DAILY DIRECTIONS
WEEK 1 - DAY 1
Follow Me
Matthew 4:19
Jesus said, “Come, follow me.”
Jesus calls us to be His followers or disciples. A disciple is someone who becomes a student or an apprentice of someone else in order to be with them and ultimately become like them. Apprenticeships have been successfully used for years—make that centuries—in the skilled trades. For example, by working alongside a certified plumber, an apprentice effectively learns the plumbing business. A Christian disciple, then, signs up to be Jesus’ student or apprentice in order to get to know Him better and to learn how to live life as if Jesus were in their shoes. So discipleship isn’t just about believing in Jesus; it’s also about becoming like Him in everything we think, say and do. Discipleship is the process of becoming and maturing as Jesus’ disciple.
The purpose of Follow The Way is to help you passionately follow Jesus and personally live His way of life. Follow The Way is an invitation to start a discipleship journey with Jesus using these seven Maps:
Daily Directions
The Story
The Mission
The Great Greats
Freedom in Christ
Naturally Supernatural
Relationships, Work & Calling
Are you ready for a life-changing journey of following Jesus?
FOUR ONGOING STEPS
To help with this discipleship journey, Follow the Way cycles through four steps in our walk with Jesus:
Connecting with God
Several times a week you will be connecting with God through prayer and Bible reading. This is often called daily devotions. We call it Daily Directions because you’ll be going to God to get a roadmap for each day’s journey.
Supporting Each Other
You won’t be taking this journey alone. You’ll have some travel companions. With a Guide and one or two other people, you’ll discuss your Daily Directions and share what God has been saying to you through them. We call these Weekly Huddles. Keep in mind your guide is not an expert in the faith. They’re just a few steps ahead of you in this discipleship journey and will help you scout out your route ahead.
Living Life
This is where the rubber meets the road. In the Daily Directions and the Weekly Huddles, you will be asked to make I Will Statements. These are personal and practical action steps that you will take to walk out your faith in Jesus. Follow The Way is built on what could be called obedience-based discipleship. Each week at your huddle you will be asked how your I Will Statement from the week before has gone. By building accountability into the journey, you’ll be encouraged to keep going and growing.
Guiding Others
The goal in all of this is not only to help you follow Jesus, but to help you help others follow Jesus too. Follow The Way will prepare you to share with others what Jesus has done in your life and help guide them in their journey with Jesus. In this way, your discipleship journey comes full circle as you return to the beginning to help someone else get started on their journey. The goal of Follow The Way is to create a movement of disciple-making disciples.
DAILY DIRECTIONS
This first Map of Follow The Way is about how to connect with God through prayer and Bible reading. This daily connection is foundational to the whole Follow The Way Discipleship Journey.
Dallas Willard a Christian philosopher has said:
A biblical Christian is not just someone who holds certain beliefs about the Bible. He or she is also someone who leads the kind of life demonstrated in the Bible: a life of personal, intelligent interaction with God. (Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God).
What an amazing thought. Can you actually have a “life of personal, intelligent interaction with God”? Yes, you can and you will! Through the daily readings and weekly discussions, you’ll start that kind of relationship with God or take your relationship with God to a deeper level.
Throughout every Map of Follow The Way you will be led through the following Daily Directions journaling pattern:
UP - Lift Up Your Praise
DOWN - Bow Down In Repentance
IN - Take In God’s Word
OUT - Pray Out Your Requests
STOP - Stop, Look and Listen
GO - Go Through Your Day
Starting with Day 3, we will begin explaining what each Daily Direction means. Today we’ll just jump into the Directions. It will be sort of sink or swim. But don’t worry. They’re simple, and over the course of these next two weeks we’ll unpack the meaning of each Direction.
You’re encouraged to journal your responses. You could use pen and paper or some electronic device. Either way, you’ll want to keep track of your responses, so you can share them at your Weekly Huddle. This is especially true for the two responses under IN - Take In God’s Word, namely:
Lord, I hear You saying to me …
Now, with Your help I will …
Much of your Weekly Huddle conversation will be based on those responses.
DAILY DIRECTIONS JOURNAL
Use a sentence or bullet points to finish these statements.
UP - Lift Up Your Praise
Lord, I praise You for …
DOWN - Bow Down In Repentance
Lord, I repent of …
IN - Take In God’s Word
Jesus is the only Way to God the Father. And He calls us to follow Him, that is, to be His disciples. A disciple is someone who not only believes in Jesus, but also becomes Jesus’ student or apprentice for the sake of knowing Him better and learning how to live His life as if Jesus were in our shoes. You are on an exciting journey of becoming like Jesus in all you think, say and do.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Acts 4:5-13
The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Lord, I hear You saying to me …
Now, with Your help I will …
OUT - Pray Out Your Requests
Lord, I pray for …
STOP - Stop, Look and Listen
Lord, what do You want to show me or say to me?
GO - Go Through Your Day
Lord, I pray for Your help as I anticipate these events today …
Congratulations! You got through the first day. Once again, every day will follow this Daily Directions journaling exercise. The write-ups and the Bible readings will change depending on that day’s subject, but every day will follow this same basic pattern.