missionary

March 17, 2019

“What Should I Do, Lord?”

10 “I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’  “And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do.’.   — Acts 22:10 NLT

“Get Up and Go”

Saul used to sit at the feet of Gamaliel learning about the Old Testament and the Jewish traditions and laws.  He became very zealous in defending the Jewish customs even to the point of putting Christians to death.  I think we can be very sure that in those times, he never considered the fact that Jesus was training him for a specific purpose.  It probably never crossed his mind that he would be the missionary of the ages and the man responsible for writing most of the New Testament.  The transition from Saul to Paul took over three years.  Our salvation experience was probably not as dramatic as that of Paul.  Nevertheless, it is just as necessary as that of Paul for the spread of the Gospel and the increase in the Kingdom of God.  Let each of us look at our lives and experiences.  What do those things tell us about what God has trained us to do to add to His Kingdom here on earth?  We cannot come to the conclusion that we are trained to do God’s bidding, that would devalue the work of Jesus on the Cross and our value to God.  Every person God has called to salvation has a part to play in the Kingdom here on earth.  Ask God to show you what that part is and then, get up and go!

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 03-17-2019

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July 11, 2018

Approved By God

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4 Rather, because we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, we speak as we do, not trying to please people but God, who tests our motives. – 1 Thess. 2;4 ISV
 
1 Thess.2:3-7 ISV

Each of us has been approved by God to spread the Gospel. Some of us have large audiences and some of us have small audiences, nevertheless, we are all instructed to “go and make disciples”.  God knows where we can be the most effective. Whether we realize it or not, we are “witnessing” all the time.  The question is this: “For whom are we witnessing and what word are we spreading?”  We must always be sure that when we speak or act, that our motives are pure and that we are speaking truthfully.  This is particularly true when we are preaching, teaching or witnessing for God. When we are laboring for God, we should always remember that it is Him we are trying to please. We should never water down the message the Holy Spirit gives us to speak. Our mission is to spread the Word of God, not to get rich or famous, nor are we in a popularity contest. The world hears enough about those kind of things every day, yet they are still unhappy and stressed out, they are looking for some kind of relief from all those daily pressures.  They are looking for something to fill the void that is inside them.  We have the answer and it should be our hearts’ desire to give the answer to others. We must present the message with love and kindness,  We should be as innocent as little children. We are to go out “as lambs among wolves”.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post – 07-11-2018

July 1, 2017

Be The Light on Your Corner

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6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. ​ – 1 John 2:6 NLT


The religious leader asked Jesus: ” What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus answered with two commandments instead of one. Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. He went on to say that all the law hinged on these two commandments. God has put His light in us to light the world and dispel darkness. The way we let our light shine is to obey these two commandments. We must spend time with Jesus to get to know Him better so we can love Him better, Then, by loving our neighbors, we demonstrate the love of God in our lives. When we accepted Jesus, we became aliens to this world and citizens of heaven. As ambassadors of heaven, we represent Jesus. It is our duty to reconcile others to Christ by giving them the Good News. We want to wait for some big thing to do, but we shouldn’t wait for grand opportunities. Start by doing a good deed today and you will give life and light to someone. As the old song says:

 
Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do,
Do not wait to shed your light afar,
To the many duties ever near you now be true,
Brighten the corner where you are.

Ina D. Ogdon, 1913


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

07-01-2014

January 12, 2017

Let God Do Your Boasting

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 18 For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends. — 2 Cor. 10:18 NASB
2 Cor. 10:12-18 NKJV

God has given each of us certain talents that we are to use for our livelihood. These talents are also to be used for Kingdom work here on earth. The workplace is our mission field that God has given to each of us. Our jobs may be temporary, short term or long term, but it is where God has planted us for now. Use your talents to to do the work well. Not everyone is called to be a pastor, missionary, music director, etc., but we are all called to be servants of one another to make the church stronger. Our job is to minister to (serve) those that God puts in our path. Our vocational work may give us earthly rewards, but we are to lay up our rewards in heaven. We can do that by loving and serving others.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 01-12-2017

May 25, 2016

Battleground Mentality

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2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money,[b] or even a change of clothes. — Luke 9:2, 3 NLT
Luke 9:1-10 NLT

If Jesus told us to go on a mission taking no money, food or clothes, what would our reaction be?  Do we really trust God to completely supply our every need?  Do we trust Him to protect us from every harm that comes our way?  If not, we must ask ourselves, why not?  Has He ever failed on a promise?  Is our salvation not secure?  If He was able to do this for the disciples, is He not able to do this for us?  Every disciple came back safe and sound.  God had provided their every need.  We think “Oh, but society is different now, we wouldn’t be safe and people now are not as generous as they were back then.”  Again, we are guilty of wrong thinkng and allowing ourselves to be decieved by satan.   The right question is “Isn’t God still God, can He not do today what He did then”?   And the right answer is “Yes He is and yes, He can.”  If the people won’t feed us, then God can use another method, just as He did when the ravens brought meat to Elijah.  Either we believe that God can and will or we don’t believe that He can and will.  In a war zone, there is no neutral ground and we are living in a war zone.  There is a war going on around us right now.  We may not see the spiritual warriors fighting the battles, but we see the results of those battles around us every day.   We see people who are deceived and refuse to believe the truth.  They have eyes to see but they don’t see.  They have ears to hear but they don’t hear.  

Ephesians 6:10-18 NLT
 
Post 05-24-2016
April 2, 2016

I Love to Tell the Story

even-smaller-bug-light117 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. — Acts 3:17-20 NLT         Acts 3:1-20

Except for Jesus, all humans were born with a sinful nature.  We, including Jesus, were brought into a sinful world.  Before the death and resurrection of Jesus, most of the people could use the excuse of ignorarnce of that fact as a reason not to accept His story.  Even in today’s world of high tech and instant communications, there are still some who can legitmately say that they have never heard the name of Jesus.  Although the Gospel has been preached in every country, it is believed that there are more than 6550 people groups that have never heard the gospel.  There are even more groups who have heard the Gospel but don’t have established Christian organizations to witness to each and every one of the people. Even in our own country and in a lot of our own neighborhoods, there are those who may have heard the name of Jesus but have little or no idea of His story of eternal life. In 2014, the Pew Research Center survey determined that at least 37% of Americans are not “absolutely sure” that God exists. If you are not absolutely sure that God exists, it would be hard to say that you are a Christian. Could one of these 37% be our neighbor? There is a 1 in 3 chance that we have a neighbor who doesn’t know Jesus.
The fields are white with harvest!  Pray that the Lord will send laborers into the fields.
John 4:35-38
Post 04-02-2016