John 14:9 English Standard Version (ESV) Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Is this the essence of discipleship? Let us modify the statement to this present day. “Whoever has seen me has seen Jesus. How can you say, ‘Show us Jesus’?”

The essential truth here lies within the context of “I have been with you so long”. To know someone deeper than the superficial appearances takes time. We all appear to be just like any other human and we are physically. The spiritual aspects of our lives are not readily noticeable. It takes time by unbelievers to see that side of us. We are the same but somehow different.

That difference can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. Every effort on our part to “be good” will be seen as human effort. Any good 12 step program will tell you that. The issue long term is not effort it is character. God through the power of the Holy Spirit is building Jesus character qualities within each of us. It will no longer be a human effort it will be the new creature being true to our new nature.

It takes time to build character and it takes time to reveal character. We must not give up on the lost just because in the early days they don’t see us for who we are in Christ. If God has placed a person in your life to disciple then do not give up hope that the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus to them.

“I was once like you.”

Ephesians 2:3-5 English Standard Version (ESV)

³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the bodyand the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Hebrews 12:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

When I was in combat training we were forced to wear full field packs with every imaginable weight inside. We would never carry such gear into combat but the training built up endurance in us that would be needed when it came time to do battle.

Much of our spiritual life feels just like that. We carry burdens in our own strength and try as we might we do not seem to be able to shed the burden. While God tells us our sins have been cast any from us it does not feel that way. Perhaps that is because we are in training and the real battle has not begun.

When that day comes when we will do battle, He will order us to dump our field packs and get ready to do battle. When it comes to the battle the enemy is before us and our burdens are behind us. The issues of battling spiritual forces has our foe on the run. Defeated at the Cross our foe does what we call in the military harassing tactics. Unable to effectively fight us, he snipes at us with lies and temptations.

Having shed those burdens we are better able to endure the battle and chase him off the field of battle.

Endurance and character are built during times of struggle when nothing substantial within our souls is at risk, like our training grounds.

Are you ready for battle or still training?