Pathway to Victory

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Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory and Dr. Robert Jeffress.

We're dedicated to bringing you bold biblical teaching that transforms your life and strengthens your walk with God.

And you can study God's word alongside Dr. Jeffress in person on the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska.

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Have you ever witnessed the breathtaking majesty.

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Of massive glaciers rising from crystal blue waters or stood in awe as bald.

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Eagles soar over snow capped mountain? I want you to experience these unforgettable moments with me on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska, June 13th through 20th, 2026.

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Join Dr. Jeffress and the Pathway to Victory family for a spectacular seven-day adventure aboard Holland America's luxurious Koningsdam.

Indulge in elegant staterooms, world-class dining, and expansive decks perfect for breathtaking views.

Visit historic ports like Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan, where wilderness and frontier history await.

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There's something powerful about connecting with God and fellow believers in the majesty of his untamed wilderness. I truly believe this journey will refresh.

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You spiritually, physically and emotionally.

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Cabins are filling quickly, so reserve yours today. To book your spot on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska, call 888-280-6747 or go to ptv.org now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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Hi, this is Robert Jeffress and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program.

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

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A disciple is somebody who resembles Jesus Christ in his actions, attitudes, and affections. To be a disciple means to live my life as Christ would live my life if he were I.

Those are all descriptions of a disciple, but it all comes back to this: discipleship is about a changed life that comes from a transformed heart.

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Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. The word disciple is one that gets thrown around a lot in church, and if you asked a hundred different people for a definition, you'd probably get 100 different answers.

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares what it truly means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates.

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Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Before we get started, I'm pleased to tell you about the upcoming 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska. One of the keys to living a healthy Christian life is taking regular periods of rest, and there's nothing quite like relaxing on board a luxurious cruise liner with God's majestic creation as a backdrop. Our ship departs from the world-class port of Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 13th, and for seven days, we'll explore the majesty of Alaska together. Take some time to look at the itinerary online and reserve a premier cabin while there's still time. You'll find all the details at ptv.org.

Well, there comes a point in the Christian life when all of us need to carefully evaluate the amount of activity we agree to. Sometimes we fill our days with duties and obligations, many of them good ones, all at the cost of eclipsing our relationship with God. Our current series, Seven Marks of a Disciple, is designed to help you simplify your life and begin focusing on the disciplines that truly enrich your discipleship journey.

To help you, we've prepared a brand new ministry resource called Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple. This beautiful full-color padded hardcover book includes 80 stunning photographs of God's creation, and each chapter includes a Bible verse along with a prayer that will allow you to enjoy a brief moment of reflection and focus. This stunning resource is one you'll treasure for years to come. Please let us send you a copy today. It's yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. The title again is Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple.

More details later on, but right now, let's pick up a study we started on Monday's program.

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It's titled "The Heart of Discipleship." We all know we're supposed to be disciples of Christ, but what does it mean to be a disciple? You know that word "disciple" or the word "discipleship"? It gets thrown around the church, our church. A lot of people use that term without really understanding what it means to be a disciple. In fact, if I were to ask you what it means to be a disciple, I think we'd come up with all kinds of answers.

Well, to be a disciple means you get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and meet with a couple of other men or women for an accountability group. Other people would say, well, being a disciple means enrolling in this class in Discipleship University. That means you're a disciple now. All of those things, by the way, are good things to do. But those things relate to the process of discipleship; they don't define what a disciple is. They describe how you become a disciple, but that's not what a disciple is.

Other people define a disciple by what a disciple does or is. They will note that that term, "disciple" (mathetes in Greek), was used in Jesus' day to refer to somebody who admired a rabbi and decided to attach himself to that rabbi to learn all of his teachings and to emulate his lifestyle. So, to be a disciple, they say, involves attaching yourself to Jesus and emulating his lifestyle. Specifically, they would note that there are four things a disciple does or is. You might want to jot them down on your outline.

First of all, they would say a disciple is a Christian. The beginning point of being a disciple is to become a Christian. You know, Jesus talked about the importance of that in the discipleship process. The words we often call the Great Commission—remember what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20? "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." How do you do that, Jesus? How do you make disciples of people? Well, he said, first of all, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." The Bible says we must be baptized to be a disciple, a follower of Christ—not for our salvation, but as a profession of faith of our salvation. So that's why Jesus said the first step is a conversion experience.

Then he said, secondly, "teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." A disciple is a Christian. Secondly, a disciple has a growing relationship with God. If we're really a disciple, we're going to know and love Jesus Christ more today than when we were first saved. A disciple has a growing relationship with God.

Thirdly, a disciple obeys Christ in every area of his life. Go back to that Great Commission. Not only is it baptizing people, but it's teaching people to observe all things that I have commanded you. Discipleship—the essence of it—is teaching people to obey God in every area of their life: their work, their finances, their marriage, their parenting, their thought life. That's what it means to be a disciple.

And then finally, a disciple is one who makes new disciples. He makes new disciples. If you're a true follower of Christ, you're going to take seriously Jesus Christ's final command before he ascended into heaven: to go into all of the world and make it your life purpose to make disciples. You say, well, I can't travel all over the world doing that. No, you and I can individually, but we can join with a church like First Baptist Dallas that is doing that. Together, we can go into all the world and make disciples.

Now, all of those things I mentioned—those four characteristics of the disciple—still, as true as they are, don't define the essence of discipleship. So, are you ready to know what discipleship is really all about? I want you to write this down: the essence of discipleship is a changed life that comes from a transformed heart.

2nd Corinthians 5:17, Paul says, "Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away. Behold, new things have come." Some translations capture the tense accurately: new things are coming. A disciple is somebody who resembles Jesus Christ in his actions, attitudes, and affections. A disciple is someone who loves what Jesus loved, thinks like Jesus thought, behaves like Jesus behaved in every situation. To be a disciple means to live my life as Christ would live my life if he were I. Those are all descriptions of a disciple, but it all comes back to this: discipleship is about a changed life that comes from a transformed heart.

Unfortunately, too many professing Christians today have this testimony: it's a testimony that says, "I came to the cross of Jesus Christ just as I am, and I left just as I was." There's been absolutely no transformation of their life. I mean, the statistics are well known, and they're very depressing. You look at any area of human behavior, and there's not any really marked difference between the behavior of professing Christians and non-Christians. Christians fall into adultery at almost exactly the same rate as non-Christians. They divorce at the same rate as non-Christians. They embezzle from their workplace at the same rate as non-Christians. They lie at the same rate as non-Christians. There is no marked difference between the behavior of Christians and non-Christians, and that ought to be disturbing to all of us. I know it's disturbing to me.

You know, I heard about a pastor one time who made a little plaque that he put in the back of his pulpit so that every time he went up to the pulpit to preach, he saw this plaque. You know what the plaque said? "What in the world are you doing to these people?" You know, I have to tell you, ever since I've read that over the last few years, I've been thinking about that every time I'm preparing a message. What in the world are you trying to do to these people? Are you trying to just fill up their heads with theological knowledge? Are you just trying to give them the assurance that they can go ahead and live however they want to as long as they've got their ticket to heaven? Are you telling them it's okay to be forgiven by Jesus without ever following Jesus? What in the world are you trying to do to these people?

You know, I'm assuming the reason you're watching this series right now is because you really do want to know what it means to be a follower of Christ. You really believe what the Scripture says, that one day you're going to face God, and you want to be sure that you've gotten it right. You know, there's a lot of clutter in Christianity today. I can't even begin to describe to you the emails, the FedEx packages, the letters I receive every day of every week from Christians all over the globe trying to tell me I need to give my attention to this issue and this issue, and here's what's really important.

And you read these letters or read these articles they send you. Some people think the essence of Christianity is making sure you're able to parse every doctrinal issue just right and say it in the right way to be sure you're able to explain with great precision the relationship between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. And if you can't explain that, then you're not really a Christian. Other people believe the essence of Christianity is believing what they believe about the gray issues of Christianity that the Bible really doesn't speak about. But you've got to adopt their beliefs about these gray areas.

For other people, the essence of Christianity is making sure you worship in exactly the right way, that you sing the right kind of songs, you pray the right kind of prayers. That's what it means to be a really fervent disciple of Christ. Other people believe it's all about the gifts of the Spirit, and you've got to believe just this way about the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be a real Christian. Those are all secondary, tertiary issues.

It reminds me of what Jesus said to Martha down in verses 41 and 42 of Luke 10. The Lord said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only a few things are necessary, and really only one." When it comes to the Christian life and being a disciple, there's really only one thing that matters. Jesus said, loving God with all of our hearts and loving others as we love ourselves.

You've heard of the old KISS principle. Remember that? K I S S. Keep it simple, stupid. You know why that's important? Hans Hoffman has written, "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." The reason we need to get rid of all of these secondary and tertiary issues is because if we don't, we can't focus on what really is important.

You know, the business world has learned that. I was reading this week about Apple Computer. They just finished their year with $223 billion in profits. They have $250 billion just sitting in cash. This week, they paid their 123,000 employees an extra stock bonus of $2,500 each. What is the secret to their success? You know what the secret of their success is? They were able to take amazingly complex technology and simplify it so that people can use it with just a touch of their finger. They made the complex simple. They made it simple.

You know, you can't drive around town and not see a Papa John's pizza place just about on every other block. John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John's, explained the secret of his company's success. He said, "At Papa John's, we have a simple formula for success: focus on one thing and try to do it better than anyone else." Is it just possible that in Christianity we need to learn that secret? That instead of focusing on so many things like Martha was, we need to focus on the one thing God really wants from us?

You know, the Pharisees had the ability to make the simple things complex. They took God's simple law and they added 613 regulations to it. They cluttered up Christianity, and again, Jesus said it all can be reduced to that simple principle.

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Love God with all of your heart.

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And love others as yourself. You're saying, wait a minute, Pastor, that can't be all there is to it. Well, what about the issues like forgiving other people? What about issues of living a moral lifestyle? What about not letting anger take hold of your life? What about not being caught up in greed and materialism? What about all of those things? Are you saying God doesn't care about those things? Well, of course he cares about those things. But all of those issues can be traced back to the condition of our heart. It's all a heart issue. A carefully cultivated and guarded heart. A heart that loves God and loves others will be able to handle all of those other challenges.

That's what Solomon said in Proverbs 4:23. He said what? Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it the heart flow the springs of life. I want you to think about this. Every issue you're facing right now in your life ultimately comes back to a condition of your heart. Whether you allow worry to consume your life will be determined by whether you have cultivated a fearing heart or a trusting heart. Whether you allow anger and outbursts to be the rule of your life depends upon whether you have cultivated a bitter heart or a forgiving heart. Whether you allow money to consume your thoughts and actions depends upon whether you are cultivating a greedy heart or a content heart. Whether you fall into that trap of immorality that Satan is setting for you right now depends upon whether you have cultivated an adulterous heart or a pure heart.

You see, we Christians get it backwards. We get it backwards when it comes to our relationship with God. We try to modify our behavior without ever dealing with the cause of our behavior. We get into accountability groups to try to break our addictions. We cut up our credit cards in order to get a handle on our spending. We get medication to deal with our anxiety. And none of those things is wrong. But they never deal with the root problem. So Christians don't ever, it seems, find any permanent victory over greed or immorality or worry. We need to deal with the root issue. Remember, the essence of discipleship is a changed life that comes from a transformed heart.

A few years ago, we were getting ready at home to come down to our Christmas Eve service. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I was taking a shower, getting ready. As I stood in the shower, suddenly I was overwhelmed by such an offensive smell. I nearly suffocated in the shower stall. I thought, man, I know I waited later to take my shower, but I couldn't smell this bad. This is terrible. I looked down and immediately saw the source of the problem. Gurgling up from the shower drain was stuff I can't even mention in the service today, but it was really gross. It was flowing up out of the shower drain and then lapping over the side onto the bathroom floor.

Of course, I did what any husband would do at that moment. I yelled for help to my wife. So Amy came in, and we engaged in this mop-up operation. We finally got it all mopped up. Then I utilized all the plumbing skills I had developed through the years and reached under the cabinet there to pull out a can of Drano. I looked at that, read the directions, and poured the Drano into the drain. I did what the directions said, turned the water back on after a few minutes, and thought, problem solved. Thirty seconds later, the stuff came back up again. So we had another mop-up operation. We did it about a third time, and it kept coming up and up. Finally, I broke down and called the plumber. He was happy to come on Christmas Eve for three times the normal rate.

He arrived, came in, and looked at our drainage. He said, could I go into your backyard? We said, well, sure. So he went in the backyard. A few minutes later, he came back and said, I found the problem. I looked at your sewer line, and some overly aggressive roots from a nearby tree had invaded that sewer line, causing the clogging and the backup of the refuse. He said, you'll never be able to take care of this problem until you deal with the root problem.

You know, every day you and I have offensive words and thoughts coming out of our lives. They're offensive to us. Just think about it. If we're offended by what we think or say or feel, imagine how offended God is. Now, we can try to mop up our behavior, but it's really useless until...

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We deal with the source of that behavior.

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Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life. Greed, lust, anger, bitterness. These are not the problem. They are the symptoms. And the problem is a heart that has not been carefully cultivated and guarded.

To love God completely, you say, well, what can I do to change the condition of my heart? More than you might think. Over the next seven weeks, we're going to discover how you and I can cooperate with God to experience a transformed heart that results in a changed life. That's the essence of what it means.

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To be a disciple.

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I'm speaking to some of you right now who need to make an important decision in your life. Let me say to some of you here today, you may truly want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, but for you, that first step as a disciple is to trust in Jesus as your Savior.

I don't believe it's an accident. Some of you are here today. Some of you have tuned into this broadcast. God wants you to receive his free gift of forgiveness.

And today, if you would like to receive that gift, I want to invite you to pray this prayer silently in your heart to God as I pray it out loud, knowing that God is.

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Listening to you right now.

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Would you pray it with me?

Dear God,

God, thank you for loving me. I know I have failed you in so many ways and I'm truly sorry for the sin in my life.

But I believe what I've heard today, that you love me so much you sent your son Jesus to die for me to take the punishment I deserve for my sin.

And right now I'm trusting in what.

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Jesus did for me. Not in my good works, but what Jesus did for me to save me from my sin.

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Thank you for forgiving me and help me to live the rest of my life following you.

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And we pray this in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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We never get tired of hearing how God is using Pathway to Victory to bring men and women to salvation in Jesus Christ, or learning about the transformation God causes in people who are ready to make a change. Here's an example. Listen to this heartwarming comment from a fellow Texan, Charles said.

"Pastor Jeffress, for the past 42 months I've been incarcerated in federal prison. I was able to hear your teaching on the radio every morning during my daily exercise time. You've helped me understand that God is not done with me despite my mistakes. In two months I will be released. Through God's amazing grace, my marriage has been healed, my relationship with my sons is flourishing, and your programs help me stay connected to God."

That fully represents the heart of discipleship. That's transformation. And to those of you who give generously to support Pathway to Victory, you're playing a major role in changing hearts around the world. Just like Charles, today, we're inviting you to join us in the exciting mission of Pathway to Victory that's so clearly reflected in this note from Charles.

When you give a generous gift today, we'll say thanks by providing the brand new devotional resource, *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple*. This beautiful padded hardcover book features brief entries that can be read in under two minutes, and each chapter is paired with a gorgeous photo of God's creation, a scripture verse, and a brief prayer that you can follow. All these features have one goal in mind, and that is to uplift your heart as you walk with God.

Here's David with all the details.

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You're invited to request your copy of *Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple* by Dr. Robert Jeffress. When you make a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, give us a call at 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. Now, when you give a ministry gift of $100 or more, we'll also send the Encouragement Resource Set featuring the new devotional, six Clutter Free Prayer cards, the *Clutter Free Christianity* book and Life Application Guide, along with the *7 Marks of a Disciple* message series on DVD, video, and MP3 format audio disc set.

One more time, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. If you'd prefer to write, jot down this mailing address: P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. One more time, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. How many times have you heard the word transformation in church? Well, next time, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains that transformation isn't just an overused word; it's truly worth getting excited about. Learn why discipleship is transforming, Wednesday on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.

One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes.

We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.