A Powerful Missional Life Is All About Pressing On With God's Mission

In Philippians 3:13-15 we read hear the Apostle Paul admonishing us to press on, never give up, never stop but strain and push your way to the finish line.  Read for yourself how Paul puts it:

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should take such a view of things ...."

When it comes to living a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ this should be our marching verse!  KEEP ON PRESSING ON!  Being on mission with Christ is not like a sprint race but more like a marathon race.  To finish the part of God's mission He has given to us to do will take years, along with lots of pain, sorrow and heart ache.  The temptation to quit will at times will be almost hard to overcome if we are not mentally and spiritually prepared to go the distance. 

This video is the first of 3 messages I brought for Agape Baptist Church in Tucson, AZ during their 3 day retreat with the theme of PRESSING ON!  I share it with you because this is a Word from our Lord not just for a few but for all of us who confess Jesus as Lord and have committed ourselves to follow Him.  As you watch it be encouraged but also be challenged for the work that our Lord has called us to is the greatest work in all of creation.  Don't allow the temporal things of this world blind you or fool you to think that the work that Christ has called us to is of little significance!  For it's not!  THE WORK WE DO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK YOU WILL EVER UNDERTAKE!  I pray that Christ will speak to you!

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WHAT NOW? How Are Christian To Act Now That The Election Is Over?

How should we who claim to follow Christ behave and respond to others now that the presidential election in the United States is done and many are confused and frustrated over the election results?  This is a good question and one that each of us who love Jesus needs to take seriously, find the answer and obey.  After all we are called to be the Light of the world.  Where and how do we start in this new age of America?  Watch this video and get some helpful insights to answering that question.

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Gaining Wisdom For Missional Living

Powerful and effective Missional Living requires the wisdom!  Where does that wisdom come from?  Watch this short video and encouraged to be wise in sharing Jesus with others, making reproducing disciples makers and on shining the Light of Christ brightly in your part of this dark world!  

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5 Biblical Principles For Shining The Light Of Christ

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

#1:  ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE THE LIGHT - NOT JUST SOME!

"You are the light ..."

Having the Light of Christ isn't for just a few special people. Every single person who has given their life over to Christ by faith has the light!

#2:  CHRISTIANS ARE TO SHINE THE LIGHT IN THE WORLD - NOT CHURCH BUILDINGS!

"You are the light of the world ..."

To much of what we do to shine the Light of Christ happens in building tucked away from the real world.  The people who need to see the Light of Christ are not coming into our church buildings. Christ told us to go shine His light in the world.  

#3:  CHRISTIANS ARE TO DISPLAY THE LIGHT - NOT HIDE IT!

"A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."

We are not to hide the light away so nobody knows that you follow Christ. Instead, we are to shine His light in a way that lots of people can see it and benefit from it.

#4:  GOOD DEEDS IS THE ILLUMINATION OF THE LIGHT - NOT JUST WORDS!

"let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds"

Doing good deeds or loving actions is a way to illuminate people's lives so they can see Christ and God's love.

#5:  THE GOAL IS TO GLORIFY GOD - NOT OUSELVES!

"glorify your Father in heaven"

The goal of shining the Light of Christ is for people to glorify God the Father.  It should never be our aim to get the glory for ourselves. The glory always belongs to God and God alone!

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6 Bible Verses Describing God's Mission

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1.  MATTHEW 24:14

This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.

2.  MATTHEW 28:18-20

Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

3.  MARK 16:15

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

4.  LUKE 24:46-48

"This is what is written: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And look, I am sending you what My Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high."

5.  JOHN 20:21

"Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

6.  1 PETER 2:9-10

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy."

8 Bible Verse To Empower You For Missional Living

These 8 verses have been particularly meaningful to me as I have been on this journey into a more missional life! They have been the fuel of empowerment that the Holy Spirit has given me to more boldly share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those I am around.  I pray, as you read them, you too find them to be of help as you travel this journey!  

#1: Luke 24:46-47

"He told them, 'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem."

#2: Matthew 28:18-20

"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

#3: Luke 24:46-47

"He told them, 'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

#4: Matthew 9:37-38

"Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

#5:  John 20:21

"Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

#6:  Acts 1:8

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

#7: Isaiah 6:8

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, 'Here I am send me."

#8: Mark 16:15

"He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

WE HAVE:

1. The Mission
2. The Message
3. The Calling
4. The Power
5. The Presence
6. The Scope

So what are we waiting for? Let's go shine the Light of Christ into our part of this spiritual dark world brightly!

 

5 Ways To Recognize When God Is Speaking To You

#1:  When God Speaks It Will Be Consistent With What The Bible Says!

"I the Lord do not change ..."  Malachi 3:6

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should change his mind. Doe he speak and then not act? Doe he promise and not fulfill?"  Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

Because God does not change he is not going to do things that are contrary to the prinicples that he has already established in the Bible.

There are only 3 things that remain forever: 1) God; 2) The Word of God; 3) and the souls of men. Notice the first two: God and the Word of God. Both of these last forever and will never change. 

If you are feeling guilty over a sin that you committed in the past and you've already sincerely asked forgiveness for it, but you still feel that God hasn't forgiven you that is not of God, it is of Satan, because God's word has already promised that if we confess our sins God will be faithful to forgive us of them (1 John 1:9).

So, if what you are hearing is not consistent with what God has already taught in the Bible it is not from God.

#2:  When God Speaks It Will Conflict With Human Wisdom!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are hight than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."  Is. 55:8

So, much of Jesus' teachings are contrary to everything we learn to be wisdom from the world. Jesus that if you lust in your heart you have already committed adultery.  

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5

Here God is telling us to trust in Him and in what He says how things should be done even when it doesn't make a bit of sense.  Our human tendencies are to go back to what we know best and the way the world has trained us to respond. But here God is telling us to fight off those urges to go back to the old ways of doing things and trust him in his way of doing things. God know it doesn't make sense to us but he implores us to still trust him and do it.

#3:  When God Speaks It Will Clash With Your Sinful Fleshly Desires!

"So, I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature ..." Galatians 5:16-17

Here are some things that I can wholeheartedly says and I know to be true. First, God is never going to tell you to have an affair with a married woman or man. Never! Second, God is never going to tell you to steal from your neighbor! Never! Third, God is never going to tell you to lust after your neighbors wife. He will never do it!  How do I know it? First because God tells us in the Bible not to do it but secondly because God is never going to "feed you sinful flesh"

God is always going to ask you to take the "Higher Road", which is also the "Harder Road".  He will always ask you to live to a "Higher Standard" not a "Lower Standard".

#4:  When God Speaks It Will Challenge Your Faith!

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who come to him must believer that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6

LOOK AT:

• Noah:  He was asked to build a boat big enough save himself, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives along with all the animals from a world wide flood.  
• Moses:  He was asked to deliver his people, 2,000,000 of them, from years of slavery under the rule of the most powerful kingdom of that time.
• The 12 Disciples: They were asked to leave everything and follow Jesus.

Each of these times when God spoke the people who heard it experienced a moment when their faith in God was challenged. Would they, by faith, do what God said, even though it looked impossible or would they ignore God and His calling on their life.  YOUR FAITH WILL BE CHALLENGED!

#5:  When God Speaks You Will Need Courage!

"Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land ... Only be strong and very courageous ... Have I not commanded you" Be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:6,7,9

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS!  The things that God calls you to do will not go uncontested and unchallenged but will require you to have courage and trust God to defend you, provide for you and accomplish through you what He said He would do. 

We have an enemy and he is real! His name is Lucifer! He hates you, he hates God and he will do whatever God permits him to do to destroy you, your work and your faith.  But be of good courage! If God is for us - who can be against us. Greater is He that lives in you than he that lives in the world.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."  2 Timothy 1:7