Make Disciples - Part 4: What Critical Things Are Missing In My Life?

Welcome to Running With Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible.

Surely Weaver wants to take you there. And now here's today's episode. Make Disciples or Make Disciples.

It's part of the Great Commission. Go ye into all the world and Make Disciples. So Make Disciples, this is episode four. And by the way, if you missed one of the earlier episodes, they're right here available on our Running With Horses podcast archives. So just take a look at those if you need to catch up today's question. What critical things are missing in my life?

What critical things are missing in my life? The answer may be one thing, multiple things, hard things, a series of smaller things. We will cover this information today, not get to everything because it's vast.

We've said that earlier. The process of discipleship is that. It is a process. So we can't do it overnight.

It's not a one and done by any stretch. But the important thing is we begin. And so we're going to do more of that together as we go through today's answer to this question, what critical things are missing in my life? In the context of mentoring, the very essence of mentoring is to explain and to show how to instruct so that if your question is, who can I ask?

Where do I go for this or that? The mentoring process is in the heart of every believer as we mature to turn to those who are new in the faith and to bring them along, show them what we've learned. Sometimes, you know, the fact that it's already been known means that there's less that you have to do in order to learn those things if someone is willing to instruct, to invest their time that way.

And you would be surprised. Well, basically, everyone in the body of Christ is in one of two potential roles, either needing to be mentored or in the place where we are able to mentor someone else. So either we have a need for it or we have the ability to supply the very thing that other people need. It's learned from the experience of Jesus and his disciples.

And admittedly, even though people may not know the word very well or maybe not that knowledgeable about the Bible, they do know that Jesus had a circle of disciples that he trained and taught during his earthly ministry. That's what we're talking about. It is not elusive. It's right here for us.

So let's jump in. First of all, what is a critical thing missing in my life? The first thing is the influence of the generations, the influence of the generations. There's actually an even trade-off between those who are maybe older and those who are younger so that the older generation is wealthy in terms of wisdom.

They have a profound and stand out exemplary work ethic. They grow in the faith in ways someone younger just does not know how to do. Whereas the younger person is really equipped and well versed in multitasking.

They can do many things at once. So you have the younger people who are energized and energetic. You have an older generation who are loaded with wisdom and experiential knowledge, an amazing ability to process life even when things are tough and to enjoy life when things are really good.

So we need both. We need a coming together, a meeting of the generations. And since the wisdom we just referred to that is in possession of those in the older generation, since wisdom is the principal thing, hey, you got to have it. To get understanding, which we must have, you have to have, first of all, the principal thing. You have to have wisdom. We glean wisdom from God's word, from the elders that are around us. We glean it from the mentoring process. And then we become more able to understand what we're hearing, what we're being taught. I remember growing up something that my mother would say, and at the time I wasn't crazy about this expression, but you know how a kid can get sort of uppity and test the parents' patience.

Well, at a time like that, if I was acting know-it-all or sort of too big for my, you know, britches, as they say, mother would say, look, honey, this is what she'd say, listen to me, I have forgotten more than you know right now, so you better listen. And it's true. It was true then, and it's true in every generation. Those that have gone before us are wise beyond their years, something the younger generation does not have. And now, in our culture today, there's something else really lacking in the younger generation that the older generation has a good, firm grip on, and that is knowledge of the Word, knowledge of Bible history, a history with God, experience with Him, developed faith.

Listen, you can see the case that we're making here for the merging of the two. Sometimes younger people are spiritually bankrupt because they refuse to be instructed by, instructed by, receive inspirational insight from those who are older. I mean, that's just the way it is.

That's just what happens. So here's what's missing, the connection with the generation that is ahead of you. Don't you ever forget, you and I are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead of us.

It's a fact. I need, you need to seek out those in the generations ahead of us, glean the wisdom that they have to give, and you will see what I have found to be true, that critical thing missing in your life, the absence of wisdom, the absence of understanding of self-discipline, the ability to study the Word. I can learn those things watching those who are wiser, those who are in that next generation ahead of me. So the thing missing is the connection to the generation that is just ahead. What's the next thing? The next thing that is missing, the next critical thing that is missing in the lives of many people today is good health. Good health, that seems small.

It's not. Physical, emotional, and sound mental health is the key to being able to carry this life well, to walk in it well. We have an earth suit designed for this earth habitation. The day will come. We won't need it anymore. Right now, we really, really need it. You know, you can't overemphasize that. One thing you need to know, and I cannot overemphasize, sickness and disease are designed to attack your body and to wear down this very important critical thing that you must have in order to do life well, and that is good health. One of the things that is a real mistake that we make, much of the approach that we have to health results from two things. First of all, our own negligence in caring for our bodies, and secondly, an absolute dependence on the medical world. You know, what's missing here is a dependence placed somewhere other than on the medical world. As much help and a blessing as the medical world is to maintaining good health and to receiving emergency kinds of help, that is not the highest and the best place.

That is not the ultimate, you see. And many times, the whole pursuit of finding a quick fix in the medical community is because we have, before that point in time, been negligent. You know, there's certain things you have to do to keep a body strong, and when it starts to wear out, starts to wear and tear, the thought may come, I need a doctor, I need a pill, I need a medical procedure. No, you don't. You need wisdom from God.

You need to know what he thinks about the situation. Ultimately, he may point you in the direction of medical assistance, but I promise you, also, he will want for you to understand what you did to provoke arriving at the place that you've arrived. On what level were you complicit in making the situation what it is? So, if there's weakness in your body, you do not want to cooperate with the world's way of breaking down your body. It's just built in to living and breathing on planet Earth because, you see, sickness and disease are demonic in their source.

It's a demonic structure. It's an enemy to you. Therefore, your role, your part, is to be diligent and to seek God concerning your health while there's a presence of good health, now before things are out of hand. You see, the principle is an important one, and as you're discipled in the things of the Word of God, we find many scripture, many verses that speak to this very thing. I see many times that there are people who really think they can manhandle a situation. They can overpower it with their mind or their physical strength or whatever. In the same way, people really believe and have come to a place of expecting that whatever the challenge to their physical body is, they will just find a way to overcome that, and they'll do whatever it takes, you know, whatever it costs.

Listen, there's a better way. So, what is missing? Your decision to only trust God's wisdom concerning your health, both now and in the future. If there's good, sound health right now, trust Him now. Trust Him for the small things. If there's something coming in the future, you'll be prepared, but you have the opportunity, the capacity to decide.

You and only you can do that. So, we have something critical in the area of our health. We don't need for that to be missing. Another thing that is so critical in our lives is a Holy Spirit emphasis. You know, we have lots of one-minute reels that we've made available on our social media, on Instagram and Facebook. These one-minute reels are snippets, quick pieces of information.

I'm going to put that information in the show notes for you so that you can access those again. It's basically just our social media platform, and we emphasize and continually point to the emphasis on the Holy Spirit in our lives as being critical, critical to the life of the believer. Because here's what we say in one of our reels, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of you. Did you know that?

It's really true. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives on the inside of you. You know, that's a lot of power.

Tomb-busting power, that's a lot. And what you want to do is have access to that power. The alternative that we, actually the default mechanism many times is something we call soul power. Not Holy Spirit power, but we connect to soul power again by default. Soul power is a strong force.

It's not what you want. This is the opposite of Holy Spirit emphasis. This force includes the strength of your mind, the strength of your will, the strength of your emotions, the strength of what you believe about things, so your belief system.

This is the force of soul power. And when you're operating in that way with that mentality, with that concentration, you know, you really tend to think you're right. You just think that you are. You don't know that you're not. And you're not really open to hearing what others have to say that could actually help and replace some of that wrong thinking with accurate thinking, again, because you think you are right.

Bottom line, we don't know what we don't know. But the Holy Spirit is there, present in your life, again, on the inside of you as a born-again believer. And this is the power, very same power, that Jesus came out of the tomb because of.

You know, in fact, this is truth. The Holy Spirit is truth. So you want to avoid getting your ultimate direction from something other than the Spirit of God, other than the Spirit of truth. You want to avoid getting your ultimate decisions, your direction, your guidance from soul power, that determination on the inside of you.

I will do this or I won't do this or whatever. This is critically missing in the lives of many people. Our part and our wisdom is to trust the spirit connection that we have with God's Spirit. And I'm telling you, if you do that and you cultivate the habit, you'll be glad. And other people will be too.

People around you will be very, very glad. You made that transition to trusting the Spirit of God and not soul power. So what is missing? You're prioritizing leading from God's Spirit of truth. That's what's missing. And you need to question all sources of direction other than God's Holy Spirit, His Spirit of truth.

What else is missing? Faith is missing. Because without faith, it's really impossible to please God.

The Bible tells us it's so important. What is faith? Faith comes from God's word. It's the only place and only way, only method, only access to faith that we have. Faith is not something you think. Faith is something that comes from the Word of God inspiring your thinking, inspiring your heart attitude, inspiring what you believe. And Hebrews 1 puts it this way, now faith is the substance of things we hope for. And it's proof of those things until we can actually see them. And you know, as well as I, sometimes we are hoping for something and we, quote, have to wait, sometimes for a short period, other times a longer period of time.

What operates during that time? Faith. Faith is operating. And it's your faith that you release when you pray. It's the thing that moves doubt out of the picture, unbelief out of the picture, has the confidence to trust even though we can't see something visible in front of us yet because we have confidence in God's promises, see, because we know His Word, not something we dreamed up, although He does give us the desires of our heart. You see, there's a lot to know about this principle of faith. So your faith, your trust level, your confidence level actually holds the ground, marks the place that God wants to take on your behalf for you. You do your part, you stand in faith. God does His part, the part that you cannot do.

He is a sovereign, supernatural, miracle-working God. That's why we trust Him. That's why we have faith in Him. So the details of the outcome may vary from the one thing that you ask for, and, dare I say, demanded, and, you know, as we grow, we learn not to do that, we understand that we are co-laborers with Almighty God. So we remember that we're going to use our faith. We will use our faith one way or the other. We will use faith for the thing that doubts, and distrust, and disbelieves, and questions, and is fearful. We'll have confidence in all of that, or we will use faith for the thing we see in God's Word that resonates with the desire that is in the human heart. We begin to trust it, believe it, and expect that God, in His perfect timing, will move just that way. So, again, it's the difference between confidence in the worst, which is the Bible definition of fear, or confidence in your hoped-for outcome, which is the Bible definition of faith.

What is missing? To identify what faith is and isn't. If this is a critical aspect of your present and your future, that you realize your capacity for faith, how much you have, how much you don't, and by the way, we can help with that. This is what we do here at Shirley Weaver Ministries.

We mentor and we disciple every way we possibly can, and we'll get to that in a minute. One more thing, the critical thing missing in your life, prayer, prayer, and specifically, prayer for you. You might even say prayer over you. You might even say hands-on prayer, where those mature in the faith would pray for you, possibly even lay their hands.

You know, that's a great feeling, by the way. The compassion in the heart of people as they pray for you can be felt, communicated through their hands into the touch that you feel. It's vital.

It's so important. And boy, has the enemy done a number on this one to discourage this very thing. But back to what we're saying. You know, some people are just easy to pray for, but others are so locked up in tension and the emotion of their circumstances, even sometimes, they really can't stop talking long enough or sit still long enough to receive prayer. I said, receive prayer. You know, there is a place where you just relax and you just stop talking and you just let that tension go and you trust God to pray through someone else for you. Right now, or at that moment, you may feel completely caught up in the storm that is at the gates, right, the threat?

But you can let that go. Concentrate on the Lord and make that connection. Envision Him. Like, this really helps me, always has, to envision the Lord standing right in front of me. Hold the Lord before you as you receive prayer, as you are prayed for, as you are prayed over. So, what is the thing that is missing here? What is the critical thing missing? Spiritually speaking, a Holy Spirit emphasis, develop faith, and develop prayer, not only your personal prayer, but receiving prayer. Practical things would be your health and connecting with the generations that are ahead of you. So, our homework, our action in response to this question, what is, what are the critical things missing in my life?

What are they? Seek out the generations ahead of you. And by the way, they might already be right in front of you, right around you, you know, right under your nose. Decide to only trust God's wisdom for your health, both now and in the future. Prioritize leading from God's Spirit of truth instead of from soulish sources, that soul power we talked about.

Identify what faith is and isn't. Again, we can help with that. And open up your schedule to prayer.

Or rather, hey, just go ahead and schedule it. Make contact with someone you know knows how to pray, and ask them would they pray for you. You might be surprised, refreshingly surprised, how open and willing mature believers are to help in any way that they can. So, again, the good news is we can help in all these areas. If these critical things are missing from your life, are in the life of someone that you know or love, perhaps someone you are discipling, you are mentoring, contact us, info at acleartrumpet.org, and put in the subject line, Make Disciples Podcast Question.

Make Disciples Podcast Question. Or really anything will do. That particular subject line will get our attention. We promise to get back to you right away. And listen, realize that God already has the answer waiting for you. He already has those to help in your life.

We want you to have everything that you need to realize who you are in Christ Jesus and to grow in the faith, to know how to study His Word, how to pray, how to get your questions answered. So, again, that contact information, info at acleartrumpet.org. And for everyone listening, if you're loving our content and you'd like to help support this podcast, check out the short show notes for more information, how to reach us, or just go to acleartrumpet.org forward slash give.

Again, that's acleartrumpet.org forward slash give. And we'll see you next time for episode five in our Make Disciples series. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365 Day Devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time.