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CHOICES WE MAKE AS WE HELP OTHERS FOLLOW CHRIST

In my recent Japan bike trip with Ryan (click here to read about it), we were guided by Google maps on my phone. I would shout out directions to Ryan if we needed to turn left or right. When I would give an instruction, he would do it, not because it was a command but because it was a relationship based on trust.

Discipleship is following Jesus and helping others follow Christ. As we follow Christ, we listen to His instructions not because we have to but because we want to, knowing that He desires what’s best for us. This trust is based on the relationship we have with Him.

Discipleship is relationship.

It is a relationship on 3 levels:
Relationship with God.
Relationship with other believers.
Relationship with the lost.

If we are going to help others follow Christ, there are 3 choices we will need to make as we do so.

1. OPPORTUNITY OVER OUTCOME

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up… (Luke 19:5a)

Jesus had a mission. He was about to sacrifice His life so that mankind could be saved. It was important to get to Calvary but wasn’t so focused on the outcome that He missed the opportunity to stop and speak with Zacchaeus. Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem but when He got to Jericho, He looked up and took some time to be with Zacchaeus.

Sometimes we are so busy that we miss out on divine appointments.

We miss out on divine appointments when we are quick to dismiss seemingly human distractions.

2. RELATIONSHIP OVER RULES

Jesus… said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5b)

During those days, there was an unwritten rule that they were not to eat with sinners and tax collectors. People hated tax collectors because though they were Jewish, they worked for their enemy at that time, the Romans. Moreover, when they would collect taxes, they would get more than required so they could pocket the extra. They were corrupt and abusive aside from working for the enemy.

Jesus stopped to speak with Zacchaeus. In fact, He didn’t just want to eat dinner with him, He wanted to stay in his house! People were wondering, “Jesus, what are you doing?!!!” This is not acceptable!”

But Jesus broke the ‘rule’ so that He could build a relationship with Zacchaeus.

To treat people the way Jesus treated them, we need to see them the way Jesus saw them.

I’m just grateful God valued me so much that He sacrificed His only Son so I can have redemption. I was insecure, lost and without purpose. Thank God for the gospel that saved me.

3. PEOPLE OVER PROCESS

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

Jesus had a process He was going to go through – suffering, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. But He wasn’t so caught up with that process that He missed out on the very people He was going to die for.

Why? Because lost people matter to God.

Sometimes, we can get so caught up with the process that we miss out on the simplicity of loving people. We are worried about the form, that we miss out on caring for people. We are wrapped up with the program that we miss out on the very reason why we even have a program.

I remember going through One2One discipleship with someone I met 2 and a half years ago. We initially started with One2One booklet. But because he had a lot of questions, we had to set the booklet aside to answer his questions. We tried to do the Purple book. We got to chapter 4 and it was helpful. But since he still had lots of questions, we actually went straight to the book of Romans. The process is important but sometimes, we have to ask God for wisdom what tool to use because people are more important than the process. Finally, after 2 years, we finished one2one and he was able to go through Victory Weekend this past March.

Jesus stopped to encounter Zacchaeus. He had a process to go through but He didn’t let that stop Him from spending time with the very people He was about to die for. Why? It’s because lost people matter to God.

I love how Joey Bonifacio put it:

God who is most valuable, so valued us that He gave us Jesus who is most valuable to Him.

As we continue to honor God and make disciples, may we do it with zeal coupled with sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the compassion of Jesus.

OUT OF AN OVERFLOW (#TindogTacloban)

This is Mang Simon.

After Yolanda hit (typhoon Haiyan), they’re house was completely destroyed which was why they were relocated to Cebu temporarily.

I met him at Victory Tacloban when I preached last Sunday.

I was introduced to him by Kix Javier, our executive pastor and Lifebox Campus Missionary there.

Mang Simon told me not only their experience during the typhoon but also after the typhoon. When they got to Cebu, they met a family that took them in, shared their blessings to his family, provided for them in the meantime. But more importantly, the Mercado family from Cebu shared Jesus to them.

One Sunday, they invited Mang Simon and his family to church. Since then, they’ve been attending services and when Mang Simon went back to Tacloban, his first order of the day was to locate our church there.

Mang Simon relayed to me how blown away he has been.

“Hindi ako makapaniwala na may ganoong mga tao pa din pala… mapagbigay, maalaga and maka-Diyos.”
(I couldn’t believe that there’s still people like them who were generous, thoughtful and godly.)

He was so touched that he was in tears and gave me a hug after.

You see, it doesn’t have to be Christmas for us to practice generosity. The Mercado family gave out of an overflow… an overflow from their relationship with Jesus.
And as they did, a family has been touched by the gospel.

This is how we take over a city with the gospel of Jesus – one person, one family, one community at a time.

SHARING YOUR FAITH

Talking about the most important thing in your life can also be the most difficult thing.

I’m referring to our relationship with Christ.

Sharing what God has done and how you have come to faith in Him, particularly to your family, relatives and friends can be tricky, not to mention difficult.

I spoke to a friend who is also one of our Victory Small group leaders yesterday. He has found a simple way to share his faith to friends and family… PODCAST.

He said that he would pray and ask God for direction. Then he would sent the link of the particular podcast he thinks will speak and minister to their needs at the time.

That way, they can either choose to listen to it right away, or later, or never. But he said, it has been an effective door opener to talk about Jesus when they would see those he sent the podcast links to.

As a matter of fact, he already has a friend who started coming to church as a result. He would come late because he’s still feeling his way through the “praise and worship” part, but enjoys the message immensely.

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For Victory Fort Podcasts, CLICK HERE.
For messages from various Victory Pastors metrowide, CLICK HERE.

REACH OUT BY PRAYING

I’ve often said that I’ve never met anyone who has ever rejected prayer.

I still stand by that statement. I’ve seen people, during the lowest of lows, cry out to God in desperation wherein a couple of weeks before that, spirituality was nowhere to be observed.

Here’s a testimony of a college student who messaged me and shared her experience…

pastor, i’m always praying for this girl na ma-reach out. i never fail to invite her sa touch point youth service. classmate ko po sya. then immersion came. dun na po sya nag-birthday. syempre po, wala yung family nya. morning pa lang, i was planning how to approach her and tell her that i wanna pray for her. parang may force na tumutulak sa akin. i was looking for a proper timing kasi busy din kami lahat. evening came and may activity pa kami. i know aabutin pa ng past 12mn bago kami matapos kaya i decided na iapproach na sya. ayoko kasing matapos ang bday nya na hindi ko nagagawa yung thing na alam kong si GOD ang nagsasabing gawin ko.

at first, i really do not know how to start. i said na gusto ko syang ipagpray. medyo natawa pa nga sya sa akin but she accepted my offer.

after my prayer saka ko lang po napansin na umiiyak sya. i know that GOD really touched her heart. she thanked me and we hugged for a couple of minutes…

GOD is really amazing! praise the Lord!…