God's blessings
come to us in many ways.
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But to be truly blessed
of God one must be found
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walking with Jesus.
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So please stay tuned for
the next exciting edition of
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Walking With Jesus.
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Hello, I'm Eric Garloff, your
host for Walking With Jesus.
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Today's program is sure to be
an interesting one for everyone
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watching, and that's
because of the topic.
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We'll be talking about how
to tell if you're a disciple
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of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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We'll look at what it
means to be His disciple.
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And if you're not one of
the Lord's disciples now,
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you'll learn how to become one.
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We have a lot of ground
to cover in this episode,
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so I'd like to jump
right in and get started.
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The book Steps to Christ
has a lot to say about being
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a disciple of Jesus, and
I'd like to share with you
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what's written on
page 38, which says,
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If the heart has been
renewed by the Spirit of God,
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the life will bear
witness to the fact.
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While we cannot do
anything to change our hearts,
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we're to bring
ourselves into harmony with God.
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While we must not trust at all
to ourselves, or our good works,
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our lives will reveal
whether the grace of God
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is dwelling within us.
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End quote.
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Well, this really gives us a
lot to consider now, doesn't it?
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So please allow me to briefly
restate what we just read,
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and that was this: we may
not be able to see the Spirit
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Himself working within
our lives, but we will be able
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to see the result of the
Holy Spirit being in our life.
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This result of the Holy Spirit
being in our life produces
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a change within our characters.
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It's a change that
we'll be able to see.
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It's a change that others around
us will be able to see also.
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If God's grace is
dwelling within us, by the power
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of the Holy Spirit,
our lives will reflect this
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in the places we go,
in the words we speak,
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in the things which we
choose to occupy our time with.
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All these things will be signs
to us proclaiming whether or not
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we are indeed the
disciples of Jesus Christ.
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Now it's true that many people
who don't have the renewing
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power of the Holy Spirit
in their lives often times
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do good things for others.
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The person may, however, may do
good things for others out of a
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desire to pursue self esteem,
or out of one's self respect.
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So since doing good can be
done by those who follow Jesus,
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as well as those who do
not, how can a person tell
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which side they're on?
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How can a person know if
the good things that he, or she,
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is doing is done
with the right motives?
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After all, we are
not saved by our works.
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But the Bible also says in
James 2:20 that faith without
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works is dead.
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So what's the key
between faith and works?
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Well, simply put, the Christian
does not perform good works
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in order to be saved.
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He, or she, performs them
because they already have a
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saving relationship, and because
they want to please Jesus.
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The Christian performs
good works out of a saving
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relationship that he has already
established with the Lord Jesus.
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He, or she, wants to do good
things because in doing them
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the Christian reflects the
character of Christ to others.
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Page 39, in the book Steps
to Christ, puts it this way
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as it says:
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Love, joy, peace,
long suffering, gentleness,
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goodness, faith,
meekness, and temperance.
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Galatians 5:22, 23.
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Christians will seek
not the outward adorning,
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but the hidden man of the
heart; in that which is not
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corruptible even the ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit.
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1 Peter 3:3,4.
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Now, I have a story that
I'd like to share with you
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that just might illustrate
discipleship in a very
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real-life application.
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There was a man who for
many years mistreated his wife
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and children.
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This man, whom I'll call John,
was at the point where he would
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drink and gamble away much
of the money that he should have
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been using to
support his family.
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John was abusive in his
language towards his wife, Mary,
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and their children.
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John expected them to
wait on him "hand and foot".
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One night, when getting drunk
at the local bar, he started
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bragging to the guy that
was sitting on the bar stool
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next to him.
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He was telling him that he
had the best wife in the world.
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Well, John's new friend,
also being drunk, began arguing
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with him, and said
that, No, it was He that
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had the better wife.
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So John replied to him and said,
You come with me and I'll prove
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to you that my wife
is better than yours.
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The two men staggered out
of the bar and made their way
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to John's house.
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Upon arriving he started banging
on the front door as he shouted
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to wake up Mary.
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He shouted, Woman, wake
up and let me in the house.
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Wake up and cook some
breakfast for me and my friend.
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In a few moments the
light turned on upstairs,
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and a minute later Mary
opened up the front door.
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She said, Hello, dear.
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Please come in and
bring your friend in with you.
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Then she went into the
kitchen and began preparing
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breakfast for them.
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It wasn't long before
the smell of the food,
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which was cooking on the
stove, made its way into the
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living room where
the two men were sitting.
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John's friend turned to
him and said, I can't take
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it anymore.
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You win!
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Your wife is the best wife.
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My wife would
never do this for me.
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He grabbed his coat and
staggered out of the house.
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When the food was ready John's
wife came into the living room.
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She saw that the other
man was no longer there
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so she asked,
Honey, where's your friend?
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Your breakfast is ready.
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John stood up and said to
his wife, Why do you treat me
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this way?
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I'm mean and nasty to
you, but you still treat me
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with love and respect.
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Why do you do this?
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Mary said to him,
Honey, a number of years ago,
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when I gave my life to
Jesus, I made a promise to Him.
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I promised Jesus that I'd make
this life for you here on earth
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the best that it
could possibly be.
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I did this because I
realized without Jesus
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you would not go to heaven.
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This life would be the
only life that you would know.
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Therefore I decided to
make this life for you the best
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that it could possibly be.
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John began to cry and
said, If that's what it means
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to be a Christian,
then I want to be one, too.
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John knelt down with his
wife, prayed, and gave his heart
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to Jesus.
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Now this story demonstrates
the dedication and the power
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of a true disciple.
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This lady made a choice to
impact the life of her husband
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in such a way that every
time that he would look at her
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he would see the reflection
of the character of Jesus.
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Her actions towards her husband
were guided by the Holy Spirit
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as a direct result of
committing her life to being a
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disciple of Jesus.
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Steps to Christ, page
39, 40 word it so eloquently
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when it says:
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How beautifully it's written!
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Are you beginning to understand
what it means to be a disciple?
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Take an inventory of your life.
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What have you
done this past week?
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What are you thinking
about as the day goes by?
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Who has your
thoughts and your affections?
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Are your thoughts heavenward,
or are they earthbound?
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Are you reading the
Bible and other books,
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perhaps like the book,
Steps to Christ, or are you
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spending all of your
time in front of the TV
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watching anything, watching
everything that has absolutely
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nothing to do with
anything spiritual.
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Are you praying and asking
for the Holy Spirit to guide you
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throughout the day, or do
you only pray when some obstacle
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arises that you
can't figure out yourself?
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You know, friends, our
lives would be much better if we
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made God our steering
wheel instead of our spare tire.
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You see friends, as the driver,
we use the steering wheel
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the entire time we're in the
car, but the spare tire is only
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used when we get into trouble.
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It would be much better if we
kept our hands on the steering
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wheel of the Holy Spirit and
allowed Him to guide us through
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life; avoiding the potholes
and the dangers along the way.
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Wouldn't you agree with this?
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As we begin to close, I'd
like to quote one more passage
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from page 44 of the
book, Steps to Christ.
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It says:
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In closing, I'd like to ask
you to remember all that we have
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spoken about here today,
and may God's grace be with you
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in full measure preparing you
for a life of service for Him
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and His kingdom.
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We grow in our walk with Jesus
each time that we read the Bible
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and practice what we learn.
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By doing this you will see
it makes all the difference
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in the world.
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We pray you
enjoyed this program.
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Our next episode will
focus on Christian maturity.
00:14:01.91\00:14:05.61