Matthew 28:18-20 “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on
earth. Therefore, go and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey
all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.”
In the ministry I am in Christian Mentors Network I have many opportunities to work with many men who
all have unique personalities and gifts. God has and continues to do some
pretty amazing things in the lives of men, real heart transformation. In
this ministry one of the really awesome things God has done is He has allowed
a group of men from different churches to be put together. These are just men
of all different ages that have stepped up to lead the mentoring at their
church and this group continues to grow. It’s really been a blessing to work
with these men and see God move in this group as it grows. This is a special
thing God is doing these are just men in His church the body of Christ that
chose to be faithful to what God has placed on their heart. They are 2 Timothy
2:2 men, “And the things that you
have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will
be able to teach others also.” One of the
reasons God put this together is to support and encourage each other to stay
focused on the vision, purpose, mission of CMN and the Great Commission. In
leading this and being apart of many other things with men God recently led or
stirred in me to look at the word go in this scripture. Now a few weeks later
as things play out I have more understanding why He done this. What God can do
in a person’s heart and in the lives of others and His church when we go on
this journey the great commission and disciple each other. This is what the
blue letter bible says of go in this scripture.
to lead over, carry over, transfer
to pursue the journey on which one has entered, to continue on one's journey
to depart from life
to follow one, that is: become his adherent
to lead or order one's life
a trial, experience, attempt
to attempt a thing, to make trial of a thing or of a person
to have a trial of a thing
to experience, learn to know by experience
beyond, on the other side
Being a disciple of Christ, following
Christ or being connected to the true vine or abiding in Him would mean that
you understand this command and try to live in obedience to it. Teaching and
understanding this command is a big part of this and going is also a part. I
think there is many ways this plays out in God’s kingdom and the body of
Christ. Going does not mean every disciple is going to go to seminary and
preach from the pulpit or be a missionary and go to another country. I think God
will lead a person to what and how on the journey and everyone’s is different.
I think you take and use what God allows you to take or have but a big part of
the journey, trial, or experience is learning more about God and how He will
provide in the areas of need or weakness. This process helps us become more
like Christ, learn to trust Him and build our faith in Him. I think this can be
a beautiful journey with a lot of joy but can also be a battle, hard and messy.
The fruit that can be produced in our lives for going on this journey is to
bring glory to God. John 15:8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” One of the great ways God takes care
of us is He puts brothers in our path to help us in a very timely manner, His
time. Ecclesiastes
4:9-12
A scripture in the old testament really speaks to
me or sort of parallels with this in a way. God was leading His people to the
promise land He made for them. This was a very fruitful land that God made for
his people. Deuteronomy 1:6-8, 20-25 “The Lord our
God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn
and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the
Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in
the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites
and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. See,
I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord
swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’ And I said to
you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is
giving us. Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go
up and possess it, as the Lord God of your
fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’ “And every one of you came
near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the
land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and
of the cities into which we shall come.’ “The plan pleased me well;
so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. And they departed and went
up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. They
also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down
to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land
which the Lord our God is
giving us.’ “Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against
the command of the Lord your God;”
They sent 12 leaders to spy out the land.
While there they brought back a grape cluster and other fruit so big it had to
be carried on a pole between them. They also seen giants in the land they would
have to fight in battle and chose not to go and fight for the land God
commanded them to go and take that was theirs. By choosing not to fight this
battle against these giants they wandered for 40 years until being able to
enter the promise land again.
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