Category: Making Disciples

God’s Children are called to Serve in Different Places and for Different Purposes

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Numbers 3:1-39

If you read Numbers 2 carefully, you noticed that God specifically told each of these different clans where they were to camp: some to the north, some to the south, some to the east, and some to the west. This pattern is repeated again in Numbers 3, now with the Levites. The Gershonites are to camp to the west of the tabernacle, behind it. They are responsible for guarding the tabernacle itself, the tent and its covering, the screens, hangings, and cords. The Kohathites are to camp to the south of the tabernacle, and they are responsible for protecting the ark, the tables, the lampstands and altars, and all the vessels of the sanctuary. Finally the Merarites are to camp to the north of the tabernacle, and they are responsible for the frames and bars and pillars, the bases and pegs and cords – all that extra heavy stuff.

But what about the front of the tabernacle, the east, the side facing the sunrise? God has a plan and purpose for that place, too. Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons are to camp there.

God has ordained for each of these groups, these clans, according to their father’s households, a specific place and purpose.

Though our specific instructions are no longer written out for us in His Word, God still has unique purposes and callings for His children. Ephesians 2:10 is as true today as when it was written 2,000 years ago! “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

God had planned out unique purposes and places for the Levites, and He has unique purposes and places for us, too. We’re not all called to go serve in Asia or Africa or Europe or South America, but some of us are. We’re not all called to homeschool or adopt or teach English, but some of us are. Were not all called to be pastors or pastors’ wives, but some of us are. We’re not all called to translate the Bible into other languages or write children’s Bible study curriculums, but some of us are!

Whatever it is that the Lord is calling you to do, do it. Do it well. Do it whole-heartedly.

Listen carefully and follow fervently.
That’s something we’re all called to do!

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the unique callings and purposes that You have placed on each one of our lives. We are members of one body, the body of Jesus Christ, but You have unique places and purposes for each one of us. You are the all-powerful, all-wise God. Help us to listen carefully and follow fervently — for the glory of Your name. It is in the name of Jesus Christ, the name that is above every name, that we pray. Amen.

The Sharp Scalpel of the Word

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years Hebrews 4:1-13

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And no creature is hidden from
his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom
we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12-13 ESV

At my physical this year my doctor told me that it was time for me to get my first colonoscopy. Friends, I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to be on a liquid diet and tethered to the toilet for 24 hours. I didn’t want to be put under anesthesia and have my bottom examined by strangers. But, it was the right thing to do, so that what was hidden inside me could be exposed and inspected, and whatever stuff needed to be removed could be uncovered.

So, I did it, even though I didn’t want to. And now, looking back, I’m glad I did. Even though it was painful, it was for my good, and not for my harm

Sisters, do you believe that the Bible you are holding in your hands is the very Word of God, that the God who spoke the world into existence and who holds your life and eternity in His Almighty hands is the very God who breathed out the words of Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, and Matthew, John, and Hebrews? Do you believe that God’s written Word is as powerful as His spoken Word?

If you do indeed believe that, then take a moment to ponder how that should affect your life.

If God’s spoken word can cause seas and lands to appear, and birds to fly across the sky, then we should trust that God’s written word can cause the dead to be born again. If God’s spoken word can cause soldiers to fall to the ground (John 18:6), then we should trust that God’s written word can convict even the hardest heart and bring them to repentance. If God’s spoken word can change the world, then we should trust that God’s written word can change your heart and life.

Sometimes we’re afraid to go to the doctor because we don’t want to hear the bad news.

Sometimes we refuse to be put under the knife, because we know it’s going to hurt afterwards.

Oh, but friends, just like I’d tell you to go to the dermatologist for that suspicious spot on your nose, I’m telling you to get your nose into the Word. You need it. I need it. We need the double-edged sword of the Word.

Like a scalpel in the hands of an expert surgeon, God’s Word can root out the cancerous diseases of pride and selfishness and sin. God’s Word has pierced my heart time after time. Each time it hurts, but each time it’s good.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word. It is indeed living and active. It is life-giving and powerful. It reveals truth to me and it pierces my soul. I pray for my sisters who are afraid, who don’t want to read it, who know that they need heart surgery, but are running away in fear. Please remind them of Your goodness and mercy, that You are the perfect physician and judge who wants for their good and not for their harm. Help us to hunger for You and to find You in Your written Word. May we not perish for lack of knowledge while Your Word sits unopened on the shelf. In the name of Jesus, the Living Word we pray, Amen.

He Touched Me

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Leviticus 11-14

Last Sunday morning, as I was sitting in our church women’s Sunday school class, I was overwhelmed by the deep sense of love and community that I felt from the women gathered there. Earlier that week I had been told that I had a stress fracture in my right foot, and I’d have to use a boot for several weeks until it healed. The women gathered there were all asking about me and listening intently to what I had to say. I found genuinely seen and heard and cared for.

It’s hard to explain, but it’s something I had never experienced before being a part of the body of Christ. These women loved me for just exactly who I was – not some fake, cleaned-up version of myself … but me.

Reading about the Levitical laws for those afflicted with leprosy broke my heart. Listen to these verses and imagine how that must have felt,

“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

Leviticus 13:45-46 ESV

And now imagine this scene between a leprous man and Jesus.

When [Jesus] came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.”

And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:1-3 ESV

He touched him. He could’ve just said the word. He could’ve told him to go wash himself far away in the river … or go roll around in the dust outside the camp … But, no, Jesus touched him. Intentionally.

Jesus didn’t have to worry about becoming unclean. The leprous man’s disease couldn’t contaminate Him – and neither can yours.

Jesus came close to me. He touched me and cleansed me and made me whole. Has He done that for you? He can.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your loving touch and care for me. Thank You for bringing me in from outside the camp, for welcoming me in while I was a stranger, lonely and alone. Thank You for making me a member of Your body, filling me with purpose and meaning and hope for a brighter tomorrow. I pray for the many people in our world who are still living their lives outside the camp. Alone. Please send Christians into their lives to welcome them in and to share the hope of the gospel with them. In the name of Jesus – the Ultimate Welcomer – I pray. Amen.

He Touched Me – Gaither Vocal Band

Sins of Ignorance

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Levititus 4:1-5:13

The Lord here provides specific directions for how to atone for unintentional sins, sins of ignorance.

This reminded me of so many other passages, like Paul’s beautiful testimony from 1 Timothy 1:12-16

“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

Listen to Jesus’s words when He was being crucified,

“Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do.”

Luke 23:34

But what about when you continue willfully in sin? How about those who have heard the gospel again and again and yet they choose to turn their back on God?

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Hebrews 10:26-31

Rather than questioning what God will do with those who have never heard the gospel, we ought to ask ourselves these two questions:

  • Am I prepared to meet God?
  • Have I been faithful to share the good news with the people that I know?”

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, I, for one, am not ignorant. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Even when I was darkness, running away from You, You had written Your law on my heart. I knew that it was wrong to lie. I knew that it was wrong to say hateful things about other people. I knew that it was wrong to slander and gossip. I knew it, but I did it anyway. Thank You for saving me while I was yet a sinner. Thank You for sending Jesus to die in my place, to be the sacrificial lamb who died outside the camp, who bore my sin and shame. Now let me take this knowledge and share it with others, so that they will not meet You in ignorance. I pray also for those who have heard the truth and have willfully rejected it, who are intentionally running away from You today. Please, Lord, save them! Draw them to Yourself. Send Your Word, Your angels, and Your children into their path. May Your courts be filled with people from every tribe and tongue from around the globe. In the Name of Jesus Christ, the only Name that saves, Amen.

A Single Whole: The Tabernacle Meets New Jerusalem

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Read Through the Bible in 2 years: Exodus 35:30 – 37:29

  • Why did God lead Moses to list all these details in His Holy, Inspired Word?
  • Why do we need to know all about the curtains and the rods and the clasps and the ark and the table for the bread and the table for the incense?
  • Why do we need all these details about the lampstands and the altar and the basin?

Well, here’s one blessing made more clear by the amount of detail Moses shared:

He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.

Exodus 36:12-13 ESV

The tabernacle was made of all these various unique things, things that were donated and constructed by various unique people, yet the tabernacle was a single whole. God wanted all these golden clasps, wooden frames, silver bases, and blue and purple curtains to fit together perfectly to make the tabernacle a single whole.

Unique and United again.

There is one God and there is no other.

The perfect unity of Father-Son-Holy Spirit, One God eternally exists in Three Persons.

There is only one bride of Christ – made of thousands and millions of individual, unique souls coupled together by God’s Holy Spirit and washed in the blood of the One Lamb Jesus Christ to be perfectly one in Him.

The tabernacle was a single whole, made of many parts, and so is the body of Christ. Are you a member of that very special body? If not, what is holding you back?

If so, how then shall you live?

Heavenly Father, Thank You for making me Your bride, for inviting me into this holy union between You, Holy Almighty God, and Your bride. Thank You for the beauty that is found in communing with You. It is a precious, priceless gift of infinite worth. I pray that I would be eager to contribute to the building of this sanctuary – to spend my time, talents, treasures, and testimony for the building up of this body, Your bride. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

“Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed– on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” –

Revelation 21:9-14 ESV

“The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day–and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Revelation 21:19-27 ESV

The Wages of Sin is Death – Exodus 21 meets Romans 6

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Exodus 21-23

Exodus 21:12 ESV — “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.”

Exodus 21:15 ESV — “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.”

Exodus 21:16 ESV — “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”

Exodus 21:17 ESV — “Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.”

Exodus 21:28-29 ESV — “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”

Exodus 22:19 ESV — “Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.”

Exodus 22:21-24 ESV — “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”

Romans 6:23 ESV — For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 5:24 ESV — Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Death. Death. Death. The wages of sin is death. We deserve death. Jesus, the innocent Lamb, was condemned to death alongside two justly condemned criminals. He paid the price for me. It is finished.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Your holy, innocent, perfect Son to die in my place, to ransom me from my slavery to sin and rescue me out of the death sentence that had justly been charged to my account. All I can say is, Thank You. Thank You for the cross.

A Heart for the Nations

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 12:29-50

I love the end of Exodus 12 where the Lord explains to Moses that strangers can join in with the congregation of Israel by choosing to be circumcised. It may not be easy, but it can be done. God has always had a heart for the nations and He always will. Do we?

“If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”” (Exodus 12:48-49 ESV)

Acts 3:25 — You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

Galatians 3:8 — And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

Colossians 3:11 — Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Heavenly Father, I pray for all the nations of the world to know you and to worship at your feet. I pray that you would use each of us to share the gospel with those in our corner of the world and around the world. Make us herald and ambassadors of the good news. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Pharaoh and the Parable of the Four Soils

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 9

Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” …

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

Exodus 9:27-28, 34-35 ESV

Reading Pharaoh’s emotional reaction to the seventh plague followed by a total change of heart, I was reminded of the parable of the four soils in Matthew 13 which we read last month.

In this parable, a sower scatters seed in a variety of soils. Some soil is so hard that the seed never even begins to take root, and the seeds are eaten by birds before they even sprout. Other soil is rocky, but there’s enough good soil there that the seed begins to grow but it can never put down solid roots and persecution and tribulation causes these seeds to die. Still other seeds are scattered among thorny ground where the seeds are able to put down roots and even begin to grow, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the plant’s growth so it never bears any fruit. And then there’s the fourth soil, the good soil, that allows the seed to put down strong roots and bear fertile fruit, yielding thirty, sixty, or even a hundred-fold multiplication. (Read it for yourself in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

First, let’s remember that these seeds were all scattered by the same sower. It’s not about using better techniques – speaking more eloquent words or drawing better diagrams. It’s not the fault of Moses’s faltering speech that Pharaoh is not truly repentant of his sin. Yes, get trained to share the gospel … But don’t blame yourself when the seeds don’t take root.

The words of the man who shared the gospel with me took root and bore fruit – not because he spoke “just the right words” – but because the soil of my heart was finally right.

If you share the gospel with someone and they aren’t brought to repentance and salvation, don’t be discouraged. Keep sharing. Keep scattering seed. You might be preparing the soil for the next sower who comes along.

Secondly, remember the importance of continued outreach and discipleship after the seeds are scattered. Unfortunately, it seems that many people have misunderstood the Great Commission as being simply a charge to “preach the good news” rather than “go and make disciples.” Preaching the good news is the first step in making disciples, but our job doesn’t end there. Matthew 28:19-20 goes on to say that disciple makers are to baptize and teach the new disciples.

I believe that one reason why thorns grow up and choke out the growth of those newly planted seeds is the lack of continued discipleship. New believers need to be encouraged and taught so they can bear fruit and keep those thorny cares of the world from choking them.

Finally, remember that we are working together as fellow workers, fellow laborers, fellow gardeners in God’s fields. Like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

God is ultimately who gives the growth. Keep scattering. Keep watering. Keep going out into those fields with eyes open to the harvest, but remember that it is God who makes the soil, and the seed, and the sower and it’s up to Him to make it grow.

Would you like to learn more about how to make disciples and be co-laborers in the harvest? Check out No Place Left for some great tools to help you!

That All the Nations Might Know the Lord

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 7:14-8:32

I’ve always had a heart for the nations. As a little girl, I wanted a “rainbow family” of a dozen children adopted from all different nations. As a middle schooler, my closest friends were from the Middle East and the Far East. When I graduated high school, I spent a month in France putting those four years of French classes to use.

But all those years I was an atheist. I wasn’t trying to share the good news with anyone. I just liked traveling and trying new and interesting things.

Fast forward to my present stage in life, and God has fanned into flame my heart for the nations – because it’s His heart, too. Our Father God loves people from every different tribe and nation and tongue, every hair color and skin color and eye color. All are equally sinners in the sight of a perfectly holy God, and all are equally precious in the sight of a perfectly loving God.

“The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

Exodus 7:5 ESV

God has dual purposes in bringing the plagues upon the people of Egypt. He is going to rescue His own people out of slavery, but He is also going to show Himself to the Egyptian people – that they will know that He is Jehovah, the Great I Am, the Lord God Almighty.

God has purpose for everything He does. Sometimes we can be so self-focused that we think that the things happening in our lives are all about us, forgetting that God is also showing Himself to the people around us through the trials and joys that we are in.

For me, losing a baby wasn’t just about me. It was also about my husband, and my older daughter, my in-laws and my neighbors, my friends at church and the people I’d meet twenty years later at the grocery store, and especially about a little boy who was going to be born halfway around the world and need a family.

Friends, if you know Jesus, then your life is no longer your own. You’ve been bought with a price so you can glorify God in your body. You have been made holy and acceptable to God through the sacrifice of His son, now let your life be a living sacrifice – an offering that keeps on offering itself day after day – back to Him, that all the nations might know that He alone is God. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Kings 8:60, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:19-20)

Let’s pray together.

Heavenly Father, what a blessing and honor to be called Your child and to be used by You to accomplish Your purposes here on earth. Help us to remember that we are no longer our own, that we have been bought with a price – not with worthless things like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. We love You and we thank You for your mercy and grace. We pour our praise back to You with hearts full of gratitude. In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

O Lord, Why Did You Ever Send Me?

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Read Through the Bible in 2 Years: Exodus 5:1-7:13

People have often asked me my thoughts about sharing the gospel in places where there is a very real risk of persecution. My response has always been something along these lines, “This world is not our home. We are all just sojourners, passing through a foreign land on our way to our final destination: heaven or hell. We have to stop being so earthly minded. We have to fix our eyes – and our minds – on eternity. We have to be faithful to share the gospel and make disciples of all nations like Jesus commanded in Matthew 28.”

I was thinking about that today when I read,

Then Moses turned to the LORD
and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

Exodus 5:22-23 ESV

Do you believe that heaven – and hell – are real? Are they eternal? How is a person’s final destination determined?

The answers to those questions will determine the answers to these questions —

  • What if I study the Bible with someone and they end up losing their job because of their faith?
  • What if I tell someone about Jesus and their husband ends up leaving them?
  • What if I share the good news with someone and they end up in jail?

I’m not saying we should be reckless, cavalier, or foolish. But I am saying that if God is calling you to share the good news – which He is – you should be more concerned about the results of your disobedience to Him than the results of your obedience to Him.

Indeed the Israelites faced greater temporary trials as a result of Moses’s confrontation with the Pharaoh, but the much greater long-term joys of freedom were coming!

Will you pray with me?

Heavenly Father, You have told us to go and make disciples of all nations. You have promised that You will be with us. Please strengthen those who are living in dangerous lands, and please strengthen us who are living lives of such comfort and ease. Help us to know You more and make us willing to suffer for the gospel and for our brothers and sisters who are in harm’s way. Please protect us all from the enemy’s schemes and to keep our eyes fixed on You. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.