Get 40 Days DNA of Discipleship Journey With Jesus – Series 2
Get Free 40 days DNA of discipleship journey with Jesus – This 4o days DNA of Discipleship journey with Jesus is in Series 1, 2, 3 and 4. Series 1 is your walk with Jesus of 40 days DNA of Discipleship and the Series 2 is your walk with Jesus and Sharing and interacting with others. Series 3 Deals with Discovery Bible Study(DBS), Disciple Making Movement (DMM) and Engage Africa. The Series 4 Deals with Discipling Nations and Holy Ghost School Alone with the the Holy Spirit in alone time with the Holy Spirit.
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As we go along, we will be bringing your contents that will help enrich your journey all coming from other believers in the body of Christ. This first and second 40 day work with Jesus is brought to you by Jim Klass of DNA of Discipleship
This is Series 2 on DNA of Discipleship with Jesus
As you go along and run into any huddle, email ambassador@otakada.org and we will certainly revert within 72 hours.
Lets begin..
INTRODUCTION
The best thing you offer in this series is your personal example as a learner, your care for others and creating an environment where people can discover how to learn and interact with God personally. You cannot make that happen, but you can help make it happen. Seek to create space for personal discovery and community listening to what God is saying. Try to meet weekly throughout the series. Every 7 days there is a conversation guide to help stimulate the discussion with other participants. It is meant to be simple to do and easy to share.
You will continue to place emphasis on the DNA of discipleship:
- Divine Truth in each person’s devotional reading
- Nurturing relationships as you observe and respond to God’s working in and around
- Advancing the mission as you continue to pray for Laborers for the
At the same time you will develop new understanding of how the five learning verbs affect our discipleship:
- Imagine: Envision what God might do
- Connect: Trust God with relationships
- Risk: Act according to His Word
- Reflect: Delight in what God is saying
- Celebrate: Rejoice in what God is doing
We will spend a week on each verb followed by a final section to PRACTICE what we are learning. These verbs will generate new abilities to recognize and nurture growth and ministry for each participant. Making disciples will become more centered in the grass-roots of people’s lives, less dependent on programs and their spiritual lives will become more integrated with everything they do and are.
May the Lord multiple laborers through your service and may it result in an inheritance of the nations. (Psalm 2:8) You can contact Us via ambassador@otakada.org
Day 1: Imagine: Envision what God might do
1 Corinthians 2:9
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him –
Jesus provoked the imagination of the blind man when he asked him ‘What do you want me to do for you?” Surely Jesus knew of the man’s blindness and his own ability to heal him? Perhaps he wanted to see if he could trigger the man’s imagination to perceive a different reality, something better than begging for a coin, by drawing closer to the Messiah.
Paul says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we can ask or imagine. We can’t out-imagine God. Our imagination leads us to think of God-possibilities that we can then reflect back to God in prayer, like the blind man’s response, “Rabbi, I want to see!”
What would happen across the world if God’s people started to imagine what God could do in and through them and then acted upon that imagination with the other learning verbs? It would be an outstanding mobilization of faith and kingdom possibilities.
For Reflection:
- How has your answer to Jesus’ question “what can I do for you” been changing?
- How does Jesus ‘yoke’ help our imagination?
Make life count:
- Imagine yourself in the today’s encounter and fill in the blank: “Rabbi I want to ___“.
Day 2: Imagine – See Jesus as the Ultimate Verb
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Jesus is our model and we focus on imitating Him. We start with how he is described in John 1:1. In many Spanish versions of the Bible, John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the Verb and the Verb was with God and the Verb was God”. This may sound surprising to those of us who are used to the traditional “In the beginning was the Word”. Let the word, “verb”, challenge your perspective. Because of the surplus of words in this age of information, we can interpret ‘Jesus as Word’ as more ‘information about God’. Is it enough to say “I know the information and I think it is true”? Yes we need to know information but there is more to interacting with the Verb.
Wherever Jesus went, he transformed people. For those who were willing, it was more than information. People stopped being who they were and they became someone new. When we turn discipleship into a verb, it will transform our learning.
For Reflection:
- What verb best describes Jesus?
- Which verb best describes yourself?
Make life count:
- Imagine how Jesus could show his verb-ness today? Keep your eyes open!
Day 3: Imagine – Believe beyond what you can see
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
For a massive movement of laborers we need scalable systems. That is the ability to go from a pilot project to full production without losing quality. Fortunately the promises of God for spiritual descendants are scalable and will never run out. All these promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘amen’ in our Lord Jesus Christ for everybody and for all time. Teaching people the DNA of discipleship and practicing the 5 learning verbs are scalable.
There is no shortage of imagination, or possible connections or risks, or reflections or celebration of God at work. These are things that do not require buildings or programs, only the full engagement of our heart and soul. Simple skills are scalable: teaching others how to have a quiet time; how to pray; how to claim the promises of God; how to connect with others and how to bring good into the world as we take risks. God at work in us is scalable because He faces no limits.
For Reflection:
- If 100 people would do what you are doing now in discipleship, imagine what would happen?
- What new experiences do you think God has prepared for you?
Make life count:
- Ask God to use your life “immeasurably more” that you can think or What is the next step?
Day 4: Imagine – Become like a newborn babe…again
1 Peter 2:2-3
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Many, many Christians never learn to feed themselves. They place an unrealistic expectation on the preacher to come up with another stimulating message, week after week, instead of leaving the pastor to focus on equipping them for the works of service. It becomes a spectator sport where one player is exhausted and the rest are bored. We end up talking about God instead of interacting with God.
You have an important role of demonstrating how to put the Scriptures into practice. Think of how a baby cries for milk. Do you have that kind of desperate desire? Are people observing how you interact with the living Word of the Scriptures? With the DNA group, ask how the readings are going and share what you are learning. If someone is having difficulty reading the Scriptures, then offer to meet a few times and do it together. Don’t forget to pray for God’s help for each participant.
For Reflection:
- Do you feel equipped to help another find the milk of the Scriptures?
- How is your personal example helpful to the newer believer?
Make life count:
- Imagine what you will learn if you invite someone else to grow in the Scriptures with How does that make you feel?
Day 5: Imagine – Visualize your inheritance
Galatians 3:29
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Let’s look at the promises of God that permit a massive deployment of labourers:
God told Abraham to look at the heavens and count the stars.” and said, “You will have descendants like that number”. What a massive scaling he promised. God wanted to bless him far beyond what he could ask or imagine even though he was childless at the time. Then in Psalm 2:8, a psalm for the Messiah, there is a wonderful invitation: “Ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance …”
Both promises had a condition: count and ask. Both had a magnificent result: the nations like the number of stars. But can we claim these promises that were directed to Abraham and the Messiah? Today’s verse says, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise.” We claim as our joint inheritance all that was promised to Abraham and to Christ: all nations to the ends of the earth as our legacy.
For Reflection:
- What do you want to ask for when you look at the stars?
- How do these promises make you feel?
Make life count:
- Imagine your family and friends reading your will after you are What spiritual legacy will you have left them? Start building that legacy today.
Day 6: Imagine – Dream His dreams
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So where does a disciple-maker start to imitate Jesus? He became a physical person; he became flesh or incarnated. To ‘ be with’ the disciples required incarnation. He lived among the disciples. He could have written messages in the sky but he chose to become flesh so they could see who he was.
What are the first steps for learners that lead to incarnation? Learner agency is the ability to choose what to learn. It is taking control of the decisions that enable us to become flesh somewhere. Jesus said it was his decision to lay down his life. A person doesn’t have agency when they blame someone else for their own problems. The lack of agency is the perfect immobilizer against incarnation because we can’t control what ‘others’ do.
The first learning verb, ‘to imagine’, helped us consider our choices and allowed us to enter the world of God-possibilities. We imagined what God might want to do and we began to dream his dreams.
For Reflection:
- What choices have you made that have helped your relationship with God?
- How are choices affected by imagining?
Make life count:
- Think of a specific example where you saw something first in your imagination then which became a reality.
Day 7: Imagine – Adam’s first task
Genesis 2:19
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
To imagine was the first job God gave Adam when he asked him to name the animals. He could have just dictated the names but rather he presented the animals and asked Adam what they should be called. By imagining their names, Adam became co-participant in the process of creation. I can imagine God enjoying what Adam came up with.
We may think the task of imagining belongs to someone else. Someone should just tell us what to think and do. Yet the practice of prayer, engaging the Scriptures and interacting in a nurturing community will continually fuel imagination. We should allow space for imagination to develop instead of working out all the details. People need permission to dream dreams about what God may want to do in extending His kingdom.
We also need the protective boundaries of community, people who know and love us, as we imagine together. Imagining the wrong things can be dangerous but imagining God’s things can be transforming.
For Reflection:
- Why did God ask Adam to name the animals?
- How is imagination related to being vulnerable?
Make life count:
- Write down what God is inviting you to imagine.
Meet this week to discuss IMAGINE:
Days 1 to 7
All ministry and indeed all learning, starts with the verb Imagine. No prayer is formed without first seeing the possibility of its answer. No step of faith is considered without first seeing the potential effect of its influence. No new discovery is made without first sensing the thirst that something unknown needs investigation.
God invites us to imagine His kingdom and to see beyond earthy circumstances to gaze upon His unseen plans and purposes that are being made known. He invites us into this creative process to pray, to hope, to take steps of faith, to be amazed, to stumble, to try again, to be entirely surprised and then to imagine some more.
The results will not necessarily be what we expected but they will be supernatural. They will not be easy, but they will be life-changing. Imagine is the learning verb that triggers the other learning verbs.
We have to first see how we are conditioned NOT to imagine. We too often expect that someone else needs to fix our problem. We quickly accuse the government, the church, our boss or our family as to why we are stuck in our own mess. We give away our agency, our ability to choose, and rest in the solution of simply blaming others. While they might bear some fault, we need to see how blaming is tragically paralyzing; how it needlessly empowers helplessness and how it frustrates the advancing kingdom.
It is better to use our own choices, creativity, hopes and resources to see a different, preferred future. Next week we will look at the second verb, Connect, which shows us how to join our imagining with others.
The verb imagine needs to be practiced. We easily slip back into old unimaginative patterns. We need stirring up and reminding. We need freedom to try on some of the ideas without micromanaging the details. It is a life-long practice, and art that is enriched by experience. It leads to adventure and the discovery of an expanding circle of God’s blessing. May the Lord ignite our imagination as to what He is doing across our world.
For discussion:
- Before the meeting, review your notes and highlight thoughts and verses that stand out to
- Invite the Holy Spirit to sanctify (make holy) your imagination. Ask Him to stir it up, remove the barriers and guide its
- Share together what you are imagining. What unique contribution did God plan through creating you? Offer these thoughts up to God in prayer and with open hands (that He is free to do whatever He wants with them.)
- Keep these ideas in mind as you start the second week
Day 8: Connect – Trust God with relationships
Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
The next learning verb is connect. The first thing that God said that was not good in the Creation was that Adam was alone. Imagine the moment when God woke Adam and he saw Eve. There before him was a soul mate to share everything in life. He was no longer alone. And ever since then we have been aching for genuine connection with others.
So many things happen through connection. If you are alone and you fall down, who can help you? If you are cold, who can help keep you warm? Perhaps the most important connection is the special presence of God when 2 or 3 gather in His name. Something happens through agreement of a few to seek God together.
The quote that ‘Nobody knows as much as everybody’ speaks to the power of connection. We can enjoy a global connection and share ideas, resources and encouragement. That being said, a lot of connection is shallow or meaningless. We need to learn to genuinely and purposefully connect with others.
For Reflection:
- What needs to happen to make connection meaningful for you?
- How can you connect better to the people in the Series 1 group?
Make Life Count:
- Look at the verse and write down where you need another to connect Who could that be?
Day 9: Connect – Why not you?
1 Thessalonians 1:1
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
Big breakthroughs often happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately needed”. Mobilization of workers is desperately needed and we have new abilities to connect to make this happen. Imagine if Jesus’ followers everywhere were released to use all their stored up knowledge and passion to be harvest workers!
I wonder if Paul, Silas and Timothy when they were writing 1 Thessalonians were intending to write a letter in the Bible. Perhaps they were simply doing whatever they could think of to help some new believers. They started writing down their advice and guidance because they were not physically present and used the technology at hand: paper and ink. Read today’s verse and put your name, and two friends’ names there. Do you believe you could have as vast an impact? (Not by adding to the Bible but by helping change someone’s life.)
God is not restricted today to do less. In fact the needs are greater and his promises are just as magnificent.
For Reflection:
- Which names did you put in the heading?
- What comes to mind as you imagine what God wants to do through you?
Make life count:
- Where do you want to see a big breakthrough? What are you going to do today to make that happen?
Day 10: Connect – Observe others
Matthew 6:26-30
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”
The first challenge level is to observe. There are interesting commands in the Bible for us to be observant. Jesus said to observe the birds of the air and observe the flowers of the field because they teach us about God. He told his disciples to observe the poor woman who gave the two small coins as an offering. His parables were object lessons in observation. Observing is a necessary step in learning. We can see how things are done before we actually start doing anything. It is also a safe way to learn because one can observe and grow in confidence before starting.
A good example is how babies learn. They know nothing when they start and in a very short time they learn to eat, speak and walk. They observe a massive amount of activity then they start imitating everything they see.
For Reflection:
- Are you a good observer?
- How do you grow in this skill?
Make life count:
- Observe yourself today, and ponder the question, “What does God see and what is he doing?” Write down your conclusions.
Day 11: Connect – The “be with” strategy
Mark 3:14
He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach,
Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
We need to find how Jesus made disciples and see if we can follow the same pattern. Look again at these two passages to see what is in common. Mark 3:14-15 says “He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” .This was how he started the discipleship process. After he was finished this is what happened. In Acts 4:13 it says “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Do you see what is in common with the two passages? In the first Jesus chose 12 to be with him. After he finished, people, even the enemies of Christ, recognized that the disciples had been with Jesus. They observed the same characteristics in the disciples that they saw in the Master. If people recognize that we have been with Jesus, then our discipleship is working.
For Reflection:
- What did Jesus do to ‘be with’ his disciples?
- How many people can you ‘be with’ at once?
Make life count:
- Do something to ‘be with’ another person this week.
Day 12: Connect – Invite someone else
Matthew 4:19
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
The next step in Jesus’ method was inviting others to join him in this learning adventure. He called them and said “Follow me”. It was a big choice because it meant leaving everything: their fishing nets and their families to follow him as their teacher. It was an uncomfortable itinerant lifestyle. But it afforded day and night access to the Lord of the universe, something that was both costly and unimaginably rich.
Once we realize we have the power to make choices that help us grow, our next step is choosing connection. We move from singular to plural. We accept the invitation to follow. We realize as we join forces with Jesus and other learners, we can accomplish far more together than what we could do separately. We are challenged to leave our comfort zones and join with others in the learning adventure. God invites and we accept which allows us to enter the disciple relationship. The second learning verb is ‘to connect’.
For Reflection:
- How did you react to Jesus inviting you to ‘follow’ him’?
- How are you connecting with others in learning conversational prayer?
Make life count:
- Invite someone to join you in something today.
Day 13: Connect – Help another learn
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
When we respond to Jesus by faith, he changes what we know, what we do and who we are. We know new things about who God is. We become something new, children of God, and we learn to be patient and kind, loving and gentle, self-controlled and joyful. This is the fruit of the Spirit living inside us. And we do new things, like continuing in the Scriptures, praying, helping those in need, telling the truth, serving and giving. It is not enough to know about God, but the presence of Emmanuel, God with us, transforms everything. We get to know God.
We talked about bike riding in the first series. To make a bike work we need to know, be and do certain things. We are also helped by someone who comes along side us as we learn. Discipleship follows the same pattern of individual experiential learning encouraged by the help of another.
For Reflection:
- What are the knowing, being and doing skills in riding a bike?
- How is discipleship like coming alongside someone who is learning to ride a bike?
Make life count:
- What can you do to help someone hold to Jesus’ teaching today? What does Jesus promise?
Day 14: Connect – Use a simple learning plan
2 Peter 1:5-7
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
Here is a simple plan to teach anything in discipleship. I call it SSTT (If you can make the words into something that sounds better please give me your suggestion.)
It starts with your story, the first “S“. When you are helping someone else grow, what is your Story in that area?
The second “S” is Scripture. We don’t need a lot of Scripture, just 1 or 2 key verses that help illustrate the principle.
We need a simple Tool (the first “T“), some way to start. We used 7 Minutes with God as a simple tool.
Then we need to practice it Together (the last “T“).
Your Story, the Scriptures, a simple Tool then practice it Together.
We could frame any theme for growth into a simple lesson pattern of SSTT: Story and Scripture with a Tool Together. Why don’t you try that with someone today? Share how to have a devotional time with God.
For Reflection:
- Why is follow-up of another believer so important?
- Why does it take ‘every effort’?
Make life count:
- Write out an “SSTT” learning plan and share it with someone
Meet this week to discuss CONNECT:
Days 8 to 14
We are made to experience God in community. To connect seems so obvious that it hardly needs to be said, but we can reflect our individualism right into the Scriptures without being aware. Here is an example how another language helped me to learn this.
Jesus said “if you continue in my Word, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31). In English I had always assumed he was referring to you (singular). If I had my devotional time and if I listened to the sermon, and if I studied the Bible, then I would experience the freedom Christ intends. Then I found from learning Spanish that “if you continue” means “if you all continue”… It is plural. It is not enough that I have my devotional time, and you have yours. We need to be listening together. We need to connect our thoughts. We need to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. We need everyone’s voice.
The Spiritual armor is another good example. My shield of faith offers you protection against the flaming arrows when you are at my side and your shield protects me when I am at your side. (Ephesians 6) Connecting can be life-saving.
Our discipleship life was never meant to be lived alone.
Connection is often a deliberate decision of picking up the phone and inviting someone to meet. It is taking initiative and being open to promptings to reach out. We are to live connected like parts of a body. It is costly but fruitful. It is like the saying, “If you want to go fast, journey by yourself. If you want to go far, journey together.”
For discussion:
- What is easy and what is difficult for you in connecting?
- Where do you feel challenged to move from ‘singular’ to ‘plural’ in your experience of discipleship?
- Where would you like to connect, but do not know how?
- How do we ‘practice’ connecting?
Day 15: Risk – Act according to His Word
Matthew 14:28-30
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
What does the verb ‘risk’ mean to you? For some, risk is something to control or minimize but God’s Kingdom seems to thrive on risk. He told his disciples to feed 5000 people when they didn’t have a clue as to what to do. He sent them out to heal and cast out demons. He watched as four friends took off the roof tiles and lowered a paralyzed man into his presence to be healed. He told the rich and important they should become like children. He applauded the poor woman for offering her entire savings. He said he would tear down the temple and rebuild it in 3 days. He invited Peter to step out of the boat and walk on the water. I think he enjoyed these situations of pushing thinking beyond their limit. He seemed deliberately provocative especially in the face of traditions and expectations.
I am not used to living this kind of rambunctious risk where we have no idea of the outcomes until we try it. Risk is like a muscle that grows stronger the more you use it.
For Reflection:
- How are you being challenged to risk more?
- What impossible things do you feel the Lord is asking you to do?
Make life count:
- What is the first step in what God is asking you to do? Take action this week.
Day 16: Risk – Accept the Call
Ephesians 4:11, 12
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
“Is it the pastor’s role to make disciples?” Hmmm. This is a trick question because isn’t it better to say, “It is the pastor’s role to equip God’s people to make disciples”? What is the difference?
Ephesians 4:11-12 says “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip his people for works of service…, “. (We will use the word APEST as a short form for theses 5 gifts.) We need people with this gifting to help us do these works of service.
What is the difference between the APEST gifted people saying “We will do the ministry and you can help.” or “You can do the ministry and we will help”? We could mobilize millions of workers with the equipping that comes from the APEST gifts. As we pray that God will thrust workers into the harvest, how can we make our message: “You can do it and we can help”?
For Reflection:
- Why is investing in others risky?
- What help can you provide those in Series 1?
Make life count:
- Tell someone what you need in order to make disciples and invite them to pray with you to make that happen.
Day 17: Risk – Incarnate Jesus’ teachings
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
In the third step in Jesus’ method, he began to invest through the ‘being with’ process. Read through the Gospels and observe how Jesus invested in the disciples. What was his strategy? What were the methods he used? He asked and was asked a lot of questions as the disciples participated in everything. He gave them things to do. He let them fail and try again. He did many things that built conviction into their lives.
Our cost in this step is ‘risk agility’. Agility is the ability to keep our balance in the midst of unstable circumstances. We learn to put our faith into practice requiring risk. We can’t predict all outcomes. We surrender control to God. We have no guarantees other than God’s presence. We become agile as we join in the dance of what God is doing. The third learning verb is ‘to risk’.
For Reflection:
- What types of things would make you not want to put God’s Kingdom first?
- Why do we consider risk a negative characteristic that needs to be limited?
Make life count:
- Consider one area of God’s kingdom that you want to ‘put first’. Decide what it means to do that.
Day 18: Risk – Imitate other believers
1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Philippians 3:17
Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.
Being an imitator can have a negative connotation but the truth is that we learn most things by imitation. This is reflected in today’s verses: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” And “join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” We see various generations of examples to imitate. We teach many things in church by imitation: the way we dress, when to sit down and stand up, our terminology and our lifestyle. Many congregations seem to have their own flavor as to what is imitated by their participants.
Why is it difficult to imitate the pastor in making disciples? If the main method to make disciples is preaching, that is difficult to imitate. We don’t observe the private conversations of the pastor making disciples. We need a discipleship system that permits observation and imitation.
For Reflection:
- How is imitation risky?
- What would you like people to imitate from your life?
Make life count:
- Tell somebody something you want to imitate from their life and why.
Day 19: Risk – Become a practitioner
Luke 11:28
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
We need to practice what we observe and imitate, in order to become proficient. It could be summed up in being ‘doers of the Word’, where we have the necessary skill and ability to disciple others in our own environment without requiring the direct support of programs. It suggests continued practice resulting in improvement.
In front of our house there is a group of young people who love to practice jumps and turns on their skate boards. I am amazed at their seemingly endless ability to practice.
We practice engaging the Scriptures, relating in community, embracing God’s mission to the world. We practice listening, asking questions, answering with a loving word. We practice praying, and giving. We practice risk taking and reflection on what we are learning. We practice the ‘one- another’ commands. In our bike riding analogy, practice permits taking off the training wheels and riding the bike wherever you wish to go.
For Reflection:
- What are some of the spiritual skills in discipleship that improve through practice?
- How do you feel the practice in Series 1 is going?
Make life count:
- Where are you ready to “take off the training wheels” in something you are practicing? Practice something today.
Day 20: Risk – Be an innovator
Mark 2:3-5
Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Innovation can be scary for leaders who have a high need to control what is going on. One of the best examples of innovation in the New Testament is the 4 friends who took their friend who was paralyzed to see Jesus. It started in someone’s imagination who then connected to three others to help carry their friend. The risk price tag suddenly escalated when they realized that the doors and windows were blocked by the crowds. They used innovation to find a solution which was to dismantle the roof and lower their friend to Jesus. They weren’t imitating anything they had seen before nor did they have anyone’s permission for such a drastic measure. They came up with something absolutely new in order to get the job done.
In our ever-changing world, we need to find new ways to solve problems and be innovative in our discipleship methods.
For Reflection:
- How would you have reacted to this innovation if you were the home owner?
- How do we practice innovation?
Make life count:
- Where do you need to risk “dig through a roof” to help someone get to Jesus? What does that look like?
Day 21: Risk – Get launched into global participation
Matthew 9:29
Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”
Here are some goals for equipping people to make disciples:
- We keep Christ the center of what we do and not
- We recognize previous experience so we adjust to the need and abilities of the
- We offer advanced challenges to those who are discipling others, so they don’t keep repeating the same
- We mobilize everyone in discipleship so that it becomes a visible characteristic of our community.
- We practice skills for a limited time to be personalized later on so we don’t become method
- We visualize the results so we know what is happening and celebrate progress.
- People have everything they need to disciple others on their smart phone and by using their Bible.
We improve the system by user feedback so we learn how to learn better. Next we will look at how to use challenge levels in our discipleship so we can adjust the difficulty of what we offer to meet the learner’s needs.
For Reflection:
- What are you celebrating with your friends in Series 1 so far?
- What are you asking God for on their behalf?
Make life count:
- Pick one goal from the above list and figure out a risk you can take together.
Meet this week to discuss RISK:
Days 15 to 21
Risk is faith with legs on it. It is taking action based on the reality of God. Risk attempts something that without God’s help would inevitably fail. Risk can be extremely uncomfortable but it is God-pleasing (Hebrews 11:6) If ever there was a time in history where we need God’s church to take risks, it is now. Opportunities and crises abound. This could be our greatest hour.
The result of combining the verbs IMAGINE and CONNECT is that RISK is now plural. Thank goodness. When two or three can gather in Jesus’ name to take action, there is the comforting presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that we are not alone is immensely empowering.
We might as well get used to becoming risk agile. One gets the impression that things in the world will get more unstable and out of kilter. At the same time this could produce scenarios of massive revival. Are we ready?
For discussion:
- Can you think of examples where you practiced and innovated in the ministry? How was that received?
- What is God saying to you about risk?
- How do we find stability if everything is risky?
NOTE: The next two learning verbs: REFLECT and CELEBRATE, will help us in this area.
Day 22: Reflect – Delight in what God is saying
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
The last two learning verbs in discipleship are reflect and celebrate. Perhaps we are most accustomed to think of discipleship in terms of these two words. Our engagement with the Scriptures is heavily based on reflection although perhaps not enough on how our life compares to what is being said. Our worship is a celebration of God in our midst although perhaps lacking in celebrating the personal victories since the last time we gathered together.
Reflect and celebrate are activated when we actually practice of the other three verbs since without imagine, connect and risk, reflect and celebrate can become quite theoretical. We talk about life instead of living it. When we actively involve the first three verbs, our reflection in the Scriptures re- aligns us and we celebrate what God is doing, which motivates us to imagine, connect and risk some more. – A wonderful integration of experience and theology.
For Reflection:
- What brings reflection and celebration alive for you?
- What can you celebrate with the Series 1 group?
Make life count:
- Tell someone today what you celebrate in their life.
Day 23: Reflect – Look back on your journey
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
We see examples in the Bible and from our experience of the Observer, Imitator, Practitioner, Innovator and Wise Builder. There is room for everyone to grow. It means if you are starting something new, take time to observe. Or in helping someone else, give them time to observe without having to be completely committed. Then start slowly to imitate until some things begin to feel normal. Then practice these things until you feel proficient. Later you may find a way to innovate and improve the way things are being done. The end goal is to become a wise builder who through experience and suffering is a skilled worker.
We may be very skilled in one area of our spirituality and just be observers in another. One developed skill set does not guarantee maturity in another. It can be helpful for a person to assess themselves using these challenge levels to figure out the next step in their growth.
For Reflection:
- Where do you want to grow, that by knowing your challenge level, you can figure out what to do next?
- How can you apply today’s verse?
Make life count:
- How much faith has God given you? What are you doing with that faith?
Day 24: Reflect – Look forward to deepen the patterns
Proverbs 8:34
Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.
Engaging the Scriptures is a cause for continual celebration. Listen to what the others are observing from the Scriptures and what stands out. Pray conversationally together. Listen to the stories of where God is at work and see how you can be of encouragement. Solve any uncertainties with the readings or the online connection. Share comments during the week. Seek to ‘be with’ your friends in the growth process. Ask questions, listen, pray, ask some more.
At the same time we are going to deepen our understanding of how disciples were made in the New Testament. We want to keep looking for the pattern that we can imitate both to keep growing ourselves and to help others in the journey. Finding simple patterns can make an enormous difference. We want something that is simple to do and easy to share.
For Reflection:
- How is our devotional life described in Proverbs?
- How can you help another person receive the blessing described in today’s verse?
Make life count:
- Picture yourself watching and waiting at God’s What do you see yourself doing?
Day 25: Reflect – Consider the consequences of multiplication and addition
2 Timothy 2:2
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualifies to teach others.
I would like to tell you a story of John Evangelist and Anne Disciple-maker. John helps 2740 people find Christ daily, a million people a year. Anne, on the other hand, disciples one person a year and teaches them to do the same. The first year Anne is by herself, the second year there is the first disciple and every year it doubles.
At the end of 10 years John has helped 10 million people find Christ, a group the size of Lima, Peru, while Anne has discipled 512 people.
After 20 years John has helped 20 million people, the size of New York and Anne has discipled half a million people, the size of Lisbon, Portugal.
After 34 years John has helped 34 million people, the size of Tokyo Japan. However Anne has discipled the population of the earth! The first is a ministry of addition and the second is a ministry of multiplication. If we really want the world to be blessed by learning about Jesus, it needs to be done by a pattern of multiplication because it is the best way to mobilize as many people as possible.
For Reflection:
- What would Anne do with a person who is just starting the 40 days of discipleship?
- Why is faithfulness so important for multiplication to happen?
Make Life Count:
- Who has invested in your spiritual growth? How can you pass that benefit along to someone else?
Day 26: Reflect – Consider your impact
1 Thessalonians 2:19
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?
The incarnation step focuses on the power of one: we imagine what God’s unfolding kingdom could look like as we move toward incarnating the Gospel. The Invitation to follow Jesus highlights the potential of two or three as we connect with others to learn and serve together. The Involvement stage makes faith practical and highlights the cost of following Jesus as we take risks.
Experiential learning leads us to reflect on God’s teaching in real life. Our changed story leads us to celebrate the prize of seeing more laborers mobilized into the harvest: the very thing we were asking for in the Luke 10:2 prayer. We receive a new story which releases a sense of fulfilled purpose in the kingdom adventure. And as we continue to pray, we learn to help others become laborers who join us in God’s kingdom purposes.
For Reflection:
- Do you see your service to God as a prize?
- For whom?
Make life count:
- Following Paul’s example, ask God to enable you to invest in others like a Who are these people?
Day 27: Reflect – Consider how God speaks and acts
Numbers 23:19
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Let’s review some promises in the Scriptures and see if you can spot the condition and the promised blessings that are offered. Can you identify what is being promised and what must be fulfilled as a condition? The 40 Days DNA Series is looking at promises at this time as well. We will discuss later how the promises of God are crucial in terms of reaching the world but it is good practice handling God’s promises correctly. What are the promises and conditions in the following verses:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For Reflection:
- What are the most breath-taking promises in the Bible for you?
- How are the promises of God based on who he is?
Make life count:
- Take one promise and go for a walk and discuss with God what you hope to see from that promise.
Day 28: Reflect – Evaluate your path and direction
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Today’s verse illustrates how the DNA of discipleship and the 5 learning verbs work together. The lamp of the WORD shows us where to take the next step and its’ light marks the right direction. The lamp is for our feet: the immediate goal. And the light is for our path: the overall direction we are taking.
The DNA helps us practice listening and conversing with God. The 5 verbs help us build an effective communication with God.
The DNA helps us practice caring for others. The 5 verbs help us invest in others for a lifetime.
The DNA helps us to consider our calling. The 5 verbs help us to live out our calling.
With the DNA we risk experimenting with some spiritual growth skills. With the 5 verbs we live as disciples and workers.
We need the lamp AND the light of the Scriptures for both short term practice and long term lifestyle.
For Reflection:
- How are the Scriptures a lamp and a light for you?
- How can you encourage Series 1 participants to keep engaging in the Scriptures?
Make life count:
- What do you need more at this moment from the Scriptures: a lamp or a light? Journal your answer.
Meet this week to discuss REFLECT:
Days 22 to 28
If we reflect deeply, we will not be talking about theory. These will not be idle thoughts about controversies, or information-heavy presentations or tedious lists of chores. When we look into the mirror of the Scriptures by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we see our lives from two different perspectives:
- Who we really are in Christ, purchase by the blood of the Lamb, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, with an undefiled inheritance reserved in
- The earthen vessels that are the containers of such wonder. We are made of clay and easily broken, struggling with our sins and inevitably falling short of our best intentions.
We have the mind of Christ, but it is not always easy to think His thoughts. We have the mirror of the Word which shows us where to change but we see through a mirror dimly. We are lavished with grace but struggle to put it in practice. We are known deeply and intimately by God but sometimes hardly know ourselves.
Reflection helps sort this out. The Word washes us and lights our way. We receive comfort even though we don’t understand. Reflection gives us space to hope and rest. It lifts our weariness. It heals our wounds. It replenishes our joy. It makes us wise.
When we take time to reflect, we wonder why we hadn’t availed ourselves to this blessing earlier. We are able to shed our self-importance and gain perspective. We can more easily make decisions in the clear light of God. We replace hurry with rest, confusion with clarity, and noise with stillness. Reflection is not finding information about God but it is being with God. We may start by reading His word but soon he is reading us. In reflection, everything is brought into perspective and we begin to know as we are known. It is so beautiful and yet so easy to neglect.
For discussion:
- How do you practice reflection? How could you deepen reflection?
- What do you find difficult about reflection? How could others help?
- Who do you know who seems good at reflection? What attracts you?
- How does reflect fit into the three earlier verbs: imagine, connect, risk?
Day 29: Celebrate – Rejoice in what God is doing
Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
A remarkable step in the disciples’ conversion process is a story of the change from them hiding in fear after the resurrection to becoming world- changing missionaries. The disciples were filled with God’s power so all the experiences and risks were energized by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
We receive the Holy Spirit when we are born of the Spirit. With His power we move from being the ministry to doing the ministry. We start thinking about making disciples and taking agency not only for our own learning but also to encourage others. As we move into the incarnate step, we repeat the process in forming other learners to become workers. We have a new purpose as Kingdom workers desiring to help mobilize more workers.
This activates the fifth learning verb which is to ‘celebrate’. We worship God for who he is and also we praise him for what he is doing in and through us.
For Reflection:
- What are you celebrating in your own discipleship?
- What are you celebrating with your friends who taking the 40 days?
Make life count:
- Make a list of celebration items and talk to God about (Consider having a special place in a notebook to keep a running list)
Day 30: Celebrate – Learn how to suffer
2 Timothy 3:10-11
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
Look at Paul’s confidence that the depth of his life was passed on to Timothy. And observe how the transformation that sustained Paul in his suffering also prepared Timothy for future testing.
Imagine preparing someone else for future difficulties by them simply knowing us as we respond to suffering in a Christ-like way. Leaving such a legacy is cause for real rejoicing!
God wants you to become a laborer and probably already has that person waiting for you to invite. That person is ready to learn from you, to observe your life and teaching and to watch you as you face trials. Your patience and love, endurance and resilience are waiting to be passed on as you share life. Don’t hold back. Your risking will lead to celebration.
For Reflection:
- How has your own suffering changed you?
- Consider the discipleship of watching others suffer? What does it teach you?
Make life count:
- Imagine being at the very end of your life then write a letter to yourself for today. Give advice of what you need to do so you will be able to say, like Paul, that someone else knows all about your life, purpose, faith etc.
Day 31: Celebrate – The power of a living example
2 Timothy 3:14
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
When we talk about John and Anne and addition versus multiplication, what would happen in year 34, if in year 2, the first one who responded decided not to continue? In the case of John, he would have 34 million people minus 1. But in Anne’s case, just one person giving up at the beginning would cut the number in half from 8 billion to 4 billion. And every time someone decided not to continue, it would dramatically divide the results. This is why faithfulness is so important for multiplication.
Paul told Timothy to look for this quality in people. He said to invest in faithful people, able to teach others. Multiplication won’t happen without faithfulness. Without perseverance we won’t make the effort to pass this on. That is why 40 days is a time of testing where we grow as a result. We may have to restart and try again. We are praying for and investing in faithful people who learn to multiply their lives in others.
For Reflection:
- Since faithfulness is part of the fruit of the Spirit, how do you get more of it?
- How can you be more faithful to help those in the DNA Series?
Make Life Count:
- Name one thing from this series that convinced you and are determined to “continue ” Tell somebody.
Day 32: Celebrate – Remember your models
1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Philippians 3:17
Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.
1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
I would like to discuss these key words for making disciples that stand out in the Epistles: example, model and imitate. Let’s observe how they are used in these passages:
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ… “
“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.…”
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers…”
Doesn’t this seem rather daring to expect believers to become examples, models and imitators to help others grow? Couldn’t we just transmit the information and hope for the best? If growing up in Jesus is so important, why did God pick normal people to have such a key role? Why did he pick us?
For Reflection:
- Celebrate someone who has been an example or model that you have
- How do you feel about being an example or model for others to imitate?
Make life count:
- Do something that someone else could imitate without drawing attention to yourself.
Day 33: Celebrate – Rejoice in reproduction
Isaiah 54:1-3
“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.”
Would you prefer to follow John’s example of leading thousands to Christ daily for 34 years? Or imitate Anne by discipling a few and teaching them to do the same?
We need to consider that John’s method could lead to tremendous burn- out. To win that many people to Christ every day would need constant travel, an exhausting schedule and an army of people handling logistics. We don’t know anyone that could do this. It could also breed a sense of failure, because we often view the ministry with a high response as the model of success and most of us can’t repeat that.
There is also a certain irresponsibility because it brings people to Christ but not provides any resources to help them grow. It is like leaving a child unsupervised who then wanders into traffic with a high likelihood of getting hurt.
Anne is an example of someone we can follow! Simply start to encourage one other person to join you on a learning journey with Jesus. They learn by imitating what you are doing.
For Reflection:
- In which ministry would a person feel most like a number?
- How did Jesus give personal attention to people?
Make life count:
- What does “enlarge your tent” mean for you today? Take a step to do that.
Day 34: Celebrate – The Fruit of Imitation
Luke 10:2
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
I have two favorite photos with my brother and myself each standing beside our dad. In each case the boy in the picture was standing exactly like Dad. When his hands were in his pockets, that is what I imitated. When his hands were behind his back that is what my brother imitated. No one told us to stand that way, we just naturally imitated the example Dad gave us.
And that happens in discipleship. We imitate Christ, but we often do that through the people who help disciple us. We imitate them as they imitate Christ. Through this process the Jesus pattern is formed in us. We then go on to provide the pattern that others imitate. It is not a question IF others will imitate us but what is the pattern we provide WHEN they imitate us. By changing our pattern, we can change the type of disciples that will come after us.
For Reflection:
- Celebrate something you imitated from your upbringing?
- Today’s verse is on praying for Who is imitating your prayer?
Make life count:
- Do you need to return to setting your phone alarm at 10:02 to remember to pray for laborers? (Or if you are doing this already, celebrate how God is answering that prayer.)
Day 35: Celebrate – Spiritual Parenting
1 Thessalonians 2:5-12
You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.
Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
In today’s passage the Apostle Paul describes himself and his team as “a nursing mother who cares for her children ” (v.7) He goes on to say “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory” (v11). He could have described his team in terms of soldiers, farmers or athletes as he does elsewhere, but for these new Christians he chose to use the analogy of a nursing mother and an attentive father. The baby needs milk to grow which the nursing mother provides. The father is an encourager, comforter and guide. This is a very intimate picture of discipleship.
There is no mass production but a learning environment like one receives in a family that provides personalized care that helps new believers get strong and keep growing!
For Reflection:
- What are the characteristics of a good mother and father?
- Be aware of these roles as you meet with the DNA group this week.
Make life count:
- Be thankful for the spiritual parents in your life and ask God for grace to be a good spiritual parent yourself.
Meet this week to discuss CELEBRATE:
Days 29 to 35
The way we really celebrate shows what we truly value. This week has some passages that relate to themes that are difficult to celebrate which may cause us some concern. What if we really could celebrate everything that God does? The way we are made? Who we are? Our gifts and limits? The pleasant and the difficult? Our circumstances and our opportunities? Life and death?
We need to learn to celebrate just like we need to learn to imagine, connect and risk. This involves a joyful abandon and surrender. We celebrate with our heads and with our hearts. In celebration there is thinking and feeling. There are songs and there is silence. At times it is an act of will and other times it can be an overwhelming emotion. There is triumph and there are tears. It touches all of our being.
Celebration, like the other verbs, is a spiritual discipline that is practiced personally and in the community of faith. I find celebration welling up within me sometimes as I walk alone. Thanksgiving and praise overflow. Movement helps me celebrate. We each have our comfort levels in how that is expressed.
The flow from reflection into celebration is an easy one. It is a natural response to a supernatural working.
In the next section we will describe how these 5 verbs can be practiced.
For discussion:
- What are you celebrating in your discipling experience from these series?
- What is difficult for you to celebrate?
- What do you see so far as you think back over the 5 learning verbs?
Day 36: Practice – Involve yourself fully
Mark 6:35-44
By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
Jesus used continual experiential learning with his disciples as he involved them in the ministry. When they complained that the multitude was hungry he said “You feed them”. He moved them from spectators to participants in the unfolding drama. They learned by imitating what they saw their teacher do.
Disciple-makers involve the disciples in experiential learning. It is a ‘be with’ lifestyle that cannot be massed produced. As disciples, we learn as we go. It is Just-in-time learning instead of Just-in-case learning. Be careful of the Just-in-case mode that says “You don’t know enough to start unless you know everything.” This can cause us to be permanently afraid to risk. It is fine to fail as long as we learn from it. In fact it may be the only way to learn certain things. By reflecting on these lessons, we continually compare the experience to what Jesus taught. The fourth learning verb is ‘to reflect’ on these experiences.
For Reflection:
- What is one learning experiences you can reflect on?
- How can you help someone practice the DNA in the first series?
Make life count:
- Where you should take action for what God is laying on your heart?
Day 37: Practice – Build with care
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The highest challenge is to become a wise builder. The Apostle Paul said “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.” How do we become wise builders in the Kingdom? It is knowing how to lay foundations that are strong enough to allow others to use their gifts to build upon it. It is a goal to work towards that may take years of ministry experience and some necessary suffering. This perspective and maturity does not come cheaply. Paul said he ‘died daily’ in his concern for the churches. He also exposed himself to great risks in his travels and faced raging opposition from the authorities.
Through the generations, workers have paid a great price attaining this stature, as they make disciples. God promise we will reap if we do not lose heart.
For Reflection:
- Do you know a wise builder?
- What contributed to that person’s stature?
Make life count:
- Write down 5 questions you could ask a wise builder? Ask them this week.
Day 38: Practice – Use verbs like mustard seeds
Matthew 13:31-32
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
The 5 learning verbs: imagine, connect, risk, reflect and celebrate, are ways to imitate Jesus’ method in making disciples. We observed that Jesus is the Verb who transforms all with whom he had relationship. The 5 learning verbs help us in this path of transformation as we connect to the DNA of discipleship. Engaging the Scriptures, interaction in community and embracing the mission of praying for workers are enriched by these 5 verbs.
Traditionally we have focused on the last two verbs: reflect and celebrate.
While these are very important it can leave our discipleship quite theoretical. As soon as we add imagine, connect and risk, everything changes. The kingdom starts to break out around us. We see new opportunities. Theory becomes reality and our reflection and celebration intensify as we experience the living God at work. We will look at each verb in more detail.
For Reflection:
- How are these verbs like mustard seeds?
- How do integrity, transparency and vulnerability connect to these learning verbs?
Make life count:
- Imagine your life as a package of Where are these seeds being planted?
Day 39: Practice – Ask God for the nations
Psalm 2:8
Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
Let me give you a simple tool for application: What are you going to do in the next 5 minutes, 5 days, 5 weeks, 5 months and 5 years? In 5 minutes you could say a prayer. In 5 days you could decide who to invite to participate in discipleship. In 5 weeks you can experience the majority of the 40 days together. In 5 months you could probably do this with a second group. And in 5 years you could see a solid pattern of multiplication of disciples that begin to stretch across the globe, with all sorts of equipped laborers working in places you may never get to.
Why not ask for a 10 million worker inheritance and participate with us to make it happen? Invite people to start engaging the Scriptures and encourage them to invest 1 minute a day to learn to be and make disciples. Then encourage them to pass it on to others. Your inheritance is waiting. Ask God for it today.
For Reflection:
- What inheritance are you asking for from God?
- Who can you invite to join you?
Make life count:
- Go outside this evening and count the stars as long as you can (especially if you can get out in the country). Ask for an inheritance of the NATIONS
Day 40: Practice – Multiply your way to heaven
Jude 1:24-25
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
This has been quite a journey. By now the DNA should be a consistent lamp to your feet and your path should be lit by the Scriptures interacting with your thinking, being and doing using the 5 learning verbs. Keep observing how imagine, connect, risk, reflect and celebrate can be used to guide you in serving God. Be open to new possibilities of including new people, risking more, reflecting deeply and celebrating often.
You can encourage those finishing Series 1 to start the second Series of the 40 Days and have them invite others to join them. You may be able to form a team for prayer and encouragement as you each disciple others. The DNA activities are still valid for your personal growth and you can share your experience with the learning verbs. We welcome your stories of what has happened and suggestions on improving the experience.
For Reflection:
- What did you find most helpful in this series? Write us at ambassador@otakada.org
- What do the people finishing the DNA series need to do next?
Make life count:
Telling your story in discipleship on our Facebook page could help someone decide to get involved in these series:
Write a comment to encourage others in the 40 days of Discipleship/ Holy Ghost school channel and post it at our page in Facebook – https://web.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567162063032
Don’t underestimate the profound impact this could have.
Get Free 40 days DNA of discipleship journey with Jesus – This 4o days DNA of Discipleship journey with Jesus is in Series 1, 2, 3 and 4. Series 1 is your walk with Jesus of 40 days DNA of Discipleship and the Series 2 is your walk with Jesus and Sharing and interacting with others. Series 3 Deals with Discovery Bible Study(DBS), Disciple Making Movement (DMM) and Engage Africa. The Series 4 Deals with Discipling Nations and Holy Ghost School Alone with the the Holy Spirit in alone time with the Holy Spirit.
