Marked by Discipleship - Part 7

MY STORY

After that encounter, I knew I needed church.

But more than that, I needed to be taught.

I needed discipleship.

I needed someone to help me understand how to actually walk with the God who had just met me so powerfully.

I had known what it was to attend church.

I had known what it was to believe.

I had known what it was to have moments with God.

But I had not truly known what it meant to be discipled.

One night, I was home watching a minister on TV. That was not something I usually did, but that night I was listening.

He said something about standing before the Lord and what we would have in our crown to lay at His feet.

I remember thinking, “I didn’t even know I had a crown.”

Something about that pierced me.

Tears of repentance started rolling down my face.

And I prayed a prayer that would mark me:

“Lord, if You will teach me, I’ll teach others.”

That prayer mattered.

Because God answered it.

I returned to the church I had gone to when I first got saved, and this time, I was not just attending.

I was being discipled.

There was an older pastor and his wife who took me under their wings.

There were sisters in the Lord who prayed with me and walked with me.

There were people who helped me grow.

The church was in transition and later received a pastor, he and his wife sat down with me and taught me the Word. They saw me. They encouraged me. They showed me how to serve. How to surrender. How to persevere.

His wife became one of the greatest discipleship influences I have ever had in my life.

She helped mark me in truth.

Not just church attendance.

Not just spiritual language.

Truth.

Foundation.

The Word.

The ways of God.

Prayer. Devotion. Worship.

And years later, God marked me through discipleship again.

There was another season, another place, another woman of God who helped walk with me, teach me, and sharpen me.

She taught me I was an asset. To pursue fruit. She stretched me.

Both believed in me and took time to show it.

Looking back, I can see how important this was.

Because encounters are powerful, but discipleship gives roots to what God awakens.

An encounter can change your direction.

Discipleship helps form your walk.

And I needed both.

This is part of why I care so deeply now about helping others understand what I did not understand for so long.

Because hunger matters.

Encounters matter.

But being taught how to walk with God matters too.

I was marked by encounters.

But I was also marked by discipleship.

And both became part of the foundation God was building in me.

To continue reading My Story read part 8