“What matters most to You, God? What is nearest and dearest to Your heart?”
As I ask the Lord these questions, I pull up a chair and sit in His presence. I wait, listening, searching, praying, and I begin to hear His voice echo from His Word into my heart. “For God so loved the world…” Ah yes, I think about all the people in my life, people who are part of the world that God so loves. Daughters, sons, in laws, grandchildren, young adults, children, teenagers, prodigals, other women, men… Their faces flash before my eyes. “God is being patient… He doesn’t want anyone to be lost…” (2 Peter 3:9a ERV). I think about those I love who are lost. God loves each one even more than I do, patiently waiting for them to come to Him. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you…” (Ezekiel 36:26-27a CSB). I cry out for our stony hearts to be softened, for our hardened spirits to be filled with His. “If I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32). I want to lift up Jesus, so all my people can see Him, know Him, and be drawn to Him.
But how does this happen? How can my little light become a candle to light others’ ways back to and closer to Him? His answer has echoed deep into my soul, leading me to a path and paradigm that impacts everything. I believe that my light can shine best through something I’ve come to call “Devotion Driven Discipleship.”
Devotion Driven Discipleship™
For all my years, spending time with the Lord has been called “devotions.” This word, in my opinion, has been overused to ad nauseum. Yet, I can think of none better, except perhaps the phrase, “Jesus time,” or “encounter time.” Semantics aside, devotions are when we spend time seeking God. We turn our attention toward Him; we read or listen to His Word, the Bible. We pray, not just talking, but listening. We meditate on what He shows us, and we record it, somehow, some way, so that our forgetful hearts can be reminded. This is devotion.
Thing is, devotions are how we meet with God, but devotions are only the first half of the equation.
Devotions are the beginning, the foundation, the essential life-giving starting point, but they are not an end unto themselves. Spending time with God must lead to more. Once we truly encounter God’s heart and His presence, after we fall down in worship, then He wants us to do something else. He wants us to get up and share Him with someone else: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a). As we spend time with Jesus, He wants us to go share what He’s taught us with others. This is discipleship.
We meet with God, and then He wants us to make Him known.
This is the core of Devotion Driven Discipleship.
My Dream
I’ve been a Christ follower for fifty years now. One thing I’ve observed throughout my years with Jesus is that Christians have a hard time with devotions. They may hear over and over and over to go spend time with God, but they stumble around in this discipline and practice. It gets left behind in the world of to-do lists, work schedules and juggling family responsibilities. Devotions, Jesus Time, God Encounter Moments get put on the back burner of life.
This being true for devotion, it is even more true for discipleship.
Indeed, how can you make Him known when you haven’t met with Him and gotten to know Him? How can you speak Him when you haven’t spent time seeking Him?
This lack runs counter to the heart of God. He wants people to know Him; He wants all of us to pull up close to Him. And, what’s more, He doesn’t want us to come alone. In God’s House, in His presence, the more the better.
Devotions are like us receiving the invitation, then discipleship is like us sharing His invitation with others.
I envision a day when ordinary, regular, common Christians like. myself are equipped, empowered and encouraged to live this out. I believe with all my heart that this will happen, in our own homes, families and friendships, then around the world in others’ homes, families and friendships, when the simplicity of Devotion Driven Discipleship becomes reality.
As Simple as “Seek Him Speak Him”
Devotion Driven Discipleship isn’t rocket science. It is so simple that it is easily overlooked, and yet, this paradigm changes everything.
The Great Commission will be fulfilled as every Christ-follower meets with God and then makes Him known. We summarize this in four words, “Seek Him Speak Him.”
We “Seek Him” in His Word, asking Him questions like:
- “God, what are You saying through this Scripture?”
- “God, why does this Scripture matter?” and,
- “God, how do You want me to respond to this truth?”
We wait for His answers, which His Spirit always gives – even to the newest believers. Then, what His Spirit shows us, what He highlights to us, what He speaks to us through His Word, we turn around and share with someone else.
Our “Seek Him” leads to “Speak Him.”
Yes, there’s discipleship training. Yes, there’s group Bible study. Yes, there’s seminary opportunities and Bible conference events. Yes, there’s accountability and community and spiritual authority. I’m not diminishing any of these things; every one of these is powerful, essential and good.
And yet, if these are required before a Christ follower shares Jesus and His Word with someone else, then we have a world of Christians who are not living the Great Commission.
This runs counter to the heart of God, because He wants all people to know Him, and He wants His followers to share Him.
So, in my humble opinion, it’s not “grow then go,” but rather “go and grow along the way.”
The Opportunity of Devotion Driven Discipleship
I have seen eyes light up when I’ve shared this truth with other believers, especially new believers. “Oh, I thought I wasn’t allowed to do that yet!” one girl commented to me. How in the world did this get communicated to her in her new faith? God forbid!
Relationship with Jesus isn’t like going through kindergarten through high school, in that you’re only qualified once you graduate. Instead, as with Jesus’ disciples, relationship with Jesus is about spending time with Him along the way and sharing Him with others. No diploma or super hero status required.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him?” (Romans 10:14a).
We get this surreal opportunity to meet with the God of the Universe then make Him known to others.
This is “Seek Him Speak Him.”
The Family Disciple Me Ministry
The mission of Family Disciple Me is to make this paradigm easily accessible, doable and relevant along life’s way. Our Devotion Driven Discipleship resources are designed to encourage believers in their walks with God and then equip them with guides to have conversations with others. Like bread crumb trails, these are designed to help believers to have their devotions and then disciple their people.
This is most near and dear to the heart of God. His desire is for people to know Him.
Throughout Scripture, over and over again, our Lord calls out and invites us to draw near to Him. What He speaks into our lives becomes part of the message that we can then share, in His Name, to other people He has entrusted to us: our kids, our grandkids, our friends and neighbors, and others we encounter along life’s way.
Devotion Driven Discipleship helps fulfill the commission of Deuteronomy 6:5-7: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (CSB)
So what do we do with all this? Again, the Apostle Paul wrote, “The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim…” (Romans 10:8).
May we be Christ followers who keep the message of God’s heart close to our hearts so that we cannot help but proclaim to others His love for them, too.
Be encouraged! ❤️
Tosha
