Tag: Daily Overcomer

People of Peace?

When I first learned about people of peace in the context of disciple making, I felt that a light bulb went on in my spirit. It was a big aha moment for me. Thanks Peggy for drawing my attention to this.

The concept of the “man of peace” is taken from Jesus instructions to His disciples in Luke 10.

“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.” Luke‬ ‭10:5-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Here is how I interpret this!

When you go out to share the good news of the Kingdom of God, you should look for people who are open to the message and to you as a messenger and disciple of Jesus. They welcome you as a person, they are happy for you to meet their family or friends even though they know that you are a disciple of Jesus.

When you for find these people, stay with them (have regular meetings with them), help them discover Jesus and show them how to become disciples of Jesus. Baptize them and their family and coach them to share what they are learning with other people.

The key is this! You spend most of your time with people who are open, and then coach them to do the same. That way as an outsider or missionary you can move on to other communities after some months or one or two years in a region.

Those who are not open today may become open tomorrow!

I desire a world where everyone would love like Jesus and live like Jesus!

Do you know you are not working alone?

God has used Olu and I to plant 4 churches so far since 2005. That was when we did not know about Disciple Making Movements that are planting churches in thousands.

In every city that God has sent us, we have always found people who want to know God and who have been prepared by God to work with us. And these people are always people who we had never met until we got into that city.

God has many people in every city. Wherever God puts you, be sure that He has people there. Even at your workplace! These people will receive you and the gospel.

“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.””
‭‭Acts‬ ‭18:9-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We are now learning to empower these people of God and equip them to plant smaller and more replicable churches.

This week look out for people that God has placed at your workplace to help with sharing the good news of the kingdom of God and new life in Christ Jesus! They may not know Jesus now but they would be open to you even when they know that you love Jesus with all your heart.

To find these people or this first person, you would need to show your love for Jesus and speak about Him.

You would not know that they are people who are open to God if you don’t show that you love God.

Loving people is a very good way to show your love for God and then talk about God.

Disciple Making Lessons from a Pandemic

There are many things we can learn from this pandemic. Here are just two that apply to disciple making.

Every Disciple must be equipped to replicate anywhere

I don’t like to compare the life of Christ to a virus but just like the virus that does damage by replicating quickly and repeatedly the disciples of Jesus are to replicate the life of Christ quickly and repeatedly and shine as light in a dark world and bring love to a selfish world.

We must do whatever it takes to help everyone connect with Jesus!

Although some countries did not do as much as others. Nevertheless, most people made a lot of sacrifices to help flatten the curve of those that were being affected by the virus.

So also all believers must do all that lies within our power to get the message out. We must make all efforts to get Bibles into the hands of people and show them the power of faith in the Lord by leaving live filled with unconditional love!

Please share your lessons with me if you have any! I love reading from you and it makes the post richer.

We need a move of God in Canada!

And we can have a move of God if we are willing to pray until we see the move of God!

Prayer precedes all moves of God! When prayers increase then you know that a move of God has started.

“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Acts‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Here is a testimony of a person who was involved in a move of God in Northern Ireland in 1859.

I read this from a book titled Revival Fire by Dr Wesley Duewel – Chapter 20.

A well-educated merchant of high morality suddenly saw hell opened before his eyes, and an irresistible power seemed to force him headlong into it. He looked around and said to himself, “I know where I am. This is the church where I usually worship. I am under a delusion.” But as he looked down, there was hell! He arose from his seat and seized the back of the pew in front of him. The smoke from hell seemed to rise in his face. He shuddered and his heart cried out, “My sins! My sins! I am lost!” He staggered out of the building and went home. “Had anyone asked me, where are you going? I would have answered, in calm despair, I am going to hell.” Upon reaching his room, for several hours he called out to God for mercy. Then God’s promises came to his mind. He joyously seized them, and “a heavenly radiance” spread over his soul. He arose a Christian. He raced out into the night across town and knocked on his business partner’s door. When the door opened, he called out, “I have found Christ and have come to tell you!” They prayed together, and three days later his partner was converted.

It’s amazing how people can be transformed by God in response to prayers!

Let’s pray every day until we begin to have testimonies of daily transformations like this!

You are a gift to the body

Every organ in the body is precious. I imagine that the left ear may not even know about the right ear.

I don’t think each organ says thanks to the lungs for what it does. Nor does the lungs say thanks to the other organs.

You are a gift to me and I am a gift to you even when we don’t feel it.

Although your toe nails don’t know about the lungs, everyone is affected if the lungs begins to fail.

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Romans‬ ‭12:4-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

You are precious to Jesus and you are precious to me even if I don’t know you.

More importantly though, I need you to fulfill your function at your full capacity.

I need you to love like Jesus and live like Jesus. I need you to shine your light to those around you and glorify our Heavenly Father.

It matters to me and to us all that you reach out to those who are hungry for God and start a discovery group with them!

You are a cell in the body of Christ and so am I. We need each other to be functional.

Who is your neighbor?

Do you know the people who live around you? Do you know their names? Do you know their phone numbers? How many children do they have?

If you are operating in the culture of the kingdom of God, you would know why I am asking this questions. As disciples of Jesus, we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The first people to enjoy our light and seasonings are the people that live close to us.

If you don’t know their names then I’m sure you have not introduced them to Jesus your Lord and Savior.

So here is a new challenge for you! Get to know the names and phone numbers of the people who live around you.

Not all neighbours are friendly. I remember we had a neighbour about 15 years ago. We said hello to him every time we saw him. I think we did that about once or twice every month. We lived in an apartment building then and lived on a different floor but his parking space was next ours. This man never bothered to respond our greetings for at least one year. Then one day he responded because we did not give up.

Let’s not get discouraged because your neighbor doesn’t want to know you. Continue to reach out in love.

Be the light.

“”You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Is there anything like having more time?

We all have 24 hours in a day. No one can have more time than the other.

I think I remember someone saying that the best you can do is get more out of the time you have.

The president of nations, big companies, big ministries all have the same amount of hours in a day.

How many hour? Just 24! Exactly the same as you.

So why does it seem as if you have less time? It’s because you have not mastered the craft of getting more out of the time you have.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5:15-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

How do you get more stuff with the same money? I can hear myself say “Go to the store with Olu or my Mom or Grandma”.

How do they do it? They learn to say NO to things that are overpriced.

The same applies to time! You will always run out of time until you learn to say NO to the majority of things and YES to a few very valuable things!

Do you make to time spend with God? Do you make time to share the love of God and the good news of the kingdom?

Whenever I find myself feeling that I need more time, I know it’s time to find out what I have picked up that needs to be dropped or reviewed.

Make the best use of your time! Think in terms of eternity. Say NO to most things!

Little steps

Isn’t it interesting that the universe as big as it is made up of tiny invisible particles called atoms?

And our life is made up of seconds?

Taking care of the little things will automatically take care of the big things.

But you need to have an idea of the big picture so that you can take care of the little things.

So, make sure that you remember the big picture. We will all exit this planet some day. And we would all go empty handed.

With this in mind, live each day with determination to make disciples for Jesus. Take each hour as an opportunity to show how much you love God.

Use each minute to reflect Jesus’ love to someone. Take every opportunity to become more like him.

Make the little steps right and the big things will be alright. If you ask one person every week about doing a discovery bible study, you will soon find someone who is interested!

If you make up your mind to make someone smile everyday, you will have one person every week to invite to a discovery bible study.

If you pray every moment asking God to love someone through you, it becomes easier to make someone smile!

Don’t let the mockers stop you!

No matter what you do, there will always be mockers! So share the good news and be the solution to problems around you in the name of Jesus!

“Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:32-34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This truth is applicable to many other aspects of life! When you make any presentation to a crowd expect less than 25% action and some mockery! The majority will usually wait and not take action yet.

The people who have results are the people who stepped out and tried. They are successful not because everyone responded to them but because some did.

Do you like rejection?

I don’t like rejection. I have seen children cry so many times when one of their friends say “I won’t play with you anymore”.

I believe we all want to be valuable and rejection seems to say to us “you are not valuable”.

But is that really true? Rejection of your ideas or opinions does not mean that you are not valuable.

Your value is not determined by what someone or a few people say about you. Your value has so many dimensions. Some people may not want what you have to offer and others would do whatever it takes to get the same thing.

“When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.” Luke‬ ‭4:28-29‬ ‭ESV

Jesus was rejected many times. He was also celebrated.

“And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them,” Luke‬ ‭4:42‬ ‭ESV‬‬

There are millions of people everywhere who are ready to follow Jesus. They need you and I to share the good news of the kingdom of God with them.

Everyone on earth needs Jesus but not everyone is aware of their need. So when they reject the good news, try not to allow it to stop you.

There is no way to find out if someone wants to do a discovery bible study with you without asking. And it’s usually not easy to ask without making some loving connection.

I don’t like rejection! I love to see people rejoice over what I offer. But to get to acceptance, I must risk rejection.