these postings in order to continue their lives
of rebellion against the King, while appeasing their conscience with notions
that they are still “going to heaven when they die.” The Holy Spirit wants to disarm this group
with the Truth and bring them to genuine repentance.
2. Serious students
of the Scripture that are intrigued with the ideas expressed in this blog. They are able to separate what they perceive
to be the wheat from what they perceive to be the chaff, and glean from these
studies without “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” These readers love to find out “new” things
from the Scripture; but they are still stuck in the academic pursuit of the
Scripture, not recognizing that in their accumulation of knowledge, they are
simply embracing the marketing of the product, and not actually purchasing the
product. I will remind this group of my
words in an earlier lesson: “I can only present the information,
market the product. To acquire the
product, one must go to the Master and pay the price for the Truth.”
3. Yoked disciples who read this blog and find a
harmonious response in their hearts to the words they are reading. While they read these postings they
simultaneously experience the voice of the Holy Spirit confirming the words to
their hearts. These readers, though they
desire and eagerly anticipate what will be in the next week’s lesson, they
realize that it takes time to integrate and assimilate into their lives what
they have already read. They understand that it takes time for the word to
become flesh within them; and that starts with receiving the revelation of what
is written in these postings---something that cannot be found within the words
on the page. Their hearts desire a
quicker pace; but they know that a slower pace is required in order for the
truths contained in these postings to bring about the change inside of them
that the Master desires. These readers
know that it is not about accumulating knowledge. It is about becoming like the Master. “Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me.”
This brings us to why we
are revisiting our first lesson in discipleship. It is because there is an element of this
passage that we did not develop the first time.
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
To the casual reader, receiving “rest unto your souls”
simply means “being saved,” or “going to heaven when you die.” Traditional Christian concepts routinely
interfere with the ability to properly understand Scripture.
The soul of man contains the faculties of his mind, will and
emotions. It is the seat of one’s
personality, one’s ability to evaluate information, make choices, then
experience or express feelings about the consequences of those choices. The soul of man is where all the “work” is
performed in the direction of one’s life.
I choose where to go to school. I
decide why I choose that school. I
choose my field of study. I choose my
first job, and subsequent job choices. I
choose my clothing, my friends, my entertainment, my spouse, my car, etc. Everything in my life, whether good or bad,
whether it measures up to my desires or expectations or exceeds them, is a
consequence of my choices. When things
go wrong or don’t meet expectations, when friends are alienated or disloyal, when
family disappoints or leaves me, I and I alone am to blame; because my life is
defined by my choices. My life is
controlled by my mind, will and emotions.
This is work; and it is work that is based on inferior knowledge,
inferior wisdom, and the inability to accurately forecast the outcome of our
choices.
When we come to Messiah and bow our knee to him as our
Master; and we voluntarily take his yoke upon ourselves, we give up our own
soul’s right to direct our lives. We
forfeit the right to evaluate and choose based on our own understandings and
preferences. We humbly bow to the
superior knowledge, the superior wisdom and the superior ability to comprehend
the outcome of the Master’s choices for our lives. This is the rest that is
brought to us by the yoke.
Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
If the idea of this total relinquishment of your freedom of
choice, of your free will, is abhorrent to you, then you are not a
disciple. I do not speak that to insult
you; but rather, to point out the truth to you; and to hold up a mirror for you
to see where you really are in your spiritual development. Christianity is a religion that is intent on
making you feel good about YOUR choices.
Discipleship to Yahushua Messiah is intent on making you feel great
about HIS choices. Work…or rest… It is a choice; and it should be the last
choice you have to make; for beyond that choice is a life of humble obedience;
and the thrill of participating in the outworking of IAUE’s will in the earth.
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