Discipleship- The Foundry For Arrows

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Telephone numbers 0703 03636 59, 0703 76811 98. Email address lsmediaatlivingseed.org or visit our website at www.livingseed.org. Let us sit back and listen as the servant of God brings forth the Word of Life. Dear Father, we return thanks to you once again for this opportunity you've granted to us.

Lord, to gather in your name in this place, in the different places you've located us. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the purpose that you have proposed even at this time that you are declaring to us. Thank you, Lord, for the lives of several of your children in the different nations where, Lord, at this time you have located us.

We are grateful that you are announcing in our ears, Lord, your intent, your purpose. Even as we come to this seminar, we pray, Father, for each and every one of us that you will further instruct us. You will further enlighten us.

You will further make plain your counsel to us. We are entreating you, Lord, that for every life that you have brought to this circle, that, God, our understanding will be open. So that, Lord, all that, God, you intend may be fulfilled.

Thank you, Father. We just look up to you to help us and do beyond our asking. As we are praying in Jesus' name, amen.

Discipleship, the Foundry for Arrows, again, is the seminar we are considering. As the Lord has come again in this Congress to announce to us his intention, to announce to us the matter of his heart, that he is seeking to raise and recruit an army of young people equipped that he could take to the gates to possess the gates of his enemies. God is announcing that he is raising an army.

And for each and every one of you as young people that God has enabled to come to this circle this year, my prayer is that all that God is saying will not sound as mere words in your ears. I pray you'll be able to take it in. God is saying he wants to raise an army, the seed that will possess the gates of his enemies.

By this, God is saying there's a purpose for you. And I pray that that dawns on you as a young person. And it will be worth noting that this is not a mere cajole.

You will note that all that God is saying is founded on the truth of his word. In Ephesians chapter 2, I think it's verse 10, we hear God's word speaking about his counseling. It says we are his work machine, recreated in Christ Jesus for good works that God has before ordained for us to do.

It's interesting that even by this, God wants you to know that you are not born to become, to add to the problem of the earth. There's a purpose. And for every one of you that has been born again, can you please note that God is saying there's a purpose for your life.

There's a divine purpose. God is seeking that you'll be arrows in his hand, sharp arrows with whom he will confront his enemy at the gate. As you see from the book of Psalm 127, verse 4 and 5, that has been related to us also in the open church.

Now, but in this seminar, part of what we are considering is to know how God gets that done. Let's note that every arrow, there's a place where they are prepared. There's a foundry for the arrow where they are melted, where they are fired or where they are molded and shaped for the use to which they will be put.

What do we mean by this? Every man that has ever been used significantly by God, they never, never came to be just by chance. As we look into God's word, and as you may see from your contemporary experience, there is a preparation. They are made by God.

They are fashioned by God. They don't come just spring up as a mushroom. There's a place where God arranges and puts their life together and makes them fit for what God intends to use them for.

Every vessel, every life that God must carry to the gate, there must be a preparation. I was again looking at the charge God was giving to us yesterday. When the Holy Spirit began to declare that, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? There's a cause.

There's a reason why God has arranged our coming together like this. There's a reason why God is speaking to you, you as a young person at this time. And as we are looking at the illustration of the life of David, I was touched as we look at that first Samuel, chapter 16, chapter 17, yesterday night.

The first thing that touched me, just for us to note again, that there is a preparation. There is a making of those that God will use. I noted that in chapter 16, verse 1, God had announced to Samuel and said, stop mourning for Saul.

Go to the house of Jesse, the Bethlehemite. He said, I have provided for myself a king among his sons. And Samuel was instructed to go and anoint from among the sons of Jesse, a king.

If you follow that story to the end, by verse 12, verse 13, after the oil was poured on the head of David. I'm referring to first Samuel, chapter 16, verse 12 and 13. The word of God tells us the spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day.

Now, ordinarily, if a man has been anointed as a king, you will expect that immediately he will ascend onto the throne. It will interest you as you follow the story. That was not the way.

God, in his wisdom, and as you go through the scriptures, every time God is making an announcement about a life, what he will be, what he will accomplish. It is not that they will immediately jump into it. Between the call of God.

Between the God laying hand on a life. And his actual fulfillment. There's a gap.

And that gap is the time God takes to prepare them. As I went through that study, after David was anointed, he was back with his sheep. Until God was going to order his steps and was going to introduce him, by the time you get to verse 18, to the palace.

Because the anointing that has come upon him, because God's focus for him was to prepare him to be a king. God needed to order him to the palace. The crucial matter that I said God wants us to consider in this seminar is the need to, again, that it settles in our heart.

That, yes, God is announcing something about our lives. God is saying there will be sharp arrows in his hand. That with us, by the grace of God, he will dislodge his enemy.

We will possess the gates of the enemy. We will establish righteousness by your life. But there is a process unto that.

This seminar says what God wants is to instruct us, to show us the way by which God gets that done. If you go to that 1 Samuel 16 and verse 18, I just wanted to note a few things. As we go on, it says that one of the servants, 1 Samuel 16, maybe I should read from verse 17.

So Saul said to his servant, provide me now a man who can play well and bring him to me. Then one of the servants answered and said, look, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing. A mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and an handsome person.

And the Lord is with him. What a wonderful CD. What a wonderful expression of grace.

And mind you, this was after he had been anointed as king. How God in his wisdom introduced him to the palace. And they were noting something that was seen about David.

A man that is skillful in playing. A man of war. A man that is prudent in speech.

A handsome person. This is wonderful as far as I can see. Now there are some of you listening to me that half of the measure of this grace that we see upon brother David may not be on you yet.

But the moment it comes, it appears God has a big plan. God wants to use me. God has called me and you want to jump out.

William knows that the Bible says as they sent for him, he only ended up as a musician in the palace and an armor bearer to Saul. You wonder why is that? If God has already anointed him to be a king, why would he not ascend the throne immediately? No, it's because there's a process. You can go through the story of David.

As we study, you will see how long between when he was anointed and when eventually he ascended the throne. That time lag. What was God doing? He was preparing him to last in his hand.

You will see by the time he was confronting Goliath, again as we saw yesterday, you will see how in wisdom. Even after he has slain Goliath, he has put up his head, how he handled it, how he learned how to behave even in the midst of errors. All I'm just noting by way of this introduction, as we look at discipleship, the foundry for arrows is that if God is announcing and is saying concerning us, concerning you as a young man, as a young lady at this time, that he wants you to be the one that carries that seat, with whom he will possess the enemy, will possess the gate of the enemy.

If God is announcing that you are his battle axe, that with you, you're going to shape nations at this time. Can you understand? Can you please understand that that's only an announcement? That's only a recruitment for God to begin to fashion you. Every life, whose life counts for God, there's a process by which God prepares it.

You can go through scriptures, you will find several lives like that. It touches me as I'm looking at the Bible, whether in the old or the new. You remember Elisha? Elisha also, how God announced to Elijah and said, when you live here, you will anoint Elisha, the son of Shaffa, a prophet in your room.

God has already spoken. You will be a prophet in your room. In our own understanding today, it will appear, oh, if God has said he will be a prophet.

And as I see it even around with young people today, I see a young man, barely three years old in the faith. He's called prophet, somebody. He's called apostle, somebody.

No matter what dream that God has shown you about your life, no matter the call of God upon your life, can we know that it is not automatic that you jump into it? There is a preparation. All the skills David had could not be engaged for him. It is touching that like so several others, if God has spoken that you will be a king, you may be scheming to get there.

You remember his own son Absalom? Even not because God has spoken, but because of his endowment, he thought he could displace the father. So the way unto what God is speaking to us here now about is there's a preparation. I want to note that that way by which God fashions men and make them fit for his use is discipleship, discipleship.

And as we come to this seminar, by the grace of God, we'll take six again, just a little look at. So what is this discipleship? And thereafter, by the grace of God, we'll be trusting God as God allows that to permit us to see why that must be a crucial thing. You must engage now.

And as the Lord may enable, we see for the examples that God engages. I hope you will have taken note of what the Lord is enabling us to share. He has made a declaration, but there's a way into it.

There's a way into it, the way of discipleship. So we want to begin first by looking at, so then what is this discipleship? What is discipleship? Now, for those of us that were here at SYCO last year, you will know that our Bible study dealt extensively with the issue of discipleship. Those of us that were here, you must have benefited from that.

But if you are not here, I will encourage you, particularly if you have not been part of the discipleship classes or programs before, to please go back to that. But for our understanding to move on, on what God is saying to us now, we'll try to look at what is discipleship. I would like us to read wherever you are from your Bible.

We'll read a few passages of Scripture. We're going to read Luke chapter 6 and verse 40. Luke 6, verse 40.

The Scripture says, "...who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." What's the first thing I wanted us just to note? I'm making reference to this because we are finding that difficult term, discipleship, here. It says a disciple is not above his teacher. But everyone, when he is perfectly trained, will be like his teacher.

So what then will discipleship convey to us from this passage? That there's a relationship. Discipleship is a relationship between whom the Scripture calls a disciple and his own teacher. But what is it meant to achieve? It says when he is perfectly trained.

So discipleship is a process, a training process by which the... As the Scripture says here, it says when he is perfectly trained, he will be like his teacher. When he is perfectly trained, he will be like his teacher. So discipleship is a process of reproducing or imparting the life of a teacher to a pupil.

There's a process. There is the disciple. There is his teacher.

Now we want to look at that as it relates to us as God's children. If you look at Matthew chapter 4, from verse 18 to 22, just again to understand what discipleship entails. It said, And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

Then he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed him. Matthew 11, verse 29, and verse 30.

It says, Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. As we look at these two passages, what is discipleship? It simply means following Jesus Christ in order to learn of him, in order to be made like him, both in character and in service.

You see in that Matthew 4, the scripture says he found his brothers. Andrew and Peter, he found them and he said, Follow me, I will make you. There's a making.

Follow me, I will make you fishers of men. In that Matthew 11, he has said, Come and take my yoke upon you and learn. It's a call to learn from Jesus in such a manner that both in character and the way we're going to serve him, the Lord may impart his light to us.

So discipleship is the training of life so that you can be transformed into the image of Christ. The life training. Let's note that there are several other things you can get.

There could be academic training, you can go to school, you can learn several other things. But when it comes to life, God introduces you this way. Discipleship is meant to provide this for our lives.

So this is the way by which the life of Jesus can be imparted to you. Now, the precondition. I won't bother to deal much with that in the morning message we had it.

The kind of people that God can take to the gate. The first thing is that they must have the seed of God in them. They must have the life of God in them.

Why is this important? If discipleship is a training of our lives to become like Christ. The matter is that the natural life, the sinful nature can never be trained to become like Christ. This is an issue of birth.

So the first matter is a precondition. If we will experience discipleship at first, a person must be born again. I'm just tracing some issues that some of us are already familiar with.

And as we lay just the matter of this process by which God prepares a man to fulfill his purpose. So that as God is talking about you being made ready, you'll be made fit in possessing the gates of the enemy. You must know that there's something you must immediately enter into.

If this dream of God, this plan of God for your life will be fulfilled. So the first precondition, which I may not be able to touch in here now, since God is dealing with it in other portions, is that a man must first be born again before he can come into this. Now, let's also note as we look at what discipleship entails, and this will be leading me to look at how this is crucial then for us in God making us ready for what God is saying.

When we read the book of Galatians chapter 4, please turn with me to Galatians 4. I would like us to read verse 1 and 2. We're looking at the issues of discipleship. As the scripture says, we're heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. But to enter into our inheritance, what God has ordained for us, God does not entrust his precious things onto babies.

The Bible shows us that an heir, as long as he is a child, is not different at all from a slave. I think we can all identify with that. What a child desires, what a child, you know, longs for, many, many times are toys.

If you ask a child to make a request, he will ask for trivial things. The things of the kingdom of God, they're a great treasure. And for us to be able to enter into our inheritance, there's a preparation.

So what does God do? As the scripture says, he provides tutors and governors. Dear brother, dear sister, young brother and sister listening to me, with all that God asks for your life, for you to come into it, he must bring you under tutors and governors who will train you and prepare your life so that you can enter into what God is intending for your life. I do hope in this way, I'm struggling to gather it together.

You are able to follow that first. For us to come to what God is planning for our lives, there must be a preparation. And that preparation, as we're seeing, is the preparation in discipleship.

Now, I want to note, why is it crucial for you to be discipled? Why must you be discipled? Just like we read in Galatians 4, verse 1 and 2, the Bible says, an heir, an heir of God. As long as he's a child, God provides tutors and governors for him to train and to bring up that life. When you look at Hebrews 12, verse 5 to 11, I think we should read it.

I think we should read it, because this is important. What I'm hoping for, as we come to this seminar, is that God will help you to see the need for you to be discipled. It says, and you have forgotten the exhortation, which speaks to you as to Psalms.

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and he scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons.

For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we pay them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits, and leave? But they indeed for a few days chastened us, as it seemed best to them.

But if our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness, now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful, nevertheless, afterward, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. What do I want us to please take from here? Every child of God is trained by God. The scripture says, all are partakers.

Every child of God, if you are listening to me and you have been born again, there is a training. Discipleship is God's family training scheme. Every correct child of God, the Bible says, God chastens them.

He disciplines them. That discipline process is discipleship. He disciplines them.

Now, for you know, discipline is not just for the purpose of just saying you are wrong, but there's an objective. When you look at verse 10, it says, our fathers chastened us the way it seemed best to them, but God, for our prophet, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Young brother, young sister, as you listen to me, discipleship is for your prophet.

When God loves you and wants your life not to be a waste, he guides you in the path of discipleship. He said, everyone is a partaker. God trains us for our profit so that we can be like him, that we may share in his holiness.

Why must you be disciple? To be otherwise is to prepare to be a bastard. The Bible says, whoever does not come through this is illegitimate. It's not, it can't be a correct child of God.

Every child of God is never left to themselves. They are brought under tutelage. They are brought under tutors and governors.

There's the discipline of the law. Anyone who hopes to become anything in the hand of God, and in the light of what God is saying to us in this circle, that God is recruiting young people that he can carry to the gate. Can I say to you, get ready to be trained.

The first place God will introduce you to is this foundry, the foundry of discipleship. Where your life, your character, your inner man will be trained so that you can be the way, what God wants you to be. Why again, must you be disciple? You will note that, as it was emphasized in our Bible study last year, that there are giants on your path.

There are giants on your path. In Matthew 21, 33 to 39, we see the challenge that confronts every heir of God. They say, look, this is his heir.

Let us take him. Let us kill him so that the inheritance can be ours. Young brother, young sisters, you listen.

It's not to scare you. It's for you to face reality and be prepared for it. There are giants on your path.

It was itemized for us as we studied the scripture last year. There are giants of need confronting people. There are giants that, you know, of sexual perversion.

And all of this is to perforate your life and hinder you from becoming what God wants you to be. As you look at the story of several lives in the scripture, young people with great privileges. But they blew it.

Because they were not disciples. Or some of them, they cut off from the opportunity of discipleship they had. Because there are challenges you must confront.

There's a whole system you must confront. You must be disciples. You must be prepared.

You must be equipped and made fit even to face those giants. Otherwise, you may be robbed of those inheritance. Many young people, many people, rather, in their youth, have ended up in their youth.

I mean, who's wondered the grace of God over their lives? Have ended up with regret in their latter years because of the omission of discipleship in their lives. So because you are here, because God has a great plan for your life, because there's a glorious future ahead of you, because God is counting, is hoping to count you among his great army with which he will possess the gates of his enemies, you need discipleship. Because of the giants you must confront, you need discipleship.

I want to note that unmade and unprepared men can never fight the battles of the Lord. Men that have not been properly made and prepared by God, they cannot fight the battles of the Lord. It touches me.

I remember that phrase in the life of David. I said earlier on that when Abtai was anointed, the next thing is an advancement in his discipleship. Now, I'm remembering now that phrase.

You see how it went eventually as he came under Saul, as he was being prepared for that kingship. As he was being prepared by God, yes, anointed, but being prepared to take over. You know what took place in his relationship with Saul, and how Saul began to chase him, to kill him.

You may be wondering, has God not anointed this man? Is God not going to bring his purpose at what? No, there's a process. He's preparing him. And you may wonder, what is the preparation there? The training of his character.

The training of his life. How he was not going to usurp authority. How he was not going to take the throne by force.

We saw how many times he had an opportunity to finish Saul. And he says, no, I will wait for God. But the matter that my mind went back to was when, was it Nada? What's his name now? I've forgotten.

Nadbar. Nadbar. The husband of Abigail.

When he wronged David. When he had requested for bread and he would not give. And David was going to go in his strength to finish that man.

Again, you may not know it's a training. God was training his life. Dear young brother and sister, for you to fight the battles of the Lord, you must be trained.

And this greater training is of your inner life. As tests come to you in different dimensions, they are God's way of preparing you to be the man that God wants you to be. As he was going to go, I guess, to finish Nadbar and his team and God allowed Abigail to come ahead and appear.

He said, yes, we all know you are fighting the battles of the Lord. But sir, will you allow this matter? If you take vengeance by yourself to become a spot in your life later on when God will have brought you to the throne. If you read that story very well.

David only lifted up his hands as a thank God for you. Thank God that he sent you to keep me from misbehavior. What was God doing? Training his man.

Dear brother, whether it's in your career that, you know, God will want to use you in possessing the gifts of the enemy, whether in politics, whether in the health sector, whichever field. Can I say you need to be prepared for it? You may have great dreams, but unless you are prepared for it, you may be a disaster. Only prepared men.

Only men that have been formed can fight the battle of the Lord and fight it well. It was taught to me the other day as a wrestler. I'm 78.

And God described how and the scripture described out what God did. And the summary of how he undo the kingdom was what touched my heart that became a prayer point for me. The scripture says and God chose David.

He called David from following the sheep from going up and down. He said to come and shepherd his people. His people, Jacob, to take care of his inheritance, Israel.

Well, you know what? As a summary of how David went about it, the scripture says with integrity of heart, he shepherded. With skillful hands, he led them. Dear brother, young man, young lady listening to me.

Whatever dream God asks for your life. Unless you are prepared, you are made. Unless you come through this discipleship process where your character is trained, your outlook is set, your understanding is held.

You may be a disaster at it. If God will make you such a man, such a lady that will possess the gate, discipleship is the way. I don't have space.

I will look with you the life of the disciples themselves. How by God's grace, the summary of what again came to their life when God has wrought his work in their life is that the scripture says, you know, they turned their world upside down. So why must you be disciple? Because you see, it's possible.

So even as we are speaking here, you've had discipleship less several, but there may be some of you say, well, maybe I really don't need it. If you are planning to be useful in the hand of God. If you are planning to fulfill the purpose of God.

Discipleship is the way, the proven way, the tested way, the approved way by God, by which God does this. As I will be, I'm seeing the way the time is going as it were today. I pray that the spirit of the Lord will bring deep understanding and conviction in your heart to see this thing.

I said, with the space we have, I just want to conclude for this session today. Again, just to show you how God has used this in fashioning his man. I've been speaking about David.

I made a little mention about Elisha. A great man. A man that was quite busy.

If you read the story in 1 Kings chapter 19, from verse 15 to 21 and in 2 Kings. How did a man who was known as an agriculturalist, a farmer, become a great prophet that shook his generation? A great prophet that kings resorted to, that they referred to as the chariot of Israel. How did that happen? If you trace the story again, you will notice, even though God announced in the ears of his disciple, his master Elijah, and said, that's the man to take over from you.

He only went to cast his mantle on him. He did not automatically enter into the room of a prophet. He had to come through that preparation.

He had to come through that process with God. He came into a close relationship with Elijah where he was being trained. Where he was being prepared.

Where he was being held for him to become what God intends he should be. Is the Lord whispering something in your ears? Is there a dream that perhaps you have dreamt about what you are going to become for God? The way to go is discipleship. The way for you to be made fit for it is as God introduces you this way.

I found from the word of God, any time God is announcing what he's going to do about a life, it was not an ascension onto that thing immediately. He introduces them to discipleship. That will not allow me, I will have looked at the life of Timothy as it were also with you.

A young man that was endowed. When you read the story in the book of Acts chapter 16, the Bible says Paul on his missionary journey had just come to Lysra and Derbe. And the scripture says there he found a young man.

A disciple whose name was Timothy. Whose parents, whose mother believed and all of that. What taught me as I look at the story of Timothy again, I think we should look at it because we're dealing with the discipleship process as the means by which God prepares his arrows.

Look with me at that Acts chapter 16, please, if you will. I know you may have read several things about Timothy. But I just wanted us to note, how did he become such life that Paul will speak about in the book of Philippians and says, I don't have any man like him.

I don't have any man like him who will naturally care for your cause. And Paul will say, I know every other man is occupied about their own things, not the things of Christ. You know him.

You know the proof of him. How did Timothy become such a man? And there may be some of us as you are listening to me, the grace of God, you begin to find expression in your life. Perhaps your fame is being heard here and there.

Let's read the passage. Before I continue, Acts chapter 16. It says, Then he came to Dabby and Lystra.

And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. It was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. And Paul wanted to have him go on with him.

And they took him and circumcised him because of the Jews, which were in that region. But they all knew that his father was Greek. I'm told each time I read the story of Timothy.

The picture I get, as far as Timothy is concerned, is that in his domain, he was already a local champion. If you see the scripture says he was well spoken of by the brethren. I'm amazed that within that region, it was our brother Timothy.

Oh, good brother Timothy. Well spoken of. And it will have looked as though that's the climax of what it can be.

But dear brother, I want you to know when God wants to help your life for that. When God doesn't want you to die young. And you know, brothers and sisters, I've seen situations.

I recall when I was a student. While in college. Having lived a few years on campus, I'm seeing even brothers and sisters that we look up to.

Who are so vibrant. Few years after college, you don't seem to hear much about them again. I remember one day I was praying.

I was bothered. Can you imagine that one of our leaders at a point. When we used to pray, we used to fast, express zeal for God together.

Only when he got his scholarship. Did a post-doctoral somewhere. I was still back on campus.

And as he was visiting. One of the angels saw me and said, Kai. He said, Brasimio, too much fasting.

He said, poverty is becoming our problem in Africa. That's why we fast and fast. I couldn't believe my ears.

This one with whom we fasted, we prayed together. So to fast now is because of poverty. Why is it like that? I was praying.

I was saying, Lord, what the meaning of it? God said to me, yes, I have many who are believers. I have very few disciples. If you will last, if whatever you're experiencing now will not be a temporal thing.

If as a young brother, as a young sister, and the fire of God is already burning quietly in your heart. And somehow, here and there, they are carrying you up and down. Can I tell you, if God will help you, as I perceive, is arranging this circle to help you so that his purpose for your life can come to fulfillment.

The place to go is to this foundry with God, where you can be correctly discipled. The Bible says Timothy was best spoken of by all the brethren. But how was God going to help him? How was he going to be that man that would be such resourceful? I'm amazed when you read the book of Acts.

I'm sorry, the New Testament. And you see the relationship he had with Paul. How did it become like that? The Bible says Paul took him and circumcised him because he wants him to go with him.

He drew him into discipleship. He drew him into that foundry where his life can be well prepared for him to be what God wanted him to be. It's wonderful to see their story.

Why the Holy Spirit taking it in hand to lay this story for us in Scripture is that you may learn as a young person so that you will not die young. So that what God plans for your life may come to fulfillment. There is a place to go.

I saw God loving this man. I've been located in. I've been located where he is.

I say that I may help you. Let me introduce you to discipleship. I'm saying this particularly to several of us.

As a young person, you are energetic. You are born again. The grace of God has come upon your life is finding expression.

Can I pray with you? So that there will be no shipwreck. You need to come on that cover. We see Timothy becoming the man God wanted him to be through discipleship.

You may wonder, I've only spoken about me. As I conclude for this session for today, you remember Esther. You said, was Esther a disciple? Yes.

She underwent some form of discipleship. When you read Esther chapter 2, verse 5 to 7, verse 10 to 11, you will see a story there. What touched me, as I wanted to note in verse 5 to 7, is that the Bible spoke about her life.

And spoke about her beauty. That she was fair to look on. She was a beautiful lady.

That's an endowment. And there are several ladies that have been endowed. But because discipleship is omitted, they seized upon that and they became a waste.

Dear brothers and sisters, as you are listening to me today, I'm trusting the Lord that as we come on more practical issues by the grace of God tomorrow, as he will enable us. The first critical matter I'm putting to you today, are you understanding what God is saying in this circle? Is it dawning on you that God says there is a cause? Is it dawning on you that God is saying, yes, we may have the Goliath confronting the Lamb today. We may have heard us shaking and trembling.

But God is focusing on you. God is seeking to recruit a young man, a young girl here into his army that will confront the decay of our society today. That God will take to the gates of your profession and subdue it.

But as the Holy Spirit is showing us from several scriptures, it doesn't happen instantly. As God invites you this day, as I'll be praying with you shortly. You've been hearing about this.

Has it made sense to you? You've been introduced several paths. Maybe even if this is your first time of hearing, can you consider this matter? I perceive God is again speaking about this to you because his agenda for your life, he wants it fulfilled. As you bow down, wherever you are, I'll be praying together as a signal to me that our time is up for today.

Are you seeing this matter? In between the dream God has about your life and its fulfillment, there's a process. This discipleship process. I know that by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit will make it all the more plain to you, maybe at some other point.

But in the matter, can you examine and see how God has done this with life? We have looked at passages in the Bible today. I'm hoping that tomorrow we see other practical lives who engage this and how God has used that to fashion their lives. Wherever you are, I would like you to bow your heads as we talk to God now, as we speak to the Lord now.

Dear brother, several instructions have come to us today. I recall at the devotional church in the morning, God was challenging you that you couldn't, God couldn't be speaking to your life. And then you walk away and allow that life to go to a waste.

Discipleship process will conserve the grace of God for your life. It will train your life, it will train your character. It will lift you up to where God intends you to be.

It will make you fit for the gates. Will you ask the Lord to help you? Perhaps you have been in a discipleship relationship, but you have been playing with it. We didn't have time to look at people who had the opportunity and they took it for granted.

Are you taking the opportunity God has given you in discipleship for granted? Can you have a degree on it today? Please speak to God wherever you are. I want you to speak to God wherever you are. Talk to God now.

Talk to God now. Wherever you are in every center, can you consider this matter and call on the Lord? There's a place where God makes man. If you will not end up just in the crowd, if what God is saying to you in this circle will come to fulfillment, can you come to him at his times? Shall we pray? Father, we just want to thank you once again for how you are leading us, even in this circle.

We are touched that Lord, just as it was with several of men and women who counted for you. You are also making announcement about our lives. You announced to Elijah about Elisha.

You announced to Samuel about David. Even a man like Paul, you made an announcement to that old disciple and said there are several things in a chosen vessel. But then you are showing us that you are speaking about what our life will be, does not automatically mean we enter into it.

We must come to you in the way of discipleship. There, Father, I do pray, Lord, for my brothers and sisters, wherever we are located as we have heard this. Please give us understanding.

Please give us understanding that, Lord, we may step into this so that what you are declaring to us in the days to come. Father, there will be testimonies as we return. Say, Lord, you said it.

Lord, you have me. And this is where we are now. We give you praise.

We give you honor. Blessed be your holy name. In Jesus' name we have prayed.

Amen.