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And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27 KJV) What does it mean to follow Jesus? Luke 9:23 in the Amplified version paraphrased it thus: “cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also” Dictionary defines “follow” as to go after, to pursue or move behind in the same path or direction. It means to keep watch or track of, to walk in a course, to attend closely. From the Scripture verse above, we will note that bearing our crosses should ultimately lead to following​ Jesus for us to be fully qualified as disciples. To be a follower of Jesus is to relinquish the driver's seat of our lives to Him. To be His follower means to be led by Him (Romans 8:14). When one is yoked to Jesus, you will ultimately go wherever He goes and stop wherever He stops. This is contrary to our nature and most difficult (humanly speaking), to do. One major reason why man (unregenerated) finds this most...

Now let us take a look at the second condition  which is “... taking up your cross daily…”. What is the cross here? The cross in time past has been a sign of suffering, condemnation and death. If you were to see someone bearing  a cross along the street being followed by soldiers in those days, it is known to all that​ such a person will not be returning from the journey. If that man were to be owing you, that will be a bad debt. And if you were the one that owed the man, it will definitely be of little or no concern to him again. What is this cross the Lord is calling us to take up daily? Let us take a look at what His own Cross meant.. What is the Cross of Christ? Hebrews 12:2 sheds good light on what the cross is. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The Cross was an experience Jesus Christ encountered on the path ...

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9:23 NIV) Now, let us take a look at the conditions to be a disciple. From the passage above, we see Jesus state, in clear terms, the conditions for being a follower/learner of his. “Whoever wants…” tells me the call is open to all (believers) and that each person is individually responsible for deciding whether he or she wants to be Jesus’ disciple. To be a disciple, Jesus said, one must, as conditions to be fulfilled deny himself take up his cross follow him. The Amplified version of the verse sheds more light as to what two of the conditions mean: “And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and,...

For any man or woman to become a believer or a disciple, it rest upon such a person fulfilling the required conditions for both. Being an ardent church goer does not make you a believer because that is not a condition to fulfill for you to become a believer. Neither does being a believer for ten years qualify you as a disciple because that is not the only condition that qualifies you as one. It is important we thresh out the conditions for one to be a believer as this forms the basis for a disciple. If we miss being a correct believer, we cannot but miss being a correct disciple. We see the conditions to be a believer in  Romans 10:9 “...because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…” Two conditions are clear from the above scripture. Confession with your mouth Believing in your heart. However, for one to be able to confess Jesus as Lord, there is yet a primary condition one ...

“The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.(Luke 6:40 KJV) A disciple is defined as a person who learns from another, especially one who then teaches others​; an active follower or an adherent of someone. Jesus has a yoke for all believers with a willing neck. He will not force any to come to Him neither will he force any to take up his yoke. Taking up the yoke is nothing but an entering into a Teacher-pupil relationship in which the teacher transfers his own life into the pupil through divine disciplinary dealings with each pupil according to their specific needs. The essence of the relationship (training) is for the disciple to be as his Master. In this, the Supreme plan of God for all believers is fulfilled. “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored....

To be born again is to be a believer.  Believing in the Good  News and receiving Christ as your Lord and Saviour makes you a believer. This is foundational. This is the first step all Christians must take but it is rather unfortunate that this is where many stop. Being born again as it implies is to be a newborn spiritual being. The next necessary step is to nurture the newborn with milk and tender care. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” (1 Peter 2:2 KJV). If as a newborn spiritual being, you do not have this desire for the milk of the word, there is not much to be desired about your new birth. You may have heard some other messages but not the Gospel!. “I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the Gentiles” (Romans 1:16 GNB) “For the message about Christ's death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is Go...

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;” John 8:31 KJV There is this common notion amidst Christians that believers and disciples are different names for the same people. For those who seem to somewhat note a difference, they may not have entirely fulfilled the conditions for being a disciple. There are two calls every man that want to inherit eternal life must answer. We can see this Matthew 11:28-29 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.   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.” We will easily see here in this passage that the Lord promised two rests for the different calls. The first call is to come to Him by believing in the gospel of His death and resurrection unto a saving from sin, Satan and the world. Jesus gives rest from the heavy burden of sins and endless labours of ...