Going on Mission Together

In review of Philippians 1:27b it says, “You are standing side by side with one strong purpose — to tell the Good News.”

Bottom Line:

That you stand side by side with others of a like heart, working together to share the Good News.

What this means to me:

I am to be linked up in community, standing side by side with others, working together to spread the Good News.

I was made for a mission. God wants me to share his love with others, my friends, family, and the people I work with; those who are not currently in his family.

He asks me to do this because God wants everybody in his family. God has never made a person he didn’t love and have a purpose for. God has never made a person that Jesus Christ didn’t die for. So God wants me to share that Good News.

But I’m not alone! God wants me to go on mission with others. Philippians 1:27b says, “You are standing side by side with one strong purpose — to tell the Good News” (TLB).

A great way to share with my friends that God loves them is in partnership with others (a small group.)

First, I pray together with them, asking my small group to pray for those I know that don’t have a relationship with God. I won’t be able to force anybody to love God, but I can pray for them. My friends may reject my arguments or refuse to listen to my logic. However they are powerless against my prayers. It goes straight to their heart!

The Bible says in Colossians 4:3, “Pray for us that God will give us an opportunity to tell people his message” (NCV).

I have been told that as I pray for opportunities, I’ll start seeing them everywhere! My act of prayer will help make me aware. Thus when I start praying, I’ll start seeing their needs and I’ll start becoming concerned with them and what’s going on in their lives.

And then, as I get to know the people around me better, I can start appealing to their common interests and create opportunities to share the Gospel with them.

Before I can share the Good News with others, I’ll need to establish a relationship with them. I can do this by thinking through what are our common experiences, interests, and needs? I can even solicit input with those in my small group about things I like to do, and then ask, “Who do we know who also enjoys that who isn’t yet a believer? Who can we invite to join us?”

Sharing the Good News with others is something I need to develop more in my life. As my wife and I settle into our new community and begin to get into fellowship with others, I ask God to link with us with others who have similar hearts and are out to share the Good News with others.

Today I will consider who in my family or within my group of friends/co-workers that God is leading me to pray for. I’ll also consider how I can get to know them better by appealing to any common interests.

Community is God’s Answer to Defeat

In review of Ecclesiastes 4:12 it says, “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken.”

Bottom Line:

Stand alone and you are more vulnerable. When someone is with you it’s easier to resist an attack. Add a third and it’s even harder to be broken.

What this means to me:

When I stand alone, I’m subject to attack and defeat. When I’m in fellowship with others, they can help me resist and fight what comes up against me.

The question of the day is, who’s watching out for me?

I need people who will defend me, stand up for me and protect me, help me stay on track, and warn me. We all need this, because we all have blind spots.

Philippians 2:4 says, “Look out for one another’s interest, not just your own” (TEV). This is very much a counter-cultural verse. In America, the general idea is it’s all about “me”, my needs, my interests, my wants, and my ambitions.

But the Bible says we should care about each other. We’re family! As brothers and sisters in God’s family, we should defend each other and help each other stay on track.

I have a personal enemy, and he really hates me. His name is Satan. He wants to mess up my life or at least get me off-track. He wants to ruin my relationships. He ultimately wants to defeat me.

He does this because he can’t hurt God. When you can’t hurt somebody, what do you do? You go after their children. Satan can’t hurt God, so he tries to hurt God’s children.

When Satan attacks me, he doesn’t come in a little red costume with a pitchfork and say, “Boo!” Satan messes up my life through habits I can’t break, through hurts that I won’t let go of, through problems and circumstances, through relationships that break my heart.

Most Christians are defeated, mainly because they try to fight Satan on their own. In reality I’m never going to win against the devil on my own. I need other people who will watch out for me and help me.

Community is God’s answer to defeat. I need to find the people who will stand with me in tough times and say, “We’re not going to let you get discouraged. We’re not going to let you get depressed. We’re not going to let you worry. We’re going to stay here with you.”

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT, second edition).

Today is a great reminder of what I have found to be true in my life before. I need other people who will stand beside me and help me stay on track. I too need to be with others to help defend them and help them stay on track. It is very difficult to try to fight Satan on my own. Now that I have moved into a new community and feel like my wife and I may have settled on a church community to become part of, I will concentrate on developing relationships in which I can partner with others on this effort.

In the Journey of Life, I Need Others

In review of Ephesians 4:16 it says, “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

Bottom Line:

The body depends on Christ, he joins and holds it together.  As each part does its own special work, it helps the body to grow and become healthy, and it becomes strong because of love.

What this means to me:

Christ will guide me to become a part of a body of believers. I can benefit and help benefit others by using the special gifts he has given me to serve and be a part. As I do, it helps the body to grow and become healthy.

There is a verse in Colossians 2:6-7 that says, “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him” (ESV). The Bible often compares life to a walk, because I shouldn’t just sit still in life. I’m on a journey! Throughout the New Testament I’m told to walk in wisdom, in love, in light, in obedience, and in the Spirit.

But one of the key ways that God tells me to walk is this: “I was never meant to walk through life alone. I was meant to be with others, in community.” Community in found within my spiritual family, the Body of Christ.

While I may like walking alone (because I can go at my own pace or need to wait for anyone), I need others to walk with me through life. Here are some reasons:

1. It’s safer. Walking through a dark alley at night or down a long road in the countryside by myself can be a little scary. It’s much safer to walk through life with others.

2. It’s supportive. Life is not a 50-yard dash; it’s a marathon! The only way I’m going to finish the race well and not burn out is by having other people involved in my life through meaningful relationships.

3. It’s smarter. I learn more by walking with others than I do by myself. Proverbs 28:26 says, “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool.” In other words, if I’m the only one who thinks something and nobody agrees with me, I may be walking in the wrong direction. When I walk by yourself through life, I don’t have anybody to go, “We’re off the path. We’ve got to get back on the path and go in the right direction.”

Ephesians 4:16 says, “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (NLT, second edition).

I need to have other people in my life to help me grow into the person God made me to be. Life is about relationships. God is love, and he wants me to learn to love him and to love others. Those are the two greatest lessons in life.

In my own life, now that I have moved to a new part of the state I need to re-establish myself into a community. My wife and I have been checking out several different church communities over the past few months and believe we may have found one that we would like to start becoming more involved with. I have already started by getting together with a group from this community who is really serious about getting into and applying God’s word into their lives.

From my perspective and past experiences, I know for sure that it’s much safer to walk through life with others. Finishing well in this life will include having meaningful relationships with others who can I can share with and can speak into my life. I know that just being part of this group of guys has already helped me to learn more.

Jesus Will Turn a ‘Hopeless End’ into a ‘Endless Hope’

In review of 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 it says, “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us … and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.”

Bottom Line:

We need to stop relying on ourselves and instead put our trust in God. He has delivered us in the past and will do so again. Therefore we place our confidence in him.

What this means to me:

I have faced certain situations that seem detrimental and out of my control, however these took place so that I would stop relying on myself, and instead put my full trust in God. God has delivered me in the past and will deliver me again if it is his choice. Therefore I am learning to place my confidence in him. Confidence that he will continue to rescue me in my time of need.

In whatever situation I find myself in right now, I need to ask “what am I expecting God to do?” Am I expecting him to do anything? What I’m learning is that God works in my life according to my expectations. That’s part of the definition of faith.

Paul knew this. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10, “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us … and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us” (NIV).

The purpose of a dead-end is to teach me to trust in God. So why does God let things get so bad and so out of control? It is so that he can make me realize that I need to learn to trust in him instead of trusting in my own ingenuity and cleverness.

The promise when I trust God is that he has delivered, will deliver, and he will continue to deliver me. When God delivers me in this last phase, he’ll use three different kinds of deliverance:

God uses circumstantial deliverance. Sometimes God miraculously alters the circumstance, and the Red Sea splits. That will happen many times in your life, but it’s not going to happen all the time.

God uses personal deliverance. Instead of changing the circumstance, God changes you from the inside. I’ll get a new dream, a new vision, a new attitude, and a new perspective.

God’s ultimate deliverance is Heaven. God has not promised to remove all of my pain in this world or solve every one of my problems. Because we are on Earth, there is pain and sorrow and suffering. The ultimate deliverance will be one day in Heaven where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, and no heartache.

There is only one way to get to Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). When you’re at a dead-end, Jesus can take that hopeless end and turn it into an endless hope.

The purpose of a dead-end is to teach me to trust in God. Whenever I face a dead-end, I need to remember to take that problem, that situation, and my own life and give them to Jesus Christ. I need to remember to stop relying on myself, resources and ingenuity and put my trust in God. He has delivered me in the past and will do so again. God will work in my life according to my expectations. I should place my confidence in him.

Faith is Not Denying Reality

In review of 2 Corinthians 4:18 it says, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Bottom Line:

We should fix our attention on what we can’t see, what we see is only temporary, but the things of God is what is going to last.

What this means to me:

So I shouldn’t fix my attention on what I can currently see, rather I should focus on what is unseen. For the things I see now will soon be gone, but the things of God that I cannot see will last forever.

What I’m learning is that faith is not denying reality. It’s not pretending I don’t have a problem. Faith is not saying, “I’m not in pain” when I am. It’s not saying, “I don’t hurt” when I do. It’s not saying, “I’m happy” when I’m really grieving inside. That’s not faith; it’s phoniness! Faith is facing the facts without being disheartened by them, knowing that God is greater than the problem.

There are many who think we should “Deny all of your problems. Just have a positive confession. Name it and claim it.” However this kind of thinking did not come from Jesus.

What I understand is that faith is actually facing reality without being discouraged by it. You know that God can change a situation. You can build a family on faith, but you can’t build it on fantasy. You can build a business on faith, but not on fantasy. You can build a life on faith, but not on fantasy.

The key is to look beyond the circumstances: “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen [the problem] is temporary, but what is unseen [God’s power] is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV).

If I look at the world, I’m going to be distressed. There are problems everywhere! If I look within, I’m going to be depressed, because there are a lot of things that need changing in my life. But if I look at Jesus Christ, I’ll be at rest. It all depends on where I am focused.

I’ve heard it say, that “circumstances are like a mattress: Get on top, and you rest easy. Get underneath, and you suffocate.” When I start looking at my problem, I’m sunk. But if I look at Jesus, truly look toward my Deliverer rather than the difficulty, I’ll make it.

In summary faith is not denying reality like some might think. Faith is actually facing my reality without being discouraged by it. It’s knowing that God is in control. The key for me is to look beyond the circumstance and truly look toward my Deliverer rather than the difficulty.

God Is in Control Even When My Plans Stall

In review of Romans 4:17 it says, “Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”

Bottom Line:

God can make the dead live again and can create new things out of nothing.

What this means to me:

With God anything is possible, as he can make the dead live again and he can create new things out of nothing.

Dead ends seem to appear when things are out of my control and I can’t do anything about it.

When I’m stuck in a dead end and I’m waiting for deliverance, I need to remember what God can do. The situation may be out of my control, but it’s not out of God’s control. When I face a dead-end, I shouldn’t focus merely on what I can’t do. I should shift my focus instead to what God can do.

Romans 4:17 says, “Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing” (NLT, second edition).

There are two things God does that I can never do: He can give life to the dead, and he can create something out of nothing. If God can give life to a dead man, he can certainly bring life to a dead or stalled dream.

It wasn’t just positive thinking that Abraham had, so what I’m learning is that positive thinking is not the same as faith. They are two very different things. Positive thinking works fine in situations I have control over. But in situations that are out of my control, positive thinking is worthless. It’s just wishful thinking. It doesn’t change the situation. So when I encounter things that are out of my control, I need something more than a positive mental attitude. I need faith in God, because he can control it when I can’t. As it turns out most of life will be beyond my control, so I need faith far more than I would ever need positive thinking.

The Bible says in Luke 18:27, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (NIV). God specializes in the impossible. It’s called a miracle. He can turn any of my dead-ends into deliverance's.

So its good for me to remember that God Is in control even when my plans seem to stall. If God can give life to a dead man, he can certainly bring life to what seems to be a dead-end for me.

How Difficulties Can Make Me Better

In review of Acts 27:31 it says, “Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.’”

Bottom Line:

Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.

What this means to me:

There will be things that come that will make me what to bail, however, I must hang in there, God is teaching and growing me through the experience.

One things is for certain, Life is not fair. I will have problems, difficulties, and hurts that will make me better or bitter. I will either grow up or give up. I’ll either become who God wants me to be or my heart will become hard. I need to decide how I’m are going to respond to the tough times in life.

What I’m learning is that when I go through difficult times, what happens to me is not nearly as important as what happens in me. That’s what I take into eternity, not the circumstances but my character.

In Acts 27, I can learn three ways I shouldn’t respond:

First, I shouldn’t just drift. “The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along” (Acts 27:15 NIV). The ship carrying Paul and other prisoners to Rome was in the middle of the Mediterranean and hadn’t seen the sun for 14 days, so they couldn’t get any bearings, and they started to drift. When facing difficulty, it’s easy to start drifting or coasting through life with no goal, purpose, ambition, or dream. The problem with coasting is that you’re headed downhill. Life is not a coast. Life’s tough. I should never lose my ambition or dream just because life gets hard.

Second, I shouldn’t discard. “We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard” (Acts 27:18). The men in charge needed to lighten the ship, so they threw the cargo overboard, then the tackle and the food. They were discarding things they needed because the storm was so tough. It’s easy when in the midst of a storm when the stress gets unbearable, there is a tendency to start abandoning values and relationships you would not let go of in better times. God says, “Stay with the ship!” If I do walk out or throw away the key, then I’ll never develop the character God wants me to have. God can change situations and personalities. He can change me. God wants me to learn, grow, and develop. Stick with it.

Third, I should never despair. “We finally gave up all hope of being saved” (Acts 27:20). After 14 days in total darkness and after giving up their cargo, tackle, and food, the passengers finally give up hope. But they’d forgotten one thing: Even in a storm, God is in control. He hasn’t left me. I may not always feel him, but if I feel far from God, guess who moved? God is with me in the storm, and he’ll help me through it. He is testing me to see if I’ll trust him. Will I pass the test?

I just need to realize that difficulties in this life will come, but I should never drift, discard or despair when they occur.  What is happening to me is not nearly as important as what God is doing within me.