Daily Devotional For Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Good morning Southside. We are looking at what it means to follow Jesus. When we look at the New Testament, we see the disciples and others freely sharing their faith with others who are lost. That is the purpose of the church. Today, very few Christians do this? Why? I’ll address that in a moment. As a pastor I am often asked, “How do I know God’s will for my life?” This is a good question and worthy of answer because there is one. Depending on the subject, God has His will for each subject. And in the church we have developed an elaborate system for answering these questions on each of these topics. There is nothing wrong in this but I think it often leads away from the ultimate will of God after we are saved.
The Apostle Paul wrote this in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (NASB). If Christ lives in us, then how did He live in the world? He made disciples. We are most like Christ not in going to church, but one didn’t exist in His day. We are most like Christ not by being in a community group, because there weren’t any in His day. We are most like Christ when we make disciples.
There is an old hymn with these lyrics, “Wherever He leads, I’ll go.” We love singing it, but not doing it. How can we claim we love the Lord and not love Who He loved – the lost. Oswald Chambers is known for his devotional readings titled, My Utmost For His Highest. He writes this:
Oswald Chambers uses the illustration of a man walking on a path through the woods. Chambers asks at what point that man will ever wonder where the path lies. Of course, he says, the only time the man will wonder where the path lies is when he is actually off the path. As long as the man walks on the path, he will never have to ask where the path is. In light of this illustration, Chambers goes on to write this: To be so much in contact with God that you never need to ask Him to show you His will, is to be nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you are rightly related to God, it is a life of freedom and liberty and delight, you are God’s will, and all your common-sense decisions are His will for you unless He checks. You decide things in perfect delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will always check; when He checks, stop at once” (Source: Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, “March 20,” My Utmost For His Highest).
This means the goal of following Jesus and discipleship is not to ask, “What is God’s will for my life?”, but to walk in the same path Jesus took on this earth. Many Christians act as if God hides His will from us. This is foolish thinking. God’s will is clear for every single Christian. God does not want any to perish (see 2 Peter 3:9). At the end of the Bible we read this in Revelation 7:9-10:
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; (10) and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’” (NASB).
God’s will is clear from cover to cover in His Word, just not in our stubborn hearts. The last words Jesus said to His disciples and followers just before He ascended back to heaven can be found in Matthew 28:19-20:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (NASB).
Unfortunately, many church goers feel this applies only to the paid staff. They are wrong. Why? When Jesus shared this, there were no paid church staff because there was no existing church until after Acts 2, 50 days later. Even then, there were no paid church staff. God’s will for you and me is to make disciples. That proves we are following Jesus. In Jesus’ prayer in John 17, He prayed this to His Father in verse 18: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (NASB).
Some of you might be thinking, “PK aren’t you over simplifying God’s will?” Yes and no. There is more to God’s will than just this, but the ultimate will of God is found in 2 Peter 3:9. Jesus said this in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (NASB). In Acts 2, one of the main reasons the Holy Spirit was given is to empower all of us to share the Gospel, not just the 12 disciples. This includes you and me. We see this in the radical change in their lives after the crucifixion versus the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. They went from being fearful to being faithful. They went from hiding to helping people hear the Gospel. The only explanation was the Holy Spirit, their gratitude for Jesus’ Resurrection and their intimacy with the Lord.
Assignment: Reflect. How impassioned are you to share the Gospel with others? If you do not, what does this say of your gratitude and your intimacy with God the Father through Christ? If your church is not making their ultimate goal to share the Gospel and make disciples, what does that say about your church and you? In John 17:18, Jesus said that He was sending us into the world. To start more programs? No. To begin new classes? No. To share the Gospel. How can you start this week making God’s ultimate will for your life a reality?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, (4) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I want Your mission on this earth to be my mission. Give me a heart for the lost like You have. Give me opportunities to share my faith wherever I am and go. I accept and trust the truth of Your Word that You have sent me into the world to share the Gospel and make disciples. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly