God Is Faithful!

"...and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has set us free..." Revelation 1:5 HCSB

Jesus is the greatest most faithful witness that we could ever model our lives after! As a follower of Jesus, He promises to teach and equip us as His disciple ( Background of Disciple The term “disciple” comes to us in English from a Latin root. Its basic meaning is “learner” or “pupil.” taken from Holman Dictionary from LifeWay's Online Bible Library @ http://www.bible.lifeway.com/)

Mt 4:19-20 The First Disciples “Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for people! Immediately they left their nets and followed Him." HCSB

How many times have you heard this statement: "If you and I were on trial for being a Christian, a follower of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict us?" Let's make a list of the evidence that is in our lives and the evidence that you would like for there to be in your life to be a faithful witness as we remember what God promises in Philippians 1:6 "I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." HCSB

I often think about witnessing as if I am on trial because as a first-generation Christian I have had so many "trials" in this old world!! Witnesses in courtrooms are sworn to tell the truth. No speculation. No opinions. No hearsay. What "evidence" would people who know us give to support our claim that we are true and faithful reflections of Jesus? Jesus, who is called "the faithful witness" paid the ultimate price on trial for you and me...what more can we do than to testify and share with others the ways that He has ultimately, radically, and miraculously changed our lives from unfaithful to faithful until He returns...let's take as many others with us as we fill the courtroom of our lives and TESTIFY for HIM!! May all who come behind us find us faithful to "The Faithful One"! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s392HyzQ79M

Leaders Encouraging Leaders!

http://www.namb.net/atf/cf/%7BCDA250E8-8866-4236-9A0C-C646DE153446%7D/2005%20HCLL%20NOTEBOOK.pdf (please click on this link for your free leadership notebook! please pass this on to someone that you are encouraging!)

As today's Christian women growing as evangelistic leaders, I can not think of a better resource to share with you than this free down-loadable leadership notebook written and compiled by Jaye Martin! It may have been released years ago when Jaye was leading HeartCall, but even this week, as we prepare to share HeartCall & Gifted2Go next week at SBTS, God has drawn me back to so many of the leadership tools that sharpen and encourage as we reach out to others and Share Jesus!

Please dive into this free 50 page notebook and print off anything that encourages you in your walk and witness for Jesus as we spur one another on for God's Glory!! Please sharpen/encourage someone else with this evangelistic tool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SceRP-EHkKo&a=uiLTWdOranc&playnext_from=ML

(Come & Fill This Place!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9PgWK98p5c&feature=related (Lord I Give You My Heart!)

A Great Privilege!

"Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (the message paraphrase)

"Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 (HCSB)

As "disciples" = Forever Students & Followers of The Lord, there is someone in our life that God has placed there for us to "Go and Train in God's Way of Living"!

WHO? Who are we training up in The Lord day after day after day until the end of the age, until Jesus returns?

Evangelistic discipleship is one of the JOYS of Following Jesus! The enemy DOES NOT want us to be disciples so he will put every fear, obstacle, and excuse in our minds and lives...REJECT his LIES!

God has given every believer the ability, through His Powerful Holy Spirit Presence in our lives, to "Go and Train" others!

When I became a Believer, Follower of Christ-A Disciple Maker, God put other Christians in my life to help me learn how to evangelistically "practice what He commands me to do". As we disciple others, God provides His Word for all we need. There are also some simple discipleship tools, based on God's Word, to assist us as we "Go and Train" others! I would like to share one of those simple, but powerful, tools/resource that you may like to use. This resource is a FREE downloadable New Believers Guide called HeartCall: "A New Heart" that has been written by Jaye Martin and myself to encourage and assist you in evangelistic discipleship! A New Heart can be shared with New Believers, Believers that may need to be discipled, or Believers that are looking for a New Fresh Start in the basics of the Christian Life. In order to download this free guide, please click on this link and look for "HeartCall: A New Heart":

http://www.namb.net/nambpbsharing.aspx?pageid=8589978741

The link above will take you to The North American Mission Board website where you will see HeartCall: A New Heart free downloadable guide.

There are also some free downloadable witnessing booklets in other languages along with a leadership HeartCall Notebook that is FULL of FREE evangelistic encouragement enrichment for everyone to be trained in The Lord and encouraged to Share Jesus with Others! We thank God for these resources that are made possible by those that GIVE to MISSIONS through "The Cooperative Program" and/or the yearly "Annie Armstrong Easter Offering"

FOLLOW . . . AND LEAD

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you” James 4:10 . “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12) .

“God shows us who He is through His Word, through His Son, and through the Holy Spirit. As we read through the Scriptures, we see how He revealed Himself to so many. His commandments show us the principles of how to live but they are all based on who He is. He is the One, True God that desires to have a relationship with us. He is the God of protection and provision. His laws flow out of who He is. He desire for us to know Him and to follow Him.”

“Follow-ship becomes the great challenge. We need leaders who will follow the Leader. We need leaders who, on a daily basis, will look to Him before they look to make a name for themselves. Whether leadership is given or learned is not the key issue; the key issue is that to be effective leaders, we are to be obedient on a moment by moment basis to the leading of the Holy Sprit. We must do what Micah 6:8 reminds us to do: act justly, love faithfulness, and walk humbly with our Lord. Philippians 2:1-11 on the humility of Christ should be our model as leaders. We have to take on the same attitude of Christ and serve fairly and with humility. God is the one who rewards and lifts us up. We lift Him up as we serve faithfully.”

Oh Lord, help me to be humble and to keep my eyes fixed on you. I want you to lead through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(Excepts from Women Leading Women, chapter four, B&H Academic, Martin & Stovall.)

Spirit-filled Leaders

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18, ESV).

“There are numerous good examples of leaders in the Scriptures. Some may have been more gifted than others, some may have been more obedient, but we can learn from all of them. When I think of leaders in the Bible, several come to mind. Nehemiah, Moses, Deborah, Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and Lydia are just a few. These were great men and women who chose to follow God. They became great leaders because God had gifted them but also because they allowed God to lead them.”

“Spirit-filled leaders are those who have accepted Christ as their Savior and come before Him on a daily basis allowing Him to forgive them and cleanse them of wrong-doing. To be Spirit-filled is to empty oneself of anything except Christ. It means that we say no to things that are not of God and focus on what God tells us to do. He tells us things through His Word and nothing He tells us will contradict with Scripture. God also speaks through other people and circumstances. We constantly seek God and His wisdom to be the Sprit-filled leaders that He longs for us to be.”

“The question for us is, will we follow and be all He desires us to be?”

(excerpts from Chapter 4 – Follow the Leader by Jaye Martin, Women Leading Women, Martin & Stovall, B&H Academic, 2008).

God Has Set You Apart!

"...know that the Lord has SET APART the godly for Himself; the Lord will hear when I call to Him." Psalm 4:3 NIV

I will never forget the first godly counsel that I received about being "set apart" as a first-generation Christian! As a new believer striving to be a new witness in the midst of learning how to be a Christian wife and mother, I first heard the words; "God has set you apart", and I needed to know what that meant. Christians are set apart to be "in the world but not of the world anymore" and we are just passing through this world on a mission to share Jesus with others and take as many of them with us to heaven...this was my first evangelism one on one training!

This sure helped me understand what I was feeling as a new Christian experiencing some of my first attacks from the enemy as he attacked me and tried to make me feel so alone and different! The good news is that as God's Witnesses...we are set apart in Jesus...we are different...and In Jesus we are NEVER alone but the path we travel will NOT look like the world's path that I had just been rescued from.

As a Christian, are you feeling like "you do not fit in"? Good News, those are "set apart" feelings as you are "in this world but not of this world" anymore!

In Psalm 4 David describes so well some of the circumstances and feelings that come with being set apart for God's Victory living and sharing Jesus with others that are searching searching like we once were!

I must close with writing the entire fourth Psalm as God is so faithful to speak and minister to each one of His Set Apart Saved Sisters right at the point of our NEED!! The Message paraphrase describes each word in modern day words that we can meditate upon...

Psalm 4 (the message paraphrase)
"When I call, you give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room;
Now I am in trouble again: grace me! hear me! You rabble-how long do I put up with your scorn?... Look at this: look who got picked by God! (set apart) He listens that split second I call to Him. Complain if you must, but do not lash out. Keep your mouth shut, and let your heart do the talking. Build your case before God and wait for His verdict. Why is everyone hungry for more? "More, more," they say. "More, more." I have God's more-than-enough, More joy in one ordinary day than they get in all their shopping sprees. At the day's end I'm ready for sound sleep, For You, God, have put my life back together"!

http://www.utube.com/watch?v=7x2IpLSfqp8 (All to Jesus I Surrender!)
http://www.utube.com/watch?v=TI9RIbaa87I&feature=related (More Than Enough!)

This ONE Thing!

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead..."
Phil. 3:12-13 (ESV)

"Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." Phil. 3:13-14 (MSG)


Paul gives great encouragement for Christian Leaders (and we are all leaders in one way or another) in Phil.3:12-14 as we look at some of the key action verbs:

• FORGET IT - God Provides His Supernatural Strength to Forget It! Our goal must be to daily "forget" what was yesterday's struggles and victories as we follow JESUS & HIS DAILY CALL! Everyday is a NEW DAY!
• PRESS ON - God Provides His Supernatural Strength to Press On! Our goal must be to daily "stretch" onward towards JESUS & HIS DAILY CALL! Everyday is a GOD DAY!

In the age of "multi-tasking" that we live in , as Evangelistic Christian Women, we must be careful to make sure we daily do the ONE thing Paul writes to "the body of Christ" for such a time as this. In my life, the more that I have on my "to do list" the more I am vulnerable to the over-whelming feelings that go with having too much on my plate. The enemy wants us to "get stuck" and ineffective any way that he can. One of his tactics and schemes in the multi-tasking age we live in, is to have so many "multi-tasking to do's" that we end up doing many things halfway instead of ONE or a few things well for Jesus as we PRESS ON!

What are some ways that God is calling you to do this "ONE" thing "forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POf__1yS4qY (Press On ~ Selah)

In JESUS NAME we PRESS ON!