Spiritual discipleship 7

Spiritual discipleship 7

• 1.
  Spiritual Discipleship 7 Guidelines for Discipling
• 2.
  Purpose of Discipling Thecarnal man naturally leans towards being independent from God. Before Christ, this disposition feels normal. At salvation, God begins the process of our inward transformation (sanctification). The pace and depth of our transformation is influenced by our ability to understand the ways of God and to being teachable. The purpose of discipleship is to help one another understand what God is doing, in order to significantly influence and accelerate that process.
• 3.
  Scripture Rom. 12:1-2, “ThereforeI urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Col 1:28-29, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete (mature) in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
• 4.
  Seeking God’s Choices Tobe effective, you need to prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and discernment as to whom to invest your time, energy and possessions. Lk 6:12-16, Jesus went away to pray and spent the whole night in prayer to God. The next day, He called His disciples to Himself and chose twelve, whom He also names as apostles. Your time, energy and possessions are valuable. Don’t try to disciple a disinterested person. This is frustrating. Break away and find someone else who wants to grow. Maybe the timing just wasn’t right.
• 5.
  Where Do ILook? Look for new believers. They need someone to walk alongside them. Look for Christians who have been living in a desert experience. It is possible God allowed a crisis in their lives to bring them to a place of humility and they are finally willing to acknowledge that He can manage their life better than they can. Stagnated or Plateaued Christians; or those who do not understand how to consistently abide in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
• 6.
  Characteristics to lookfor Spiritual Hunger - Mt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” A Teachable Spirit - Do they have an openness to Him? Do they see themselves as a student? Dependable/Reliable - 2 Tim 2:2, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
• 7.
  Accountabiltiy It isimportant that each person in the Life-to-Life Groups covenant with one another; look at each other and say: I will aspire to apply His truths to my life. I will make my spiritual growth a priority. I will aspire to be reliable, dependable and faithful in every area of my life. I will not take advantage of your time, energy or possessions.
• 8.
  Suggested guidelines Arrange tomeet each week for 1-1/2 hours or so. Determine to spend 3-9 months together. Explain Biblical truth and principles. Give opportunities to ask questions. Give opportunities to share spiritual struggles, and discuss related topics.
• 9.
  Commit to bea thoughtful listener. It is the best way to identify gaps in spiritual understanding. Stop dominating the conversation. Be flexible enough to allow the Holy Spirit to change the direction of the study or conversation, yet orderly enough so the time is not wastes on less significant matters. Each person should be encouraged to read the Bible, pray, and eliminate noise/voices so they can hear what the Holy Spirit wants to say; so they can apply Biblical principles.
• 10.
  Do not rushthrough the material. The goal is to achieve a deeper understanding, so the disciple can in turn clearly explain what they have learned and applied. At some point they should be ready to mentor another person (short-term) with your assistance and (long-term) without your assistance. MULTIPLICATION.
• 11.
  There are manyvalid lessons that have been learned/taught from God’s Word over the centuries. However, the mentoring and nurturing aspects are crucial. We believe the concepts presented in the discipleship lessons need to be understood clearly by the disciple if there is to be healthy growth and maturity. Share Biblical Principles to live by, not just Bible knowledge.
• 12.
  Make yourself availablethrough the week, if needed. Regularly pray for and with your Life-to-Life Group. Be a role model to those in your Life-to-Life Group. The goal is to lead one another into dependence on the Holy Spirit, and independence from each other. Each participant should become a “spiritual reproducer.” People won’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care!
• 13.
  Rely on HolySpirit Study to show yourself approved; rightly dividing the Word of Truth - 2 Tim 2:15 Focus on relationship with Jesus Christ (inward transformation) - not merely outward behavior. Spiritual mentoring should be balanced with corporate training. Neither should be optional. One-on-one training should be orderly and progressive. Every believer is a potential discipler.
• 14.
  Look for thesame characteristics of a typical human baby when seeking someone to disciple: They are hungry They are dependent on others They are self-centered
• 15.
  Next Week