 As we close the door on 2025, I want to leave you with a visible idea of what God is doing in places where poverty is prevalent, and persecution is becoming more intense. In the face of this, God is using committed men and women of God to take the NFI training to new levels.
In this picture of pastors and church leaders in India, finished their studies of God’s Plan for His Disciples(GPHD) and have moved on to leadership training through the study of God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC). Training sessions of this type and quality have never been available to these people. They are so grateful! Please pray for their spiritual understanding and ability to teach others to become faithful servants and leaders.
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My son encouraged me to read a book by Mike McKinley, Friendship with God, which is a more modern version of Communion with God written by John Owen. In his opening chapter he makes this observation; “Friendships form when people value each other, care about each other, and want to spend time together. If only one person in a relationship cares about the other and wants to spend time together, you don’t have a friendship.” (Page 9).
This reminds me of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry when two disciples of John the Baptist heard him say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Just this proclamation by John caused two of his disciples to immediately “follow Jesus” (John 1:35-37). What happens in others when you speak about Jesus? Is there an immediate desire with those who hear you to follow Him? “Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So, they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour” (38–39). How people react to your words about Jesus reflects what Jesus has done in your life and what He means to you. If they cling to you as the person they value above Jesus, you have failed! You can measure your effectiveness in ministry by how many leave you for a closer walk with the Lord.  Just before the end of this year, I received news of churches being planted in Zambia. Henry has been training with God’s Plan for His Disciples (GPHD) and God’s Plan for His Church (GPHC) for many years in Zambia and Congo. He is discipling pastors and new church leaders with these resources to get them established on a biblical foundation. The picture included here is evidence that they are preaching the gospel and whole families are being saved and gathering for worship and spiritual instruction.
Henry is following Paul’s example as recorded in Act 14. “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed” (Acts 14:21–23). How thankful we are to see this work prosper by the Lord. This is only one example of many more that are discovering that biblical principles really work when we submit to the Word of God and seek the leading and power of the Holy Spirit. As we have gathered for family occasions, there have been moments when I had time to think about the circumstances that led up to the appearance of Jesus at Bethlehem. 720 years before the birth of Jesus, the Prophet Isaiah was divinely inspired to tell Israel what would happen when their Messiah came.
Israel went through a long history of disobedience which brought on them severe discipline from God. Things would change as foretold by Isaiah. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1–2). How different history would have been if they had received this forgiveness! Are you weary with sin? Jesus felt deeply Israel’s rejection after all the prophets had promised centuries before. ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37). They could have received the comfort God promised, but they were more concerned about their self-righteousness. Pardon (or forgiveness) comes freely from God when we are willing to humbly admit we have been wrong. That will also provide comfort for sin-weary souls. Are you weary of sin? God is waiting to comfort you in His Son. In my quiet time this morning, I read Luke 1:1-17. As I read this section, I wondered how many of us would take the time to document details of what God is doing so that those close to us would “have certainty concerning the things we have been taught” (4). We would only take the time to do this if we thought the details were important. We should realize that when we see God anywhere, anytime, the details are always important, not only for us, but for the generations to come.
Luke, as a doctor, observed details others might overlook or consider as less important. In that spirit, Luke gives us as well, facts about John we need to take note of. His father Zechariah and mother Elizabeth were older people but were serving faithfully in the role God had given them. Are we doing the same? Elizabeth was past her child-bearing years. Age should not make a difference in how we serve the Lord in our role. In serving we must also “be filled with the Holy Spirit” (15) as they were, so we serve through the attitude of submission to divine instructions. We may feel that our role does not matter, but God would not have put us in the position and circumstances we are in unless His purposes, will, and power were not behind His calling. In a sense, every role God has place us in is “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared” (17). Their purpose was not just for Jesus’ first coming, but also for His second coming. Let us be faithful in our role! “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Why was this not done and completed at the cross and in Jesus’ resurrection? God could have closed the books of human history then because the resurrection was proof that Jesus’ gained victory over sin and Satan. But mankind would not have known the mercy of God that the cross provided unless this victory was proclaimed to all. Plus, God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). That required a time when the gospel would be proclaimed to all men.
How is Jesus “destroying the works of the devil” now? Paul wrestled with this in himself (Romans 7:7-24) and then realized that he (and we) have the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ. Every day we can walk in Christ’s victory, and He will destroy the attempt of Satan to work in us by the Spirit in us. “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13). What a glorious message of hope and victory we have in Jesus! Are you telling others? As we continue to think about the coming of Jesus to this world, we must remember that He came to a world that was morally dead. Paul confirms this by saying to the Christians, “you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” (Ephesians 2:1). The possibility of becoming alive was because Jesus “came that we may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
There was another moral transformation that took place when Jesus came to earth. “People loved the darkness (sin) rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). But Jesus specifically said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (12:46). “Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life”” (8:12). As you gather with family and friends, find an opportunity to ask this question, ‘why did Jesus come to earth’? Most who believe in Jesus will say, ‘because of our sins’ and that is true. Let us help others dig a little deeper into this truth and use the verses above to help. As we celebrate the coming of Jesus to earth in such a lowly, humble way, it is good for us to reflect on the purpose for His coming. We often recite the gospel accounts that inspire our thoughts. In this blog, I will point you to words spoken by Jesus about His own coming.
“I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). What is the meaning of Jesus’ words? We would all agree that Jesus came to the world He created but it was defiled by man’s sin and rebellion against God. This “fire” was God’s judgment against this sin and rebellion. For everyone who believes that Jesus took on Himself God’s judgment for them, the fire is no longer there. For those who reject God’s offer of grace in Jesus, the fire of judgment is still coming. That is why Jesus said, “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” (John 12:47). We can state this another way by saying that Jesus came to bear God’s judgment for us IF we look to Him for our deliverance from sin. Jesus said, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). Fire separates. It either separates us from our sin through the death of Jesus, or it will eternally separate us from God because we reject His Son. “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30–31).
Like all the other gospel writers, John writes with amazing accuracy and detail. From his comments above, there must have been many more things he saw and heard that may have filled more books, but he recorded what God wanted us to read. What he wrote was not just for information’s sake, but they were written “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” As I write material for a Bible study in John’s Gospel at our church, my heart keeps expanding with awe, wonder, and worship at the person of Jesus. Jesus becomes more precious to me, more glorious, and more worthy of worship. A tomb held Him for only three short days and at the same time “He was…holding all things together” in the created universe (Colossians 1:17). WHAT MAJESTY! Are you letting Him hold everything in your life together? As I reviewed in my mind several countries where NFI is training leaders to become disciple- makers, we are also learning of major shortages of Bibles for those being discipled, even with pastors. These countries include Uganda, Sudan, Congo DR, Laos, and Nepal. I am reaching out to you in this blog to ask for help in making a difference among believers in these places.
The immediate need is for Alur Bibles in Uganda. We are asking the Lord to provide approximately $4,000 so we can purchase 500 more Alur Bibles. It is hard for us to imagine believers without even one Bible in a household. Do you remember what Jeremiah said when he found God’s Word? “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16). If the Lord leads you to help with this need, please go to our “SUPPORT” page for ways to contribute. There will be hungry hearts who will thank you for being generous!! |
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