{"id":8986,"date":"2021-03-30T11:45:16","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T16:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=8986"},"modified":"2022-12-06T21:03:12","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:03:12","slug":"stay-close-to-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Stay Close to Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Without fail, Scripture describes our walk with God\u2014abiding in Jesus\u2019 love\u2014as inseparably linked to passionate desperation.<\/em> Should we be surprised, then, that over the years, so many enduring voices in the history of Christianity have spoken boldly of their desperate longing for God\u2019s love? Theologian Augustine of Hippo (AD 354\u2013430) said, \u201cTo fall in love with God is the greatest romance\u201d\u2014words that mirrored his own journey from despair to the Father\u2019s heart.[i] Medieval mystic Catherine of Siena (AD 1347\u20131380), who described God as \u201ca fire of love,\u201d[ii]  closed every letter with the spiritually amorous words, \u201csweet Jesus, Jesus Love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, it would be tempting to think that these biblical characters and other historic followers of Jesus <\/a>are in some special category. But no\u2014they are men and women like you and me, with the same hopes, fears, challenges, joys, and sorrows. What sets them apart is that the essence of their relationship with God was never about biblical commands or spiritual disciplines; it was about their desperate, passionate love for him. In the early twentieth century, a young Chinese village girl, commanded by Communist soldiers to \u201ctrample the cross and live,\u201d instead lifted her hands heavenward and sang \u201cJesus Loves Me\u201d\u2014as their guns blazed, sending her to glory.[iii] We\u2019ll do a lot for someone we believe in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll sacrifice everything for someone we desperately love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In recent months, I\u2019ve been deeply moved by author Mary DeMuth\u2019s memoir Thin Places<\/em>, where she details the trauma of her childhood sexual abuse and the years of recovery that followed. As she reflects on how she survived such horrific, painful betrayal, she decides to read her adolescent diaries for clues to her spiritual perseverance and grit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I read these journals I see something startling: my heart. Bleeding all over those journals twenty years younger, a pattern emerges. I am insanely in love with Jesus Christ<\/em>. I trip up . . . but even in my straying, He\u2019s constantly on my mind. Pen to paper, I shower Him with affectionate words. I scribble His messages to me. I devour the Bible and memorize <\/a>its beauty. God sees me, and I also see Him. And love Him.[iv]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am insanely in love with Jesus Christ.\u201d Those words leap at lightning speed into my father heart, bringing tears because of Mary\u2019s little-girl pain and the unspeakable violation she endured\u2014and hope \u00adbecause her words reflect a desperation for Jesus and his invincible, conquering love, even when the enemy is at his diabolical worst. A desperation necessary for anyone in any era to consistently abide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the reality is\u2014please don\u2019t miss this\u2014we\u2019re created in the image of a passionate God to long for and search for something or someone to be profoundly, desperately passionate about<\/em>! Or, as George McDonald put it in a nineteenth-century sermon, \u201cThe soul God made is . . . hungering.\u201d[v] If we\u2019re not desperate for him, we will<\/em> be desperate for something else. Casually following God won\u2019t cut it. Eventually the bright lights and compelling promises of other lovers will lure us away like Disney\u2019s Pinocchio, who meant so well but still ended up on Pleasure Island, braying like the donkey he had become. Some years ago, the prolific Porphyrios said it this way: \u201cWhen people are empty of Christ, a thousand and one other things come and fill them up; jealousies, hatreds, boredom, melancholy, resentment, a worldly outlook, worldly pleasures.\u201d[vi] Invitations to passion, all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it\u2014King David stepped away for just a moment from his desperate pursuit of God . . . and quickly moved toward the passion of adultery, calculated betrayal, and murder. Or consider Demas, a serious Jesus follower and one of Paul\u2019s closest companions (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24)\u2014of whom Paul says in his last letter, as he awaits Roman execution, \u201cDemas has deserted me for love of this present world<\/em>\u201d (2 Timothy 4:10, author\u2019s paraphrase). He could have said, \u201cDemas stopped reading his Bible and lost his faith\u201d or \u201cDemas wasn\u2019t disciplined enough, so he couldn\u2019t handle the pressure.\u201d But instead, Paul uses language of passion\u2014Demas left because he loved<\/em> the world. We can only guess the details, but it\u2019s clear that in Paul\u2019s mind, for a long while, Demas was in love with Jesus. At some point, for whatever reason, Demas\u2019s passion waned, and very soon his empty heart found another lover: the world and what it promised him. Then, when the spiritual battle got too intense, he walked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, without desperation in our love relationship with God, everyone eventually walks away. We might walk ten steps into lukewarm complacency, a hundred yards into discouragement, or five miles into apostasy\u2014but I promise, everyone walks. And absolutely no one continues to abide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if desperation is essential to abiding in Jesus\u2019 love, how do we get desperate and stay desperate for him? I\u2019m a little afraid of sounding clich\u00e9, theologically unsophisticated, or simply \u201cnot deep,\u201d but here\u2019s what has become self-evident to me: We start living with desperation when we get honest about how desperate we really are.<\/em> In other words, when we begin to own the depth of our pain, emptiness, and loneliness\u2014and the inability of other lovers to meet the needs of our heart\u2014we\u2019ll find ourselves desperately longing for Jesus in a way that moves us to seek him and his love, moment by moment, like never before. This is exactly what John of the Cross declares in his Dark Night of the Soul<\/em>, a mystical treatise birthed in 1577 during nine months in a Spanish prison. John says the darkness is where \u201cthe yearnings for God become so great . . . that [our] very bones seem to be dried up by [our] thirst\u201d for him\u2014and a deep longing for \u201cDivine love begins to be enkindled in [our] spirit.\u201d[vii] In other words, it\u2019s in the darkness\u2014whether the natural darkness of living in a fallen world or a specific, personalized darkness allowed by God\u2019s severe mercy\u2014that our desperation for him is born, a desperation we must allow ourselves to consistently feel if we want to consistently abide<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My friend Clarence was raised in an abusive home, got out as soon as he could, and by age twenty was an apprentice ironworker. He shared with me recently, \u201cToday it\u2019s different, but when I first started, if you didn\u2019t do what all the guys were doing, they didn\u2019t want you around.\u201d That meant drinking and drugging\u2014even on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was high every day up on the iron, sometimes hundreds of feet in the air,\u201d Clarence said. \u201cEvery time my foot slipped, what came out of my mouth was \u2018O, God.\u2019 But when I didn\u2019t fall, I\u2019d go back to thinking, God is for old people<\/em>. I can\u2019t believe I survived.\u201d Clarence worked iron for thirty years and loved it. \u201cWe got a lot of respect from the other trades,\u201d he remembered. \u201cTheir respect kept me from thinking about how I didn\u2019t respect myself. They made me feel bigger than I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, Clarence became a heroin addict. But he also met and married Alberta, who introduced him to the love of Jesus. He started going to church, went to treatment a few times\u2014but never stopped using for very long. \u201cI was convinced I could do life my way,\u201d Clarence told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time Clarence and I met, God was mercifully allowing Clarence\u2019s life to fall apart. \u201cAfter I retired,\u201d he said, \u201cit got so bad that five minutes after Alberta left for work in the morning, I\u2019d be off to buy dope. I got scared I was going to die because I knew how many times I should have died already\u2014falling drunk off the iron, an overdose, or getting beat in the dope house. And . . . I was petrified I was going to lose my family. I hadn\u2019t just come to the end of the road; I\u2019d hit a wall that had fallen on top of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, like the prodigal son, Clarence \u201ccame to his senses\u201d (Luke 15:17, NLT). After a long pause, he whispered, \u201cI had no other place to go . . . but Jesus.\u201d Desperate, Clarence entered a Christian treatment center, got clean, and lived clean for two years. And then he relapsed. Remember, desperation isn\u2019t a one-time fix but a lifetime way of being with Jesus. \u201cI was so embarrassed and afraid of how people would look at me,\u201d Clarence remembered, \u201cbut I went back to the same treatment facility anyway.\u201d It was there, during his seventh time in rehab, that two miracles occurred. First, when he was in detox, a staff lady spoke directly and powerfully to his shame<\/a>. \u201cDon\u2019t forget, my brother,\u201d she said passionately, \u201cJesus forgives us seventy times seven.\u201d Clarence wept. It was a turning point. And then, for the seventh time, Alberta said, \u201cI love you, Clarence. God loves you. Get well.\u201d Miraculously, this time around . . . her words landed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was five years ago. Today, Clarence is a well-loved and respected husband, father, grandfather, and brother. He leads both a men\u2019s and a Narcotics Anonymous group at our church. And his relationship with God? Last night, I called Clarence and asked. The phone got quiet\u2014and then he said, \u201cThe truth is, I just can\u2019t live without him.\u201d Indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Kevin<\/figure>
Kevin Butcher<\/span>

was a lead pastor for 35 years\u2014the last 17 in urban Detroit\u2014and is now the founder and executive director of Rooted Ministries, Inc., a nonprofit designed to come alongside isolated, wounded, discouraged pastors and their families. Butcher is the author of\u00a0Choose and Choose Again: The Brave Act of Returning to God\u2019s Love<\/em>\u00a0(NavPress, 2016). He has written numerous articles and has shared the message of the Father\u2019s love in 12 different countries.<\/p>\n

More from Kevin<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Sources<\/strong>
[i] Jesse Carey, \u201c15 Augustine Quotes that Helped Shape Modern Christian Thought,\u201d Relevant, August 28, 2014, https:\/\/relevantmagazine.com\/faith\/15-augustine-quotes-helped-shape-modern-christian-thought\/.
[ii] See her poem entitled \u201cMy Nature Is Fire.\u201d
[iii] Susan Bergman, \u201cTwentieth-Century Martyrs: A Meditation,\u201d in Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith, ed. Susan Bergman (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998), 2.
[iv] Mary E. DeMuth, Thin Places: A Memoir (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 213. Emphasis added.
[v] George MacDonald, \u201cThe Voice of Job,\u201d accessed October 1, 2020, http:\/\/www.online-literature.com\/george-macdonald\/unspoken-sermons\/22\/.
[vi] As quoted here: \u201cA Quote by St. Porphyrios,\u201d Hagia Sophia (blog), April 15, 2018, https:\/\/orthodoxyhasguts.wordpress.com\/2018\/04\/15\/a-quote-by-st-porphyrios\/.
[vii] Saint John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, trans. E. Allison Peers (New York: Image Books, 1959), chap. XI, scanned in 1994, http:\/\/www.carmelitemonks.org\/Vocation\/DarkNight-StJohnoftheCross.pdf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Without fail, Scripture describes our walk with God\u2014abiding in Jesus\u2019 love\u2014as inseparably linked to passionate desperation. Should we be surprised, then, that over the years, so many enduring voices in the history of Christianity have spoken boldly of their desperate … <\/p>\n

Read moreStay Close to Jesus<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[212,307],"yoast_head":"\nStay Close to Jesus - The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stay Close to Jesus - The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Without fail, Scripture describes our walk with God\u2014abiding in Jesus\u2019 love\u2014as inseparably linked to passionate desperation. Should we be surprised, then, that over the years, so many enduring voices in the history of Christianity have spoken boldly of their desperate ... Read moreStay Close to Jesus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-30T16:45:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-06T21:03:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/03\/BUTCHER-Stay-Close-to-Jesus-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Disciplemaker Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Disciplemaker Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/286f15baf67cfb6421a3e1a15914650e\"},\"headline\":\"Stay Close to Jesus\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-30T16:45:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-06T21:03:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\"},\"wordCount\":1815,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Free\",\"Kevin Butcher\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Grow\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\",\"name\":\"Stay Close to Jesus - The Disciplemaker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-30T16:45:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-06T21:03:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stay Close to Jesus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\",\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker\",\"description\":\"Bold. Loving. Sensible.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\",\"name\":\"NavPress\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png\",\"width\":4092,\"height\":818,\"caption\":\"NavPress\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/286f15baf67cfb6421a3e1a15914650e\",\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2470415ee5da75011a8a6e5409bb80cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2470415ee5da75011a8a6e5409bb80cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/author\/wharrison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stay Close to Jesus - The Disciplemaker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stay Close to Jesus - The Disciplemaker","og_description":"Without fail, Scripture describes our walk with God\u2014abiding in Jesus\u2019 love\u2014as inseparably linked to passionate desperation. Should we be surprised, then, that over the years, so many enduring voices in the history of Christianity have spoken boldly of their desperate ... Read moreStay Close to Jesus","og_url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/","og_site_name":"The Disciplemaker","article_published_time":"2021-03-30T16:45:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-06T21:03:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/03\/BUTCHER-Stay-Close-to-Jesus-scaled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Disciplemaker Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Disciplemaker Team","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/"},"author":{"name":"The Disciplemaker Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/286f15baf67cfb6421a3e1a15914650e"},"headline":"Stay Close to Jesus","datePublished":"2021-03-30T16:45:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-06T21:03:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/"},"wordCount":1815,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization"},"keywords":["Free","Kevin Butcher"],"articleSection":["Grow"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/","name":"Stay Close to Jesus - The Disciplemaker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-30T16:45:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-06T21:03:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/stay-close-to-jesus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stay Close to Jesus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/","name":"The Disciplemaker","description":"Bold. Loving. Sensible.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization","name":"NavPress","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png","width":4092,"height":818,"caption":"NavPress"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/286f15baf67cfb6421a3e1a15914650e","name":"The Disciplemaker Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2470415ee5da75011a8a6e5409bb80cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2470415ee5da75011a8a6e5409bb80cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Disciplemaker Team"},"url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/author\/wharrison\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8986"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12145,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8986\/revisions\/12145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}