{"id":5018,"date":"2018-01-16T11:18:28","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T17:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=5018"},"modified":"2022-07-15T21:07:28","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T21:07:28","slug":"joy-in-the-discipling-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2018\/01\/joy-in-the-discipling-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy in the Discipling Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cYou won\u2019t believe what happened this week!\u201d Carmen said as she entered our sharing time beaming with enthusiasm. \u201cA friend at work came up to me and asked, \u2018What\u2019s been so different about you these last few weeks? Something\u2019s going on\u2014your face is so much brighter and you\u2019re smiling a lot!\u2019\u201d
\nAt first Carmen was stumped. Then she realized something was<\/em> different. For the past few weeks, she had taken part in a triad of women going through A Woman\u2019s Journey of Discipleship<\/a>, <\/em>which encouraged her to spend time each day with God in His Word. Because she and the other two women shared each week about what they were hearing from God, she was able to establish this habit for the first time in her life. God\u2019s life was spilling out of her life in joy as her relationship with both Him and the two other women deepened.
\nLater that day, Carmen\u2019s husband, Rick, told me how different\u2014how joyful\u2014she was at home with him and their children, too.
\nI can\u2019t describe my own deep sense of joy when I heard this. Carmen was one of the women I had been pouring my life into\u2014discipling\u2014as she served on a church leadership team.
\nOne of the most exciting things about helping churches grow cultures of disciplemaking<\/a> is seeing people like Carmen come alive as they realize the Bible is not merely something to study <\/em>but a way to relate on an ever-deepening level with God.<\/p>\n

Relationship over Religion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Carmen and those like her help me to understand how the early church grew so rapidly. The spiritual climate that Jesus walked into was packed with religion: far more rules and regulations, \u201cshoulds\u201d and \u201cshould nots\u201d than anyone could possibly follow.<\/p>\n

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Many of the Jewish leaders of the time missed the gospel\u2014the truth that Jesus died for us so that we could experience real life, \u201cmore and better life than [we] ever dreamed of\u201d (John 10:10, msg). Jesus made it possible to follow our hearts with His law written on the inside<\/em> and to be filled with His presence. What joy<\/em>!
\nMany religious people did grasp these truths. They began to have a real relationship with Jesus, a friendship with God. This was such a different thing\u2014to have a two-way relationship<\/strong>, along with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and the pleasure of God and His presence.
\nThe first Christians enjoyed a movement of the Holy Spirit that we can experience today: relationship, not religion. So many people go to church seeking \u201cmore and better life.\u201d They need to be discipled, to grow up into reproducing adults, experiencing and sharing with others their abundant life in Jesus. This is hard to do alone. They need a guide, someone to walk with them. Fortunately, any of us can do that!<\/p>\n

Cost of Non-Discipleship<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>In The Spirit of the Disciplines<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Dallas Willard addresses this from a unique angle, what does not<\/em> occur when Jesus\u2019 followers fail to experience discipleship:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God\u2019s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This sounds to me like non-discipleship costs us joy<\/em>!
\nYet when a Christ follower does experience discipleship<\/a>, what a joy it is to see his or her heart catch fire! That\u2019s why I experienced such joy as Carmen told me her story, and as she began to share with those at her workplace and at home why she was different.<\/p>\n

\"Bridges<\/a>
Click the book to see a free excerpt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am certain this is the kind of joy Luke described in Acts, as the believers in the early church \u201cwere increasing in numbers by leaps and bounds\u201d (Acts 6:1, msg). May all of us experience more joy as we come alongside others, making disciples who make disciples, and see His church grow today by leaps and bounds!<\/p>\n

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Margaret Fitzwater and her husband, Roy, co-direct Navigator Church Ministries, a mission of The Navigators. For 80 years, The Navigators have helped people grow in Jesus Christ with proven tools to equip lifelong disciple makers.<\/p>\n