Multiplying Christians

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4

Focus Verses: Ephesians 4:11-16 

^"11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love."

Some day in the future this earth will pass away.  There are two things that will not pass away.  People and God's Word.  Both will last forever.  We know that the human soul will exist forever in heaven or hell.  God's Word will remain in heaven forever.

Why don't we spend our time on the things that are eternal?   If I tell someone about Jesus and disciple them, and that person tells someone else about Jesus, then I have multiplied myself.  This is how the world will be won for Christ.  There is no way that I can talk with everyone in Kenya about Jesus, but many of you can.  We can learn by Paul's example in the Bible to disciple others.

2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."  Some other examples of discipleship are:  Paul discipling Timothy who had an important part in leading the early church.  Moses discipled Joshua for many years before passing Israel's leadership to him.  But the best example was Jesus who spent many hours teaching His disciples.  Then the disciples went out and changed the world.  That's multiplication of Christians.

I would encourage you to spend time in God's Word and learn the things God wants us to know to be more Christ like.  Then go and speak these truths in love to others.  The Bible says that God's Word will never return void.  Isaiah 55:11 "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Find someone today that you can speak some truth from God's Word into their life.  This is how discipleship grows a church, a community, a fishing beach, and an entire world, one life at a time.

Bobby Johnson
Executive Director, Interlocking Ministries

Economy of the Heart

Bible Reading: (click to view in web browser)
Colossians 3:12-14


Focus verse: "Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another."  Colossians 3:13a

In his book, The Gift of Forgiveness, Charles Stanley wrote, "Forgiveness is something each of us has had to deal with one way or another. What might take you just a short time to work through might be a process that takes someone else time, prayer, and godly counsel. But it is a process we cannot ignore, not if we want to be free to become the persons God created us to be."1

Stanley went on to say that if we refuse to deal with the bitterness and resentments that put us in bondage, we cannot have the fellowship with our Father we are supposed to have.

It's not easy to forgive another. Some wounds are deep and last for decades. But hatred and bitterness are bars we use to imprison ourselves. When we place the other person in God's hands and release the bitterness to Him, we're set free, just as truly as being released from jail.

Forgiveness is the economy of the heart. A Christian will find it cheaper to pardon than to resent. Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.
From The Berean Magazine, November 21, 1826

1Charles Stanley, The Gift of Forgiveness (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 105.

~Dr. David Jeremiah, Today's Turning Point

Prosperity Gospel: A different gospel

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2012/02/15/an-african-prophet-standing-against-the-prosperity-gospel/
Click link above.

Preachers of a Different Gospel reads like an extended sermon in which Adeleye, like an African prophet, seeks to correct his brothers and sisters and bring them in line with the gospel that was once for all delivered to the saints. And, like a good preacher, Adeyele turns some striking phrases, such as the polarity between “the God man uses” rather than “the man God uses.”

A Life of Worship

Bible Reading:  Colossians 3

Focus Verse: Colossians 3:23  "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." and also verse 6 "Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts."

Colossians 3 instructs about the life that we have in Christ.  There are many things that we are supposed to put away, but also things to begin doing.  Some people come to church with great expectations of what they can get out of it.  But they fail to realize that God wants them to contribute to the service.

Something that I want to focus on today is verse 16. "...Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts."  If people have not been worshiping God the other 6 days of the week, then they cannot effectively worship Him on Sunday.  They need to be in a right relationship with God for worship to take place.  The word worship comes from the old English word meaning "worthship."  This means you worship something because it merits (or is worthy) of our worship.

Many people in the world today are worshiping the wrong thing.  I see people worship money, success, other people, their home, their business, sports teams, maybe even themselves.   It's not wrong to have these things, but if it is more important than God it is wrong.  Only God is worthy of our worship.

We worship when we glorify God with our lives in all we do and say.  We all have different gifts from God.  Maybe you cook, build homes, fish, operate your business, or you do your school work well.  If we do all these things well for the glory of God, then this is a form of worship to Him.  Don't do just enough to get by, but do your best as unto the Lord.  Keep in mind who we are serving.  Even if you have a boss, ultimately you are doing your job for Jesus, because He gave you the ability to do it.  This will be a testimony and a witness for Him.  We can live an effective life of worship to Him every day.

~Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

Forget The Past

Bible Reading:  Philippians 3

Focus Verse:  Philippians 3:14  "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

If there was anyone in the Bible that needed to forget the past it was Paul.  You may remember that Paul was there and gave his approval when Stephen was stoned and put to death for being a Christian.  Acts 7:54-60. Paul had done a lot of bad things before he became a Christian.  We also need to forget the bad things in our past.  Satan will try to remind you of all your failures.  He will tell you that you can't be an effective Christian because of what you have done.  But you can remind Satan that your sins are covered with Jesus blood, and that God will not hold your sin against you. Isaiah 43:25 "I even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins."  But this can only happen if we have trusted Jesus for salvation.  All of us that are Christians are running a race.  We are looking at the prize at the end of our lives.  We will get to live with God in heaven forever.  I hope each of us will hear God say "well done good and faithful servant."
~Bobby Johnson

Your Best Defense

YOUR BEST DEFENSE

Bible Reading:  James 4

Focus verse:  Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

The word "resist" is a defensive word meaning to withstand an attack.  The way that we withstand an attack from Satan is with God's word.  When Jesus was tempted by the devil He used the Word of God every time.

When Satan comes to tempt us we are not to try and reason or debate with him.  He is very clever and it will only be a matter of time before he will have you sinning.  We are to keep as much distance from him as possible.

So we submit to God and resist the devil.  Submit is the word used to describe a soldier under authority of a commander.  God is our commander and we are His soldier.  This means to completely surrender yourself to the Word and will of God.  This will always be your best defense.

Maybe you are reading this devotion but you've never made a decision to become a child of God.  God's son, Jesus wants to come into your life and forgive you of your sins.  Why not bow your head right now and accept God's free gift of salvation through Jesus, and ask God to forgive you and tell Him you are sorry for the wrong you have done.  You can then know that you will have eternal life one day and live with God in heaven.
~Bobby Johnson