Rodney Drury: Discipleship Made Easy

Deuteronomy 6:6-12 NASB

"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 10 "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Influencing others is not easy in this day. We stand there with our cup of coffee and a list of a thousand things “we ought to be doing” pressing down on our hearts and we try to compete with million dollar media productions, chemically enhanced energy drinks and a world full of sexual desires. How can we impact the heart of our children, our friends for God? How is it going to be possible to stand for God in this day and not be consumed with doubt and fear? How do we open our lives to be influenced by the things of God and not just impacted by media, the world and opinions?

It’s Easier than We Think

The passage above is God given advice on how to help your friends and family live wonder filled lives under the influence of God. It is easy. But it is not natural. It is not natural to follow after God and have your heart in connection with Him. Natural living is survival living, it’s a lifestyle that is focused on trying to make it, to find a little joy, to have a moment of peace in a war filled world. Natural living can only see what is, it fails to see what might be and absolutely cannot see “what is unseeable.”

The words of God are to be on our heart (v.6 above). In this unseeable place, God writes both information and revelation. Upon the heart God places markings of divine love and eternal truth. On the heart God stamps an image of himself upon the human heart that is following Him according to His ways. In return, we do to those around us the very thing that God did to us. We take the heart we have and touch the heart of others with it. We often get sidetracked trying to touch the mind or the behaviors. We lose sight that both actions and word come from the heart first. In the mystical world of the inner man, the heart has a mindset before the mind does. The heart holds memories, attitudes and information that emanates out into the mind, emotions and behaviors. Loving God with all our heart….

When we were kids most of us knew how to live from the heart. We said and did things that others did not like, so over time, we lost our ability to live with integrity because we feared rejection or punishment. Rather than learning to speak the truth in love most of us were taught simple to keep silent. When we questioned the actions of someone we were trained to comply and get along rather than develop relationships that are solid enough to question, challenge and investigate. The iron sharpening iron of a past generation is lost under the banner of false disrespect and peace being the avoidance of conflict.

What I am trying to say is “living from the heart” is easy, but impossible unless you have a God who will mentor you in His ways. Integrity in our day is often more about selfishness than it is in reflecting God. As you walk your life under the influence of the heart of God you will discover that it is easy to give to others what you have received. The result is lifestyle discipleship and not the programed efforts we often call “intentional.”

Happy, happy, happy

I am in no way upset with the thousands of efforts we have used to try and help one another mature into the image of Christ Jesus. I write book and blogs, create programs and teach children’s church. I make charts and send out questionnaires. I also try to keep my vision on what God is doing to me. When my heart is touched by the heart of God I want to stop, set on the porch swing and pray, search scripture for more and treasure the heart of God that cares for my heart.

So what are some ways I can perceive how God is touching my heart?

Practice humility. Often we do not think God is touching us because we have a specific vision of what we want from God and can only see what we are looking for. There is a show call “Brain Games” (I think) that shows us how much of life we miss because of our focus. Most of us were trained to “focus.” But no one trained us in what we miss when we focus, or “over focus” if you like. You can check out a video hereabout perception. Maybe I should have put that at the end so you don’t get focused on that and leave me behind? Here is my short list of ways God speaks to me but I often miss.

1.       Through disruptions and distractions

2.       Through pain, suffering or unpleasant situations

3.       Through joy, celebration and laughter (I was raised to be serious)

4.       Through following (I like to lead, know what’s going on)

5.       Through conflict (learning to allow myself to be rejected, dishonored, devalued and still have the love of God stamped on my heart. Learning that God’s love for me does not mean or require that others love me).

The next thing I want to share is about the rule for living together (ad for next blog). In the Bible and in religious orders rules exist for Christ like transformation. While rules can be overused, the lack of rules can lead to anarchy and away from authentic transformation. The Bible has insights for the following realms. There may be more but I hope to share on these next and how they relate to the passage above.

Rule for living with ourselves

Rules for family

Rules for living with others

Rules for gathering in Christ name.

Back to the practical, try these and see if they help you perceive that God is touching you heart. These are just experiments. Practice and soon your lifestyle will change as God touches your heart and you perceive it, creating more value and more love for God.

1.       Read a different Bible translation, one that you are not familiar with and see if different phrases or words help with a new focus. If you want to go the extra mile you can do some translation from Greek or Hebrew.

2.       Drive a different way home with different music on (or off) and with a different attitude. Change up fast for slow or anxious for at peace. Bless the traffic rather than curse it or be at peace with being late rather than anxious. (anxiety is often a choice)

3.       Turn off media and try to use your imagination. If you try this one, using your imagination to worry is not what we are after. Daydream about things working out, a vacation adventure or having a great Godly relationship with someone. Go the extra mile and try a new drink, one you would never try, as you dream.

4.       Journal, but in a new way. If you just take notes try writing a poem or acrostic. Write a song or make a work cloud. Try taking a passage of scripture and using the words in the verse as the first word in a sentence you write describing that passage of scripture.