Devotion Apart

by Davin Bradley

  Both obstacles above are intended by Satan to discourage you and to make you settle for ineffective Christianity ("professing" Christ while simultaneously loving the world - 1 John 2:15-17).

  But God intends these obstacles to teach you to be an overcomer (1 John 5:1-5), to rely on His Son more, and to see the obstacles as methods of breaking so that you trust Him more. If you see the obstacles as little "channelers" from God, regardless of Satan's discouragements, your work will lead to growth in Christ for yourself and for others. God uses obstacles to test our seriousness and to teach us to trust Him.

  Time Frame:

  We do not put God in a box when it comes to timing. However, radical missionaries on the streets and faithful servants within prisons have seen drastic turn-arounds in their small fellowships within a year, and then a whole movement of output of missions-minded people within two years. If the job is done well, the fellowship will scatter to grow and serve elsewhere when God's timing is right.

  On God's timeline for us is a lot of sacrifice, a lot of prayer, and a lot of hard work. If you don't want to be poor, hungry, weeping, or insulted (Luke 6:20-26)—stop reading now. PTI isn't for you if you want comfort, prosperity, health, and riches in this world. Christ was a Champion who died obediently to God the Father's will. Anyone who thinks they should expect something "better" in this world should pack his or her bags for another path (John 13:16).

  1. PRAYER

  The first point for PTI is prayer, and we're not talking about yawning prayer or "Thank You for this food, amen" prayer. We're talking about battle prayer that comes from a yearning deep within, borne of God, and carried by God. It must start with you as an individual. You must count the cost for what's ahead, and the Lord will reveal and prepare your heart for the difficulties and wonder that is to come (raising up effective followers and shining lights for Jesus Christ).

  If you are reading this, you've probably already been encouraged by God in the inner man to leap where few others have lunged. Not to obey that holy urging within you will do you more damage than if you try and struggle along the way. This thorough waiting and empowering from God may take days, but the end result will be certain assurance, closeness with Christ, and supernatural courage. Don't move until you're sure about the direction, but you can move without knowing the destination. God gives us only enough to move in faith.

  Once you sense you are in solid communion with the Lord (whose presence alone drives strength in this fallen world), then it's time to add one person to your PTI strategy. This needs to be a prayer partner who is like-minded in all things. People who don't see a NEED to grow or consecrate themselves for Christ will make terrible PTI partners. Those who think the dry, dying, exhausted, worldly, fleshly church is fine the way it is, will not make good PTI partners.

  With your prayer partner, you begin to get very specific about how to reach others in the fellowship. How to train them and to involve them are certainly on the agenda, but most importantly, you desire to teach people first how to pray and commune with God, how to study the Word for personal principles, and to yearn for God—for He alone will light the right kind of fire inside the spirit of a person. See book: The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer.

  Usually, we are enticed to think something earth-shattering must take place for a new fire to be borne in our homes or fellowship. However, obedience and prayerful waiting were the methods of the early church, and it should be ours today (Acts 1:14; 13:1-3). God promises to reveal Himself to those who humble themselves in consecrated, loving obedience to Jesus Christ's calling (John 14:21). This is often not a visible effort that people can see, but it is a viable effort that God loves.

  For further prayer counsel of this kind, I recommend: Power Through Prayer, by EM Bounds.

  2. TRAINING

  Training is another phase of PTI. You must re-establish people in who God is (His character and attributes) and the assurance of salvation—before they can be effective for God in their own way. People who dislike "doctrine" and the sure foundation of Scripture will be temperamental and shaky in the ministry. If you teach people sound doctrine, the Holy Spirit will guide them in the right expression of those truths in the fellowship, according to their individual gifts (Colossians 1:9-10). But EVERY person you begin to touch, one person at a time, needs to be taught all the same fundamentals, if not together, then separately.

  Sure footing for Christian soldiers is best developed beginning in the following Scriptural fundamentals:

  A. Students need to know they're saved and secure by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who they've trusted in by His grace through their faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). They need to know they are guarded for all eternity regardless of sin problems, Satan problems, or social problems (2 Timothy 1:12). This knowledge (1 John 5:13) comes from a firm faith in the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and how God permanently saves believers (Titus 3:1-7). Most professing Christians who belong to a lukewarm church cannot explain accurately or effectively what the gospel is. This ignorance needs to change, or faith will have no footing (Romans 10:17) for necessary activity.

  B. Students need to know how God's attributes affect their lives: God is sovereign, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, immutable (changeless), righteous, just, love, and veracity (truth). For example, on a practical level, servants of Jesus will be shaken too easily if they don't know God is in control (sovereign) when challenges erupt in the ministry. Believers who have their eyes on temporal matters will quickly shift their focus to eternal matters (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) once they are accurately taught that God is eternal (1 Timothy 1:17). All ten of the above basic attributes of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should be taught from a practical standpoint.

  A good method for teaching individuals is to have a planned curriculum of material (see below), and to meet with one person for two hours, once a week. Some of this is training at the kitchen table, and some of it is training on the streets, meeting people, talking to church members, and caring for the lowly. Gradually, you can add more nights of individual meetings, or more people to small groups, but smaller is often better. Remember the house churches of the New Testament. If you simply cannot teach, then support the one who can, and you will share in the effort and the reward.

  Training is essentially just teaching and equipping (Ephesians 4:11-13), but it is teaching that involves all parts of PTI. You need to prepare yourself for small groups, and probably more one-on-one training than "classes" per se. Remember, discipling crowds isn't very effective, so get ready to teach the same things over and over again to one person at a time. The goal is to make disciples of Jesus, so men and women walk and talk like Him, and share the gospel effectively to make more disciples.

  Contrary to modern Christianity, you are not teaching people merely to soak up the truth. No, you're doing it Jesus-style, which was to teach people who will teach people. It's a completely different kind of learning dynamic than is normally taught. Disciples are people who want to develop a heart to teach, share, or pass on what wonderful truths God promises for His people. Christ is looking for people who pass the food to the next person, not merely to eat the bread for themselves. Everyone wants to be loved, but perfected love is reflected love (1 Jn 4:7-21).

  Training should consist of all the fundamentals of Christian doctrine (believer's baptism, communion, redemption, biblical leadership, prophecy, apologetics, the Trinity, etc.). Lukewarm teaching will produce lukewarm disciples (Jn 13:16). Lukewarm material will spark only a spark and no fire at all. But radical training will produce radical disciples, even if all you get is a couple of takers at first.

  Dismiss playing favorites with traditional ideas, people's opinions, and favorite lukewarm methods—and go straight for tried and true biblical training for radical believers: believers who are eager to sacrifice themselves, die to self, and throw themselves at the mercy and trustworthiness of God; believers who cast aside the pleasures of the world; believers who aren't afraid to be shunned; believe
rs who love serving and hate sin, the flesh, and the world's fallen pleasures.

  For this work of practical training, I recommend: William MacDonald's The Disciple's Manual, since he teaches others to be teachers who can teach others (2 Timothy 2:2).

  3. INVOLVEMENT

  Involvement is the third subject of PTI, and this is where your creativity must emerge. Again, teaching prayer and care should come by involving others in prayer and care. Involve them from beginning to end in all three PTI areas.

  You are involved in prayer, and you're involving your students in training, yes, but this third phase has everything to do with outreach ministry itself. Involvement takes the student out of the classroom or away from the dining table where the Bibles are open—and into the world to exercise what they're learning. They're not having their feet washed. Now they're washing others' feet...beside you...because they're involved with you in serving.

  Involvement isn't just about ministering with others to others. It's actually an important part of discipleship. When Jesus involved His disciples, He wasn't instructing them by word only but by action as well. He usually put them in a position where they weren't comfortable (to humble their flesh). Thus, the involvement phase can get radical and creative. It doesn't reject verbal instruction, but rather exercises instruction.

  Involvement can include surprises to be thrown at students, exploring strange venues that require sincere faith to endure together. Involvement is an adventure as God gets personal and touches lives for His name. It is the quest of Christian and Faithful (Book: Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan), side-by-side, swords drawn, moving toward the Celestial City together.

  For this phase of PTI, you may be looking for a book that may inspire selflessness and full-on commitment to Christ, no matter the cost. The Heavenly Man, by Brother Yun, is a worthy read, and there are profound discipleship lessons within its pages.

  Prepared to Serve Alone

  A point needs to be mentioned about this PTI kind of ministering for the Lord. Brace yourself and warn others of the loneliness upon which God afflicts the faithful one who steps out in this work. Although you will be focused on bringing in one Christ-follower at a time, raising them up entirely to do the same, before moving on to the next—the Lord will best train you to commune with Him through isolation with and for Him.

  Others will call you self-righteous, and some will accuse you of offending them for not accepting their fleshy ways or their watered-down gospel. But if your vision forward comes indeed from God, then name-calling and accusations won't hinder you. You may feel their insults because their words are meant to sting, but you will remain undaunted. Your love for Christ and others will rise above the need to be loved by men (John 12:42-43).

  Social Action and Civil Rights:

  A word needs to be said about the movements that well-intended people are marching for today. The country is in moral free fall, though some are trying to be optimistic. Secular experts can't make sense of such violence, so they offer theories and solutions to problems they can't quite identify—because the problems are spiritual. Only spiritual solutions can address spiritual problems.

  We do not need more laws or more marches or more pressure to make people love their neighbors. We need to be born again. We need the life of Christ through His Spirit living inside us, and this only happens when sinners repent from unbelief and trust in the Savior of their souls. Love in the heart turns into love out of the mouth, hands, and feet. God isn't concerned about fixing the appearances of cities when souls are in need of the Savior.

  Only the gospel can put a community back on the road to recovery and devotion, and that means reaching every soul in the community with the gospel. This is essentially the work of the church. Build a church to reach the community, and the community will be reached. Without a healthy church, the community will have no one to reach it for spiritual purposes. The church is where the community must turn to when the community comes to Christ.

  Literature and lessons:

  People really, really need to be taught how to study the Bible and draw out principles from the Scriptures, so that they are dependent upon God's absolute truth and not man's ideas. It's important that doctrinal topics are taught to all Christians, but careful interpretation and verse-by-verse study methods need also to be taught.

  If people are shown that every book of the Bible was written for a purpose and with a theme to equip them for life, they will apply themselves to "picking up" that much-needed equipment through meaningful communion time studying the Bible and praying about what they're learning (1 Timothy 3:16-17).

  Other helpful books:

  - The Normal Christian Life, by Watchman Nee - Christian fundamentals and radical relationship. By the same author, Sit, Walk, Stand is a valuable small book with discussion questions for each of the three sections.

  - Who Are You To Judge? by Erwin W. Lutzer - Discerning truth in a world filled with half-truths and lukewarm movements. All of this author's books are personal and practical for effective Christian living.

  - The Insanity of God and The Insanity of Obedience, by Nik Ripken - Must-reads for missions-minded servants. That's all of us!

  Other Books by Davin Bradley

  God's Best When Things Are Worst: Nonfiction eBook and paperback

  The Lost Devotion Series

  Prequel — Devotion Alone: eBook

  Book two — Devotion Badlands (coming soon)

  Find out more at DavinBradley.com.

  About the Author

  Author and Bible teacher Davin Bradley directs the brokenhearted to seek God’s will, no matter the cost, and to rise above the sufferings of this world by clinging desperately to what eternity holds for the faithful. God is not missing from the equation!

  Find out more at DavinBradley.com

  You can contact the Davin Bradley Team at DavinBradley19@gmail.com

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  A portion of the proceeds from the Lost Devotion Series will go toward printing God's Best When Things Are Worst books and other discipleship resources for new and growing followers of Jesus Christ.

  Click this link to find out more about Hope In the Midst Ministries.