Making Disciples...

The subject of making disciples

is very close to my heart,

and I just want to share with you...

Please know that I am very aware that

this is a HUGE subject with many different trails,

and I know and appreciate that

many people are actively engaged in

discipling others.

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel,

baptizing them in the name of the

Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Ghost.

TEACHING THEM

TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS

WHATSOEVER I

HAVE

COMMANDED."

Jesus spoke those words, recorded for us

in Matthew 28:18-19

In the past few  years, I know I've had

my eyes opened in a new way

to how rare a thing it seems to be

that actual discipling is being done

in the churches.

To disciple means

that first of all I need to be a

follower of the One I

am teaching others to follow.

It means that I must have my

eyes fixed on Jesus Christ

so that I can continually

be growing and being changed

by Him...

thus, in turn, will I

have something to offer

the broken who He sends to my

doorstep.

To disciple someone means that

I must be willing to lay my own

life down in order to take the time

it takes to have a relationship with

the one I am discipling.

I put a challenge out for all the

Christians who read this.

Do you really need to take the time

for that expensive hobby?

Is someone lonely or being untended

at the expense of your expensive

and exclusive vacations?

Do we really need all the 'me' time

we think we do?

Or can we take some of that time

to make freezer meals for

the bachelor in our church

who works full time and has

little time or even energy left

to cook himself healthy meals.

Do we take the time to write notes of

encouragement?

There are millions of ways to do

that these days...thanks to the wonderful

invention called the internet. It can even take but

seconds to send someone a message

to say you are thinking of them and hope they

are finding hope and joy in their day.

You never know where those kinds of

gestures will lead you.

From my experience, finding the 'right'

person to disciple doesn't need to be a

chore, nor is it even my job.

That is God's job.

I need only to have a deep and true

relationship with Him,

and a willing heart to be

a reaper in the field He calls me to.

In Psalms it tells us that

God sets the lonely in families.

How well are we as the

hands and feet of Jesus

doing in being those

families to the lonely?

Perhaps that afternoon you

took time to include someone else

in your life will be a means

to helping that person to

find courage to keep walking

this rocky road Home to God.

Maybe that note you send

will be the means of opening a

blocked cave in some struggling

person's heart in ways that

might not have happened

otherwise.

Let's listen to the voice of God

and let Him lead us in

discipling others.

We can't all do it the same way,

but we can do our part with the

same LOVE that sent

Jesus down to earth

to be a ransom for us

and set us free to

be witnesses that He

still changes lives today.

It is not always easy or convenient to disciple others.

BUT do you think that Jesus had ease or

convenience while He ministered those three years

before He died?

He gave up sleep on many occasions

(Nicodemus comes to mind, as well as the wild and scary boat ride

where the disciples roused him from slumber).

He gave up comfort

("but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head").

He gave up the warmth and comfort of being with

those who loved him wholly

(Think: His friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha)

to go minister to the broken and needy.

He risked His life...

He had to deal with people who were jealous,

needy (who goes on a long journey without food???)

and needed him to bail them out constantly,

and then He was falsely accused and killed

after He had spent all those days and hours

ministering to others.

I doubt that any of us will ever

be as inconvenienced as Jesus was.

I am in awe how He dealt with the crowds

and the individuals that came to Him.

He is a great example to me on how to

relate to those God puts into my life.

So whether it is your children, or young people,

or neighbors, or relatives, or whoever it is,

remember that God plans for you to pass along to

anyone He sends you the Good News of the Gospel.

We lead by example.

We show by our words and our actions just

what the heart of God is.

What message are you giving to others today?

my friend, Heidi Wall, 'discipling' her young ones...

and didn't even know she was encouraging me at the same time!

My life has been incredibly blessed in the reaching

out to others. For me, it has been mostly my children

and young people that God has called me so far to

disciple but there have been a few others as well.

But in the ministering that I have obeyed God in doing,

I have been blessed beyond words with

friendships offered, love given, and

the fruit of eternal life growing in these dear ones.

I will never be the same.

And I don't miss the things I gave up

in order to have the time and resources

to disciple others.

Will you join me?

Eternity is long.

Life is short.

Let's give every day He gives us

back to Him in service.

Love and blessings,

Marcia