Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ

This scripture block includes Luke 10:38-42, 11:1-13, 12:13-40, 13:23-24, 14:16-33.

What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ?

I think that being a disciple of Christ means putting Him first in everything you do. He is the first priority in your life. That is what Mary did (Luke 10:38-42) when Christ was speaking with her and Martha. The bible dictionary says a disciple is "A pupil or learner; a name used to denote the twelve, also called apostles, all followers of Jesus Christ. We also read of disciples of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees (Mark 2: 18)." A disciple must be a constant learner, and must always have his or her mind and heart open to Christ. A disciple also follows the commandments.

Since we all should want to be disciples of Christ, I am going to choose a disciple characteristic I can apply more in my life. I can work on putting Christ first on my list of priorities. Sometimes I get so caught up in the world and with everything I am doing that I forget who made my life possible and who gave me everything I have.

Luke 14:33 says, "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." So if you aren't willing to give up everything you have for Christ, then you aren't being a disciple. You must be willing to sacrifice everything and give your whole soul unto Christ. But this makes sense, since we are eternally indebted to him because he sacrificed his life so we could have salvation.

Matthew 17:14-21 The Savior Healed a Young Man

Hello again. This time I am posting on my blog extra early because I am going to be really busy the next couple of weeks.

This scripture block is about a man who was healed by Christ after Christ’s disciples weren’t able to heal him. After he heals the man, Christ tells the disciples why they couldn’t. He said they didn’t have enough faith, and they didn’t fast or pray.

3 Nephi 18:20 “And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.” This proves that prayer is essential if a miracle is to occur.

Doctrine and Covenants 50:29 “And if ye are purified and cleansed from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it shall be done.” This teaches that in order for a miracle to happen you have to be pure and cleansed from sin. It also says that prayer plays a key role.

Doctrine and Covenants 42:48 “And again, it shall come to pass that he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be healed.” And here we see that faith is also a key role. If we don’t have faith, it won’t happen.

So in summary, the three things we need to have in order for a miracle to occur are faith, prayer, and fasting.

Matthew 14:22-33 Walking on the Sea

Okay so this week the scripture block is about Christ walking on the sea, and eventually Peter joining him.

First I would like to talk about the apostles' reaction to seeing Christ walking on water. They were afraid because at first they thought Christ was a spirit. I think this showed a lack of faith because they didn’t believe that Christ could walk on water. Once they realized it was Christ, Peter asked Christ if he could walk on water as well. I think that Peter showed a tremendous amount of faith because he believed that Christ could do anything. He truly believed Christ was the son of God. So Peter started to walk on water towards Christ, but according to Matthew 14:30, Peter saw the wind boisterous and became afraid. He paid more attention to the world around him then to Christ at that particular moment in time. He took his eyes off of Christ and then began to sink. Peter then yelled out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately (and it says immediately in the scriptures) Christ was there, helping Peter. Christ caught him and saved him.

In Doctrine and Covenants 88:67 it says, “And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.” This scripture helps us understand that if we have the eternal perspective and focus only on Christ and choosing the right, there shall be no darkness in us. Awesome, isn’t it? It is the same with Peter: he sank because he took his eye off of what matters most.