Tag Archives: the great commission

March 25, 2024 · 5:28 AM

Mission Minded

Are you the type of person that is easily distracted or are you so focused you can tune the world out? Sometimes I feel like the dog Doug in Disney’s “Up” movie who is constantly distracted by squirrels. Other times I feel like Kevin Costner’s character in “For Love of The Game”. He was a pitcher in a game of baseball inside a noisy stadium. He would say, “Clear the mechanism,” and he would be able to tune everything out to focus on the pitch. As what we now refer to as Holy Week was about to begin, Jesus was headed for Jerusalem knowing what was waiting for Him there. He was focused and ready.

Luke 9:51 says, ”Now when the time was approaching for Him to be taken up [to heaven], He was determined to go to Jerusalem [to fulfill His purpose]“ (AMP). The King James Version tells us His face was set like a flint. He was so focused on His mission that He wasn’t being distracted. The people in the village wouldn’t let them stay there that night. They had no idea that they were denying rest to God’s son who had come to save them from their sins. They only saw a Jew who was dead set on getting to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. A couple of disciples wanted to call fire down from Heaven but Jesus rebuked them saying, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”]

Hebrews 12:2 tells us to run our race with endurance ”[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work.“ Jesus’ mission was the cross. His whole life was pointing to that moment so He could bear the sins of the world and bring salvation. Before He left, He gave us our mission to go into all the world, preach the Gospel and to make disciples. Like Jesus, we need to be mission minded blocking out the things that would distract us from what He’s called us to do.

Photo by Christopher Sardegna on Unsplash

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April 11, 2023 · 5:38 AM

Go Home

Have you ever been in a missions service where a missionary shared the work they were doing? What about a service where they taught in the Great Commission? Chances are that you felt a strong tug on your heart to “go into all the world.” You May have even prayed, “Lord, here am I, send me…just don’t send me to that part of the world.” We feel that strong tug because the Great Commission was to all of us. We are all called to go into all the world. We usually don’t consider our job, our neighborhood or our city as being included in “all the world,” but it is. Not everyone is called to be a missionary in a foreign country. However, we are all called to make disciples wherever we go.

In John 4, we read where Jesus took a strange detour through Samaria. The disciples were probably a bit confused because Jews and Samaritans hated each other. While they went to search for food, Jesus sat by a well. When a woman came to the well, Jesus spoke to her and asked for water. During their discussion, He explained He had living eater. He also told her all about herself and that He was the Messiah. She ran back into her town and told everyone about Him. They all came out because of her testimony of her encounter with Him. He stayed for a couple of days. They then said that they no longer believed because of her word. Now they had experienced Him themselves. One woman led an entire city to the Lord. She didn’t have to go into all the world. She just had to go home.

In Luke 8, we read where Jesus delivered the demoniac from Gaderene. He was filled with so many demons, they called themselves “Legion”. They asked to be cast into the pigs and they were. The man was delivered and wanted to follow Jesus. In verse 39 Jesus said, “‘Return home and tell [about] all the great things God has done for you.’ So the man went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him” (AMP). Just like these two people, most of us are called to go home and make disciples. There are people all around you today who need you to answer that call to go and make disciples. There are people who need to hear your testimony and see your life lived for Christ. You may be the only Jesus they meet today. Help set them free by the power of Jesus and win your town to Him one person at a time.

Photo by J King on Unsplash

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March 14, 2023 · 5:33 AM

God’s Ambassador

I was researching the difference between a diplomat and an ambassador. It shows that a diplomat is an occupation, while ambassador is a title of the highest ranking diplomat. Ambassadors represent their home country and have full authority to represent their government. I only know one ambassador personally. She travels the world building and strengthening ties between different countries and hers. Everywhere she goes, she’s on a mission to connect people with her cause. I’ve watched her tell stories, share videos and answer questions all in trying to get as many people as she can to visit her country and rescue their citizens who are scattered abroad.

Even if you haven’t read the book of Jonah, you know a little about his story. God called him to be an ambassador of Heaven to a city called Nineveh. However, Jonah didn’t want to be an ambassador. He didn’t like the people where God was trying to send him, so he went in the opposite direction. God caused a great storm to envelop the ship he was on until he confessed that he was running from God. They tossed him overboard and he was swallowed by a great fish that God had prepared for him. While in the darkness, he agreed to be the ambassador God called him to be. The fish spit him out and he started out for Nineveh. When he told the people God’s message for them, they repented and were spared from the wrath of God.

2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us; we [as Christ’s representatives] plead with you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God” (AMP). You and I are on a mission from Heaven just like Jonah. When you accepted Jesus, you became His ambassador to this world to share His love with them. Your goal is to connect as many people as you can to God so they can be reconciled to Him and receive their salvation. Like my ambassador friend, you must use any means necessary. Share your testimony, show videos of people who may be able to explain the message better than you and answer questions. You speak for Heaven and carry the authority of the Son of God because He lives within you. Don’t take your mission lightly. You have been commissioned and sent. Go and make disciples wherever you go as God’s ambassador.

Photo by RODNAE Productions:

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