Its such a journey when it comes to following the LORD completely with every aspect our lives. When Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him he demands our whole self. A challenge that even after serving in ministry for over 10 years can really be hard at times. Sometimes the allure of the world and following a 'normal' path can sometimes get the better of you. its funny though cos as we serve in CS its not long until God brings something into our path that does assure us that there is no greater path than the one of obedience. And when things boil things down obedience is where true life lies. If you can say that you are obedient to the one who loves your obedience you will find life!
For Liana and i this obedience has seen us stretched and tested all the way! a word was given to me by that said "i was bruised reed, but i would not be broken and that God was proud of my obedience". these words pierced my heart and was certainly the reminder that God really did know where i was at. He is totally aware of how i am trying to serve him and he is proud. What a testament to God who is alive and well when a complete stranger can bring you to tears by his obedience. This was what this man saw in me and he faithfully reported it to me!
What i need to faithfully report to you all who have supported us is that God is alive and he breaking into new lives all the time. And the season that i am currently experiencing is one that is seeing God revealing himself completely and whispering that "i love you." I have had the privilege of seeing this a number of times in the last few months and it brings you no greater joy to see one of God children be awakened to the fact that God is wanting them. these awakenings are happening all the time of late, and i guess the challenge is to see these awakenings grow to maturity and then produce a harvest that carries on into new lives. I guess this is the question of true discipleship.
Yesterday i was chatting to a pastor that had a refreshing view of discipleship. It wasn't about a program, a method or a strategy, but was just about doing life together! he said he didn't care how this was done, but said as long as in 12 months time he saw people grow thats all he cared about! As i reflect on this i realize that if we do just do life together we are going to see growth. When discipleship comes as naturally as this it becomes the very fibre of our being rather than something we just learn. Often discipleship is seen as a chore, and as far as i can see Jesus was just hanging with friends that he loved and new that if he was just to hang with them they would grow. Imagine if discipleship became just as naturally as this. I think we would see a lot more of growth!
Keep praying for us as we enter this next season which presents great opportunity to see God come even more alive in hearts and lives of new people we meet along the way!
Bless ya heaps!
Justin Monaghan
God morning down in beachport as i served with a surfer coaching for 6 days!
No comments:
Post a Comment