Three habits continue to challenge me and push the envelope in my spiritual journey with the Lord. These habits are simple and basic: practicing the presence of God, the sharing of the gospel story, and the daily habit of dependence upon the Holy Spirit to practically work out these things in my life as God’s child in a mission in God’s world to train devoted disciples of Jesus to impact the world!
One of my favorite professors at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary was my systematic theology professor, Stan Nelson. Although he did not express it so, he was a spiritual mentor who helped me to see the necessity of practicing the presence of God -- not only behind a desk in preparation for a Bible study or a sermon but finding God in the daily mundane routines of life. He reminded us that unless we have a source of life, we have nothing to give. The inner world is what is expressed in the outer world, therefore, feed your soul with the source of life.
Proverbs 4 | “Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life.”
As you already know, when the Bible talks about our heart, it’s not pointing to the internal organ that pumps blood. It’s our sinner spirit. It’s the center of who we are! You and I must guard our souls. With diligence, intentionally guard our inner world because it will not be done by accident; but it can only be done intentionally.
When we read the gospels, we learn that Jesus often went away to a lonely place to find rest with the Father. Jesus once said, “Come away with me to a lonely place and rest awhile.” It’s a reminder to our young church, Disciple Church, to go beyond ourselves, that means we must be built up on the inside. The ministry is overflow, not overwork. We don’t have anything to bring to the world; only what flows from the throne of God, an intimacy where we truly know Jesus and feel known to him. That is what ministry is: we have a source life on the inside that is more important than the approval of people.
I pray that we embrace and love the presence of God and that we are willing to make it our life. The presence is what makes everything we do impactful and effective. What does that mean? You must first receive, then you can give. Presence precedes proclamation. There is this intimacy from which it goes out. There is filling, and it over flows. So apostle Paul urges us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He says to lose yourself in the Holy Spirit. Drown in his presence. I believe the phrase he actually uses is ‘be drunk in the Holy Spirit.’ And we must also put the word of God in our hearts. We will never outgrow the word of God - the living and active word of God that can pierce the inner world to conform to the image of Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “The Bible is like a lion, it needs no defense; let it out of its cage, and it will defend itself.”
We’ve got something supernatural. I want our bellies to be filled with so much fire, we can’t help it but to share the gospel. As one of our forefathers had said, “Preach gospel at all times, use words if you have to.”
No matter what we do, we are disciple makers, which starts with the sharing of the gospel. We make disciples because that is what Jesus did for the precious 3 years of His earthly ministry. We make disciples because that is His final will over our life before he ascended to the right hand of the Father. We share the gospel because our disciple-follower relationship with Jesus starts with the gospel. We must tell our stories; more accurately God’s story living in and through us. Along with sharing the gospel, we must heal and cleanse and give! What did Jesus commissioned his disciples to do in Matthew 10?
“Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse the lepers. Cast our demons. Freely you have received: freely give.” They were living the kingdom life!
Last week was our monthly gospel sharing Sunday. Some of us had the burden to share the gospel with our neighbors. We approached about 45-50 people with kind words to introduce the gospel. Some people were prayed over in Jesus name. Some were given the Four Spiritual Laws so they can get acquainted to the gospel. Some people had opportunities to share the gospel with strangers. If someone rejected your sharing, it’s not you they rejected but the one who called you by His name. If they had received you, they had received also the one who sent you. I am so proud of you!
“I am not ashamed of the gospel,” proclaims Apostle Paul! Why? It is the power of God that changes the eternal destiny of humanity! Friends, don’t let this gospel become a foreign story to you? Don’t let the story that changed your life, erode. The gospel has been faithful to change the hearts of people, to save the human race. It is the telling of the story, the announcing of the gospel, that we must continue to do. The Spirit of the Lord is in us and upon us to be his witness.
Acts 1:8 | But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Blessings | P. Sam
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