Day 28 - Rely on His Presence

And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  Matthew 28:20

"The mission of God is impossible without God.  God's presence makes the mission possible.  Without God working through the disciple-making process, an untrained, undisciplined person will have niether hope nor chance of becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ."  - p. 115 of "The Discipleship Dare" by Jess Bousa.

I used to say this prayer as I would venture out into my day:
   God, go before me, prepare the steps that I am to take today.
   God, go with me, show me what to say and do, keep me on the path you've prepared for me.
   God, go behind me.  Clean-up whatever messes I made and finish the work you started in me and  
   others.

If left to my own devices, I would choose the wrong path, over and over...and over...and over.  But with God...all things are possible!  God shows me the path to walk.  He leads me.  He guides me.  He gently (and sometimes not so gently) nudges me when I'm headed in the wrong direction.  His Holy Spirit goes before me, He goes with me, He follows behind me.

In the same manner He is working in me...He is working through me to help disciple and teach others.  His Holy Spirit uses me as His instrument to share Christs' love with others.  It can be as simple as a smile or a hello.  It can be a hug or an arm on the shoulder.  It can be words that are said.  Encouragement.  Teaching.  Correcting.  Rebuking.  Always in love.

God dares me to rely on His presence to make disciples.  I can't convert a single soul, but God!  Through prayer, God's Holy Spirit and a sole-reliance on Him, I resolve to depend on Him to make disciples of all nations...no matter how impossible the task seems.