Encouraging, Empowering & Equipping Ordinary Christians To Live Powerful Missional Lives!
Photo by Mercedes Bosquet on Unsplash
Watch this video and receive empowerment from God’s Word to go live a life that reflects the glory of Christ back into the lives of those still trapped in darkness.
With the worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 and the social distancing that is being ordered many churches have experienced a horrible decline in church attendance. Christians are quickly getting out of the habit of going to church because of fear.
In addition to the pandemic Christians are beginning to face some social opposition because of their mixing their faith with politics. For the first time in our nations history the church is beginning to be viewed by the unbelieving population as a bad social organization.
As a result there is a lot of discussion on what the church should be like and look like. Some really interesting discussions have centered around the church becoming more like the New Testament church they meet in homes.
Here's a simple video to illustrate what is being proposed. Watch this video and then share your thoughts on if you feel you could be part of something like it.
“Therefore everyone who hear these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ‘And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ‘Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ‘The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell and great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NAS)
Isn’t it interesting to note that both men had built a house and both men built their house on top of something. One was a rock and the other was sand. As it is true in building a house so it is also true in building your life - it will be built upon something. There is some kind of foundation upon which your life will be built upon. But the choice of what foundation you use to build your life is of the utmost importance. Why?
When it come to survival or destruction of your life the foundation upon which you build your life is the one and only determining factor. And because it is the one and only factor it becomes an essential factor. A person can’t go cheap on laying that firm foundation. A person cain’t afford to use inferior material in laying a foundation. And absolutely a person can’t even consider not laying a foundation.
As we already discussed in the previous post storms of life are going to happen. It’s not a matter of “if” they happen but just a matter of “when” they’ll happen. We have no control over whether or not trails, tribulations or persecution happen in our life. The truth of scripture is clear - they will happen. In addition, we also have no control over the intensity of the storms when they do arrive. It could be a mild storm or it could be a potentially devastating storm. We have no control over it. So in light of these truths the only sensible and prudent thing to do is to make sure you lay a firm foundation upon which to build your life.
It would be easy if there was only one option available to us for the foundation we use from which to build our life. But that’s not the case! In this story Jesus makes it clear you do have options. You can chose to use the options the world avails you (that’s the sand) or you can use the option that Jesus recommends (that’s the rock). The choice is yours but you need to choose wisely! Why?
Because the foundation is so essential you need to make sure you spare no expense, cut no corners and don’t be lazy in your efforts to the laying of that firm, solid and massive rock like foundation.
So as you begin to lay the foundation for you life be careful, give it your full attention and we wise. The foundation you choose will be the determining factor of whether your life is destroyed or stays strong after you go through the intense storms of life.
If you have not already read the first two blogs in this series you can hit the links below to check them out.
Take a quick moment and watch to see if your identity in Christ has been stolen by Satan or not!
The Apostle Paul starts off in verse 11 with the admonition for us to ensure that we have been full suited up with our spiritual Armor. He’s not suggesting that we put on some of the armor or even most of the armor. No, the Apostle Paul is very clear. We are to make sure we are to put on every piece of our spiritual armor because without all of the pieces we leave ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the demonic forces that we fight against.
To leave off even one piece of the armor is to create a chink in the armor thus exposing a vital area of our spiritual life to the devil and his attacks. Each piece of the armor is intended to protect a specific essential area of our spiritual life that is vital to our spiritual growth and vitality.
Next, I want you to take notice who’s armor we are to put on! We are not told to put on our own armor! In this verse the spiritual armor that we are to wear is identified as belonging to God. It is God’s armor we are to wear when entering into spiritual battle.
Why is this so important? Because, any king who is leading his soldier into battle will not only be fully suited up with his armor but will be fully suited up with the very best of armor! The materials used and the craftsmanship in making the armor will be the very best. Inferior materials and inferior craftsmanship will not be tolerated when it comes to the king. Why? Because, protecting the king and ensuring his safety is of the utmost importance.
In times past, there were situations, where two opposing kings each would select a champion to go fight each other. Just man against man. This soldier against soldier battle was done instead of the two armies battling it out. It was done in order to spare the loss of lots and lots of lives. The king of the champion that lost would then surrender to the king who’s champion won and he and the his subjects would become servants to the king of the champion.
There were times after a champion was selected that his king would then offer for him his armor to wear into the battle. Why the offer? Again, it was because the armor of the king is always the best armor made and offered the best protection the enemy. The kings offer to wear his armor was to give his champion the best possibility for victory.
That’s exactly what happened when David went out to fight Goliath. Take a look at 1 Samuel 17:37-39 says,
“… Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you.' ‘Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.” (NIV)
Out of all the soldiers in Israel not one of them was willing to go fight Goliath as Israel’s champion. They all were to afraid. But because of David strong faith in God, even though he was just shepherd boy, he was willing to make his stand against the giant. Even though he had no armor of his own, he was wiling to go. King Saul seeing both the courage and faith of this young man was then wiling to offer his very own armor for David to wear into battle. He wanted to give David the best fight chance possible to win. As it turned out David didn’t wear the armor because it was to big and he had not trained fighting with the armor. David knew he had a far better chance for victory if he used that which he knew best and not using something so unfamiliar.
Now here’s the point I am trying to make with all of this information.
God is clothing us with the VERY BEST of Spiritual Armor, His armor, so that we are very well protected from the enemy. If this is God’s armor that He would wear into battle don’t you think it is made of the very best of material and the very best of skill crafted it?
THIS IS SO AMAZING! God isn’t sending us out to fight the enemy with whatever protection we can find! God has provided us the very best of protection. HIS ARMOR!
Would I be to bold to say that the armor of God is even impregnable. I LOVE THAT WORD! This word “impregnable” is a powerful word and shouldn’t be used lightly.
Here’s what it means:
When I say that wearing the Armor of God makes us impregnable I am saying that we cannot be defeated or destroyed during spiritual warfare and I believe that is exactly why the Apostle Paul told us to make sure that every piece of God’s Armor is put on! It is to ensure that we come out the victors in each and every spiritual warfare encounter.
Notice what Paul says immediately after his strong admonition to put on the full armor of God. He says,
“…so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
Wearing the Armor of God allows us to stand against our enemy - not fall on our knees before our enemy. It gives us the ability to withstand the onslaught of Satan’s attack and be the one left standing when the attack is over.
Wearing the full of Armor of God doesn’t mean the battle is going to be easy or painless, it just means, when it’s all over and done, you’re left standing the victor. You might be beaten and battle worn but you will be the one left standing.
So, now can you see why it is a necessity and not just a suggestion when it comes to wearing the full Armor of God?
At the end of the book of Ephesians the Apostle Paul begins to teach and instruct on spiritual warfare and the need for putting on the armor in order to have victory. Here’s what he says,
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes …” Ephesians 6:10-11 (NIV)
The book of Ephesians was a letter sent to the church at Ephesus reminding them of all the things that Paul had taught them personally when he was with them. The teachings and instructions contained in this letter were the same teachings that Paul gave to all the new believers, in all the churches that he started. You see almost all these same teachings and in almost the same order Paul taught in the book of Colossians. We also see these same topics of instruction given not only by Paul but also by the Apostle Peter.
Obviously, these particular teachings were consider by Paul, Peter and actually all the rest of the Apostles as vital for the spiritual health and protection for the saints. In the Book of Acts, chapter two, where it says that the new believers devoted themselves to the Apostles Teaching, it could very well be referring to these teaching and trainings we find in Ephesians, Colossians and 1 Peter.
But the very last teaching and instruction we find in Ephesians deals with spiritual warfare and suiting up with the armor necessary for gaining the victory. Verse 10 starts off with the word, “Finally”. In other words, Paul is wrapping up his letter and letting the readers know that this is the last topic he is going to teach on. After teaching about who Christ is, our salvation in Christ, living a life worthy of our call, how to treat our parent and kids; our husbands and wives; and our masters and our slaves Paul ends with this topic of spiritual warfare and the armor necessary for victory.
Why at the end? Why not at the beginning or the middle?
I believe it is because of the urgent importance of the subject dealing with spiritual attacks and how to handle them. Now don’t get me wrong I believe that all of the topics and lessons contained in the Ephesians are very important! If they weren’t I don’t believe that they would have been in the Bible to start with. The Bible tells us that all of the Bible is vitally important to the life and vitality of God’s people.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
Since all these topics are contained in the Bible - they are important and they are useful. They are useful in teaching us the truth, rebuking us when we do wrong, correcting us on how we are suppose to act, and how to live a life that is pleasing to God. So, please understand that all of scripture is important, useful and comes from God.
However, I do believe that some topics and instructions are more urgent than others. The word “Urgent” is an adjective that means:
a state or situation requiring immediate action or attention.
an action or an event done or arranged in response to a pressing or critical situation.
a person or their manner earnest and persistent in response to a pressing situation.
Spiritual warfare by its very nature requires immediate action because of the critical situation that it creates and as a result should be the earnest and persistent response of every follower of Christ. The nature of spiritual warfare is a critical and pressing situation that should cause all of God’s people to take it seriously.
While other topics found in Ephesians are important and useful not all of them are urgent like those of spiritual warfare. And that’s why I believe that the Apostle Paul taught on it last. With spiritual warfare being the last thing the recipients would read insures that it is also the foremost thing they will remember.
Think about it for just a moment. Do we really think that Satan is going to be alright with the fact that another one of his slaves has just been liberated by the Gospel and defected from his kingdom into the Kingdom of Heaven?
Satan hates it. He can’t stand it. Every time another persons surrenders their life over to the Lordship of Christ Satan has a little less rulership over this world. He is just a little bit closer to the total defeat he will eventually experience. And that’s just not acceptable to him! And, he’s going to fight back.
One of the first groups of people that spiritual warfare will come too are those new believers in Christ. Satan wants to make sure that even though they are free and their sins have been forgiven, they are going to suffer for their treason. He is going to hit them hard and fast. He may not own them anymore, they may now belong to Christ but Satan wants to neutralize their effectiveness in their service to Christ. And so he attacks them.
As a result of this reality the Apostle Paul knows that these new believers need to be quickly prepared for the spiritual attack that will be coming. And what better way to accomplish that than by making this topic the last thing they hear to ensure it’s the first thing they remember.
Another group of people that spiritual warfare will hit are those who are intentionally joining Christ on His mission of making more and more disciples. All Christians are called to follow Christ and where is Christ leading us?
To a life on mission.
To a life of making him more disciples!
To a life of sharing the Gospel to those still held as slaves to sin and blinded by Satan.
In a very real sense every Christian is called by Jesus to be spiritual freedom fighters, liberating those held captive by Satan through the sharing of the Gospel of Christ. It’s not just what we do but in a very real sense it is who we are. It’s our purpose, reason and mission for living in this spiritually dark world.
And when Christians begin to take hold of this new identity and intentionally try to live it out, the demonic forces of this world will respond and fight back.
Because every time we share the Gospel with a lost person in this world we are picking a fight with Satan. That’s right, I did say, “WE ARE PICKING A FIGHT WITH SATAN!”
Let’s get real for just moment. Does anyone really think that Satan is going to be alright with us coming into his kingdom and liberating his slaves? Do we really think he is going to stand at the entrance of his spiritual concentration camps and yell out to us, “Come on in. It’s o.k. I’ll let you free my slaves.”
The truth of the matter is that Satan is going to fight back. He is going to do what he did with Job and later Peter. He will go before God, present himself alongside the angels and ask permission to sift us like wheat with the intent to cause us to curse God to His face. Take a look at what the Bible says,
“… One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.’ Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” Job 1:6-12 (NIV)
While there are a whole lot of great spiritual truths to learn from these few verse here are just two important lessons we need to learn today.
Satan will ask permission to attack us spiritually
God will give him permission to do it.
In other words Satan not only wants to spiritually attack us he is also willing to go before God to get permission to do it and God, at times, will grant him that permission.
Spiritual warfare is unavoidable from both God’s and Satan’s design and perspective. At this point let me reassure you that God and Satan have totally different intentions for wanting and allowing spiritual warfare in our lives. Real quickly we know that Satan wants it to use it to cause us to curse God to His face (destroy our faith) but God want to use it to make us stronger in our faith.
So yes, if you are going to be obedient to Christ by joining Him on His mission of making disciples then you are a target for spiritual attacks by Satan and the demonic kingdom.
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I just have to tell you that I am so very excited to share this next endorsement with you about my book LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY!
Why? Because it is from a person who make up the audience I am trying to reach and encourage to be on mission. That target audience are those that I like to call Ordinary Christians.
What Do I Mean By Ordinary Christian? First let me say that I am not trying to demean anybody by using that title. I do believe that all of who come to faith in Christ are now somebody very important. Not because of our own goodness but because of the grace of God.
When I say ordinary christians, I mean people who are just your everyday follower of Christ, who loves Jesus and wants to be obedient. They don't have any special Bible education from a Christian college or seminary but they do love studying the Bible and staying close to Jesus in prayer.
However, they may worry about joining Christ on His mission for one reason or another. This book is written to encourage and equip them to live a worry free life while being on mission with Christ.
Janet Howard is such a Christian. She loves Jesus with all her heart; she wants to be obedient to Him as an expression of her love for him; she want to share the love of Christ with others but has suffer with some worry over it.
I had her read this book so as to see if I had accomplished my goal for writing the book, which is to help people overcome their worry and join in God's mission. Read what she says and see for yourself if I accomplished it or not.
"This book, LIVING ON MISSION IN SPITE OF MY WORRY, is just as the title suggests. The beginning chapters give us foundational biblical reasons why we should not allow worry hinder the mission that God is calling all believers into. The remaining chapters give clear practical advice and steps to take to move forward in that mission without worry. It will be a great book for group studies to encourage and equip ordinary believers live out their mission. As I read through the book I was challenged in my own personal responsibility to not allow worry overtake the need to love people into the kingdom. It's a very worthwhile book to read.”
Janet Howard
An Ordinary Christian
Tucson, Az
Disciples are made, not just born again! Now that’s an interesting statement and one that really needs to be looked at closely. At one angle the statement seems completely contrary to what we know about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “… you must be born again …”? Of course He did! And what Jesus says is absolute truth! So, then the statement “Disciples Are Made - Not Just Born Again” is false! Or is it?
Didn’t Jesus also say in Matthew 28:18-20 as part of the Great Commission to, “… Go and make disciples …”? Notice the emphasis I am placing on the word, “MAKE”. Again, of course He did! And also, once again, what Jesus says is absolutely truth!
How then do we look at the original statement, “Disciples Are Made - Not Just Born Again”? Simply by just saying that it is true and must be accepted!
The real question then deals with how to understand and harmonize both parts of the statement so that it can guide us into complete obedience to Christ and His mission.
First, let’s take a closer look at what Jesus says about being born again. The statement is found in Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in the Gospel of John 3:1-21. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to talk with Jesus and get more information from Jesus about the things of God. Nicodemus starts off his discourse with a statement he believed to be true about Jesus. He says,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God was with him.” (v.2)
Jesus then jumps right in there with this teaching about the need to be born again and how that experience is the entrance into being part of the kingdom of God. The born again experience is the essential step that every person must take if they are going to enter into the Kingdom of God. Without taking that step one cannot enter.
After some questioning and answering back and forth by Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus finally explains that the way one experiences this born again experience is through believing in Him, the Son of God. This is the place where we read one of the most memorized scriptures in the Bible,
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever, believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
But in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus wasn’t talking about the born again experience! He wasn’t talking about the initial step that brings them into the Kingdom of God. No. Jesus was giving His final words of instructions before He leaves this world and goes back to Heaven to wait for the time of His return. Jesus is talking about the final product that is to be produced in those who come to faith in Him.
Jesus was teaching Nicodemus how to get started but Jesus was instructing His apostles about what the final outcome would be for those who come and receive that born again experience. The verses in John 3 talk about the beginnings the verses in Matthew 28 talk about the goal.
The born again experience is the first step in the disciple making process but it is also not the final step. The goal of Jesus is to make him more and more disciples - not just more and more people being born again. While it is very true one cannot become a disciple of Jesus unless they are born again, it is also true that one cannot be a fully devoted follower of Christ by just being born again.
If we are striving to be fully devoted followers of Christ are going to be obedient we must share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost so they can hear and believe in Jesus and thereby receive that born again experience. But we must also recognize that that there is still much more to do if we are going to be obedient to Christ command and commission in Matthew 28. We must baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we must teach them to obey all that Christ has commanded.
As we are out in the spiritual harvest fields sharing Jesus and the Gospel with others, different people will give us different responses! Do you know what actions you should take based upon the response you get from the different people you share Christ with?
In this video you are going to learn some possible different actions you can take when people give you different responses to your offer of receiving Christ and your invitation to begin a discipleship process with them. It is a flow chart to help you know what to do and what to say!
" Yes, He (God) has humbled me and shown me what I am, revealing Himself as a present, a very present help in times of trouble. And though He does not deprive me of feeling in my trial, He enables me to sing, 'Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation ... Now I am happy in my Saviour's love. I can thank Him for all, even the most painful experiences of the past, and trust Him without fear for all that is to come." Hudson Taylor
In this video I am going to share 3 things you can expect from God when you decided to join Him on His mission! They are taken from the above quote of Hudson Taylor and is verified with scripture. THEY WILL BE CHALLENGING TO HEAR AND ACCEPT! But they will also, once made part of your life, prepare you for whatever assignment the Lord sees fit to give you as part of His mission.
As the Apostle Paul was writing his letter to the church at Colosse he tells the Christians there about a prayer that he offers up to God on their behalf. This prayer contains some important information about knowing God's Will. Read what it says,
"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through spiritual wisdom and understanding ..." Colossians 1:9 (NIV)
In this one verse we can learn 3 important facts about knowing God's will. They are:
Did you notice as you read the verse about that Paul said this this prayer is a prayer that he is praying for them daily? For the Apostle Paul making sure that new believers in Christ were fully grounded in Christ was essential and if he was to accomplish that goal it was of the utmost importance that the new believers knew the will of God!
Paul knew that being fully matured in Christ would require new believer to know what God's will is. It would be impossible for them to be strong in their faith and not know God's will. That's why he prayed daily for those coming to faith. That's why his prayers contained petitions that those new believers would know and understand God's will.
How Important And Essential Is Knowing God's Will To You?
How often do you pray for the new believers that you know about? That they would know God's will?
Did you notice in that verse that Paul was asking God to fill them with the knowledge of His will? Who's doing the filling? God is! Who's the container being filled? We are!
Why is this important? Simply because, you don't discover God's will - no instead it is God who reveals His will to us. If we are going to understand what God's will is - it is because God has opened our eyes to see the truth of His will. If God doesn't enlighten us we could never understand His will.
Finally Paul states in his prayer that he is asking God to fill us with his will through spiritual wisdom and understanding. Not human wisdom and understanding but spiritual wisdom and understanding. The wisdom of this world does not and cannot comprehend the will of God. To the world the will of God sounds like foolishness. Understanding God's will requires us to have spiritual wisdom and understanding that come from God.
The word for "wisdom" means the ability to understand what God is doing and the word for "understanding" means the ability to apply what they understand. You see not only does God want us to understand His will is but He also wants us to know how to apply His will to our everyday life. God doesn't just tell you what His will is to keep you informed - God shares his will with you because he wants you to join Him in what He is doing.
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Step 1: Entry Stage
Before you can begin to see a powerful missional movement of Disciple Making/Church Planting you need to have an "ENTRY STRATEGY" in place. What's an entry strategy? It's your initial plan for how to bring the Gospel of Christ into your mission field so that it takes hold. It's your plan for developing a "Beachhead" in your mission field that will allow you to expand and take over the rest of the area for Christ.
Step 2: Gospel Sowing Stage
Once you've established your presence in the mission field by implementing your entry stage strategy, now you need to sow the Gospel of Jesus Christ liberally! How will you do it? What will be your strategy for getting the Good News of Christ out to ever increasing groups of people?
Step 3: Nurturing Growth Stage
Just like any harvest fields that begin to show growth there also need to be the watering and nurturing that continues to until its time to harvest, so there needs to be the nurturing of new believers in spiritual growth and obedience to Christ and His commands. What is your strategy for help new believers grow in Christ and become reproducing disciple makers?
Step 4: Harvest and Bundling Stage
Now its time to harvest! In this analogy the harvesting means church formation. Every great movement results in the formation of new churches. What is your strategy for taking this new believers and growing disciples and help them form into new churches.
Step 5: New Missionary Leader Stage
The final stage is the raising up, training up and unleashing of new apostolic leaders who will go and ignite new movements in different places. What is your strategy for identifying, training and commissioning these new missionaries?
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Lessons for living a powerful missional life can be discovered from many different areas of life, including track and field. The Fosbury Flop was an innovative change to performing the high jump. Watch this video and discover a powerful lessons on shining the Light of Christ brightly in your part of this dark world!
Jesus told us what the proof of truly being His disciples, which is to be on mission.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35
Watch this video and then ask yourself: "Do I live the kind of missional life that proves I am a true Follower of Christ?"
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.
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!
When you chose to join God on His mission you'll encounter three different kinds or groups of people. Each person will be distinctly different from the others and will require you to share with them a different message.
In this video I will identify each of the 3 different kinds of people, describe what they are like and to share with them in order to be joining Christ on His mission. As you are having a conversations with people think about what group they fall into and then what kind of message they need to hear. THEN STEP OUT ON FAITH AND SHARE IT!
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!
Watch this video and hear a great suggestion for starting the day off to brightly shine the Light of Christ in your part of this spiritually dark world!
We believe that ordinary christians are God primary choice for doing His extraordinary work. Throughout scripture we see God choosing to use everyday people to join Him on His mission of raising up, training up and unleashing them to become rapidly reproducing disciple makers. The Ordinary Christians intends to join God in that pursuit.
Become a Ministry partner of The Ordinary christian & help us give away powerful training to God's people to live a powerful missional life. HIT THE DONATE NOW!
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