And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9

Kylie is my oldest and dearest friend, and like so many of my friends, she frequently runs in marathon races. I am not sure if I am living vicariously through them, but I seem to have amassed many friends who love to run long distances. One thing I love about Kylie is the fact that she follows the same ritual in every marathon race she enters. As soon as the starting gun fires, she says aloud, “Kylie, all you have to do is finish.”

Throughout the race, she says this to herself at least one hundred times. She does not try to beat everyone, she does not compare her pace to the speed of everyone else in the race, she simply sets her own pace and runs her race. And most importantly, she wants to get to the finish line.

It’s such a great lesson for us all. If our goal is to be conformed and transformed into the image of Jesus, then becoming more like Jesus is our goal. Running our race, the way Jesus wants us to run our race, is our goal. Therefore, we’re not out to beat anyone else; we’re not out to be better than anyone else; we’re doing our best to be more like Jesus.

If we inadvertently get our eyes off the ultimate prize—Jesus—our eyes will fall on other things like people, status, and self-gratification, and we will get off balance and off track. If we take our eyes off the goal, we will quite possibly develop a mentality that things are not moving fast enough. That we’re not being rewarded or acknowledged soon enough. And we might even unintentionally uproot ourselves and walk out of our purpose.

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. – Acts 20:24

To be honest, during some of the greatest challenges of my life and hardest times of ministry—those times when I found myself thinking, Why am I doing this? and had twenty legitimate reasons to quit—I’ve had to get myself refocused on the ultimate goal of when and why God called me. That is what has sustained me in my darkest hours. It’s the why that helps me keep running when the how makes no sense.

Maybe this is where you’re wrestling today. Perhaps part of the answer is to refocus on your why. More of the answer could be to not get distracted with short-term things that will gratify our immediate wants, so we can finish our course and attain our prize. Let’s refocus our eyes and hearts and minds to be on Jesus. Let’s purpose to finish our course and the ministry we’ve received from Jesus, as Luke wrote, so we can testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

Prayer

Jesus, my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I have received from You. Please help me reach this goal. Help me keep my eyes on You, the ultimate prize. In Your name, amen.

Continue Your Journey

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

I love to run, though I’m totally not a serious runner. My idea of running is a five-mile slow jog, and when I say slow, I mean mothers pushing their babies in strollers can overtake me. My friend Dawn, the one I hike mountains with, is the real runner. She regularly competes in marathons and has built both the physical and mental endurance to go such distances. She’s run enough to know what it’s like to hit a wall while running, a concept I’ve never experienced because apparently I’ve never run far enough!

Hitting a wall is a place runners can overcome only with their minds. It’s more mental than physical, even when the physical is excruciating. Dawn once explained it to me by describing what happened in her first marathon. She was 23 miles in when she hit the infamous wall. She had 36 minutes to cover the remaining 3.2 miles. It would not have been an issue had she not already run for miles and didn’t have searing pain pounding in her left hip. As she tells it, the left side of her brain (the rational side) told her to stop and walk the rest of the way. Thoughts like, Don’t worry about meeting the goal. People will understand when they realize how hot it is and how badly I hurt, thundered in her head. But just as loud, the right side of her brain thundered back, There is still hope! The race isn’t over yet! It’s still possible to meet my goal. Don’t stop running!

Have you ever felt yourself in such a mental war? When your mind is screaming at you? In a race this happens when you hit a wall, when you have nothing left to give, when you’ve expended every ounce of energy and everything within you wants to quit. And yet, as Dawn experienced, somewhere deep inside, the flicker of a goal or dream begs to not be extinguished.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I’ve been in such a place, where I hit a wall spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. But at the same time, I had the Word of God in my heart and mind. I had God’s promises resounding in me at the same time my mind was screaming for me to stop. And because of His promises, that flicker of hope, I was able to keep going by focusing my mind on God and His Word. Despite how many times my mind fought me to quit, I kept redirecting my mind away from what it wanted to think and toward what God’s Word said was true.

Maybe you’re in such a place right now. What is your mind screaming at you? That it’s not possible? That it’s too late? That you’re not equipped? Not smart enough? Young enough? Old enough? Educated enough? You can win the war in your mind by renewing it with God’s words. You can endure by making God’s voice louder than any other voice in your head.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Help me be more acquainted with what it says so I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind, and so I can get through any wall. In Jesus’ name, amen.

While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” – Genesis 8:22

Do you have a dream? An idea? A yearning to do something that just won’t go away that you know God has placed in your heart? When God gives us a dream, He is calling forth what He placed inside of us before we were even born. We’re full of potential for His plans and purpose for our lives. Still, it’s up to us to water the seed of that potential, to tend to the soil of our hearts, to develop all that God has placed inside of us.

Think of it this way: God gave trees the ability to reproduce themselves through their seed. If you’ve ever taken a pine cone apart, you’ll see little seeds, each with a “wing” attached to it. That’s so the wind can catch the seed and take it where it can fall to the ground and begin to take root. In the right soil, in the right environment, that seed will sprout and grow into a new, fully grown tree. The fully grown tree was always in the seed, but no one could see it until it was put in the right soil and then nurtured by the rain and the sun.

In a similar fashion, the seeds in our hearts—the dreams and ideas and plans and purposes of God—grow as we water them with faith. The seeds grow as we tend to the soil of our hearts, feeding them the Word of God and applying it in our lives, thus making our hearts good ground.

God’s plans and purposes for our lives grow as we keep walking with Him, building endurance, and staying with those plans to completion. This is how we give birth to our dreams, to the ideas God gives us. The potential is always there, but it’s in seed form until we do what is necessary to make it grow.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us – Ephesians 3:20

God wants us to grow to where we are to go. The challenge is that it’s countercultural. It’s so much easier to reach for what’s instant, for what we can snap and upload, for what we can order and have delivered the same day, but that’s not how God’s ways work. They aren’t instant. God works over time. With a seed that needs to be nurtured.

Are you aware of God’s plans for your life? Can you feel any untapped potential lying dormant inside you? Potential is the difference between what is actual and what is possible. It is the unexposed ability, the reserved strength, the unrealized success, the dormant gifts, and the hidden talents waiting to be developed. It is the person you are still to become. It is where you can go but have not yet been. It is all you can do but have not yet done. It is where you can reach but have not yet aimed.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5-6

You don’t have to know all the plans and purposes God has for you, since most of them unfold over time, but do you know one of them? Start nurturing that seed today and watch it begin to grow. It’s as sure as seedtime and harvest.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help me nurture the seeds of potential You have placed inside of me. I want to grow where You want me to go. In Jesus’ name, amen.

always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:4-6

The Australian coat of arms depicts a very insightful image, one that I hold dear since I was born and raised in Australia and because it speaks volumes to me personally. There are two animals portrayed holding up a shield—the red kangaroo and the emu. They were chosen not only because they are indigenous to Australia but also because they were created to move forward.

The emu, a large, nonflying bird slightly smaller than its cousin the ostrich, is known for its speed, covering as much as nine feet in a single step when running full throttle. It is the only bird with calf muscles—much like a human. Nonetheless, it can’t walk backward. It can only move forward.

The red kangaroo—like all kangaroos—moves by a hopping motion called saltation, which literally means “to leap.” They push off with both of their large feet simultaneously and use their tails for balance. The combination of their muscular legs, big feet, and tails helps the kangaroos move forward effectively. But again, they can only move forward—not backward.

When I think of them, and the fact they are creatures God made that cannot walk backward, I can’t help but think of us—people made in the image of God, another marvel of creation designed to move the same way.

I understand that we need to step back from time to time and remember the past so we can move forward, and life sometimes hits us and we feel like we have gone backward, but God is faithful to pick us up and keep us moving forward. We are all on journeys no matter where we are. In some seasons we move forward quickly, and in others we move more slowly, but overall, we keep pressing on. Though we might pause and look to the past, we don’t want to get stuck in the past, right? How often have we allowed a season of disappointment, hurt, rejection, offense, or fear to stop us from moving forward? Today is a good day to take the hand of Jesus and, like the emu and the red kangaroo, take the next step forward.

Brothers, 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, – Philippians 3:13

Let’s take Paul’s advice to the Philippians, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead. We can’t change the past. Not one bit. But we can affect our future. We can keep enduring in faith, reaching for all that God has planned for us. We can keep moving in the only direction we were created to move.

The emu. The red kangaroo. And you. All created to move forward. Never backward. Let’s be who God created us to be so we can do all that He’s called us to do!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that even in nature You give us examples. You give us insight. Help us move the way You created us to move—forward, and never backward. In Jesus’ name, amen.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:29-31

Did you know that when serious runners train for a race, they train for the middle? Understandably, the middle of any race is the hardest part. It’s where a runner begins to run out of energy, strength, and the mental focus to keep going. Whether he or she is a sprinter or a distance runner, if they don’t make it through the middle, they won’t make it across the finish line. It sounds so simple, but it requires strategic training to succeed.

From a spiritual perspective, isn’t the middle what we’re in training for much of our lives? Think of it this way: we’re born one day, spiritually speaking, and then we begin this race, which is our journey in Christ on this earth, all in hopes of crossing the finish line some day and hearing that we did a good job with the race we ran.1 That might be an oversimplification, but it sums up our lives really well, doesn’t it?

Someday, when I finish my race, I want to be able to say like the apostle Paul, “I fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7), but to do that, I first have to get through the middle.

To get through the middle—of everything—you will need endurance. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36, ESV).

Endurance is formally defined as “the ability or strength to continue despite fatigue, stress or adverse conditions.”2 It’s the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances. The power to withstand pain or hardships. It’s a hopeful fortitude that perseveres to the end. In the original Greek language of the New Testament, it is hupomone, a compound word that translates “to remain under.”3 It is a quality built by remaining under pressure—something our natural inclination wants to run away from—and it seems to hit us the hardest in the middle.

In the middle of anything is where it’s the most tedious, the most difficult, and utterly wearisome. It’s where we’re most challenged, isn’t it? It’s where all we want to do is quit.

But if we will build endurance, that strength the writer of Hebrews told us we would need, if we will train ourselves from the Word of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we will have the wherewithal to make it through the middle. And not just one middle, but every middle that we will ever live through.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help us endure well as we go through the middle of everything we will ever go through. Help us run our race well, so that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what was promised. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Here are the Four Stages of Discipleship we have covered this week.

Matthew 28:19 tells us to go and make disciples of all nations.

Mature Christ followers have a deep conviction that they’re called to make disciples. If you don’t graduate to the disciple-making stage, you’re really not a mature disciple. Disciples don’t just go to church; they make disciples. They don’t just study the Bible; they make disciples. This isn’t just for pastors, church leaders, or people with a theology degree. Jesus said one of the hallmark qualities of a disciple is they go and make disciples.

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, – Hebrews 6:1

Cultural Christianity says it’s just about me and Jesus: Bless me. Take care of me. Make me happy. Meet all my needs. If you don’t, I’m shopping for another church that will meet my needs. If you make me mad or do something I don’t like, I’m leaving the church. Because this is all about me!

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. – Hebrews 5:12

Disciples understand it’s not just about me, it’s also about others. That’s what Jesus did. He took twelve men and said, follow me. Do life with me. Have friendship with me. I’m going to equip you to be disciples. I’m going to teach you, correct you, encourage you and train you.

You may have been a Christian for years. You ought to be making disciples by now but you’re stuck. You still think Christianity and church is all about you. It’s time to start making disciples!

Matthew 28:19–20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (NIV)

Acts 6:7 And the Word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (ESV)

This is what it looks like when Christians get unstuck from cultural Christianity. The number of disciples multiplies because disciples make disciples. Not just converts, but disciples. Disciples build relationships with other Christians. They teach others to obey the Word of God.

Don’t get stuck in the infant stage of Christianity. It’s time to stop being a cultural Christian, taking first grade Christianity over and over, and move to being a true disciple of Jesus! God has more for your life and your walk with Him!

Every stage of your walk with the Lord is part of the growing process. No matter where you find yourself as you’ve been reading over the last several days, don’t be discouraged! Take one practical next step to continue to grow! Today, we are talking about the third stage of discipleship—the others stage.

In this stage, the Christian knows a lot about the Word of God and they’re applying it to their life. In many areas of their life, they’re honoring God’s Word. Their mind has been renewed by God’s Word and continues to be renewed. They live their life differently than the world.

At this stage, they become others-focused. It’s no longer just about them and Jesus. They’ve matured and have become like Jesus and now they’re focused on making a difference in the lives of others. They want to help and serve others.

Ephesians 4:12 says we need to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (ESV)

Here’s what we learn from that verse:

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. – 1 Peter 4:10

Ask God to help you move from being self-focused to others-focused as you become a true disciple of Jesus. If you haven’t done so yet, I want to encourage you to find a ministry to serve in at your local church. Take your first step and become others focused and start making a difference in the lives of others.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. – Hebrews 5:14

No parent wants their kid to stay stuck as a baby. They can’t wait to watch them take their first step, say their first word, and lose their first tooth. Yet imagine if you just stayed there; riding the highs of applause for baby steps. God doesn’t want us stuck in the baby stage spiritually either!

In the infant stage, some people are ignorant to what God’s Word says about how to live a life that pleases God. But in the maturing stage, people not only learn what the Bible teaches but they apply the Bible to their life.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; – Ephesians 4:14

Maturing people know better so they live better, and their life and habits look different than the world. You are growing as a disciple when your life starts looking different from the world.

1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. (NIV)

In the infant stage, some people are still trying to figure out good from evil. They’re tossed to and fro. But in the maturing stage, people are training themselves to distinguish good from evil. They study God’s Word on their own and they’re applying God’s Word to their life.

When people are in the maturing stage, they also start to recognize lies from the enemy they’ve believed that have held them back from God’s purpose. Maybe they’ve held onto the lie they can never do enough to earn God’s love, but the Word says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

Or maybe they believe that they can never be free from their past, but it says in John,

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. – John 8:36

As they study God’s Word, they learn to reject and replace lies with the truth that God speaks over their life. By this, they deepen in maturity, trust, and faith in God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. – Galatians 5:22-25

God doesn’t want us to get stuck in the infant stage; He wants us to grow up! Reflect on today’s verses and ask God to help you enter the maturing stage.

Over the next several days we will look at four stages of discipleship. Pay close attention to your own life and ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you are in your walk with Jesus so you can take your next steps and grow as a disciple.

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. – Hebrews 5:13

The first stage for a new believer is the salvation stage. Salvation is amazing! If you have given your life to Christ, you are a new person! You have been born again! The Bible often compares this stage to that of an infant. I call it the infant stage.

You’ve seen a newborn—they’re helpless! Babies rely on the food, comfort, and care of their guardian. They don’t know how to cope with life, so they cry and stretch out their arms to be held. They don’t understand why things happen; all they think about is how they feel—me, me, me.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Newborn believers live by their five senses and not by faith. Their spirit has been born again, but their mind has not been renewed by the Word of God. That is why it’s so important for a new believer to begin to feed on the milk of the Word of God.

1 Peter 2:2-3 says Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Every Christian needs the milk of the word of God. But we don’t want to get stuck on milk and stay in the infant stage of Christianity. The milk of the Word of God will shine a light on some big areas of your life that need to be changed (language, relationships, bad habits, music and movie choices).

Romans 12:2 reminds us to keep growing, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Some of you are stuck in this infant stage. The Word of God is pointing out areas in your life where you need to change, but you continue to live like the world. You haven’t let your inner heart transformation be reflected in your lifestyle choices. Your life looks just like the world. Maybe your next step is cutting off bad influences and getting in a godly community of friends. Maybe it’s changing your language. Maybe it’s to stop looking at pornography, or getting drunk with your friends, or having sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Today, take your next spiritual step by reflecting on today’s verses and asking God to help you see areas of your life that need to be surrendered. It’s time to move to the next stage in your relationship with God!

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. – Matthew 16:24

When you hear the term “follower,” you probably immediately associate it with a social media number or popularity gauge. Because being a “follower” can be reduced to following someone’s social media account, we might consider ourselves as “followers” of Jesus being that simple: I prayed a prayer years ago, so therefore I’m a follower of Jesus.

Did you know it is possible to be a Cultural Christian but not actually be a follower of Jesus? How do you know if you are truly following Jesus or simply “following” the patterns of Cultural Christianity?

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7:21-23

Cultural Christians are fans of Jesus; they may listen to Christian music, wear Christian t-shirts, and go to church services, but they’re not saved. They have never been truly born again. People can literally do Cultural Christian things and not even know Jesus!

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. – Romans 10:9-10

If you have never prayed and asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, today is the day! Jesus wants to come into your heart and transform into a new person. No matter what you’ve done, God loves you, wants to save you and be the Lord of your life!

Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. – 1 Corinthians 3:12-15

Maybe you are saved but are still living as a Cultural Christian and not a true disciple of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 3 talks about people who will barely make it into heaven and all of their work on earth will be burned up. They won’t have any rewards in heaven because they were Cultural Christians rather than followers of Jesus. True disciples follow the life of Jesus and teachings in scripture.

Disciples follow Jesus. They don’t just sing worship songs; they follow Jesus. They don’t just pray; they follow Jesus. They don’t just read the Bible; they actually do what the Bible says and follow Jesus. Disciples follow the life of Jesus and the Word of God. It’s time to build your life as a disciple of Jesus!

No matter where you are in your walk with God, it’s not too late to move from Cultural Christianity to living as a true disciple of Jesus! Reflect on today’s verses and pray that God would show you how to start living as a true disciple and how to take your walk with the Lord to the next level and move from being a fan to a follower.