Daily Devotional For Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Good morning Southside and it is Wednesday. If you have been reading these devotionals, we are looking at what it means to accept and follow Jesus. A lot of people simply say, “Well, all you have to do is walk down an aisle and talk to the pastor” or “Just check a box on a card.” I have been trying to show you that it is more than that. Through the years I have had a lot of people ask me, “How do I discover God’s will for my life?” I appreciate their sincerity and desire to know this. Yet, it bothers me in the church that we pastors act and preach as if God’s will is something hidden or mysterious. It is not. God has a will for all of us and it is not hidden. It is the same will from the very beginning of time.
God’s will revolves around worship. Worship is two-fold: first, we come and praise God for who He is and second our worship is to motivate us to share Him with others. Let me show you a few Bible verses on this:
- Isaiah 66:18-19, “The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. (19) I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations . . . to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations” (NASB).
- Habakkuk 2:14, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (NASB).
- Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) 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).
- Luke 24:47-49, Jesus said, “And that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (48) You are witnesses of these things. (49) And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (NASB).
- Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (NASB).
- Romans 15:20-21,”And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; (21) but as it is written, ‘They who had no news of Him shall see, And they who have not heard shall understand’” (NASB).
Some people have advocated that since the Jews are God’s “chosen people,” that Christ came to die only for them. The Apostle Paul refutes this idea and belief in Romans 15:8-9, “For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, (9) and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, ‘Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles, And I will sing to Your name’” (NASB). The Apostle Paul is referencing Psalm 18:49, 2 Samuel 22:50, and Isaiah 11:10.
The Great Commission did not start in the New Testament, but the Old Testament. It has been God’s will that His people be a witness to this lost and dying world. All of these verses above affirm what I said previously quoting 2 Peter 3:9. There is coming a day that we will experience and witness the prophecy 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).
Since Jesus did not die just for the Jews, but for all people, then all who Christ has given His life to them are to personally share that with others. To say, “Well, my faith is private” is to incur the judgment of God. Look at Matthew 10:32-33, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. (33) But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven” (NASB). Refusing to share your faith with others is denying Christ and you will experience His judgment.
God’s will from the beginning has been for His people to share Him. This is not a will you have to go out and find through prayer, Bible study, talking to someone or listening to a sermon. This is a will that we all are to follow which is clearly stated in Scripture already – make disciples. So, how do we do that? Well, that is Thursday’s devotional.
Assignment: Who is the last person you discipled? If you haven’t, why would you oppose and be disobedient to God’s will for your life in this? If you say, “Well, I’m afraid to attempt to do this.” Everything we do in life has a risk. But 2 Timothy 1:7 says this should be true for you IF you are Christ’s disciple: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (ESV). If fear is holding you back, then it is quite possible you are not saved. Sharing our faith and making disciples is not an option, or an obligation, but an obsession we have because of the obsession we have for Christ. So, who could you take a step of faith with and disciple? A disciple is not above his master, is he or she? A disciple emulates his master.
Scripture To Meditate On: 2 Timothy 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” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please give me Your heart to make disciples. Please forgive me for acting like this was the responsibility of someone else. As You said in Luke 6:40, I am not above You. I am to emulate You. You are the Master and I am Your servant. Please grow Your passion in my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly