I have been sharing some of my own story in this study, not as an example of a great Christian life, but from what I have learned being in pursuit of it. What we are addressing as “The Greatest Christian Life” is the life in pursuit of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus as the Apostle Paul described it. This is available to all who love the Lord more than anything else in this life and who esteem doing His will above anything they could possibly acquire for themselves. 

         As Paul wrote...

         Last week I shared how I had built a successful business while running from my calling. When the Lord finally confronted me and asked me to put my business on the altar, it quickly collapsed. This was also an answer to my prayer, though I was not expecting it to work out like that. Because of the business, I had many entanglements and obligations I asked the Lord to deliver me from so I could return to my calling. I just did not expect the answer to come that fast, but it was right. The judgments...

   As I promised, this week I will interject personal experiences I think could be helpful. However, because the title of this study is “The Greatest Christian Life,” I am not by any means implying my life is that. Some of the important things I am going to share are my mistakes with the hope they will help others avoid making the same ones.

   Looking back over my life, I think I did fairly well as a disciple, but not as good as a bondservant. I have struggled greatly with this aspect of my relationship with Christ. It took...

  In John 15:8 the Lord said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (NKJV). We begin to bear fruit as disciples, but when we go to the next level of relationship with the Lord—being His bondservant—bearing fruit by doing His work becomes our primary focus. Discipleship is mostly about us, us learning, and us growing. But becoming a bondservant requires us to apply all we have learned for His purposes, not our benefit. This is where we start doing the real work of the Lord, walking in a...

       As The Great Commission specifies that disciples are taught “all that He has commanded,” we must understand there are New Testament commandments. They are simple and basic, but they are commandments nonetheless. The most basic commandment the Lord gave us is recorded in John 13:34-35:

       “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

       “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (NKJV).

       ...