Encouraging, Empowering & Equipping Ordinary Christians To Live Powerful Missional Lives!
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Watch this video and receive empowerment from God’s Word to go live a life that reflects the glory of Christ back into the lives of those still trapped in darkness.
When it come to joining Christ on His mission and seeing a church planting/disciple making movement ignite there is often one essential but overlooked principle that needs to be considered. Watch this video to learn what that principle is and then consider how we can most effectively incorporate it. Leave your thoughts as a comment.
In the last post of this series SUITING UP FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE I wrote about Knowing Who’s Not Your Enemy. The reason for that post is because to often we think that people are our enemy and the cause for such terrible difficulties that we experience during spiritual warfare. But people are not our enemy. As we found out that those same people we used to believe were our enemy were in fact the ones we came to liberate. All people before they come to faith in Christ, according to the Bible, are lost, slaves to sin and blinded by Satan. And they are the reason why we are still in this world. Every time we share the Gospel with these people they have an opportunity to experience freedom in Christ. THEY’RE NOT OUR ENEMY - THEY ARE THE ONES WE’VE COME TO RESCUE!
However, we do have a very real and dangerous enemy and we should not take the threat lightly. We need to know of him and about him. The one we know about our enemy the better we can anticipate his what to expect from him, specially during spiritual warfare. Take a look at who the Bible describes is our enemy.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
According to William Barclay, the great New Testament theologian, this verse indicates that the Apostle Paul view our enemy as a very sophisticated and organized system of evil that Satan has constructed to rule this world. There are rulers, there are authorities, there are powers of darkness and there are spiritual forces from the heavenly realms. In verse 11 we read that our enemy is the devil who likes to scheme against us. In verse 16 we read that our enemy is the evil one who is shooting flaming arrows at us.
So who is our enemy? It is none other than Satan and his demonic forces that rule this world on a temporary basis. Satan and his forces are powerful and organized and they certainly do not like those who follow and obey Christ.
The Apostle Peter also identifies Satan as our enemy,
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
In this verse Peter emphasis that we should view Satan as a real and dangerous threat by admonishing us to stay alert and sober minded. And why? Because our enemy is always looking for an opportunity to catch us with our guard down so he may attack.
Peter describes the devil as that of a roaring lion seeking to devour his prey. There are two things I want you to mediate on about the devil.
First, Satan is a powerful foe. The reason why we call lions the king of the jungle! And that’s because they are strong and able to over power most other animals. They are very high up on the food chain and don’t really cower from their opponents. Satan is the same! He is powerful and if not taken seriously can quick overpower us.
Second, Satan is a predator. Lions prey on others animals. They don’t grow crops or produce their own food. They feed off of less powerful animals. Satan too is like a predator just waiting to ponce on an unsuspecting person and destroy them. Satan
Satan is not our friend. He is our enemy and he hates us. He does not have our best interest at heart. He will lie, cheat, and steal all to get you in a position where he can ponce on you.
Does the thought of Satan being your enemy cause you to worry at some level? Do you know of other brothers or sisters in Christ who seem to struggle with worry? Then check out this great new book on how you can join Christ on His mission without worry. Hit the link below to get more information:
The Apostle Paul starts off in verse 11 with the admonition for us to ensure that we have been full suited up with our spiritual Armor. He’s not suggesting that we put on some of the armor or even most of the armor. No, the Apostle Paul is very clear. We are to make sure we are to put on every piece of our spiritual armor because without all of the pieces we leave ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the demonic forces that we fight against.
To leave off even one piece of the armor is to create a chink in the armor thus exposing a vital area of our spiritual life to the devil and his attacks. Each piece of the armor is intended to protect a specific essential area of our spiritual life that is vital to our spiritual growth and vitality.
Next, I want you to take notice who’s armor we are to put on! We are not told to put on our own armor! In this verse the spiritual armor that we are to wear is identified as belonging to God. It is God’s armor we are to wear when entering into spiritual battle.
Why is this so important? Because, any king who is leading his soldier into battle will not only be fully suited up with his armor but will be fully suited up with the very best of armor! The materials used and the craftsmanship in making the armor will be the very best. Inferior materials and inferior craftsmanship will not be tolerated when it comes to the king. Why? Because, protecting the king and ensuring his safety is of the utmost importance.
In times past, there were situations, where two opposing kings each would select a champion to go fight each other. Just man against man. This soldier against soldier battle was done instead of the two armies battling it out. It was done in order to spare the loss of lots and lots of lives. The king of the champion that lost would then surrender to the king who’s champion won and he and the his subjects would become servants to the king of the champion.
There were times after a champion was selected that his king would then offer for him his armor to wear into the battle. Why the offer? Again, it was because the armor of the king is always the best armor made and offered the best protection the enemy. The kings offer to wear his armor was to give his champion the best possibility for victory.
That’s exactly what happened when David went out to fight Goliath. Take a look at 1 Samuel 17:37-39 says,
“… Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you.' ‘Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.” (NIV)
Out of all the soldiers in Israel not one of them was willing to go fight Goliath as Israel’s champion. They all were to afraid. But because of David strong faith in God, even though he was just shepherd boy, he was willing to make his stand against the giant. Even though he had no armor of his own, he was wiling to go. King Saul seeing both the courage and faith of this young man was then wiling to offer his very own armor for David to wear into battle. He wanted to give David the best fight chance possible to win. As it turned out David didn’t wear the armor because it was to big and he had not trained fighting with the armor. David knew he had a far better chance for victory if he used that which he knew best and not using something so unfamiliar.
Now here’s the point I am trying to make with all of this information.
God is clothing us with the VERY BEST of Spiritual Armor, His armor, so that we are very well protected from the enemy. If this is God’s armor that He would wear into battle don’t you think it is made of the very best of material and the very best of skill crafted it?
THIS IS SO AMAZING! God isn’t sending us out to fight the enemy with whatever protection we can find! God has provided us the very best of protection. HIS ARMOR!
Would I be to bold to say that the armor of God is even impregnable. I LOVE THAT WORD! This word “impregnable” is a powerful word and shouldn’t be used lightly.
Here’s what it means:
When I say that wearing the Armor of God makes us impregnable I am saying that we cannot be defeated or destroyed during spiritual warfare and I believe that is exactly why the Apostle Paul told us to make sure that every piece of God’s Armor is put on! It is to ensure that we come out the victors in each and every spiritual warfare encounter.
Notice what Paul says immediately after his strong admonition to put on the full armor of God. He says,
“…so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Wearing the Armor of God allows us to stand against our enemy - not fall on our knees before our enemy. It gives us the ability to withstand the onslaught of Satan’s attack and be the one left standing when the attack is over.
Wearing the full of Armor of God doesn’t mean the battle is going to be easy or painless, it just means, when it’s all over and done, you’re left standing the victor. You might be beaten and battle worn but you will be the one left standing.
So, now can you see why it is a necessity and not just a suggestion when it comes to wearing the full Armor of God?
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)
After the word, “Finally” the following sentence indicate the one essential ingredient necessary for experiencing victory in spiritual warfare over Satanic attacks. This is not just a good suggestion that might be consider but essential element that necessary for overcoming the enemy during spiritual battle. Failure to utilize this ingredient is doomed to failure whereby you are defeated by the enemy. In other words, you can’t win over Satan unless you include this essential ingredient. THAT’S WHY IT IS CALLED: ESSENTIAL!
What is this essential ingredient that is so necessary in gaining the victory ins spiritual warfare? It is strength! Our enemy, Satan, is a strong adversary and it is essential that we are stronger than him. Satan is a formidable adversary that requires us to be even more formidable. When a soldiers engages in hand to hand combat it is usually the one who is the strongest that prevails. So, it is imperative that we know that we have much greater strength than our enemy, Satan, if we are going to be victorious in overcoming him during our times of spiritual battles.
In this verse we are told that we need to gain our strength in two areas. I say two but to be honest they are both from the same thing. However, you can’t avail yourself to the second area unless you first receive the first area. What are these two areas of strength:
What does the verse say,
“Finally, be strong in the Lord …”
The spiritual strength that allows us to experience victory in spiritual warfare comes from us being Strong “In The Lord”. There are two important things to notice from this sentence.
First, Our strength for overcoming spiritual warfare emanates from Christ himself. Christ is the source of the necessary powerful for gaining the victory in spiritual warfare. Listen to what the Apostle John says in 1 John 4:1-4,
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (NIV)
In this verse the Apostle John is talking about not believing every spirit but to test them to see if they are of God or not. Spiritual warfare has a lot to do with deception. Satan will use false prophets that sound real good but are not of God. John calls this the spirit of the anti-christ.
But then in verse four John makes three powerful points . These three points should provide hope to all of God children, especially those of His children who are intentionally engaging in the mission of our Lord. What does he say? He says,
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (vs. 4).
First John says: That we who follow Christ are from God. Because of Christ;’s death, burial and resurrection and our faith in Him as Lord we now belong to God. God is our master and our Lord. Satan no longer has any claims over us. We have been bought back by God. We now belong to him.
There’s an old gospel hymn I grew up singing. It’s called NOW I BELONG TO JESUS written by Billy Speer. Listen to the lyrics and let their message sink deep into your heart and soul.
(v. 1) “Jesus, my Lord will love me forever,
From Him no pow'r of evil can sever,
He gave His life to ransom my soul;
Now I belong to Him;
(Chorus) Now I belong to Jesus,
Jesus belongs to me,
Not for the years of time alone,
But for eternity.
(v. 2) Once I was lost in sin's degradation,
Jesus came down to bring me salvation,
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame,
Now I belong to Him;
(v. 3) Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me,
Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me
His precious blood, He came to redeem,
Now I belong to Him;
We truly are from God! Why? Because God bought us, owns us through the precious blood of Jesus when He died on the cross. Here’s a clear Biblical principle that we need to get very clear in our mind: Because Jesus bought and paid for us through his death on the cross, his burial and his resurrection from the grave, we now belong to him and as such everything we need, including the power to be victorious in spiritual warfare, is provided to us from him.
Second John says: We have overcome them: Who’s the “them” he is talking about? It’s the evil spirits that it referred to just a few sentences earlier. Here’s a most important fact that we must understand in both our mind and our hearts. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection and through our faith in Christ as Lord, we have already become the victors. The war has already been won. While there still may be some individual skirmishers still going on the - the war has already been won. Because of Christ we no longer need to fear death, the grave or even sin. THE VICTORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WON BY CHRIST!
Finally John says: The one who is in us is greater than the one who resides in the world. Through our faith in Christ, Christ baptized us into the Holy Spirit and now through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives Christ himself is living His life, not only in us but also through us. The strength we need to prevail in spiritual warfare is the same strength that Christ used to overcome Satan and now through the Holy Spirit Christ himself lives in us and Christ who has already defeated Satan can do it again but this time through us.
There’s an amazing story of what happens when you try to engage in spiritual warfare without having Christ in your life. It’s found in Acts 19:11-20.
There were seven sons of Sceva living in Ephesus during the time of the Apostle Paul and his missionary journey into Ephesus. These seven sons of Sceva had seen and heard about how the Apostle Paul healed the sick and casted out demons and, for whatever reason, wanted to do the same but didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ. Then one day these seven brothers found a demon possessed man and tried to command the demon to come out of him. Then the demon responded back to them,
“Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” (v. 15, 16 NIV)
Here’s a lesson we can learn from this story. If you don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, you don’t have the power to overcome in spiritual warfare.
Did you read what the demon man said to those seven brothers right before he gave them pound down? He said, “… Jesus I know and Paul I know about …”
Don’t let his statement escape you too quickly! He said that he knew Jesus. Of course he did. Demons are nothing more than fallen angels who followed Satan in the great rebellion. That demon had seen Jesus, the Son of God, before He was born of a virgin, in Heaven sharing the Glory of God the Father. This knew exactly who Jesus was and feared him.
But then the possessed man said a second thing: I know about Paul. The Apostle Paul was on this demons radar. He knew about him, he had heard the spiritual rumors about Paul, probably from other demons and he also knew that he didn’t wanted to mess around with Paul because Paul was a born again, Spirit filled with the life of Christ being lived out through him. Though he had never personally encountered Paul, he knew he didn’t want to because of Jesus who lived in and through him. You see this demon knew that Paul had the power to defeat him because he had Christ living in him.
But for these seven sons of Sceva this demon also knew that they were not Spirit filled and Christ didn’t live in them and as a result they had no fear of them. 7 to 1 meant nothing to that demon possessed man. Why? Because that demon knew that no mortal man could defeat him, only the person who is strong in the Lord by having the Lord himself living in and through him.
So if we are want to be victorious in spiritual warfare we first need to be strong in the Lord. Our walk with Christ needs to be strong; our prayer life needs to be strong in Christ; our desires and will need to be submitted to Christ.
SECOND AREA OF STRENGTH: IN CHRIST’S POWER!
Now we need to refine our focus to one specific area of being in Christ and that is to be also “In His (Christ’s) might power. In other words, we need to make sure that when it comes to spiritual warfare we are utilizing the power of Christ and not our own power.
Well then one has to ask themselves this very important question: If one is in Christ is it possible to attempt to do things (like spiritual warfare) in some other strength like our own?
And the answer to that question is an resounding
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Galatians 5:13-17 (NASB)
In these few verses in Galatians we see that it is not only possible for Christians to live a life of sinful desires but that it is something so probable that we are admonished to guard against it. Please understand, being tempted to live a life in the sinful flesh is part of spiritual warfare.
But there is a remedy to becoming over whelmed with spiritual warfare and that is to intentionally choose to live a life by the Holy Spirit, to be filled by the Holy Spirit, or to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. These verses are very clear, if we are walking in the Spirit we will not carry out the desires of the sinful flesh or another way of saying it is that we will not over overcome during spiritual warfare. We will be the victor!
Listen to what God says to Zerubbable through the prophet Zechaiah about the kind of power necessary to accomplish the Lord’s work and experience victory,
“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LordAlmighty.” Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)
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As it pertains to living life on mission with Christ and working to see Disciple Making/Church Planting Movements ignite here are 4 tactics that Satan will use to stop our efforts in their tracks. This is taking a look at Spiritual Warfare from the lens of being on mission with Jesus.
“And even if the Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Cor. 4:3-4 (NIV)
The Christian’s response to this satanic spiritual warfare tactic s to pray for God the Father to start drawing that specific blinded individual to come to Christ. The Bible tell us that no one comes to the Jesus unless the Father first draws them and all whom the Father draws will come.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him …” John 6:44 (NIV)
“All the Father gives me will come to me …” John 6:37
Since it’s God the Fathers to draw people, let us start praying that he will do it for specific people who are blinded by satan to have their blinders removed.
The Parable Of The Sower:
“As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds cam and ate it up … When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one come and snatches away what was sown.” Matthew 13:4,9 (NIV)
The condition for the snatching away of the seed, message of the Gospel, is a lack of understanding of what is being shared. Our response to this Satanic tactic is two fold: 1. Prayer. Pray for that the Holy Spirit will open the mind and heart of the unbeliever to understand and believe the truth of the Gospel. 2. Use a simple to understand Gospel presentation and don’t leave until that person fully understands what is being shared.
“For false christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the the elect, if that were possible.” Matthew 24:24 (NIV)
At different time throughout the book of Acts we see counterfeit Christ’s, miracle workers, etc… trying to deceive people to believe their way (a satanic) way, is the right way.
A good response to this kind of satanic tactic is to focus on what God has personally done for you. Use your testimony inline with the Gospel to help people see that Jesus is what they need.
In Acts 13 we see over and over again how Satan used unbelievers following the Apostles to other towns to disrupt the work of the Lord. They will cause disturbances and get angry with God’s messengers.
A good response to these kinds of activities is to focus on the few who do believe and go undercover. Disciple them, strengthen them, and equip them. They then can go back into the community, without outside distractions, to keep the discipling process.
Let’s be aware of how Satan will try to stop us, hinder us or maybe even try to discourage us from our faithful service to Christ and His mission. If we know what to expect, we can begin to prepare for them in advance and not be caught off guard.
"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him (Jesus). But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. Then Jesus told them this parable: 'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15:1-7 (NIV)
The Pharisees had constructed a very sophisticated religious bubble to insulate themselves from those who lived in the outside world. They had very little contact with those people and considered them to be sinners and unclean. In one hand the Pharisees were afraid that having any contact with these kinds of people would contaminate them but on the other hand they were hypocrites and just as sinful as anyone else.
But Jesus, in contrast, being the only truly righteous person lived, ministered and befriended those who were part of the sinful outside world. He hung out with them, he ate with them, he laughed and cried with them. He was truly a friend to the sinners.
Jesus' actions and attitudes toward sinners was very disturbing to the Pharisees! So they began to mutter amongst themselves about it. The HCSB translations says they began to complain about it. Isn't that amazing? Here is a person doing good and then you have a group of people "complaining" about it. Why would they complain? The Bible doesn't say why but maybe it was because they felt that Jesus' actions challenged their acceptable way of doing religion. They had set up a whole system of being isolated from the outside world, giving the appearance that they had it all together with the intent of attracting others to their way of doing things. But the problem was that they were hypocrites and they didn't have it all together. Their lifestyle was a lie and therefore ineffective. But here comes Jesus and he does have it all together. He's perfect. There is no hypocrisy in Christ at all and he is not isolating himself from the sinners of the world. In fact he is enjoying their company far more than he enjoyed the company of the Pharisees. So from the Pharisees perspective everything they had built Jesus was now condemning and tearing down by his new approach.
Maybe they were complaining because they personally were not comfortable with people who lived and worked in the outside sinful world. Maybe they didn't know how to relate to them. Maybe their dress, smell, speech and lifestyle were so different from what the Pharisees had become accustom to that they felt totally out of place around them.
Or maybe, they were jealous of the success and attention that Jesus was getting from the outside world! The people were no longer, if they ever did, looking to the Pharisees for spiritual direction now that they had a man who walked and lived amongst them showing them the way. The message of grace that Christ brought verses the message of works that the Pharisees taught was so different that the teaching of Christ was like a breath of fresh air and attracted the masses like bee's to honey. And I am quite sure that the Pharisees became very jealous of his apparent success.
No one really knows the reasons for their complaining. We just know that they did and I think, for those of us who are intentionally trying to pursue the mission of Christ, we can learn a very important lesson. Not every person who claims to have a relationship with God will be excited or supportive of our mission endeavors. In many respects the church of North America has become filled with our own brand of Pharisees. Maybe not in theology but at least in attitude. We have built our own "spiritual bubbles" and spend our time meeting in building trying to outshine each other. We think that we have built a very attractive religious model that those on the outside looking in will want to have. But the reality is that no one is really looking and what they do see may not be very attractive at all. And when follower of Christ actually begins to go out where the people are who need salvation it just might upset others who are comfortable in their nice pretty church buildings.
The thought of pastors or church members going into bars, parties of "those" sinners or any function that the church classifies as worldly in order to build relationships with the unchurched will be appalling to many and even cause a lot of church goers to worry. Yes, the Bible does say that Christians are not to "of the world" but it also does say that Christians are to be "in the world" and the light of the world. Many times the ones you would expect to receive the most encouragement from, as you pursue the mission of Christ, are the ones who cause you the most grief. Sometimes the biggest anxiety we experience as we go after “the least of these” are from our church family! They criticize us and even condemn us for going to places where sinners go.
But don't lose heart and don’t worry! Remember that you are following Christ's example and obeying his commands in this search for his lost sheep. While the work may be hard, discouraging and even difficult it will also ultimately be worthwhile and fulfilling. SO PRESS ON MI AMIGO!
Does the thought of going after the kinds of people that Jesus went after create worry and anxiety in you life? Don’t worry about that, you are not alone in that feeling! We are all used to going after people who more like us than we are people who are different from us. However, we can’t allow the worry and anxiety keep us for pursuing those people! They are people whom God loves and died for us. The Great Commission is for us to go to “ALL” the world. Not just part of it.
If you are going to be obedient to Christ then worry is something that you will need to eliminate from your life! You will need a strategy. A Biblical strategy based on Biblical principles and practices!
LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY is book that will teach you those Biblical Principles and Practices and will lead you through a process to develop your own personal strategy for living a WORRY FREE LIFE!
I just have to tell you that I am so very excited to share this next endorsement with you about my book LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY!
Why? Because it is from a person who make up the audience I am trying to reach and encourage to be on mission. That target audience are those that I like to call Ordinary Christians.
What Do I Mean By Ordinary Christian? First let me say that I am not trying to demean anybody by using that title. I do believe that all of who come to faith in Christ are now somebody very important. Not because of our own goodness but because of the grace of God.
When I say ordinary christians, I mean people who are just your everyday follower of Christ, who loves Jesus and wants to be obedient. They don't have any special Bible education from a Christian college or seminary but they do love studying the Bible and staying close to Jesus in prayer.
However, they may worry about joining Christ on His mission for one reason or another. This book is written to encourage and equip them to live a worry free life while being on mission with Christ.
Janet Howard is such a Christian. She loves Jesus with all her heart; she wants to be obedient to Him as an expression of her love for him; she want to share the love of Christ with others but has suffer with some worry over it.
I had her read this book so as to see if I had accomplished my goal for writing the book, which is to help people overcome their worry and join in God's mission. Read what she says and see for yourself if I accomplished it or not.
"This book, LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY, is just as the title suggests. The beginning chapters give us foundational biblical reasons why we should not allow worry hinder the mission that God is calling all believers into. The remaining chapters give clear practical advice and steps to take to move forward in that mission without worry. It will be a great book for group studies to encourage and equip ordinary believers live out their mission. As I read through the book I was challenged in my own personal responsibility to not allow worry overtake the need to love people into the kingdom. It's a very worthwhile book to read.”
Janet Howard
An Ordinary Christian
Tucson, Az
Photo by Fernando @cferdo on Unsplash
Christians all over the world experience unnecessary worry! They worry about health, they worry about finances, they worry about their children, they worry about being obedient to God, and the list could go on and on about the things that Christians worry about!
But for Christians who sincerely want to join Christ on His Great Commission, worry isn't only unnecessary but it is also debilitating! Why is i debilitating? Because is paralyzes you from doing the things that you really want to do or the things that you know you should do. I know of a person who decided not to graduate from college once they learned that they would required to take a speech class. You see they were worry and fearful over speaking in public and that worry crippled them from finishing school.
What's a follower of Christ to do? After all, isn't worry just a natural part of life, including a Christian's? Isn’t just something we need to accept as part of our life? Or, is it? Does God really want us to just deal with the fact that worry is a part of our life or is it part of God’s plan for you to live a worry free life now that you’ve come to faith in Jesus Christ?
In the book LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY you will discover that worry isn't part of God's plan for His children and it will serve as your guide on how you can rid your life of it forever. Before I tell you what you will learn from this book, let me first tell you what this book is not!
First, this is not a book containing five easy steps to a more fulfilling and peaceful life.
Second, this book isn't a watered down Christian self-help book that contains a bunch of fluff with no real spiritual substance or meat.
Third, this book not a “Name It & Claim It” book. On the contrary, the pages contained in this book are going to challenge you beyond your level of comfort!
As matter of fact, as you read this book you may begin to wonder if you really want to live that worry free life! The Biblical principles that you will learn will sound totally counter intuitive to all that you have come to know about living a life without worry. You will learn that a life without worry is a life of denial; You will learn that obtaining that life will require you to die to yourself and take up your cross daily and follow Christ. It is a life of total submission in mind, heart, and will to the will of the resurrected Jesus.
This book will provoke you! I am not writing this book as a comfort to you but more to challenge you! I want to provoke you to rethink why you’re worried, why you allow those worries to paralyze you from joining Christ on His mission, and why God still has you in this world.
LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY will teach you six Biblical principles and five Biblical practices for living a life free of worry. These principles are taken from a famous quote from the great missionary, Hudson Taylor and exemplified through his life of service.
So, with this warning clearly given, read at your own risk!
Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash
No matter how you cut it, life is filled with trials, tribulations and difficult times and as a result people tend to worry and fret over what will become of it all. But for those who are Followers of Christ who are actively and intentionally joining Christ on His mission of redeeming a lost world the trials, tribulations and difficult times are multiplied. In addition to all the normal difficulties of life Missional Christians also fight a spiritual battle of Satan trying to discourage the believer. But in the midst of all these struggles we hear the voice of Jesus ring out saying,
” … do not be anxious for your life … ” Matthew 6:25 (NAS)
Notice what Jesus didn’t say, He didn’t say, “Try not to worry to much!” No, He just told us to stop it! But how? How can you stop worry about the unknown that follows a trial and tribulation? Well lucky for us Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, not only tells us to stop it but He also tells us the cure for the worried life and how to experience peace instead!
This is so important for those who are intentionally living a missional life because this kind of lifestyle will be filled with lots of difficult trials and tribulations and if your faith is not firmly rooted in Christ you will literally worry yourself to death as you attempt to live a missional life.
So today, we are going to look at 2 reason why we shouldn’t worry!
2 Reasons For Why You Shouldn’t Worry (Matthew 6: 25-34)
” do not be anxious for your life. Is not life more than food, and body more than clothing.” (v. 25 NAS)
The truth of the matter is that when we worry or get anxious about something we are focusing on a very small part of our life. Whether we worry about food, clothing, health, work, or finances the truth of the matter is that these are just a small part of what makes up our lives. Life is also filled with many other things. These others things are good and pleasing and amazing. When we worry we are choosing to not look at the good things that are going on in our lives.
“And who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.” (v. 27 NIV)
Think about it for a moment! What does worry do for you? What does it change? Does the energy you spend on worry help to fix the issue or the problem? No! Absolutely not! Can worry give you a longer life? No. Actually, science now says that worry can shorten your life. It can contribute to all kinds of physical problems that can lead to a diminished healthy life. So, I ask what good does worrying do for you? No good at all !
In this book you will learn:
Six Biblical principles for over coming worry while being missional.
Five Biblical principles for implementing a worry free life.
And a section for developing your own personal strategy for a life without worry.
Why is the Great Commission so important that it should become our driving desire in life? That's what this short video is intended to share. Watch it and share your thoughts about it.
As we are out in the spiritual harvest fields sharing Jesus and the Gospel with others, different people will give us different responses! Do you know what actions you should take based upon the response you get from the different people you share Christ with?
In this video you are going to learn some possible different actions you can take when people give you different responses to your offer of receiving Christ and your invitation to begin a discipleship process with them. It is a flow chart to help you know what to do and what to say!
" Yes, He (God) has humbled me and shown me what I am, revealing Himself as a present, a very present help in times of trouble. And though He does not deprive me of feeling in my trial, He enables me to sing, 'Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation ... Now I am happy in my Saviour's love. I can thank Him for all, even the most painful experiences of the past, and trust Him without fear for all that is to come." Hudson Taylor
In this video I am going to share 3 things you can expect from God when you decided to join Him on His mission! They are taken from the above quote of Hudson Taylor and is verified with scripture. THEY WILL BE CHALLENGING TO HEAR AND ACCEPT! But they will also, once made part of your life, prepare you for whatever assignment the Lord sees fit to give you as part of His mission.
Have you ever thought that there are times when the sight of Christ might bring fear into your life? Even for those who have intentionally decided to join Christ on His mission can have times when seeing Jesus brings fear into their lives.
What this video and hear a true story from the Word of Christ when the sight of Jesus brought fear into the lives of his disciples
In this short but powerful verse we are given specific instructions on how to allow God to guide our lives! The Bible tells us: What To Do; What Not To Do; and To Claim A Promise! In other words there are three conditions (what to do and what not to do) that when fulfilled, God will keep His promise.
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART!
In other words, we are to have faith in God. Trust is just another way of saying Faith! Throughout scripture, expressing faith in God is always essential to seeing God work in and through our lives. The Bible even says that faith is essential in pleasing God.
"Without faith it is impossible to please God" Hebrews 11:6
You have to have faith in God! You have to be trusting in God to work in you, through you and in the circumstances you find yourself in. ARE YOU TRUSTING GOD?
But we're not only to trust Him! We are to trust Him with all our hearts. Not some of our heart, not part of our heart but ALL of our heart. When it comes to trusting in God there should be absolutely no doubt or concern whatsoever. Our full trust and confidence in Him is what God expects of us, if we are expecting him to keep His promise!
DON'T RELY ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING!
This verse is very clear that we are not to lean or stand ourselves up on our own abilities to reason things out. Often, when God tells us what to do, it won't make a bit of sense.
I don't think it made much sense to Moses when the Children of Israel needed water and God told him to hit the rock with his staff! And then on a different occasion God tells him to speak to the rock to get water. Are you serious? Hit and speak to a rock! That doesn't make sense.
I don't think it made a bit of sense to Jesus' disciples when Jesus told them to feed 5,000 men plus women and children with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes! And if I was Peter it would have made no sense to me at all for Jesus to tell me to go out to a lake, grab a fish, open its mouth and there inside find money and then go pay the temple tax. Really! Feeding a large group of people with just a little bit of fun and finding money in the mouth of a fish to pay my taxes, just doesn't make sense!
But for God it isn't a requirement for it to make sense to us on how these crazy things that He tell us to do work out! We Don't Need To Understand!
The only requirement that God expects is obedience. Obedience is Jesus' LOVE LANGUAGE.
Jesus speaking, "If you love me keep my commandments." John 15:10
IN ALL YOUR LIFE MAKE GOD KNOWN!
Throughout you entire life there is always one common denominator! What is it?
GOD!
It was God who fashioned you, formed you, saved you and maintains you. Without God and Christ we would be helplessly and hopelessly drowning in our sea of sin! God has loved us with an everlasting love. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God! NOTHING!
So, why shouldn't we in all our ways acknowledge God? Why shouldn't we make Him known to the whole world? How can we help but speak of the great and mighty things that God has done in the past and in our own lives.
When we are acknowledging God in all our ways, we are shining the Light of Christ brightly in our part of this dark world! We are making this world a brighter place to live.
HE WILL GUIDE US AND DIRECT US!
After all, why wouldn't God direct us and lead us if we are putting our faith in him, making Him known to all the world and not leaning on our own understanding? Of course He will!
You fulfill those conditions and you can take this promise that God has made to you, to the bank and cash it in.
There are a few things written in the Bible that Christ says are "MUST" things that need to get done! Today's post talks about one of those things that Jesus says is a must for him and for us.
Watch and be challenged to make sure your priorities include this one "MUST" thing!
Worry is one of the biggest barriers that keep Christians from joining Christ on His mission. And that worry can involve many different things.
Some Christians feel that they just don't know enough about their Christian faith to share the Gospel with others, and as such, they could easily say something that is wrong. The good news is that the Gospel is not complicated and doesn't require you to be a rocket scientist to do it. With some very basic and quick training you can both thoroughly understand the Gospel and share it with others. THIS IS A WORRY THAT IS EASILY REMEDIED!
When you share Jesus with others, will they have questions? Absolutely! But don't allow the worry of not having the right answer keep you from sharing Jesus with others.
There's a true story in the Bible, after Jesus had healed a man from being blind from birth, that the religious leaders (who didn't like Jesus) decided they needed to question the man who had been healed. Take a moment and read about how this man responded to comments about Jesus that he had no answers for:
"A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. 'Give glory to God,' they said. 'We know this man is a sinner.' He replied, 'Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" Luke 9
You can read the whole story in the Gospel of John, chapter 9. But did you see how the man responded to the comments he had no knowledge of? This man should serve as an example to the rest of us, on how we should respond to people who have questions, sincere or insincere questions! That response should simply be:
"That is something I don't have an answer for but I will search to find the answer for you, but for now let me share with you what I do know!"
Then you share with them what Jesus has done for you since placing your faith in Him. You don't need to have all the answers to everyones questions concerning God and Jesus! You can always go find those answers. But you should use their questions to share more of our story of coming to faith in Christ. People can argue about theology but no one can argue about your testimony in Christ! They may not believe it but they can't argue against it.
That's the worry that Jonah had when God called him to go prophecy against the Great city of Nineveh. He didn't like them and he wanted to full unbridle wrath of God to fall on them. His biggest worry was that they would hear his message and the repent and if God saw their repentance, Jonah knew that God would forgive them.
There might be some people you just don't like, you don't care for and you could care less if they came to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. If so, then you have an sinful attitude problem. You need to be so convicted in your heart by the Lord that those whom you care the least for are those that want to come to know Jesus. You need to spend so much time in the presence of the Lord that his desires for these people become your desires as well.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
What's that one "Best Practice" for ridding yourself from the worry and anxiety that plagues your heart. IT'S PRAYER! When we pray God sends His peace into our lives to do two things:
So, if you are worried about joining Christ on His mission I suggest you just STOP IT and start PRAYING ABOUT IT. You know it's God's will for you to join Him on His mission, so just take the time in prayer to receive God's peace and His transformation and then just go join Him and see the great things that God will do in and through you.
While there are other things that will determine how you portray Christ to others, I believe this video will share with you one of, if not the most, factor in how people see Christ in you. To learn more about how to shine the Light of Christ brightly in your part of this dark world, check out this powerful book on living a powerful missional life:
We believe that ordinary christians are God primary choice for doing His extraordinary work. Throughout scripture we see God choosing to use everyday people to join Him on His mission of raising up, training up and unleashing them to become rapidly reproducing disciple makers. The Ordinary Christians intends to join God in that pursuit.
Become a Ministry partner of The Ordinary christian & help us give away powerful training to God's people to live a powerful missional life. HIT THE DONATE NOW!
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