The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation

I WILLS TO INSTILL: I Will Seek Him // Taking Devotions from Drudgery to Delight // The Motto of the Family Disciple Me Ministry

• Tosha Williams for FDM • Season 5 • Episode 21

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Drudgery, discipline, delight—what do these words signify in your spiritual journey? Join Tosha Williams in the Family Disciple Me podcast as we explore  Isaiah chapter 12:3 and unpack how the act of seeking God, akin to drawing water from a deep well, requires commitment but promises profound spiritual renewal. Listen in as Tosha shares personal insights from life on her family farm, illustrating how intentionality in our relationship with the Lord can lead to spiritually fulfilling lives.

In this episode, we delve into the heart of our "Seek Him Speak Him" motto. We reflect on the journey from obligation to joy, exploring how daily encounters with God's Word can refresh and nourish our spirits. Whether you're a seasoned believer or new to faith, tune in for encouragement, challenge, and blessing as you deepen your walk with the Lord, drawing from the springs of salvation with joy.

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I WILL’S TO INSTILL // Convo #3:  I Will Seek Him

“You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.’” Isaiah 12:3 CSB

SEEK HIM: Devotion is Meeting with God in Our Own Lives! With the Family Disciple Me ministry, our motto is “Seek Him Speak Him.” Let’s spend some time with the Lord in Isaiah 12:3 about what it means to “Seek Him.” 

WHAT:  What is God saying through this Scripture? To draw water is to bring it up from the depths bucket by bucket. In the same way, Scripture by Scripture, truth by truth, principle by principle, day by day, God wants us to go to His wellsprings of life and seek Him. ~ Have you received God’s salvation; when, why, how? Look up “how to get water from a well with a bucket” and think about the intentionality it takes to get water this way. How does this help you better understand what it means to “Seek Him.”

WHY:  Why does this Scripture matter? To draw water requires effort, intentionality, work and determination. In ancient times, this was essential to physical life, something to be done every single day. ~ How often do you make the effort to spend time with the Lord each day? If joy is the measure of how much you “Seek Him,” how joyful are you? 

HOW: How does God want us to respond to this truth? The springs of salvation are available to all of us; the question is what we choose to do with this resource. We draw water when we daily decide to seek the Lord in our lives. ~ What is God saying to you personally about seeking Him? In what ways are you determined to “Seek Him”? Read Psalm 36:5-9 and listen to what God says to you through it. 

SPEAK HIM: Discipleship is Making God Known to Others! As we are filled with the life-giving, soul-nourishing water from God’s springs of salvation, will you stay quiet or let your bucket-full overflow into someone else’s life? 

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The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.

Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org

Speaker 1:

Drudgery, discipline, delight. My youth pastor promised, or maybe predicted, this when I was a teenager, as he talked to us about having our devotions. And well, I took him at his word about the word. I had been reading my Bible since I was a child and I have to admit, as I heard my youth pastor encourage us to spend time with the Lord. Well, devotions mostly felt like drudgery, but because of that godly leader's encouragement, I kept establishing the disciplines of spending time in God's Word. I continued in my walk with the Lord, reading a chapter or two or even three every day, and, to my surprise, I began to find that it no longer felt like a drudgery. What I did not anticipate was that someday, time with the Lord wouldn't just feel like a discipline either, wouldn't just feel like a discipline either. What I didn't foresee coming, but that my youth pastor said would be true time seeking the Lord would become a delight.

Speaker 1:

This is what we're going to consider in this next conversation as we go through Isaiah, chapter 12. We've already talked about thanks and trust and I pray that all of us are leaning into both of these with new intentionality and determination. I will give thanks, I will trust God, but now, in this conversation and the next. I gotta tell you these are my heartbeat, these are my passion With the Family Disciple Me ministry. We talk a lot about the phrase seek Him, speak Him. This is our motto, our theme, but what does it mean, how does it apply to our lives, how do we live it out and how does this lead to delight? These are some great questions. So right now, let's spend some time with the Lord in our next verse of Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 3, and specifically spend time on this phrase I will seek Him. I'm already delighted to talk to you about this one. Stick with me for the intro and then we'll be right back.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.

Speaker 1:

I live on a farm and one of the first things I had to get used to when we first moved here is the fact that we have a well. Apparently, our well is about 500 feet deep. It's been quite the learning experience to understand all the nuances and the intricacies and the ins and outs of keeping a well, working and producing water. But the good news is I don't have to go to the well every day with buckets and drop them down those 400, 500 feet by hand, scoop up the water and then bring it up into the house to cook or clean or drink or flush toilets with or do all the things that we do with water. We do have a well, but I'm privileged to have a well pump and though I've been told we have one of the most difficult wells in the whole county, we do have access to all the life-sustaining water that we need on our farm for our family, our guests, our animals. Wells haven't always been this way, though.

Speaker 1:

Throughout the history of time, and still in some parts of the world, gathering water has been a huge endeavor. Getting water has required work and effort, intentionality and determination. A decision of I will go get the water we need for today. In ancient times, this was essential to physical life. It was something that had to be done every single day. These days, few of us literally draw household water with buckets from anywhere. However, this is the analogy God uses in Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 3, to help us understand what he wants us to do in our walks with Him. The scripture says you will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation. To draw water is to bring it up from the depths, bucket by bucket, and this is where we learn something so important about the truth of seek him. To draw up water from a well or a spring is to bring it up bucket by bucket. In the same way, scripture by scripture, verse by verse, truth by truth, principle by principle, day by day, god wants us to go to his well springs of life and seek him Salvation. It's not just a been-there-done-that attitude, but a continual return to the source of the life-giving water of the Lord. I love the scripture that says you let them drink from your refreshing streams, for the wellspring of life is with you. This sustenance, this abundance, this overflow, this everything that we need in relationship with God. Well, it comes from time with him, it comes from being in his presence. However, we want to state the analogy whether it's a well or a spring, or a stream or a river, this water of salvation is available to all of us who have a real relationship with Jesus. And I should just add it's available to anybody, even if they don't have a real relationship with him, because God offers it freely to everybody. The question is what we choose to do with this resource.

Speaker 1:

I believe that we draw water when we daily decide to seek the Lord in our lives. We seek him through reading his word, through meditating on it, thinking about it, memorizing it. Let's try that one on. We seek him through talking to him in prayer, then being quiet and listening for His voice. We seek Him by going to church, worshiping with other believers and letting ourselves be discipled into a deeper walk with Him. There are so many ways to seek Him, him. There are so many ways to seek him starting with his word, then obediently doing what it says. This is not a burden, it's not a drudgery, and though it is a discipline, I can promise you it leads to delight. In fact, that's what our verse says. You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation. Are you experiencing this joy If time spent with the Lord results in joy, then how joyful are you? Oh, it's my heart's desire and passion that you will seek him and you will experience the delight that he offers you in his presence, in his word, in conversation, of prayer with him, in knowing him more deeply. This is the first half of why the Family Disciple Me ministry exists to make it simple, easy, exist. To make it simple, easy, doable to walk into these devotions so that you can know Christ better, so that you can seek him and learn to hear his voice and to know his heartbeat and to feel his touch in your own life. This is why we organize the conversations the way we do because we want to put into your heart and into your mind a mindset for how you can seek him by being in his word and then by talking to him, asking him questions like what, why and how. God, what are you saying to me through your word, god? Why does it matter? God, how do you want me to respond to your truth?

Speaker 1:

The first goal of the Family Disciple Me ministry in Seek Him is to help you realize that you don't have to be a spiritual superhero in order to hear from God and have a deep, joyful, meaningful, intentional relationship with Him. He has that for you right now. It's at the springs. And then, of course, the second reason that the Family Disciple Me ministry exists is so that you can be encouraged, equipped and empowered to not just seek Him but to speak Him and live out devotion-driven discipleship. We'll talk about this more in the next conversation, but for now, let's talk about seeking the Lord, about being filled with His life-giving, soul-nourishing water from His springs of salvation. Let's talk about having this joy in His presence that doesn't just fill us up but begins to spill over into the lives of those entrusted to us, to the lives of those entrusted to us.

Speaker 1:

To go back to our theme for this entire collection of conversations, though, this doesn't just happen. This doesn't happen with a mindset of I could, I might, I ought, I should. It's not going to happen. If that is the mindset with which we approach spending time with the Lord, we experience all this goodness, all this joy in His presence when we decide with intentionality and determination I will seek Him. That affects how we live every day. It affects what we do when we first wake up. It affects how much social media we watch. It affects how much TV time we have in our lives. It affects what we do with our free time. It affects what we do during our lunch hour. It affects what we listen to when we're driving to work or driving the kids to school or doing carpool. Whatever it is this determination I will seek him. It changes everything. It may feel like drudgery at first. I admit that I felt that it may start feeling more like a discipline, like I have to go to the gym, which is okay, we enjoy it, but it's still kind of hard sometimes.

Speaker 1:

But I promise you, if you keep leaning into the Lord, if you keep spending time with him, if you stay in his word, if you keep looking for what he has for you, how he wants to have you walk with him today. I promise you you will find delight as you seek him. Oh, friend, may you seek the Lord and his strength, may you seek his presence continually. That's Psalm 105, verse 4. And here's the promise that goes with that. God says you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. So, friend, determine in this new year that you will seek God like never before. Write it down, make it plain in your journal. Put it on the mirror in your bathroom, proclaim it to your family, speak it to your friends, make it known.

Speaker 1:

I will seek the Lord this year. And here's the thing when you find him, when you begin to experience him like you've never experienced him before, then shout it from the rooftops and, what's more, send me an email or Facebook message. I want to hear from you about what God shows you in His presence. So may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn His countenance toward you as you turn your countenance toward him and as you do this, may he give you peace and joy and happiness and hope and strength and a song. All all that make your salvation so much richer and fuller than you've ever, ever before, experienced. Go with God, friend, seek Him Until next time when we talk about speak Him.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for joining us in this podcast episode. You can find the matching conversation guide in the show notes. To get the latest updates about the Family Disciple Me ministry, as well as word about our soon-to-be-released app, sign up to be the first to know at familydisciplemeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek him. Speak him.