Daily Devotional For Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Good morning Southside! It’s Tuesday and you have a whole new week to be that agent of change for Jesus Christ. We have been talking about for weeks what it means to follow Jesus. What do you think of a man named Bullen below?:
In the scourging heat of Sudan in thatched hut lives a man by the name of Bullen. Because of a Muslim Civil War, Bullen had lost his brothers and sisters at the hands of a Muslim regime. Bullen had rejected his Muslim faith and had come to Christ. Bullen, who had nothing, but a thatched hut in Africa, often talked about what he was going to do for Christ. Here is a man, who by our standards in America, had no resources to change his place in life. He said to his mentor, “I am going to change the world.” His mentor asked, “Bullen, how are you going to impact the world?” His response was, “I’m going to make disciples of all the nations.” His mentor asked him, questioning his statement, “So, you are going to impact the world by making disciples of all the nations?” Bullen quickly responded with, “Why not?” (Source: David Platt, Radical, p. 34).
Here is a poor man living in a thatched hut in Sudan who really believes he is going to impact the world by making disciples. Is he crazy or under-estimating his potential? What would be the impact if every single Christ, believer, Christ follower and disciple of Jesus took on Bullen’s attitude? When it comes to making disciples, there are infinite organizations, megachurches, denominations, conventions that will give all kinds of ways, programs, and strategies to do this. I am not putting them down, but when we look at Jesus’ approach He did not have any of these. His approach was very simple.
When Jesus came, He did not come to start a denomination. He came to start a revolution. Jesus was never timid or quiet about why He came and His mission. All Jesus wanted was some people who would look at the masses as He did, love the world and the lost as He did, teach His message He left and serve people as He did. All that was required was for Jesus to set the hearts of such people on fire for this singular purpose: make disciples and they did all over the Roman Empire.
In John 17:4, in the Upper Room, Jesus prayed to the Father, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (NASB). When you think of all the things Jesus could have mentioned in His prayer, feeding the 5,000, feeding the 4,000, all the miracles and all His sermons, He prayed something interesting in – His disciples and their future to go make disciples. Read it here in John 17:6-19. For 3 years, 24/7, Jesus had been mentoring and investing in these 12 men, putting all His hopes in this small group of men to continue on with God' s purpose for the world. Even in His prayer, He mentioned Judas, the betrayer. So, not 12, but 11 men.
If you will give some time to really think about this, Jesus knew His time on this earth was brief. In a few more hours, crucifixion and death, 3 days later Resurrection and 40 days later, Ascension. What was Jesus’ overall main strategy for His disciples? – make disciples. We see this in His last words to them in Matthew 28:18-20.
Any Christian can do this. It takes no special skills, no special training, no special presentation, and no special charismatic ability to talk. All it takes is a willingness to share. Jesus’ big plan requires no big program, just people big enough to obey Him. It’s that simple. I have lost count of the number of times someone has said to me, “Well, I’m not a public speaker like you PK. I don’t know what I would say.” I understand that, I really do. But do you believe Jesus’ words in Luke 12:12, “For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (NASB). Would you say Jesus is a liar here or has He told you the truth? Those are your only two options here. There is not a 3rd option.
Anyone who has made disciples will tell you it is not easy. It is hard. It is challenging. It is exhausting at times. It takes an incredible amount of time and it can be even painful? Why? Because you are dealing with people, not programs. It is all of this because it is not some ritual we do, but it is a relational bridge we are building. If you have ever watched a company build a bridge, it is slow, tedious and costly. It is this way in order for the bridge to be built structurally sound. You can’t rush building a bridge.
Do you remember on March 26, 2024 when the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, MD was hit by that container ship? Estimates are it will not reopen again until the Fall of 2028 at a cost of $1.7–$1.9 billion dollars. That is 4.5 years later. Making disciples is not about implementing a program, but about empowering disciples to be relational to make disciples. When I was growing up as a kid, my church had on Sunday nights a program called Discipleship Training. This was not about going out and making disciples. It was about implementing disciplines in your life to follow and obey Christ. I am not criticizing it, but highlighting that any discipleship program that only tries to get a disciple disciplined in reading the Bible, praying, tithing, and serving, void of fulfilling Jesus’ last words to us, has failed. That is not discipleship. That is just another program.
Sitting in a discipleship course or class no more makes you a disciple than sitting in your garage makes you a car. Making disciples is like going to buy a new car. When you do this, why are you more likely to buy from a specific dealer? Is it due to the sassy and persuasive salesman or a satisfied customer who has bought from that dealer? The answer is obvious, don’t you think? Making disciples is simply investing your life into another person’s life by sharing what Jesus has done for you and how He has done it. The ultimate goal is for that person to do the same. Got it? I hope so.
Assignment: Take a moment to think about one person you could begin discipling for the Lord. Start small first. Ask the Lord to give you a name as you pray to Him. Express to that person that you believe that God loves them and has a purpose for their life and how you would be honored if they would let you help them know it and do it. Don’t press them for an immediate answer. Ask them to promise to you they will pray about it. What I want you to see is that none of this about you; it is all about the Lord leading you. If they are willing, you can start your own “D-Group” (discipleship group) with them. I would recommend the following resources that will help you and them. They are all by the same Christian pastor, former heroin addict, now disciple maker: Growing Up (start here), Firmly Planted (2nd book) and then Bearing Fruit. His church models this in every area of the church he pastors. If you cannot afford these books, Pastor Hunter may still have some or we could order them for you. Thank you.
Scripture To Meditate On: 2 Timothy 2:2, “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, help me to build bridges to people to disciple. I want to be remembered for fulfilling Your last command before You ascended to heaven. I want someone to see that I am the "satisfied customer.” I know it takes no special skills, just time and love. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ names, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly