TITUS CONNECTION Volume 18, Number 9 – September 2024

Greetings.  Thanks for the opportunity to share with you again.  One request that would be appreciated is to have you respond to what is written in the two articles, to get an idea of what impact or influence they are having on you.  Some people have given great feedback and I would like to have more.  Thanks.  Mike

Peer into the future for a moment.  Assuming the Lord does not come back before you die, you will die somewhere along life’s journey.  I am not trying to be morbid but this is reality.  When you die, will the ministry you have been allowed by God to be involved in as die?
I am not talking about the church, organization or activities you are involved in.  My question is focused upon who you are impacting, those individuals who you have poured some of your life into to help them become what and who God intends for them to be.
We can have the slickest organizational structures known to mankind laid out in the organizations we are involved in and have them fall flat.  It is not to say to plan well and have good structures in place.  The point is people drive structures, not the other way around.
Who are you investing in, a person or a couple someones who you get beyond the surface conversations and drill into them, where you open Scripture and talk about life?  Churches and organizations have programs but those things do not change lives.  The Holy Spirit using the Word of God and fellow believers is who He uses to change lives.
For some of us who are older, imagine spending intentional time with a couple of younger believers who have a lifetime of opportunity to influence and impact others and their cultures for Jesus.  Do you feel that would be beneficial for all involved, including us?
Jesus had a few purposes in mind when He intentionally invested in the apostles.  Mark 3:13-15, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”  He wanted to spend time with them, do life with them, let them see Jesus deal with the good and bad.
If you want to impact another person’s life, you have to live up close with that person, otherwise, you are simply being impressive to the person watching, according to Howard Hendricks.  In and out of prison, Paul had a number of men spending time with him.  It did not matter where he was.
Your future impact is a result of who you are building your life into now.  It should be our goal that what we build into others is who Jesus is, His character.  People need to see us live out Jesus in the good and bad, in the high and low points of life.  You have learned truths and life lessons from the Bible; give away the wisdom and insights you have learned.
The biggest reason for not doing discipleship is TIME.  We say we are so busy doing ministry that it is difficult to find the time to disciple, to mentor someone.  Jesus could have used that reasoning and simply had a lot of group meetings, booked Himself full of continual ministry activities and then died on the cross.  What impact would have that been?  Would the Church have continued after He went up to heaven?
It is true He had big group meetings and kept Himself busy ministry wise.  But He intentionally made His time with the apostles the most strategic aspect of the ministry He was entrusted with by the Father, because He was always checking with the Father on what He should be doing.  That meant spending time with His Father was priority.  Is that our priority?
We can build the biggest church building in our country.  We can have thousands of people come to the buildings we build.  We can have our organization reach into many countries.  Yet, if we do not invest in the lives of people, to mentor/disciple and help guide them, we can miss the essence of being involved in ministry of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The rich young man was blown away when Jesus told him to go sell everything he had and follow Jesus.  This young person was trying to follow the 10 Commandments, be nice to people and do all the right things.  That was great but there was one more item Jesus mentioned.  That was giving away all the young man owned.  This he could not do (Mark 10:17-25).
Does that mean money and possessions are evil?  In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul clearly shared the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  Money or possessions in themselves are not evil.  We need money to live in our world.
Let’s put it this way.  If you are obsessed with or your focus is money, possessions, boyfriend/girlfriend, career, job, sports or anything else and has become more important to you than Jesus, that root can easily lead to all kinds of wrong or evil directions.  So, what stands between God and your relationship with Him?
The rich young man could not part with what he had; money had become a god to him and he chose riches over Jesus.  If you think that money, status, hanging around certain people, a job or education will give you an inside track to Jesus and eternal life, you have wrong thinking.
There is nothing we can do or be that will make us acceptable to Jesus nor His Father.  Only complete faith in what Jesus did by dying on the cross and rising from the dead will result in salvation.  That faith is shown by a changed life because of believing in Jesus.
Whether it be riches, another person or something else, these can be stumbling blocks to becoming a Christian and developing our relationships with Him.  We will always have temptations on earth to take the place of Jesus as the most important aspect in our lives.
This beckons questions that needs answers.  In our lives if something or someone is taken out, or changed in your life, will Jesus’ importance to you change?  Will He suddenly become the most important part of your life then?  Will when something happens to you, your relationship with God remains the strongest aspect of who you are?
For young people, friends, money, education and your cell phone are vitally important to you.  It is easy to make any of these more important than Jesus.  The rich young man failed his test when he could not part with what most important to him.
There is nothing wrong with having friends, money, education or a cell phone but making anything more important than Jesus, is simply wrong.  Even having food in your home, where you are not trusting Jesus for your daily needs is the same situation when making anything more important than Jesus.
Fight hard to stay strong spiritually in your faith and journey with Jesus.  Good things from this earth can quickly become stumbling stones in growing in your beliefs and faith in Him.  Keep asking the Holy Spirit to help you keep your heart soft toward the things of Jesus, to His voice and toward the Word of God.