And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25)

The gospel accounts make it very clear that Jesus was not a Lone Ranger. He started out his earthly ministry by forming a posse of 12 disciples. In Luke 10:1 we read that when He sent them out on a ministry trip, He made sure they went “two by two” and not solo.

In Matthew 18:20, Jesus says: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Yes, our commitment to follow Jesus is personal and most of our witness is on an individual basis. But Jesus lets his disciples know that something special happens when they are together that does not happen when they are by themselves.

Case in point. In John 20:19 we see how the recently resurrected Jesus appears to disciples who are huddled behind locked doors. They get to see Him in person, hear Him say: “Peace be with you”, see His wounds and enjoy an incredible spiritual experience when “He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

It is worth noting that only those who were gathered together that evening were privy to this private encounter with Jesus. v. 24 says: “Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.”

By not being there with the rest of the disciples, Thomas missed out on that first appearance of the Risen Lord to His disciples. Why was he not there? We do not know for sure. Scripture offers no clues. No matter what it was—disappointment that it was all over with Jesus, disagreement with fellow disciples, his tendency to be a loner—one fact is clear. He missed seeing Jesus and experiencing all that the ones who were in the room did.

The narrative goes on to say that Thomas was present the next time Jesus showed up. Obviously, Thomas realized the value of being together with the rest of the disciples. He was rewarded with a personal encounter with Jesus. Thomas would then go on to make one of the greatest declarations of faith ever made by anyone: “My Lord and my God!”

On the Day of Pentecost we are told that there were about a hundred and twenty believers (Acts 1:15). They had the joyful distinction of being present when Holy Spirit descended upon them. In I Corinthians 15:6 we read that the Risen Jesus appeared to 500 followers at the same time. Notice the discrepancy in numbers? 500. 120. Where did the other 380 go?

We’re not sure about their whereabouts or their reason for not hanging around the others. What we can be sure about is that they missed out on the incredible experience of that day. By not meeting together with other believers, they lost their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be present at the “birthday of the Church.”

What a shame, eh? All they had to do was be there. And they would have experienced it.

No wonder the writer of Hebrews encourages us to “not neglect our meeting together.” My research of revivals over the years reveals that mighty moves of God always began when believers were gathered together. Yes, there were times when an individual was touched in a powerful way while they were praying or walking all by their lonesome, which then birthed a revival.

But, that was the exception rather than the rule. It was in the corporate setting that Holy Spirit showed up in incredible ways—be it Azusa Street, Pensecola or Toronto. Lives were transformed, gifts imparted and destinies accelerated as a result.

Dear DWOD friend, the destiny towards which you are advancing is your own. Your journey is personal, individual, unique and Lone Rangeresque at times. But, do not let that keep you from meeting together with the posse of other believers. You could end up missing out on a significant move of God…and wouldn’t that be a crying shame?

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). (John 1:40-42)

Peter’s first meeting with Jesus was not on the lakeshore when he was casting a net into the sea. It came courtesy of an invitation from his brother Andrew who had already met Jesus. The connection was made. Shortly thereafter when Jesus invited Peter to follow Him, he was able to leave everything behind and go with Jesus (Matthew 4:18-20).

When you read through the gospels and the book of Acts, you hardly hear anything about Andrew. Peter, on the other hand, gets a lot of press. Although Andrew does not get the recognition, you have to acknowledge the crucial role he played in making that connection for Peter.

Two of my closest friends in ministry in the Niagara Region are Pastor Dayo Adeyemo and Pastor Ric Borozny. When Sulojana was working at a call center, a young man by the name of C.J. Egbuna kept on bragging about his church and his pastor to her.

He got her so curious about this congregation that when we had a Sunday off in August 2006, we went to the Royal House, met Pastor Dayo, our hearts linked and we became friends. C.J. is no longer in town, but without that connection he made for us, we would not be ministering at the Royal House’s Prophetic Destiny Conference tomorrow night (June 4).

Pastor Dayo then invited me to minister alongside him at the first ever God of Wonders Healing Rally. It was at that meeting that Sulojana and I first met Pastor Ric & Deborah Borozny. Soon thereafter, Pastor Ric invited Pastor Dayo and me to meet with him for prayer once a week. All three of us have since forged a friendship that is strong as steel. From the first connection that C.J. established came the second connection through Pastor Dayo to the Boroznys. Since then I have had the joy of connecting both of these brothers to other anointed leaders and they have reciprocated with great joy. We are all the richer for these connections.

One of the keys to advancing into your destiny is to keep on making connections—not only for yourself, but especially for others. When you make connections for others, the law of sowing and reaping kicks in and you end up making more connections that are a blessing to you!

Nearly two years ago, a friend of ours in St. Catharines, Scott Jones, made a connection between us and a wild prophet from the eastern part of our province, Ontario. The connection was confirmed when he sent me an accurate prophetic word by e-mail and cemented when we met in person in Brantford. He has, in turn, connected us with Mark & Kiwanda Redner of The Oasis in Kinburn, Shawn Gabie of Dominion Outreach Centre in Ottawa, Pauline Wilcox in Golden Lake and many other revivalists.

We took the connection to yet another level when we realized that both of us had the gift of writing that would bless the Body of Christ by helping believers advance into their destiny. I am, of course, referring to my great friend and co-founder of Destiny Word of the Day, Pastor Darren Canning. I have reaped way more than I have sown!

Dear DWOD friend, take a moment now to examine the “connectors” in your life who have been a blessing to you. Thank God for them, and, send them a note of thanks as well, will you, please?

How about you? Are you a connector? Jesus is depending on you to be one! Because, you see, one of the key ways in which the Kingdom of God expands is through people like you and me who keep on making connections for others.

And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)

There is nothing unusual about Jesus calling someone to follow Him. He did this routinely at the outset of his ministry, didn’t He?

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. (Mark 1:16-18)

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)

What is unusual about this invitation in John 21 is that it comes at the sunset of His earthly ministry. To boot, the man who receives the invitation to follow is the leader of the band of disciples who had already followed Jesus faithfully for 3 ½ years! Why would Jesus re-issue the invitation? “Follow me.”

In other words, why would Jesus treat Peter as though he were a fresh, newly-minted disciple?

The incident outlined in the immediately preceding verses provides us with a clue. In verses 15-17, we see an interchange between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asks the same question three times: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter’s answer is pretty well the same every time: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

The third time we see that Peter is grieved by the threepeat of the question. All of a sudden it dawns on him that the reason Jesus asked the question three times is because He wanted to reinforce the fact that his threefold denial is all forgiven. The fact that Jesus commissions Peter to feed His lambs, take care of His sheep and feed His sheep respectively is proof that he has not disqualified himself in Jesus’ eyes.

Peter’s decision to go fishing, i.e. return to his old way of living, may very well have been the result of his sense of unworthiness to serve Jesus. Perhaps this is how he thought: “There is no way Jesus can use me after the heinous offence I have committed. No longer do I qualify to be a fisher of men. I might as well go back to being a fisherman.”

Peter had a load of guilt/shame hanging over him.

Jesus sends Peter this unmistakeable message: “I still believe in you, despite your disappointing behaviour in denying that you ever knew me. You are still valuable to me. I see you as a leader. I have great plans for you, Peter.”

Although Scripture does not state this explicitly, at that particular moment Jesus has removed any guilt and/or shame that Peter had been carrying as a result of his denial. It is as though Peter is a brand new person now, a “new creation”, as “the old has passed away.” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Thus it is time to issue the same call once again: “Follow me.”

Dear DWOD friend, ever feel the way Peter did—that the Lord cannot use you anymore because of something you did that you ought not to have done? Was it an abortion, a break-up you initiated, a wilful act of disobedience, a criminal act, a division you caused in your church, a rumour you started, ………………..? (Please fill in the blanks).

No matter what it may be, an encounter with the Risen Jesus will take care of the guilt and/or the shame. You may wish to follow the pattern that has worked well for my friend Darren Canning (see the DWOD for May 26—Does your Conscience Condemn you?) or seek that encounter through Sozo, Restoring the Foundations or other ministry.

You, like Peter, need to hear Jesus say to you: “Follow me.” You need that second call today, don’t you? He wants you to know that He is not finished with you yet. He still needs you.

Will you accept His call and follow Him once again?

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:17)

This has to be one of the most touching moments recorded in the Bible. The entire episode (from verses 15-19) is often referred to as the “restoration of Peter.”

The reference, of course, is to the cowardly behaviour Peter exhibited in denying that he knew Jesus, despite the bravado of declaring: “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will” (Matthew 26:33) just a few short hours earlier.

The first two times Jesus asks Peter: “Do you love me?” he is able to respond without any emotion. Perhaps he took the second attempt as simply reinforcement.

But the third time…it did Peter in. Now the connection between the threefold denial and the threepeat questioning is unmistakeable. Peter was grieved.

Amazing, isn’t it, that Jesus would take the time to have this one-on-one conversation with Peter! Obviously Jesus considered it crucial for Peter to receive His personal ministry before He ascended into heaven.

It would appear that Jesus wants to ensure that the guilt (and perhaps even shame) of denying Him does not keep Peter from fulfilling his destiny, beginning with the message he preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

Over the past 32 years of ordained ministry, one of the saddest things I have witnessed is how guilt and shame prevent someone with great promise from realizing their full potential in life. No matter what produced the guilt—benign neglect or an act of malicious intent, an unwise choice or an act of wilful disobedience—a break-up, an abortion, a crime, a refusal to help, a rumour they started…the result was still the same. It held the person captive to such a degree that they could not advance into their destiny.

On the other hand, one of the gladdest things I have been privileged to experience is the joy of seeing someone who had allowed the enemy to keep them shackled by guilt and shame confess it, receive forgiveness and accelerate toward their destiny.

By the way, the people to whom I am referring are not heathen godless unbelievers—these are bona fide born-again, yes, even Spirit-filled followers of Jesus, some of them leaders in the Church—yours truly included.

Small wonder then that we find these words in an epistle written by an apostle to those who are already part of the household of Christ: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

One of the reasons given by those who refuse to deal with the guilt and the shame is the pain that they may have to re-live in the process of receiving their healing. And, let’s be upfront about it. There is pain involved. Just ask Peter!

But, the pain is indeed worth what you gain. One week of Restoring The Foundations ministry and three Sozo ministry sessions have been keys for Sulojana and me to be the people we are today. Some of you, our DWOD subscribers have subjected yourselves to the gentle scrutiny of the Holy Spirit through these and other ministry vehicles as well, amen?

Friends, would you kindly ensure that guilt and shame do not hold you back from reaching your destiny? Here are two decisions that we would highly recommend you make today:

1. Get the ministry you need to rid yourselves of the guilt and the shame.
2. Resolve never to willingly do anything that could lead to regret down the road and produce guilt and/or shame.

You will be amazed how these decisions will accelerate your journey toward your God-given destiny…as it did Peter.

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, editor of True Wealth (whose philosophy is: “Buy assets of great value when no one else wants them…and sell them when others will pay any price”) wrote these words in a blog that I read:

“My secret to success is figuring out the One Critical Thing… and investing accordingly.

Most aspects of life have at least One Critical Thing that’s the key to success. (Some things have two or more Critical Things.) The trick is finding that One Critical Thing and sticking with it.

Take golf, for example… golf has a few Critical Things, like:

1. Don’t swing too hard/keep your head still.

​2. Don’t take big risks.

If you simply do these two things, you can become an extremely good golfer. I’m sure of it.

Finding that One Critical Thing can bring you a bit of peace and clarity. Most people get bogged down by too much noise and advice, and most of it is not that helpful. When you start to feel bogged down and overwhelmed, just return to the Critical Things. Chances are you’ll come out ahead.

Human nature is a funny thing, though…Even when we know these Critical Things…even when they are obvious…we still want to fight them. Go back to the golf example. We want to bend these rules, test them, take them to their limits, and ultimately break them. We want to think that this time is different. It is not.

So what I want to find are these Critical Things–both in the markets and in life.

The way I make the biggest money–by far–is when human nature gets in the way…when people think the Critical Thing no longer matters. When I see people forgetting about what matters, I simply bet that the Critical Thing will end up mattering after all.”

He cites some examples of how this focus on The One Critical Thing worked out well for him. When everyone was investing in real estate in the mid 2000’s, he invested in gold coins instead and came out way ahead while real estate investors got clobbered. In 2008, when the stock market was crashing, he took out a home-equity loan and bought stocks instead which promptly doubled in value. Similarly, when the housing market in Florida was flat, he bought properties at rock-bottom prices which are now listing for 5 times what he paid for them.

As I read his words, Holy Spirit reminded me of how true this is in church life. The One Critical Thing for every church is “to make disciples of the nations.” (Matthew 28:19-20).

When a congregation is growing numerically and flourishing financially, it is easy to ignore this Great Commission given by Jesus and focus on simply maintaining what we’ve gained.

When a congregation is dwindling in numbers and languishing in finances, it is difficult to invest in evangelism as the focus shifts to do all that we can to not lose what we’ve still got left.

Dr. Sjuggerud’s post reminds us how important it is for us to know The One Critical Thing that is absolutely essential for us to advance into our destiny.

After much trial and error, many wrong turns and misguided decisions, I have finally identified The One Critical Thing for my life and ministry. Are you ready for it?

It is called Taking Time to Sit at Jesus’ Feet and Simply Listen, as Mary did when Jesus came to visit her and Martha. When I do this consistently, I make the right choices at the right time and make progress. When I ignore this and simply go by what my flesh dictates or the circumstances demand, I regress and end up with regret.

How about you, dear DWOD friend? Do you know what The One Critical Thing is for you? Would you kindly share it with the rest of us?