This podcast covers Lesson 11 of the Graceful Living Bible Study.

Graceful Living Leads to Fulfilling Your Purpose

Jesus calls us to a new life with Him.

• Christianity is Christ! It is about Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him.

Jesus clothes us with Himself.

• The moment we accept this call to new life, we get “clothed” with Christ (Galatians 3:27). This means that when God looks on us, He sees His own Son.

Jesus commissions us with a two-fold purpose.

• First part of our purpose: To follow Jesus as His disciple. To follow Jesus means to make the choice to learn from Jesus through what is taught in the Bible and to apply those teachings to your life. We do that through depending upon Him to help us be obedient to Him. The result is Jesus living His life through you, influencing those around you so they can experience His love as well.
• Second part of our purpose: To live as a disciple-maker. Making disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

Jesus empowers us to fulfill that purpose.

• His Spirit lives in us giving us the power to do what Jesus commissions us to do.

You can get distracted from your purpose.

• We get distracted from our purpose by feelings of inadequacy, a fear of rejection, or desire for comfort in relationships. We get stuck in Bible Study and lose connection with those who don’t know Jesus.
• This resulting sense of restlessness in you is a clue that you have been distracted away from your whole purpose. You are to be following Jesus as His disciple while living for Him as disciple-makers at the same time and with just as much intentionality.

Three powerful tools help you fulfill your purpose.

• Tool #1: The Holy Spirit at work in you and in the world.
• Tool #2: The gospel message. The Gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ coming to earth to save us from our sins. Christianity is Christ! It’s all about a relationship with Him. If you have opportunity to tell someone one thing, tell her about Jesus.
• Tool #3: Your story. Sharing your story is a simple way to speak about God’s love for you and how He works in your life. You can bring hope to someone who needs it. Just share what you know.

Discipling new believers is essential.

Getting to know Jesus is the priority for new Christians.

• What they need first and foremost is to get to know Him well and be secure in their relationship with Him. Reading through the gospels is a great way to do that. They need to know Jesus first.
• All Christians whether new or old need to know some basics like who Jesus Christ is, what He did for them on the cross, what His resurrection means, and their new identity in Christ. They need to know how to live in freedom from the flesh because they can live by the Spirit’s power. They need to learn to depend on the Lord and how that dependence leads to obedience to Him. They can get all that from our studies for beginners. Start out with A Fresh Start, a study designed especially for new Christians. Then, do Painting the Portrait of Jesus, which is a simple look at Jesus’ life from the gospel of John.

Fulfilling your purpose as a disciple-maker

• Jesus satisfies your heart with purpose. He calls you to a new life, clothes you with Himself, commissions you with a purpose to follow Him as a disciple and to live for Him as a disciple-maker. Thankfully, Jesus does not leave you alone to work really hard to do what He’s asked you to do. He empowers you to fulfill your purpose. The power comes from God’s Spirit who lives inside you from the moment you trust in Christ for salvation.
• Your response is to live dependently on His power in your life by faith. You are simply to obey Him and trust His Spirit in you to work through you. And, being a little scared is a good thing because you will rely on Him more. Feel free to say, “Lord Jesus, I can’t do this on my own. I will trust you to do this in me and through me.” Then, watch what He does! That’s graceful living!

Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His grace so that your life overflows with His grace every day. You will experience a life of freedom and joy!

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