For the past 18 months, i’ve been in a discipleship group, or “d-group”. This is the first Monday we haven’t met in a year and a half. I really can’t believe last week was the last week.
It’s crazy that I’ll never meet at Chris’s house at 5:30 PM on a Monday night again. I’ll never see her opening the door, welcoming me in with hugs and smiles ever again. I’ll never be late again (like most weeks, lol). I’ll never be cramming my memory verses in my head on the drive there again. I’ll never go to Stompin’ Grounds to get coffee before group again. I’ll never be in a d-group with Kayla, Caiah, and Chris ever again. Part of me wants to cry and be sad about it. But the other part of me is honestly excited to begin to see how God changed me over the past 18 months. Now starts the debriefing and processing time.
I would say the greatest change in my life is that my intimacy with God has deepened in ways unimaginable because of d-group. Not only was I finally in tight knit community, in continual prayer, scripture memory, and Bible reading over the past 18 months, but I actually got to know God and who he is on a new level. I know with my whole heart and mind that God is always with me. He loves me. I know his sovereignty to be true more than anything could ever be true. I have a deeper faith in God through d-group.
I know God as my friend now. It was one thing I was struggling with at the beginning of d-group. Prayer was hard for me. Intimacy with God was hard for me. But since going deeper in our relationship, it's different now. I now know that he sees me. I know I can always talk to him. I love to welcome him into my mundane, every day moments, and he loves to be welcomed as well. He loves me as me, even the messy, raw, and unedited version. I can’t go a day without him - without talking to him, without worshiping him, without loving him.
I love and adore Jesus now more than I ever have. My understanding of his sacrifice and what it means for me is much greater. I have faith in his authority. What Jesus did on the cross, the price he paid, his perfect blood that he shed - he did it once and for all time. There will never be another sacrifice to take care of sin. It is done. He finished it. He secured a relationship with God the Father. He finished sin and death’s power over us. There is secure redemption through him. There’s nothing that could ever undo what he did for us. The SAME power that raised Jesus from the dead, resurrects us. Because of Jesus, we are not dead, but alive. We are not far from him, but hidden in him. His life is our life. His love is unshakable. His love is adamant. Nothing could ever change his love for us, no matter how much we fail, no matter how bad we sin, and no matter how little faith we have to believe it, Jesus paid the penalty once and for all time. Tetelestai - it is finished. Through him is everlasting life! (got me preaching up in here... haha!)
Another way God used d-group to change my life is that he taught me about myself. I know myself much better nowadays. I’m not as lost as I once was. There’s true freedom in knowing who you are. For a while there I truly struggled with knowing who I am.
In d-group, each week we speak life and truth over each other. We pray for one another. We carry each other’s burdens. We lift each other up. Being loved like that really helped me love myself. And in turn, it helped me know myself. And also, I believe that when you know God more, you know yourself more. Surround yourself with people who speak life and truth into you, and you’ll know yourself. Dive into your friendship with God, and as you know him better, you’ll know yourself.
D-group is pretty amazing in many other ways too. It’s life changing for sure. Jesus knew what he was doing when he modeled discipleship for us.
In his final words in Matt 28:18-20, he commands us to do the same: “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
It’s our commission to make disciples. And we’re not alone in doing it. Jesus says: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It’s so encouraging that the very last words Jesus spoke before he ascended to the Father are those words. There is confidence in his promise. He is faithful. Always with us. The cool part is that the Holy Spirit disciples through us. It’s Jesus in us teaching our brothers and sisters. Over These last 18 months, I’ve learned the importance of Jesus’s last words. Discipleship changes everything. We must obey. We must make disciples.
I encourage you to join a d-group. I’m over here cheering you on. Jesus is too! You’ll be surprised of how much God can do in your life through a few other people, scripture memory, bible reading, prayer, and love.
It’s pretty crazy.
More info on d-groups here: https://longhollow.com/make-disciples-pathway/
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