On Mission for Christ

The church is not a building, a social club or a charitable organization. It is a world-wide Body of Believers with various functions on Mission for Christ. We each have an appointed job to do for the glory of our King (Ephesians 2:10, 4:1).

We are not on this earth to amass worldly goods, but to be a missionary for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God may give us the ability to acquire money, but it is to use for His Kingdom rather than our own pleasures.

Are you going to the grocery store? There is a divine appointment waiting for you there. Are you attending a ball game for one of your children or grandchildren? God has someone there who needs the Christ in you.

Our place of employment, neighborhood and community are our mission field. If nothing else, we can hand out our Sunday bulletin and invite someone to join us next week for a service.

If our focus is inward, our ministry team or church will self-destruct. We will develop an exclusivity mentality where other people are not welcome and growth of any kind is resisted. Backbiting, gossip and disgruntlement will grow.

Petty differences and self-centered desires will take the place of God's will for our church. We become at ease in Zion (Amos 6:1). We push God and His purposes right out of our church life, as well as our personal life.

We spend more money and time on our own pursuits than on God's calling for our life. Our focus is on having a good time and being happy rather than laying down our life and taking up our daily cross (1 John 3:16; Luke 9:23).

Our eternal reward is limited because we only seek our own pleasure during this lifetime. We want nothing to do with sacrifice or doing anything hard or unpleasant for the Lord. We might contribute toward paying for someone else to do the disagreeable chores, but we cannot be bothered.

Each small group in the Church, each ministry group like singles, seniors, or men's or women's Bible study needs a mission, as well as a time of fellowship and outings to enjoy each other's company. Let's consult God in all we say and do (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, give us a heart of flesh in place of our heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). Make us a Kingdom-minded army of Believers who would rather serve You and share our testimony and Your Word with the world around us than to seek this world's riches and pleasures for our own benefit.

Prick our conscience when we get off track and focus on our self, our next vacation or the purchase of our next expensive toy; so that we do not lose our heavenly rewards. If we do not obey Your will for our life, we will have no spiritual fruit or righteous deeds. We will stand naked and ashamed at our wedding feast with King Jesus (Revelation 3:18, 19:8). 

Thought for the Day:

Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:4); so, develop a mission-minded purpose for your life and pursue the things of God rather than what the flesh, the world and the devil have to offer; the good things in life rob us of the rewards we would receive if we focused instead on the best things, which God calls us to do.

God is in Control

There are many areas of life, which we desperately attempt to control, but they end up controlling us instead. Circumstances, people, illness, our supervisor, spouse, children, traffic, waiting in lines, etc. all influence our day in positive and negative ways. We often end up frustrated and hopeless because nothing we do will change the negative issues we are facing.

The best solution for these problems is to pray the Serenity Pray and to ask God to give us wisdom to know what situations we can change, and which we must leave in His capable hands. We can request that He give us the strength deal with the issues that He reveals are our responsibility and the courage to turn the rest over to Him with an attitude of acceptance of His will.

If we cannot change the issues, we can praise God for them, in them, and through them. For instance, our spouse is transferred to a city far from friends and family, and we and the children are resentful about moving. The only way to overcome the bitterness that is surely to follow is to realize that God has a new mission field for the family. A fresh place in the world to make a difference for Him.

       

The move is no longer a problem, not because we got our way, but because we changed our focus from carnal to spiritual, from earthly to heavenly. God cares about every aspect of our life. He is not unsympathetic about our concerns. He knows what we need, when we need it, and He will supply all of our needs according to His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, help me not to attempt to control life, but to live each moment of it in the center of Your will. When something or someone disturbs Your peace in me, remind me to keep my mind focused on You (Isaiah 26:3). Help me to walk in Your Spirit; and when something bothers me, give me the courage to lay down that idol at Your feet. I have the confidence that You will always either change me, or change my circumstances for my good (Romans 8:28).

Thought for the Day:

When negative feelings assail our soul, they are attempting to communicate that something is wrong within. We can ask God to show us the root of those feelings and the idol causing them. Then, we simply surrender to His control, as we wait for His provision as only He can supply.

Which Life Do You Choose?

 

Even as Born Again Believers, we do not always walk in the fullness of the Spirit of God who dwells within us. We are so full of our own dreams, goals and desires that we block out what the Spirit wants for our life (Matthew 23:27). We live empty lives, never satisfied and always wanting more worldly possession, a better job or more money; no matter what we have to sacrifice to get it! Our focus is on the carnal, material aspects of life. We are also spiritual babes, still feeding on the milk of the Word (1 Corinthians 3:2). 

Some Born Again Believers live with a strict adherence to the Law of God. They add restrictions to the Law like the Pharisees, and they keep Christians in bondage to dead works. The law keeps us from enjoying a relationship with God Himself, because we are too busy working to please Him. We find our self separated from God by a chasm of physical, mental and emotional exertion. We run our self ragged all day long and fall exhausted into bed every night, too tired to sleep.

God calls us to come out of the realm of works and the law and to rest in Him (Hebrews 4:10). He tells us to “be still” and to realize the immense meaning of the fact that “He is God” (Psalm 46:10). He is actually in control of all things, orchestrating life from creation to Armageddon. He will lead our individual life as we sit at His feet and worship Him above all else. You may say, “I worship no other god.” However, anything that takes your time, energy and love away from God is an idol; so in reality, we are worshipping other gods.

Until we realize our union with Christ in us, we live with a separated mindset. We live independently from His Spirit, because we rely on our own abilities and talents. We view God way up on His throne in heaven, while we are down here struggling to find success in life before we die. Satan does everything in his power to propagate these lies, so we will not live for God. We all come to the place in our life, however, where God calls us out of the world to serve Him. Many of us reject His call with a string of excuses a mile long.

The Spirit continually calls on us from within to lay our life down and to live for Jesus. We constantly reject this call, or put it off until another day. Some put off our service to Him until we retire. Then we are so tired and busy with our grandkids that we continue to put Him off. Our focus is on our self rather than on God’s Kingdom. We forget that our family, our vocation, our neighborhood and our hobbies are our mission field for the Lord. We do what we please regardless of the needs around us.

Prayer:

Father God, purge our soul of every ungodly thought that is from the flesh and the devil. Lead us into Your truth and cause us to walk only in Your ways. Reveal Yourself to us on an ever-deepening level until we know You intimately (John 17:3). Help us to come to the place where You are our every thought, and that our every word and action are directed by Your Spirit within us. Our goal is to no longer depend on our intellectual understanding of You, but to enter into the spiritual realm, and love You with our whole heart and lives. We want to follow Your Spirit moment by moment throughout our day.

Thought for the Day:

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death, which motivated us prior to our Salvation. – Romans 8:2