Disciple Making Devotionals

Discipleship is becoming an apprentice to Jesus. Apprenticeships consist of learning skills and values from an experienced and wise master-craftsman. This helps us understand why Jesus said come learn from me. Jesus wants us to live out the values and principles of His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. The great commission of Jesus tells us to Go...make disciples... (Matt 28:19,20).

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The apostle Paul had a personal encounter with the Risen Jesus. His vision of discipleship was to impart and impact a young apprentice named Timothy (Acts 16: 1–3).  Scripture describes Timothy as timid (1 Cor. 16:10–11). He was very apprehensive about whether his life could make an impact. But Paul as a Jesus follower, invests in him and even writes to him of how they’re going to make a difference together:

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“The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be

  qualified to teach others” (2 Tim. 2:2).

There are four levels of apprenticeship in this verse. Paul is saying, in effect, “Timothy, don’t be satisfied with being a convert to Christ; think about entrusting your message to reliable people who will in turn teach or disciple others.

Therefore let’s live our lives as, disciples that disciple others, so as to impact at least four different levels .

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1. First-level apprenticeship: Jesus to Paul

2. Second-level apprenticeship: Paul to Timothy

3. Third-level apprenticeship: Timothy to “reliable people”

4. Fourth-level apprenticeship: “reliable people” to “others”

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A Simple 5 step Tool for Apprenticeship 

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Key to understanding the next few paragraphs

Tribe = synonymous with small/house/cell/life group

Leader = synonymous with mentor or trainer

Assistant = synonymous with mentee or apprentice

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1. I do. You watch. We talk. An experienced tribe leader  leads the group and tells his assistant, “You just observe everything that happens in our tribe, and then we will find a time to meet and discuss what you observed.” Before the next tribe meeting, leader and assistant debrief, and this includes asking the following questions: “What worked?” “What didn’t work?” and “How can we improve?” This time for debriefing needs to continue throughout the five steps.

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2. I do. You help. We talk. In this step of development, the leader gives his assistant, an opportunity to help lead part of the tribe meeting. In this case, the leader asked the assistant, “Could you lead the icebreaker time at the beginning if I lead the rest?” The assistant agrees. Again, the tribe should be followed up with a one-on-one debrief between leader  and assistant.

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3. You do. I help. We talk. Now the assistant transitions from helping the leader to taking on most of the leadership responsibilities for the tribe. Since the leader has had an exceptionally busy week, he takes the opportunity to ask the assistant, “Could you lead most of the tribe meeting this week? If you do, I will handle the icebreaker at the beginning and the prayer time at the end, plus I will be there with you the whole time.” The assistant agrees, and since he has seen him lead the group enough times, he feels very comfortable and does great. The leader is gradually releasing responsibilities to his new, developing leader.

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4. You do. I watch. We talk. The assistant process is almost complete as he grows increasingly more confident in his role as a leader. The leader has him lead the entire meeting each week while he watches the assistant, and gives the assistant the responsibility of finding a full new topic upon which to base the tribe get together. At their debrief time, the leader says, “I think you are ready for leadership; do you think you are ready?” With a smile, the assistant says, “I think I’m ready.” With both leader and assistant feeling ready for the next step, they begin to plan whether the assistant will take over the tribe or lead a new tribe, and what the leader will lead next.

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5. You do. Someone else watches. This is where the process of multiplication comes full circle. The leader says, “Assistant, you have done great job! Have you started to think about who you can mentor as an assistant and repeat this process with?” The assistant says, “I already have two people who have expressed interest, and I’m meeting with one this week.” The former assistant has now transitioned to now leading, so the leader continues to work with him and other leaders in a coaching capacity.(adapted from Christianity Today)

Jesus said  Give us this day our daily bread.  Just like we have meals daily I have prepared daily devotionals to assist in our discipleship journey.

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Developing believers to become disciples includes becoming a life-student to the ways of Jesus the master-teacher.

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Jesus said :If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

These daily devotionals have been designed with two primary objectives  in mind:

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The first set of 28 devotionals entitled 'Foundational Truth,' are to equip disciples with solid Christian foundations.

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The second set of 10 devotionals entitled 'Everyday Extraordinary Lives - Life in the power of the Spirit,' train disciples in their character formation understanding the importance of becoming more like Jesus.

As you are entrusted with these biblical principles that make for a sure foundation and that Christ would be formed in you, it is my prayer that you in turn would find others to disciple

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Paul

Email : pauljbradley5@gmail.com