Equip: Stage two of discipleship program
Updated: Mar 11, 2022
WILDFIRE
EQUIP
WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM
What to go through for this stage...
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We want to acknowledge the numerous and ridiculous amount of precious promises that have been given to us by God and laid out in his word! 2 Peter 1:4, “which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.” In this stage we want to highlight just a few of those precious promises that allow us to share in God’s nature.
Once we recognise, we are then in a position in which we can equip and build ourselves up with promises such as the fruits of the spirit and the armour of God!
Galatians 5: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” It is no longer us who lives but instead Christ who lives within us. Before we lived in the flesh and sinful nature, but through the sacrifice of Jesus (who became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God/2 Corinthians 5), we can clothe ourselves in God’s promises, knowing that these are transformative truths that should change our whole landscape of thinking. We should prayerfully think about each fruit that is yielded through the spirit and our posture of faithful obedience and humility towards these truths.
/Love! “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”- it is important that you understand how to love yourself, as that will be the litmus test for how you love other people. For example, you must acknowledge that you are a sinner saved by grace, but you are loved by God, you are rooted in your identity in God and him alone and that your body is a living sacrifice that belongs to God. Our mindset is often selfish, that it is all about us and how we can meet our needs, but Jesus calls us to revert our mindset to others; the commandment of valuing others more highly than ourselves! (Philippians 2)
/Joy! The Bible says that the ‘joy of the Lord is our strength.’ Joy is a choice; like all the fruits, we must make a decision as to whether we are going to allow sin, guilt, shame, stress, worry, fear and depression dictate our lives. OR we can actively walk in what God has for us and acknowledge the hope and promises given to us that bring a joy and peace which transcends every circumstance!
/Peace! ‘let the peace of God that passes all understanding guard our hearts, souls and minds;’ our security and comfort is in God, this is our resting place and where we should reside.
/Kindness! Our focus is to value others more highly than ourselves, that will result in us extending acts of generosity with our time, money and attentiveness.
/Goodness! Psalm 51, Romans 3, 1 Corithinians 15, Romans 5, Job 31, these are all passages that reiterate how we are sinful to the core, that we bring nothing to the table but our need! Our goodness is found in Jesus, it starts with Jesus and it is only in Jesus that we can be good.
/Faithfulness! Fidelity and commitment are so important, in all relationships we should seek to remain steadfast with people, always being there for them no matter what. In equal measure, we should long to be committed to God and what his word has to say on every aspect of our living.
/Patience! We need to ensure that we are not dictated by circumstance, nor the actions of people, instead we remain prudent and calm, giving soft answers that turn away wrath (Proverbs 15). If we think about Jesus, how many times were his disciples incompetant? How incompetant are we? Yet Jesus always had time for people, listening and walking with people where they were.
/Gentleness! Ephesians 4 teaches that we should ‘speak truth in love’; it is important our words are seasoned with salt, that our words encourage, discipline, restore, renew and encourage! That what we do or say has some eternal weight that is infused with the love of Jesus.
/Self-control! A person who has been transformed and is now a temple of the holy spirit! (1 Corinthians 6) Is called and expected to hold himself in purity and holiness! Not walking as unwise people but as wise people making most of their time (Ephesians 5) 1 Thessalonians 4: 3-8 is an encouraging passage to memorise in our race, remember, the Bible says that learning your words gives wisdom, understanding and SELF-CONTROL (Proverbs 1:2-12).
‘For this is the will of God, your sanctification:[b] that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body[c] in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.’ (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)
1. The Armour of God! Ephesians 6, ‘Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’
/Like men who would go into war and clothe themselves with what would help them in their fight, we too as christians have spiritual armour that must be put on!
/The word of God! Will allow us to be on the offensive and attack any spiritual entrapments or strongholds (2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 119).
/The Shield of faith! will allow us to step into the fullness of what God has for us, ‘whoever says and does not doubt in his heart will have whatever he says,’ this is where things go from knowledge to truth!!!
/The helmet of salvation! We want to constantly be in a position of awareness as opposed to forgetfulness when it comes to recognising the good news of the gospel in our lives!
/The breastplate of righteousness! We want to be protected in the most vulnerable places by holiness and purity that solely originates from God.
/The belt of truth! Truth is a person, that is Jesus, we must love truth, walk in truth, clothe ourselves in truth and rejoice in truth!
/The shoes of peace! We want to always be in a position whereby we are calm, confident and assured in the promises laid before us.
2. /The Bible teaches in 1 John 3, ‘look at the love he lavished on us that we might become children of God,’ we are son’s and daughter’s of the God of the universe!
/The Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 6, ‘do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy spirit,’ our body is a living sacrifice and should reflect complete obedience to God.
/The Bible teaches in 2 Corinthians 5 that we are ‘new creatures,’ the old has passed away, behold everything is new! You cannot live by who you were in the past, as Christ has made you something new!
/The Bible teaches in 1 Peter 2:9, ‘But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.’
^^^^^^^We should really consider what the above says, reflect and talk about what this means and how this can be expressed in our lives^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3.Finally, I have listed just a few promises and truths that we can equip ourselves with, but this is in no way an exhaustive list! In Ephesians 2 it says that we have been placed in the highest company with Jesus! ‘But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.’
We need to understand and meditate on the gravity of these truths until they literally transform every breath, thought, action and relationship that we have; this will require discipline, commitment and faithfulness.
“EQUIP YOURSELF WITH ALL OF GOD’S PROMISES ”
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NOW EVERYTHING HAS BEEN LOOKED AT IN DETAIL, LET YOUR MENTEE LEAD YOU IN A SESSION, WHEREBY THEY WILL TAKE YOU THROUGH THE ‘EQUIP STAGE.’
EQUIP
WILDFIRE DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM