Encouraging, Empowering & Equipping Ordinary Christians To Live Powerful Missional Lives!
Once you've shared Jesus with every person you personally know who do you share it with next? That is going to be the topic of this post! After all we are not released from sharing the Good News simply because everyone we personally know has already heard. So, who do we tell next?
Who Do You Share The Gospel With Next?
Confidence In Offering A Prayer Of Faith
When it comes to living a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ in our part of this dark world prayer is essential. But not just any kind of prayer but prayers where there is confidence that God will hear and answer it.
So much of our prayers is what I like to call, "I hope God will answer my prayers!" but there's no confidence that God will actually do it. We are praying with uncertainty that God will actually do what we are asking Him to do. On top of this lack of confidence there is just a lot of "BAD" teaching going on in the name of "PRAYING IN FAITH". To many people out there like to take just one passage of scripture and emphasis it to the exclusion of other essential and indispensable verses on topic. This is a very bad practice to develop! In learning to praying in faith we need to understand the full council of God. Failure to do so can lead a person into a practice that's not only unbiblical but potentially destructive to their faith.
There are 3 Indispensable Biblical parts for having confidence that God will answer your prayers the way you have asked him to.
Let me emphasis that they are essential and indispensable!
Why? Because they are like 3 legs on a stool! If you remove any of legs from the stool, leaving only 2 legs, the stool will fall down! ALL THREE LEGS ARE INDISPENSABLE! The ability to pray and know that your prayers will be answered requires us to have all three of these indispensable parts in place. Remove one of the parts and you no longer can have confidence and certainty that your prayers will be answered the way you are asking! But if you have all three parts in place you can pray with confidence and know you have what you ask for. So, what are they?
"Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 John 3:21,22
This is the part that makes sure that you the one praying is in a proper spiritual condition to come before God and ask Him to do something. Knowing that we are in a spiritual condition that allows us to come into God's presence and be accepted is a vital part to knowing that your prayers will be answered.
In order to know if we are in a proper spiritual condition to come before God with our petitions we need to do a spiritual inventory of our life. We need to see if there are any unconfessed sins that still need God's forgiveness. If their is sin then the activity that is needed is a prayer of honest confession from true repentance. In 1 John 1:9 God gives us assurance that our sins can be forgiven with this simple act. Read what it says,
"If we confess our sin that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Why should we think that we can receive anything from the Lord if our hearts are not right with the Lord. To have confidence that our prayers will be heard by God depends first and foremost if we are prepared to even ask for it.
Question To Ask Yourself:
Is There Any Unconfessed Sin In Your Life That Needs To Be Dealt With And Made Right With God?
"This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him." 1 John 5:14,15
This part deals with the actual request being made. Is what we are asking for according to God's will or not. This passage of scripture makes it perfectly clear that when our requests are inline with God's will we know God hears us and we know He will give us what we ask for.
If you are asking for something that is not according to God's will it doesn't matter how much, how often or even how passionately you ask God for it, it you will not receive it. Why? Because it wasn't part of God's will. In order to pray in faith with confidence you must know what God's will is! If you are uncertain what God's will is on a particular matter then before you can pray in faith about it you must first pray for God to reveal His will to you about it. Listen to what James 1:5 says,
"If anyone lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him."
What a wonderful assurance this verse provides us. If we ask God to reveal His will to us by giving us wisdom He promises to do it. NOW THAT'S POWERFUL! Once God reveals to you His will concerning the matter then you can begin to pray in accordance to God's will with confidence that God will answer it.
Question To Ask Yourself:
Do You Know What God's Will Is Concerning The Matter You're Praying About?
Once you know that you are able to go into God's presence to make your request and once you know what God's will is concerning the issue you are praying about, then you can make your request to God but you have to make it in faith and without any doubt that God will do exactly what you are asking Him to do. NO DOUBT!
"Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 'Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:22-23
Praying in faith and without doubt is essential to answered prayers. However, this kind of faith that I am talking about is not a faith that controls God and makes Him do whatever we want. That kind of faith reduces God to be like genie in a bottle. Our God is not a genie that has to give us our three wishes. No! Our God is the Sovereign Lord of all creation. God doesn't do our will - we are to do His will! Biblical faith is not some kind of force that makes God do what we want.
Biblical faith is surrender to God's will and joining God in accomplishing His will! This prayer of faith is because you already know what God is going to accomplish, you have discovered His will on the matter, and through faith you are surrendering your will over to God's will and fully trusting that God will, not maybe, accomplish exactly what He said He would do. In other words when you pray a prayer of faith you have no doubt that what you are asking is going to happen because you know that God already has willed it to happen!
Question To Ask Yourself:
Once God Has Revealed To You What His Will Is Do You Have The Faith To Pray That It Will Happen Without Doubt?
When you are certain that all three of this parts are in place then you can have confidence that God not only hears your prayers but that you will also receive for what you have asked. Remove one of these three part or legs and the stool will fall. All three are essential and indispensable if you are to receive in prayer what you have asked God to do.
If you haven't already figured it out yet you will soon but no one lives a perfect missional life all the time! We try new things like sharing our testimony but mess up; or we try to explain the Gospel only to stumble all over the place. How we deal with these failure will greatly determine if we become successful at living a powerful missional life or experience the death of our missional living. Watch this video and be encouraged to never quit or give up!
Yes, I do go door to door to share Jesus with people! And yes, I do find it to still be a very good approach to getting the Gospel out to people! And yes, I do see lots and lots of positive responses from those I go to and many of them are giving their hearts and live over to Christ.
For the most part people, even those not interested, have been cordial and polite. It has only been on very rare occasions a person is rude and mean spirited.
But what I am going to share in this post is 12 things that I go door to door to share Jesus with people in my community. These are 11 things that I have found to be important reminders. I share this strategy with you because it can easily be done by any Christian in their own neighborhood where they live or with a Home Fellowship Group of churches that wish to be more missional.
Going in teams of two is a very Biblical approach. In Luke 10 when Jesus was sending out the 72 He sent them in teams of two. We see the Apostle Paul and Barnabas forming a missional team. We see Peter and John often together on missional activities.
Teams provide safety, encouragement, and accountability. If you have to go by yourself then I guess you have to but if you can find someone to go with you, even if its just there to pray while you talk, then that is more desirable.
I know that sounds silly but the reality is that if people can't see your eyes they will be more suspicious of you. You will look intimidating and it will create an immediate wall of separation between you and the person you're talking to.
Your eyes communicate your sincerity and passion. Allowing people to see your eyes is part of the communication and connection you are wanting to establish with a person you're trying to share Jesus with.
Again, this is about creating trust and putting people at ease. The reality is that if you talk with a stranger while having your hands in your pocket the person will concentrating more on your hands and pockets than what you are saying to them.
When strangers see you with your in your pocket they are wondering if you have a knife, gun or some other thing they should be worried about. The solution is simple: Take your hands out of your pockets and fold them in front of you, so they are in plan sight.
This seems obvious but I have been amazed with the number of people who have gone door to door but never once shared their name or the name of the person that came with them. Here's what I usually say,
"Hi, my name is Jay Moore and this is my wife Linda."
The shorter the introduction the better. Once you share with a stranger your name psychologically you are no longer a stranger! Why? Because they now know you by name.
This is important and needs to be share real quickly. The people you are visiting are wanting to know, so there's no need to have a chit chat session with them. After I introduce myself I will say something like this:
" ... we are going through the neighborhood sharing with people that God loves them, we care about them and because life is really tough for people these days we have come by to see if there's anything you need God to do for you, any miracle you need God to perform for you that we can pray about for you. Is there anything you need God to do for you?"
Many times after saying this many people have questions. They may ask, "Are you JW's" or "Are you with a church?" or they may not really understand what you said and they ask, "What are you here for?" After answer those clarifying question I'll always go back and say, "So, is there anything that I can pray for you about?"
After they share their prayer request immediately pray for them about that specific need. Ask God to meet that need and do in such a way that the person knows it was God who did it. Believe me when I tell you that people are hungry for prayer - they need prayer - and very often accept offers for prayer.
Prayer communicates to the person you care about them. And communicating that you care is critical to preparing to share the Gospel. There's old saying,
"People don't care how much you know - until they know how much you care."
Praying for people communicates that you care a whole lot!
Once you have prayed for them ask them if you can tell them a true story from the word. of God. This is important because the Bible teaches us that faith comes from hear and hearing the word of God. To share a Bible story about Jesus is a powerful way to initiate a spiritual conversation that will lead to a Gospel presentation. I would suggest the story of Jesus at the house of Simon the Pharisee' when the sinful came and began to cry on Jesus' feet.
Don't read the story - tell it in your own words but accurately. Don't add to the story but also don't leave anything out of it.
After sharing a true story from the Bible immediately begin to share you personal testimony of coming to Christ. Don't ask permission. They already gave you permission to share a Bible story just continue to talk by sharing your story in Christ. Start your testimony off by saying, "Just like this person who was desperate to see Jesus and receive forgiveness of sin so I to had a time in my life when I wanted my sins forgiven. Then tell them your story. Share with them what you life was like before coming to Christ, how you came to Christ and what your new life in Christ is like now.
Once you have finished your testimony say something like this, "And the best part of my new life in Christ is that Jesus now has me going around telling people that just like the person in the story was forgiven of their sins and just like I was forgiven of my sins, so now they too can experience Jesus' forgiveness for their sins. And then share with them a simple Gospel presentation.
Once you finished sharing the Gospel ask them the million dollar question! Ask them, "Would you too like to experience Jesus' forgiveness of sin?" If they say, "yes" then lead them in a sinners prayer of commitment. A good fisherman knows that they need to reel in the line if they will ever catch a fish; likewise a good disciple maker knows they need to ask the question to receive Christ.
Once you're done praying get excited and let it be known how amazing a decision they just made. Let them know and experience your excitement for their decision to follow Christ.
Before you leave make sure you set up a time to meet within the next few days to begin learn more about Christ and what he has commanded. This is when you begin to disciple them to be obedient followers or Christ.
Here's one idea how you can quickly and easily shine the Light of Christ in your part of this dark world during Thanksgiving.
How do you keep going in missional living when things get discouraging and difficult? That is the question we are going to look at in todays Missional Living Devotional.
Today in our Missional Living Devotional we are going to look at the need for having a dream if we are going to achieve great things as we live a missional life. But the question that needs to be raised is, “Where does that dream come from?” Do we create our own dream? Some people do. Do we allow some other person to tell us what our dream should be? Some people do!
Today I am going to suggest that as Followers of Christ we should allow God to give us the dreams that we pursue and not allow them to come from man. Why? To answer that let's take a look at what the Bible says 1 Cor. 2:9
“However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him”
Why should let God be the one to determine the dreams we pursue? Because no human being can dream up a dream big enough that can please God. When you allow God to give you your dreams for you to pursue you will be blow away.
Today we are going to use Jesus as our example. Allowing God the Father to reveal His dreams and purposes was Jesus’ way for knowing what he was to pursue while here on earth.
“Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.” John 5:19-25
I. God’s Dream For Us Always Relates To What He Is Already Doing!
“ …the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing” (v. 19)
A. God is already and always at His work! You don’t have get God working – He’s already working.
“In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." John 5:7
B. God isn’t sitting up in Heaven twittling his thumbs waiting for us to ask him to do something. God is already busy about his work.
· The Call Of Moses (God said, "I have come down to … therefore I’m sending you.")
· The Call Of Noah (I have come down to destroy the earth but saving you … therefore build a boat)
This is not a work we do for God but it's a work we do with God. It’s His work that he’s already doing and will do it through us.
II. God Reveals His Dream For Us And Invites Us To Join Him! (v. 20)
· God’s dream for you life isn’t discovered but revealed to you by God. You don't hunt after God's will as if it was hidden somewhere - God shows you what His will is.
· How did Moses know he would deliver the Children of Israel from Egypt? God told him.
· How did Noah know he was to build a boat? God told him.
· How did Abraham know He would have a son in his old age? God told him.
· How did Joshua know how to defeat the city of Jericho and that the wall would come crashing down? God told him.
· How will you know what God’s dream for you is? God will tell you!
Two Important principles to remember:
Take A Look At The Prophet Jonah: He knew it was God talking to him; he knew what God wanted but he just didn’t want to do it. Even after he did it and the people repented he griped and complained because he knew that if they repented he would forgive them.
III. God Invites Us To Join Him Because He Has A Relationship With Us! (v. 20)
It’s A Love Relationship:
1. It’s out of his love for us that He doesn’t leave us in the dark what is happening or what is going to happen.
2. It’s out of His love for us that he give us an eternal sense of purpose for life.
It’s A Friendship Relationship:
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:15-16
1. Did you notice that Jesus refers to His disciples (that includes us) as His friends! How amazing is that? What better friend can you have than Jesus? And what great compliment can you be given than for Christ to think of you as His friend?
2. Did you notice how much Jesus makes known to us from God the Father? EVERYTHING!
In other words Jesus holds nothing back! When it comes to a “Need to know basis” you’re in the need to know group!
IV. What Do You Need To Do To Get God To Reveal His Dream?
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:5-6 (NIV)
If you found this devotional to be encouraging take a few moments and share it on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
How do you help those people whom you share the Gospel to but aren't ready to surrender their life over to the care and control of Christ? It's not that they are opposed to it but they are just unsure and need more information.
In this short training video we are going to ask and answer that question. I pray you find it to be helpful as you go out and shine the Light of Christ to your part of this dark world!
Temptations isn't something you'll ever grow out of as a Follower in Christ. At least not during this life time. Everyday, from the moment you get up until the time you lie your head back down to sleep you can be tempted to sin against God and people.
Temptation in and of itself isn't a sin. According to the Bible Jesus was tempted but didn't sin! If the most perfect person who has ever lived but did so being tempted, we should expect that we too will be tempted. The Bible does teaches that Christ's Followers can overcome temptation. We don't have to feel helpless and hopeless when it comes to temptation. Christ has made sure that we have all that we need to overcome it.
So today we are going to look at 6 Biblical principles that will aid us in our ability to identify and overcome temptation.
How often during the day are you looking around to see if you can see the activities of the enemy and ready to anticipate Satan's temptations? If you're not anticipating that temptation will be coming how can you be ready for it when it does come? In boxing there's a saying, "It's not the hardest punch that knocks you out but the punch you don't see coming." Likewise, it's not the severest temptation that will make you fall but the temptation you see coming! And why don't you see it coming? Because you weren't anticipating it!
Where will temptations attack you? Where you are weakest! Notice what that verse says! We are tempted when we are carried away by our own lusts. I'm not carried away by someone else's lust. Satan will always attack us at our weakest point. He is looking for the chink in our armor and when he finds it that's where he will attack. If you have a weakness for gossiping - then Satan is going to give you temptation opportunities to to gossip! If your weakness is in drugs then Satan is going to hit those triggers that will cause you to want to get some drugs. It is in the area of your weakness Satan will tempt you to sin!
What should you do in your day of trouble - in your day of temptation? Call upon God! When we are being tempted and I mean right in the midst of temptation, we need to learn to cry out to God for help! We need to do it right then and there before Satan's temptation gets a strong hold on us.
Did you hear God's promise? He says that if we cry out to him in our day of trouble HE WILL RESCUE US! It's not a may rescue you; or you should be rescued but he said he will rescue you. When we cry out for help, as His children, He will show up to help us. When God shows up to help us Satan flees and runs away. Bam! You're Then Rescued!
Who do you have that you can call when you are going through a really difficult temptation? What Godly person do you know you can trust will not only can keep your confidence but also pray for your deliverance? Having that kind of person in your life will make the temptation experiences less daunting. Having someone you can call immediately when you are being tempted is such a great resource to getting through that time of testing.
Notice the wise man is the one who turns away from the evil or from the temptation to do evil. He leaves the situation but the foolish man is the one who is arrogant and careless.
First I want us to look at the foolish and arrogant person. Why are they foolish and arrogant? Because they think that they don't need any help to overcome temptation! They feel they can stand in the midst of the temptation and resist it. Understand this the Bible never tells us to resist temptation. It does say to resist Satan but never temptation. Why? Because the longer you stand in the temptation situation telling yourself you're going to resist it the only thing you are thinking about is the temptation. YOU CAN'T RESIST IT! Instead you need to RUN FROM IT!
Once you realize that you are in tempting situation you need to run away from that situation. Don't walk! Don't saunter away! No! You need to RUN! Get yourself out of that situation! Get yourself away from that temptation as quickly as possible. And where do you run to? TO GOD! The best place to be to overcome temptation is in the presence of our Lord God! Why? Because that's one place Satan would never dare to try and tempt you. God is your refuge of safety! He is the Rock of your salvation! He is your high and mighty tower where you can find safety for your soul.
Did you read the part where the scripture says that God will always make sure that every temptation you experience there is a way of escape! The question isn't whether there's a way to escape - the question is are we looking for the escape that God has promised!
A survey in the UK found that 41% of the people said that they would enjoy everyday life more if they didn't feel guilty afterwards. In other words, lots of people are actively engaged in activities that they feel guilty about after they are done and as a result the joy of life is stolen from them.
A story is told of Noel Coward, the well known playwright, as a prank, once sent an identical anonymous letter to 10 notable men in London. The note said,
"We know what you have done. If you don't want to be exposed, leave town."
Within six months, all 10 men that received the letter had moved!
Why? Because, other than Jesus, no one is perfect. The Bible says that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
However, the Good News is that God wants to wipe your slate clean so you don't have to feel guilty anymore but instead experience God's total and complete forgiveness! GOD WANTS TO:
Listen to what Ephesians 1:7 says,
"In him we have redemption through the blood the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us wit hall wisdom and understanding."
And let's read Col 2:13-14,
" Where you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins having canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us he took it alway, nailing it to the cross."
Here's what these two verse are says! If you are in Christ God is not going to condemn you for your past mistakes because Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins and was resurrected back to life again to pay for your pardon. ISN'T THAT ABSOLUTELY AMAZING?
There is absolutely no reason why any of us should suffer with a guilty conscience any longer over you past sins if you have come to Jesus and received His forgiveness and freedom from guilt.
Let's take a look at two important things that Jesus did to call out his first disciples. Then let's begin to join Christ on His mission by calling others to become disciples for Jesus also.
I love to hear your thoughts about this topic! Please share your thoughts as a comment!
Do you want to be part of a powerful movement of God that allows the Light of Christ to shine brightly in this dark world? Then check out this video and learn about one thing that Jesus commanded His disciples to do that would create a powerful movement of God!
This story starts off after Jesus has been arrested, after he has been killed, after he has been resurrected but before He has ascended into Heaven. It is the story of how Jesus restored the Apostle Peter back to the ministry after he had failed Jesus at His crucifixion by denying Him three times. Peter is discouraged and beating himself up for his failure. In this post we are going to look at the 5 steps Jesus took to restore him, so he could become that powerful servant of God we all love and respect.
You will need to get your Bible out and read what it says to see how it applies to the points I am making. I pray that God will bless you as you read this and encourage you. Maybe you are one who who needs to be restored. Here's some good news for you! Jesus is ready, willing and able to restore you just like He did for Peter and countless others. So, read and be encouraged!
This story starts off with Peter telling some of other apostles that he was going to go back to fishing. This is important because Peter had left this profession to follow Christ just about 3 years earlier. For him to make this declaration "I'm going fishing" he was in essence saying, "I am going back to my old life before we met Christ."
That is the attitude of a backslidden Christian! They've given up on follow Christ and going back to live the way the used to live before knowing Christ. But also, in this story we see that Jesus has other plans. He doesn't allow Peter to just goes back to his old life but Jesus shows up to restore him to full service and commitment.
In verses 4-7 we see Jesus showing up on the shore where Peter and the others were fishing that night. He calls out to them and tells them to throw the net on the other side. When they did their nets were filled fish. This caused them to remember another time when Jesus said to do the same thing with the same kinds of results. And because of this they recognized that it was Jesus was on the shore.
Why did Jesus come to where Peter was at? Because Peter was floundering and felt unworthy to continue to be a servant of Christ. Jesus showed up to restore him and give him the confidence he need. NOTICE IT WAS JESUS WHO PURSUED PETER - NOT PETER PURSUING JESUS!
In verses 10-14, after Peter responding favorably with Jesus' pursuit we see Jesus inviting Peter and the others with him, to sit down and have a meal with him. How many times had Peter sat around the fire eating a meal with Jesus over the past three years? A ton for sure! Because of his failure he probably thought those opportunities would never happen again but now Jesus is inviting Peter to sit and eat with Him. How precious and encouraging that must have been for Peter.
I think one of the important things to realize in being restored to Christ is that Jesus isn't wanting to beat you up first! No, Jesus is wanting the wonderful relationship that had be originally established to be restored. Jesus wants to sit and eat a meal with us as much, if not more, than we do with him.
As they finish their meal together, in verses 15-17, we see Jesus ask Peter three times if he love him or not and each time Jesus follows Peter answer with a command to take care of His sheep. Jesus already knew Peter loved him. It wasn't for his benefit that Jesus asked that question but it was for Peter's benefit. Peter needed to be reminded of his love for the Lord and to be reassure that Christ still wanted him to be part of his band of apostles. The questions of love and the commands to take care of the sheep was Christ's powerful way of letting Peter know that his service and ministry was wanted and needed. The only requirement Jesus asked from Peter was for Peter's love and devotion.
In verses 18-19 Jesus shares with Peter what it will cost him for continuing to be a devoted follower of Christ. He lets him know that his commitment and service would lead him to his own death and a death by crucifixion.
Isn't interesting how open and clear Jesus is with his followers of what it means and cost to be his disciple. IT WILL COST YOU YOUR LIFE! Even though, out of fear, Peter denied Christ, Jesus was letting him know that there would be other times to come where Peter would need to gird up his fear and place his faith and trust in Him. Jesus was preparing Peter for what would evidentially come around again.
In verses 20-23 Peter begins to ask what would happen to a different disciple. Jesus' response is classic. "What's that to you?" In other words Jesus was telling Peter what happens to other disciples is none of His business. The only thing that should be important for Peter was to faithfully live out what God has determined to be his role.
To often, faithfully serving Christ, gets all muddled up because our focus is on other people and not on Christ and his will for our lives. We complain to God about this person having this blessing, or that person getting to serve Christ in that way. That kind of focus will never honor God. Instead, we should be saying to Christ as he reveals his mission for us to be these words,
"Yes Lord, yes to you will and to your way. Yes, Lord, yes I will trust you and obey. When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I'll agree. And my answer will be, 'yes Lord, yes."
And here's a great reason: IT'S FREE
The Ordinary Christian's Newsletter is intended to empower, encourage and equip the everyday Christian to live powerful missional lives that shine the Light of Christ brightly in their part of this dark world. With that in mind you will receive blog posts, video's, training material and information about other resources that will help you to live that powerful missional life.
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Through an event in the life of Paul we are going to learn that part of a powerful Missional Life is having the kind of faith in God that can encourage others! When people look at us, hear us speak and listen to what we say about Jesus Christ do they find encouragement?
Here's a true story from my friend Clint Harrill about an experience he had while in Nashville visiting some friends and intentionally living a missional life that shares Jesus with others. Clint is just an ordinary Christian like you and me but God is using him powerfully to share the Gospel and make more disciples for Christ. Clint is a wonderful example of what God can and will do through anyone who is willing to join Him on his mission. This is a story of what God can do through you if you would allow him to! READ HIS STORY AND BE ENCOURAGED!
"Got back home to good ole small town friendly today and haven't stopped!!! A day in the life...lol....so thankful for my time in Nashville with some dear bros in Christ!! God blessed in so many ways and even in the spiritual warfare we faced, I felt excitement and learned so much. My #1 takeaway was that, the great commission is the Holy Spirit's work, and He's just asking us to join Him where He's already working. If we do that, it will bear much fruit. Secondly, when God is up to something big, spiritual warfare will raise it's ugly head, but praise God because God is bigger....we win....Greater is HE that is in us than he that is in the world.....we can claim that and have faith and just persevere through the trials. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
So rejoice and just lift up the name of Jesus when these trials come, and He will see you through.
So my last night in Nashville, we just had a bro night around a fire pit with some stogies and just rejoicing in the Lord....my bros, David Kaufmann, James Harvey, Samuel, Paul Kirk, Josh and Tracie Lansford, Alvin Jackson and Todd Greer, prayed blessings over me and it was just a great time in the Lord. Afterwards james, samuel, paul and myself headed to the waffle house. Our waitress was Hannah....we asked if she knew what her name meant, she said no, so we explained that it meant God's favor.....she thought that was really cool and said I hope so. We ordered, and Hannah was super friendly. She brought our food and I told her....Hannah, we're gonna bless our food so I'd love to ask u, if God could do a miracle in ur life today, something only God could do, what would that be and we'd just love to pray that for u as we bless our food. She said, I don't know....I said, anything. ....she began to get teary eyed and said I want to get my son back....I said ok, can I pray that now....and she said sure.....we prayed and she was super thankful. We continued chatting with her during our time there and she told us her story and how it was her first night back working at the waffle house and she didn't really want to but she has said, ok if this is what I have to do, there must be some reason....how she'd been struggling, her story was very sad....she's been hurt by "Christians", but was really trying to get her life on track....she was so amazed that we prayed for her, and said, yall don't even know me....but we just told her we cared about her because we love Jesus and that's what we do....we promised to pray for her and her son Camden....told her the story of Hannah from the bible, which she was familiar with...she told us what a blessing we were to her, told us when she worked and said, yall please come back every week.....WOW.....divine appointment? Uh, yea, I think so....James asked me to pray as he plans to ask the manager of the waffle house, if he can start a waffle "house church".....want u join us in prayer....a lot of hurting people at the waffle house and elsewhere....it's our God given purpose just to show them Jesus...."
So what do you say? Are you ready to join Christ on His mission? Are you willing to allow God to use you to bring salvation to others? Are you ready to start getting training that will equip you to do so? If the answer is "YES" then leave a comment that says:
"A telephone solicitor called while I was eating dinner, I decided to share the Gospel with him. I explained to him the origin of sin the the solution that God has provided. This then led to a conversation about about his spiritual state. It ended in prayer. Please pray for Dorell's salvation."
"Just got off the phone with another phone solicitor, pray for Flora."
"This is so awesome! Eric share with us all how you initiate that conversation after they call. How do you begin to share the Gospel?"
"Jay, Dorell was calling to speak with my wife he was from verison customer service. When I told him that she was not here I just asked him if I could share the Gospel with, obviously God's been working with him because he was so open. Flora was with some charity that has a truck that goes through the neighborhood and wondered If I could leave clothes or other good at the curb. This was to easy I told her I didn't have anything to leave out but what I did have I would share with her. This lead to a Gospel presentation. Every call is different I started doing this over a year ago because living waters ministry recommended practicing giving the good person test this way. People were open to taking the test but I found I could rarely get to the Gospel, so I have refined it to the Gospel first."
Of course it is! If we would become intentional and look for the opportunities for where God is already at work.
Can you imagine what would happen if you made a commitment to share the Gospel with every wrong number or telephone solicitor that called you? You might find that God starts sending you lots of wrong numbers!
Missional Living is all about sharing Jesus and the Good News of how Jesus' death, burial and resurrection can bring a person forgiveness of sin if they'd only leave everything to follow Jesus. In other words to make Jesus the most important thing in their life.
But what if that person isn't willing to follow Christ after hearing the Gospel and unwilling to follow Christ? What do you then? How do you respond to them?
In this weeks Missional Living Devotional we are going to address that issue and answer those questions by looking at how Jesus responded to a person who was unwilling to meet the conditions of being Christ disciple.
Take a few minutes and see how Jesus responded that situation!
If living a powerful missional life that shines the Light of Christ brightly in your part of this dark world is an all encompassing desire and passion in your life then I want to invite you to get a FREE subscription to my newsletter and video devotional. When you sign up I will keep you updated on new devotionals and trainings that will help make you a better trained for Christ's mission. These are powerful training that you will have access to. As an added bonus, when you subscribe I will also send you a FREE training report entitled HOW TO TRANSITION ANY CONVERSATION TO TALK ABOUT JESUS. Sign up to the in the form to the right.
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"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:4-9
How To Replace Your Worry With God's Peace
#1: By Rejoicing More
This verse starts off my telling us who are worried to start rejoicing or praising God. To ignore this is to ignore a command from God.
Instead of worry about the stressful situations of life we should look at the more humorous side of things. My mom was great at doing this. I can remember sharing with my mom some very frustrating things only to see my mom start chuckling about them. When I'd ask why she was laughing at my worries she would just say,
"I know this situation is very sad and hard on you and if I'd let it I could easily start crying. But I don't want to cry so I choose to smile and giggle instead."
What my mom had learned was that worrying about something or being at peace about something was a choice we make. So, instead of worry let's decide to:
In other words let's decide to REJOICE more!
#2: By Relaxing More
Did you notice what the verse in Philippians said?,
"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."
That word "Gentleness" can mean "Easy" or we could say "Taking it easy"!
The instruction of scripture is instead of stressing out about a situation take it easy and relax. Why? Because you know that God is in control.
#3: By Praying More
"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 you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
#4: By Feeding More
" ... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (v.8)
You get rid of worry when you are constantly feeding your mind positive, uplifting and God thoughts!
When you are going through a tough time force yourself to take your attention away from the troubles you are experiencing and place it on all the blessings that God has given to you. There are always positive things going on around us but many times we have to force ourselves to look for them.
#5: By Following More
" ... Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
Paul was telling the Christians in Philippi to follow his example of how to live a life of peace that was free from worry. How could Paul say that? Because he also shared with them that he had discovered the secret of being content in any and every situation. To be content means you are no longer worrying and Paul had learned how to experience that state of mind on a moment-by-moment and day-by-day basis.
We too should follow the example of others Christians who also have learned how to live that life of freedom from fear. These kinds of saints have a lot they can teach us and we listen and follow their example.
I hope this blog post has encouraged you, empowered you and equipped you for a more faithful life on mission for Christ!
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.
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