Missional Living Is Kind

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7 STEPS TO AN ANXIOUS FREE LIFE: As Prescribed By Hudson Taylor

“I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine.  It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.” – Hudson Taylor

From this statement of Hudson Taylor, the great missionary from England to China, we learn the 7 steps to an anxious free life.

STEP #1:  Believe That Worry Free Life Is Possible!

“I am no longer anxious about anything ..."

STEP #2:  Trust That God Is In Control!

" ... as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, ..."

STEP #3:  Make Your Heart's Desires Match That Of God's Will!

" ... and His will is mine ..."

STEP #4: Place No Conditions On Your Obedience To God!

" ... It makes no matter where He places me, or how ..."

STEP #5: Understand Your Position To That Of Christ!

" ... That is rather for Him to consider than for me ..."

STEP #6: Recognize Every Good Gift Come From Christ!

"... for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace ..."

STEP #7: Accept God's Grace During Difficult Times!

 " ... and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient ..."

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Counting On Christ's Power And Presence For Missional Living

3 IMPORTANT FACTORS ABOUT GODS MISSION

John 5:17

"In his (Jesus) defense Jesus said to them 'My Father is always at his work to this very day; 

and I too am working."

3 Important Factors About Gods Mission

1.  GOD REALLY DOES HAVE A MISSION!

Did you notice that small but important part in that verse?  That part where it said that "My Father is always at "His" work...."  Jesus refers to it as "His" work!  God our Father has a work that He is actively and intentionally pursuing!

God is not sitting up in Heaven twiddling His thumbs trying to figure out what he should do each day.  God has a work and that work was determined by God a long time ago.  God isn't waiting for us to tell him what he needs to do for us - God is busy about doing what he knows is best.  And we can rest assured that if it is God's work - God's mission - it is the most important work and mission to do.


2.  GOD IS BUSY ABOUT HIS MISSION!

The next thing we can get from this verse is that God is actively accomplishing His mission. Every day and in every way God is fulfilling his purpose, plan and mission.  He isn't being lazy about accomplishing His work; God isn't procrastinating or putting off what needs to be done today for tomorrow and God is most certainly not waiting to get permission from anybody and including us to do his mission.  God is busy about his work!

3.  JESUS CAME TO JOIN GOD THE FATHER ON HIS MISSION!

As Jesus was speaking about the mission of His Father he then included himself in there by saying, "And I too am working."  Jesus is all about being apart of the mission of God. Everything Jesus did while he was here on earth was part of the plan of fulfilling God's mission.  Jesus didn't tell the Father was he was willing to do.  No. Jesus received His instructions from the Father and then was obedient to the Father.

Do you recognized that God is still actively pursuing the fulfillment of His mission?  Do you believe that God is not lazy about it or putting it off?  Do you understand that like Jesus we too are to be part of God's mission and to be faithfully obedient to whatever part he want us to do in the fulfillment of His mission?  Do you understand that you don't tell God what you will do but you are to obediently do what God has assigned you to do.

Here's a good video to watch on this subject:  
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5 Tips For Doing Missions God's Way

 

5 TIPS FOR DOING MISSIONS GOD'S WAY:

Ephesians 2:10 & Matthew 5:14-16

#1:  Remember That God's The Designer Of Your Life - Not You! 

"For we are God's workmanship ..."

Did you notice that it said that we are God's workmanship?  He is the one who created us to be what He wants us to be.  We don't tell God what we will or won't be!  God is the one who determines the role that we are to play in the area of missions.

#2:  The Venue For God's Creative Work Is In Christ - Not In The World!

" ... created in Christ Jesus ..."

The place that this transformation and the new creation that we are becoming happens "In Christ"!  We are to be enveloped by Christ, like a cocoon, that allows the transformation of our lives to take place.  We will never become what God intends for us to be and the kind of missionaries He intends for us to be if we try to do it in a worldly manner.  WE MUST STAY CONNECT TO JESUS!

#3:  The Purpose For God's Creative Work Is To Produce Ministry Through You - Not For You!

" ... created in Christ to do good works..."  

The work of ministry and missions is not for us but to be done through us for others.  Our work of missions isn't primarily to make us fee fulfilled or good (thought it will) but the primary purpose for ministry and missions is to help others still caught in the bonds of sin.

#4:  The Missional Work You Are To Do Is Determined By God - Not You!

"... which God prepared in advance. for us to do."  

Did you see that? God is the one doing the preparing of the work that you and I will do.  We don't chose. We are to trust and obey God in doing the assignment that He has given us to do.

#5:  We Are To Do Missions In A Way That Bring Glory To God - Not Us!

"Let your light so shine before men that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven."  Matthew 5:16

When you do good deeds as a ministry to others it is not for you to look good and thereby get the praise - it is to make God look good and for Him to get the praise. ALWAYS!  


I hope you found this devotional to be helpful and encouraging.  If you did please take a few moments and share this devotional on Facebook and Twitter.  Take care and God bless.

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ARE YOU PURSUING THE RIGHT MISSION?

That's an interesting question but an important question especially for those who are Followers of Christ!  Are you pursuing the right mission? Are you pursuing Christ's mission? Do you even understand what the mission is? If you can't answer these questions then how do you know that you are being obedient to what our Lord Jesus has left us here to do?

Here Are Some People Idea's Of What The Mission Is:

• Some feel that the Christian's mission is just to do good deeds!
• Some feel it is to invite people to come to church with them!
• Some people think it's just to live a good and moral life!

Now while each of these things have a place in a Christians life are they in and of themselves or combined together make up what Christ's mission that each of us should be pursuing?

Let's take a few moments and look at what the Bible says about this very important subject.  In Matthew 28:16-20 we find a part in the Bible come to be known as the Great Commission.  The reason why it is called Great Commission is because it describes most clearly what the Christ's mission is.  Read with a clear mind what the words of Christ actually says:

"All authority in Heaven and on earth have given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And low I am with you always, even to the end of the age."   

From this verse we learn that there is really only one mission!  That mission is to "Go Make Disciple".  That phrase is the only part that is written in the imperative mood thereby, making it a command.  The baptizing and teaching for obedience is only to support and help bring about the command of making disciples.

THE MISSION IS TO MAKE MORE DISCIPLES FOR CHRIST!

We can discuss more extensively in a different post on what exactly is a disciple buut for the purpose of this post let's just say that a disciple is a FULLY DEVOTED FOLLOWER OF CHRIST.  Not a halfhearted follower of Christ and not a Sunday only follower of Christ but a Fully Devoted Follower!

Here's how two of the guys I mentored define a Disciple of Christ:

• Ed Villareal says "They are Hard Core Followers of Christ."  
• Larry Munguia says, "They Are Jesus Freaks"

Though we use different phrase all three of us are basically saying that Jesus' Disciples are people who love Him more than they love anyone or anything else and they are crazy for Him.

Now is that the mission you've been pursuing?  You can't make disciples for Christ like that unless you are like that! Helping others become disciples is more caught than taught!  It's infectious!  In order for you to help someone become fully devoted to Christ, you have to be fully devoted to Christ.  That's just the way it works!  You can't teach it in a classroom. You infect others with it because you are infected with it.

If you are just trying to get people to attend a church service with you or just doing good things for people but not helping people fall desperately in love with Jesus and fully committed to Him, you're pursuing the wrong mission.  So I want to end with the same admonishment as that of Jesus.

GO MAKE DISCIPLES FOR JESUS!

MAKE FULLY DEVOTED FOLLOWERS OF JESUS!

HELP PEOPLE BECOME HARD CORE FOLLOWER OF CHRIST!

MAKE IT YOUR MISSION TO RAISE UP A MOB OF JESUS FREAKS!

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Are You A Fully Devoted Follower Of Christ?

Is It Your Desire To Live A Powerful Missional Life?

Do You Need Encourage To Shine The Light Of Christ?

THE I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!

A group that I've formed, THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN, has developed a powerful resource to encourage, empower and equip ordinary Christians to live an intentional missional life where the Light of Christ shines brightly through them and into their part of this dark world.  This resource is called:

MISSIONAL DEVOTIONALS

Missional Devotionals are 3 to 6 minute video's that share a short devotional for missional living.  They are emailed out each week on Mondays.

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HAVE YOU DISPLAYED THE LIGHT OF CHRIST TO SHINE BRIGHTLY?

Light by its nature must shine and Jesus tells us in the Sermon On The Mount that we are the Light of the world.  We're not the light switch that turns on the light but we are the light.  By virtue of your new birth in Christ you were created to shine the Light of Christ into this dark world.  The only question is: Have you displayed the light in such a way that people can see it and be drawn to it.  Take a few minutes and watch this weeks missional devotionals and contemplate for yourself if you have properly displayed the Light of Christ.

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A ROADBLOCK TO #MISSIONALLIVING: Setting Your Mind On The Things Of Men & Not On The Things Of God

“Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter.  ‘  Get away from me, Satan!’ he said.  ‘You are seeing things merely from a  human point of view,not from God’s.”  Mark 8:33 (NLT)

God’s mission and plan was to take Jesus to the cross but Peter’s plan was to keep Christ safe and from harm.  How often do our thoughts, plans, ideas or just personal opinions are in direct opposition from that of God’s and His will?  It’s not because we are deliberately trying to rebel against God but yet as we see with Peter even our best intentions can be totally opposite of what God is doing!

Listen to what the Bible says,

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”  (Proverbs 14:12 NAS)

Not everything that we think is “right” is actually “right” with God and because of that we need to seriously seek God for Him to reveal to us what is right and what he is doing!  Wouldn’t it be horrible to be fervently fighting for a particular position only to find out that you were fighting against God?

3 Ways You Could Be Fighting Against God And What He’s Doing:

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THE FIRST MISSIONAL DEVOTIONAL FROM THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN: Ordinary Christians Are God's Primary Choice For Accomplishing His Extraordinary Work

Missional Devotional

Take a few moments and watch this missional video devotional and, prayerfully, receive some encouragement to shine the Light of Christ back into this dark world.  Don't think that just because you are an Ordinary Christian that you can't live an effective missional life.  YOU CAN! YOU ARE GOD'S CHOICE FOR LIVING SUCH A LIFE!

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ORDINARY CHRISTIANS GOD'S PRIMARY CHOICE!

"Just because I'm ordinary doesn't mean I'm secondary ordinary Christians are God's primary choice fordoing His extraordinary work"Jay Moore

This is a little saying that I like to use!  However, I have found that it gets a lot of mixed reviews.  Some people when they hear that slogan feel that I am bashing Christians by calling them ordinary.  They say things like, "Now that we're Follower of Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in us we are no longer ordinary."  And I wholeheartedly agree with them that our new life in Christ does make us extraordinary.  But with that said I must remind all of us that intrinsically, in and of ourselves, there is nothing good about us!  Our only goodness comes from Christ in us.  

A second reaction I get from people comes from what I like to call the professional minister.  This is the guy who has gone through Bible college and seminary; they have gone through an ordination process; and now make there living from doing the ministry.  This group of people also feel insulted but for a different reason.  When they hear that statement they get the idea that I am trying to down play their importance and strip them from some place of honor they feel they should have.  I feel this attitude interesting since I also have a Christian college education majoring in religion and a seminary theological education with a master's degree.  

But then there is a third group of people who are actually energized by this little quote!  These are the people who have never been empowered, encouraged or even equipped to live a significant life on mission with Christ.  These are the people who have felt there only role in church was to come and attend.  These are some of God's children who've wished they could be involved in some project that would have an eternal impact but have never felt it would happen because, after all, they're just ordinary and why would God want to use them when He could use someone else more talented or educated.

But I'm here to tell you God not only loves to use Ordinary Christians but that Ordinary Christians is God's primary choice for doing His extraordinary work.  The Biblical record is filled with such examples.  All of the apostles were ordinary men, King David was the youngest of his family and Gideon was a fearful coward.  Over and over again we see God choosing that which the world would have never considered to do His amazing work.  We discover God using ordinary people is not the exception but the rule as we study the Bible.

So why?  Why would God choose ordinary people as His primary choice for doing His work?  The answer is simple!  God chooses men and women like us, ordinary people, because he wants to confound the wise of this world!  When people look and see what God is able to do through ordinary people the explanation for its success has to be GOD WAS THE ONE WHO DID IT!  That's right, God loves to use the ordinary of this world so that He will get the credit for what was done!

The truth is that God is always the one who accomplishes His work but He just chooses to do it through people.  If God always used extraordinary men to do his work the world would try to explain away the results saying that it only happened because highly talented people were in charge of it.  But when some ordinary person does something that turns out great the only explanation will be GOD!

So are you an Ordinary Christian?  Do you feel like there are others more talented and more gifted than you?  Do you down deep inside long for  God to use you to accomplish something amazing?

THEN I'VE GOT GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!

You are exactly the kind of person that God loves to use to accomplish His extraordinary work and the only requirement is that you must be a person of:

FAITH!

Do you believe that God can do anything?  Do you believe that God can do anything through anybody?  Do you believe that God can do anything, through anybody, including YOU!  Now that's what I call faith!

If you are that kind of person I want to invite you to check out a group called THE ORDINARY CHRISTIAN and see how they can help encourage, empower and equip you to be an ordinary christian that God uses to do extraordinary things.  

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Basic Skills For Ordinary Christians For Effective Missional Living

There's lots of talk about Christians living a missional life and shining the Light of Christ! But for many Christians the question that they ask is: How?  These Ordinary Christians want to live a life on mission for Christ but they're just not sure how to do it. What are the skills needs?

Here in this video blog I am going to share with you the first essential skill that all Ordinary Christians need to master if they are going to be effective in shining the Light of Christ back into this dark world.

Claim Your FREE Gift For Living A Missional Life

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BASIC SKILLS NECESSARY FOR MISSIONAL LIVING



Learn The Basic Skills Necessary For Missional Living

BATTLEFIELD CHRISTIANITY: Missional Living Is Not For The Faint Of Heart

Listen to how the Bible describes the missional life that we as ordinary christian are to live!

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  1 Peter 5:8,9 (NIV)

Here the Apostle Peter is admonishing us to be on guard, aware of the realities that are taking place, able to fight back against our enemy and to stand firm against Satan because he's looking for an opportunity to devour us like a lion.  Now I don't know about you but that sounds a lot like life in this world is more of a warzone than taking a relaxing walk along the beach!  For many Christians in North America that's not the kind of attitude they possess. They don't look at life as a warzone or battle field. When they get up in the morning they're thinking about what they're going to wear for their jobs but they are in no way preparing to suit up for a spiritual battle.  The thought of putting on an armor and getting ready for a battle is the farthest thing from their minds.  


Instead they see life more as a picnic where they're laying on a blanket, drinking some wine and eating some crackers.  They're enjoying the moment with a loved one and soaking up the sun while thinking that this is the kind of life they need to always to be living!  

But could it be that this kind of world view and attitude is what's hindering the church of North America?  Could one of the reasons why the church in North America is so impotent is that we have failed to see that the life we live is a life at war with demonic spiritual forces around us?  Could it be that while the Christians of North America are sitting around at their picnics they have also made themselves extremely vulnerable and easy prey to Satan who is hiding in the grass ready to ponce on them and devour them?

Maybe it's about time we wake up and begin to look at life for what it really is, A LIFE AT WAR!  Maybe it's time for pastors to get serious about provide basic training in spiritual warfare for their congregation!  And if we did change our view of life from picnic to war wouldn't that also change our understanding of the role of the pastor?  I mean if you really believed that each morning when you woke up you were getting ready for a day of spiritual warfare against Satan wouldn't that change how you view what your pastor should do? Would you want a pastor who'll hold your hand and ask you how you're feeling or would you prefer your pastor to be more like a drill sergeant who'll kick in your butt and prepare you to survive?  

When we change our view of what life is (a war) wouldn't that also necessitate changing our view of what the church is to be like?  Maybe we should view the church as a BASIC TRAINING CAMP! Don't you think it would change? I think so!  Ordinary Christian it's time for you to expect, and in some cases demand,  that your pastor prepare you, train you and equip you to effectively engage in the spiritual battle you're already in! You're in fight and it's time to learn how you can defend yourself.  

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If you already have a pastor who equipping you for the fight then be grateful for them. Don't whine and complain when your pastor old you accountable for they are your drill sergeants (Men of God) who are the ones getting you ready for the fight!  They may be hard on you but that's only because they want you to be prepared.  We have a real enemy and he is an expert war strategist, so you need to be well trained.  Missional living is a life prepare for spiritual warfare. When we are effectively trained then we'll be prepared to accomplish our mission.

Go Shine The Light - Get Ready For The Fight!

If you need some help in eliminating the causes for not living a missional life then I highly recommend you check out this blog. It's powerful:  Eliminating The Causes For Not Living A Missional Life

If you are an ordinary christians wishing to live a more effective life for Christ then I encourage you to get a FREE subscription to Missional Devotionals.  By subscribing you will receive empowerment, encouragement and equipping for living a missional life that shines the Light of Christ.  Take a few moments and sign up now for your FREE subscription!

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