What Kind Of Disciples Are You Making?

          Our identity is not found in our gifting, our calling, or our vocation, but in our relationship with the Father. An apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher is not who we are, it is how we were created to serve. We find our identity in our loving relationship with the Father, not our gifting. If we don’t first find our identity in Him, we cannot effectively make disciples of Jesus.

          Disciples are made when people willingly follow you and your living example. What kind of example are you setting? What are you reproducing if you make disciples apart from intimacy with the Lord? Are you making disciples of Jesus, or disciples of a denomination? What are you trying to reproduce? Do we really need two or more like you?

Our priority should be a growing relationship with the Father. We should be cautious of having followers if there are any other priorities above that.

          A leader can easily get distracted from spending intimate time with the Lord. A common trap is to replace being alone with God and pursuing intimacy with the busyness of religious activity. Another pitfall is to allow our “quiet time” or “devotion time” with the Lord to become lifeless, where we go through the motions and never connect with God on an intimate level. We can read a daily chapter or two in our Bible, run through our laundry list of prayer requests, and never take time to be quiet and listen to the one we are talking to. I have been guilty of this myself. It is tragic to become religious in our devotion to God and call it a relationship.

            We can learn about God from reading and studying the Bible, but to honestly know Him, we must spend time with Him, commune with Him, and listen to Him.

          Jesus set a remarkable example. He only did what He saw the Father do. This mindset demands a lifestyle of watching and praying. It’s not always convenient or comfortable, but it is always necessary.

          If you read my biography, you can learn a lot about me, but you can’t honestly say that you know me. You may “feel like you know me,” but to honestly know me, you must spend time with me, ask me questions, listen to my responses, and spend time with me. It is the same with God.

          Reading the Bible takes on new dimensions when intimacy becomes a lifestyle. The word of God bears much more fruit in our lives. We begin to view His written word through the lens of His divine nature; we see it with an unveiled face and a heart of love that makes us more sensitive to His spoken word.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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Intimacy Attracts Disciples

People who embrace intimacy with God are the most joyful people on the planet. The fruit of joy comes from the Holy Spirit and grows from the tree of love and intimacy. The fruit of the Spirit is our measuring stick for the right perspectives in Christ. Our life in Christ becomes clear and exciting when we are close to God. We become more driven by His purpose and quickly align ourselves with His will and plans.

Intimacy with the Father produces the fruit of His nature in us, and from our lives will pour forth the life of God into the world around us.

Intimacy attracts disciples

         Christians follow others for many reasons—personality, charisma, doctrine, integrity, social status, etc. Most people follow a Christian leader because of the relationship with God that is evident in their life. All great Christian leaders have one thing in common, a genuinely intimate relationship with God that is obvious to all.

          God sent Jesus to restore man to an intimate relationship with Himself. The Gospel’s message is redemption, reconciliation, and restoration of relationships. It is the removal of all barriers that stand between God and man. Jesus is our peacemaker. When Christians are not continually growing in this revelation and living out this truth, they cannot reach their full potential as leaders. 

Ephesians 2:14-18 (NKJV)For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Jesus tore down every barrier that separates us from our relationship with the Father. It is only through Jesus that we have access to the wonderful and mysterious relationship. Our intimacy with God will make others hungry for the same, Christians and non-Christians alike.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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Exposing Religious Spirits

Matthew 16:6 (ESV) Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Jesus called their teaching “leaven” because it added no substance, life, or value to the church. Instead, it was puffed up with religious pride, promoting the traditions of men and focusing on works and religious activity. It holds to a form of godliness but denies the power of the Holy Spirit. (2 Timothy 3:1-7)

Many times, a religious spirit will attach itself to us even though we love God and are zealous for God and His kingdom. Look at what Paul said about his Jewish brothers.

Romans 10:2-4 (ESV) For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Just because someone has a religious spirit does not mean they don’t love God. The Jewish people prayed, fasted, and read the scriptures more than anyone. They were zealous for God and the coming Messiah but were bound by religious spirits and did not recognize Jesus when He came. They opposed Him in His ministry and eventually killed him. This gives us an idea of how blinding and deceptive religious spirits can be.

Notice in the above passage that their “zeal was not according to knowledge,” and they were ignorant (no knowledge) of the righteousness of God. Ignorance is easily fixed in most cases, but religious spirits resist any doctrine that challenges them and calls for change and repentance. Those bound by religious spirits are easily offended and quick to defend their theological positions.

Our imputed righteousness is one of the foundational truths that solidify our identity in Christ. Without an understanding of righteousness, we will not submit to it. Without submission to righteousness, our identity as sons and daughters will never become clear. Satan fights desperately to keep us from this particular truth because it is the foundational message of the gospel. He knows that if we ever find out who we are, we will destroy his works just like Jesus did. (1 John 3:8)

Here are some of the tell-tale signs of a religious spirit:

1. A belief that our ministry is to expose others and their “false doctrines.”
2. Pride in our spiritual maturity or our giftings.
3. Living in condemnation and shame, believing we will never measure up to God’s standards.
4. A mechanical prayer life that goes through the motions without being intimate with the Father.
5. Glorying in what God has done in the past more than what He is doing now.
6. Doing things so people will notice.
7. Overreacting to those who are immature in the Lord.
8. Overreacting to carnality in the church.
9. Engaging in emotionalism and calling it the Holy Spirit.
10.  Inability to take correction from peers or leaders.
11.  A tendency to reject any manifestation of the Holy Spirit we don’t understand.
12.  Knowing a lot about God but not knowing Him intimately.

I must confess that I have been guilty of all 12 items on this list, and I am sure there are other indicators of which I am unaware. I am grateful the Lord has been patient with me, giving me time to repent. It was not until I humbled myself and sought intimacy with the Lord that freedom came. Intimacy with the Lord will transform us quicker than anything.

Without intimacy with God, breaking free from a religious spirit can be challenging and virtually impossible to stay free. A lifestyle of intimacy with Him is the best first step toward freedom in any area.

We don’t reproduce without intimacy. If we are not intimate with our Lord, we won’t produce the fruit of who He is in our lives. Let us ensure we cultivate a close relationship with God first, so we can lead others to do the same.

Intimacy with the Father is a motive purifier and an identity clarifier, our best protection against the deceptions of religious spirits.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

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When God seems Distant

Our experience of God’s closeness doesn’t indicate His actual proximity to us. It may, however, reveal our level of intimacy with Him. The more we love God, the more intimate we will become with Him. It is often due to a lack of intimacy when we feel distant from God.

Intimacy is the highest level of communion in any personal relationship. It requires honesty, humility, vulnerability, and constant communication. Intimacy does not often happen in a Church service, a Bible study, or other public meetings. It usually happens behind closed doors where no one else is around. Looking honestly at how we worship and love the Lord when alone will locate our level of love for the Lord.

Why are love and intimacy with God so important in spiritual warfare? Because we are fighting for Him. His purpose, plans, and battle strategies become apparent when we are intimate with Him. It purifies our motives and clarifies our perspectives. It strengthens us for battle and gives us a vision of His victory. More than any other thing we can do, pursuing intimacy with the Father is most important. It is the fastest way to become everything He paid for.

Quoted from the book, The Spiritual Warfare Manifesto

Thank you for visiting truthpressure.com. I hope this has been a blessing to you.

The Cost of Spiritual Maturity.

         Christians follow others for many reasons. Personality, charisma, doctrine, integrity, social status, etc. The reason most people follow a Christian leader is because of the relationship with God that is evident in their life. All great Christian leaders have one thing in common, a genuinely intimate relationship with God that is obvious to all.

          The reason God sent Jesus was to restore man to an intimate relationship with Himself. The message of the Gospel is one of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration of relationships. It is the removal of all barriers that stand between God and man. Jesus is our peacemaker. If a Christian is not continually growing in this revelation, and living out this truth, he/she is not able to reach their full potential as a leader. 

Ephesians 2:14-18 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

          A leader’s influence should be used to bring others into a deeper relationship with the Father. Deep down this is what we all want. This can only be done by example first and teaching second. It is impossible to lead someone to a deeper relationship with God than you have personally experienced. No matter how good a teacher we may be. we can’t lead anyone to a place we’ve never been. Jesus said of Himself; “I am the way, the truth, and the life… John 14:6

If we don’t know “The Way,” we can’t show the way.

          Jesus is the example of leadership that we must follow. We can look at His life and glean many leadership principles that we can live by, but I will only address one main principle that we see Him practice throughout the gospels. The practice of being intimate with the Father.
          There are no shortcuts to intimacy, it costs time, discipline, effort, devotion, and commitment. Above all, it requires a love for Him. Pursuing intimacy with the Father is the greatest indication of our love for God and the greatest investment we can make in ourselves and others. Our faith will only rise to the level of our love for God.

          Jesus paid the price to restore our relationship with the Father. Are we paying the price to nurture and develop that relationship? This is a question we all must answer for ourselves. Intimacy with God is what leads us to maturity. Many Christians follow others because of their “spiritual gifting,” not understanding that gifting can easily be manifest without spiritual maturity.

Spiritual Gifts are Free, Maturity is Expensive

          Our identity is not found in our gifting or our calling, but in our relationship with the Father. Apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher is not who we are, it is how we were created to serve. We must find our identity in our loving relationship with the Father, not our gifting.

          Disciples are made when people willingly follow you, and your living example. If you make disciples apart from intimacy with the Father, what are you reproducing? Do we really need two or more like you?
Our priority should be a growing relationship with the Father. We should be cautious of having followers if there are any other priorities above that.

          A leader can easily get distracted from spending intimate time with the Lord. A common trap is to replace being alone with God and pursuing intimacy in that relationship with the busyness of religious activity.  Another trap is to allow our “quiet time” or “devotion time” with the Lord to become a lifeless activity where we go through the motions and never connect with God on an intimate level. We can read a daily chapter or two, run through our laundry list of prayer requests, and never take time to be quiet and listen to the one we are talking to. I have been guilty of this myself. It is tragic to become lifeless in our devotions to God and call it a relationship.

            We can learn about God from reading and studying the Bible, but to truly know Him, we must spend time with Him, commune with Him, and listen to Him.

          Jesus set our greatest example. He only did what He saw the Father do. This demands a lifestyle of watching and praying. It’s not always convenient or comfortable, but it is always necessary.

          If you read my biography, you can learn a lot about me, but you can’t honestly say that you know me. You may “feel like you know me,” but to truly know me, you must spend time with me, ask me questions, and listen to my responses, spend time with me. It is the same with God.

          When intimacy becomes a lifestyle, reading the Bible takes on new dimensions and bears much more fruit in our lives. We begin to view His written word through His divine nature, we see it with an unveiled face and a heart of love that makes us more sensitive to His spoken word. This is when the scriptures begin to come alive for us.

          The Lord taught me a powerful lesson about who I am, and I would like to share it with you.
I pray often that God would live in me and through me in fullness. That people would see Him in me. I remember some time ago, ministering to a lady on the phone one day, she asked me if I was a Pastor. I said “No, my wife is a pastor,” The Lord then spoke to me in the middle of this phone conversation and said, “But I Am a Pastor, and if you deny Me that expression in your life I can’t answer your prayer to live through you in fullness.”

          God was showing me that titles and labels don’t define who we are, He does. Many times we limit His expression through our lives because our words and beliefs are not aligned with His heart. It gives us a twisted view of our identity. Intimacy with God not only gives us an understanding of who He is, but it also shapes our beliefs and gives us an understanding of who we are in Him.

          Who we think we are, must come second to who He wants us to be at any given moment. He showed me that He is the embodiment of the five-fold ministry and if we will maintain intimacy with Him and be sensitive to His desires He will be free to move through us and touch lives in ways that we could never do through our strength and ability.

Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

          Without intimacy. we will not produce the fruit of who He is in our lives. May we grow in this wonderful relationship until we love as He loves.

          As we seek Him, we will find Him. As we draw close to Him. He draws close to us. As we embrace Him, He will embrace us. We love Him because He first loved us. He proved His love by laying down His life for us. May we lay down our lives for Him. He is worthy

          He is worthy of our attention, our affection, our life, and He is worthy of our death should it be required. He is worthy!