“The quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits” James Clear
Making disciples must become habit. This requires a healthy lifestyle of Guarding our Heart, Renewing our Mind, and Praying the Word so that we live ready to Make Disciples. (see previous Now Matters on “Lordship Habits”) We learn everything from Jesus. Zoom in closer and you will realize that Jesus fathered His disciples and so must we. He modeled the ways, teaching, leadership, comforting and strengthening ways of the Holy Spirit. In John 14, 15 and 16 Jesus taught His disciples about the Holy Spirit so that they would recognize Him on the Day of Pentecost. The Word and the Spirit agree. To father disciples in the Word without fathering them to know and follow the Holy Spirit leaves them ill prepared to change the world.
Jesus strategically foreshadowed the Holy Spirit by His example for three and one half years. His fathering of the disciples was intentional. He knew that when the Holy Spirit came that His disciples would recognize that He had duplicated the Holy Spirit in the ways He led them, taught them, comforted them and strengthened them. Jesus did everything on purpose.
Understand that making disciples doesn’t guarantee that you will always be with them. Jesus wasn’t! But He knew the Holy Spirit would pick up where He left off! So, must we. We must teach followers how to recognize the Holy Spirit. All disciples must learn to fellowship with the Holy Spirit if they too, are to father and make disciples. Our impartation is essential.
Fellowshipping with the Spirit of God is priority #1. Unless we fellowship with Him on a regular basis how will we recognize when He is leading us? How does one begin? Fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit begins by studying the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word agree. To know one is to know the other. He will take the information from the Word and reveal revelation.
It is a miscalculation to think we are suddenly going to be led by the Holy Spirit to share the gospel without having spent time fellowshipping with Him. We have to learn to walk out our relationship with the Holy Spirit in hidden places so we will recognize His leading in open places.
Jesus saw opportunities that his followers missed because He lived to please His Father. He enjoyed fluid conversations with His Father in prayer. Jesus did so not to impress the crowd, but to usher in the Kingdom! Discipling a new believer ushers in the Kingdom for future generations.
The purpose of transformation is not to make us smart enough but to make us focused enough to think the way He purposed us to be! Making disciples is our purpose, but not without learning to fellowship (partnership) with the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. Unless we disciple believers, they will be left on their own! We are purposed to partner with them. Making disciples should become the natural flow of our heart with the heart of God.
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