Encouraging, Empowering & Equipping Ordinary Christians To Live Powerful Missional Lives!
When it comes to missional living there is one of the Biblical figure that pop up as a great example for how to do it is John the Baptist! Today, I want us to look at John the Baptist and how he went out to "Make the path straight for the coming of the Lord." What did he do? And how did he do it?
Take a few moments and watch this devotional, think about it and then share your thoughts as comments below.
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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!
When we begin to live an intentional life on mission with Christ we will begin to experience some circumstances that will literally blow our minds! As we encounter those circumstances, impossible circumstances, questions will begin to fill our minds! Questions like:
We are going to look at just one little statement Jesus made to a woman while he was out on mission. In that statement holds the key to answer this important question! Take a few moments and watch it NOW!
Here are three things you can do every single day to help you join God on His mission and live a powerful missional life.
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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"Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.' Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, 'Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.' He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.' The woman came and knelt before him. 'Lord, help me!' she said. He replied, 'It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.' 'Yes it is, Lord,' she said. 'Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.' Then Jesus said to her, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed at that moment." Matthew 15: 21-28 (NIV)
Everyday Christian living requires Followers of Christ to have faith but to living a powerful missional life that brightly shines the Light of Christ in your part of this dark world will require GREAT FAITH! We all know this but what does great faith look like in the lives of real ordinary Christians. Is it even possible to be a average - ordinary Christian and have GREAT FAITH?
Today, we are going to look at the life of one woman - an average woman - whom Jesus described as a woman of great faith. We are going to examine her, look at what she did and how she did it that would lead Jesus to ascribe to her as a woman of great faith. This woman is the portrait of what a person of great faith looks like.
Did you notice in that story as the woman is crying out and begging Jesus to heal her daughter that Jesus literally ignored her? Jesus was unwilling to stop and even have a conversation with the woman. He just kept on walking.
Then the disciples are getting annoyed by the woman's persistence asked Jesus to send her away because she was unwilling to leave them alone and kept on asking for Jesus to heal her daughter. There's no hint of compassion or care from any of the disciples! They just wanted Jesus to send her away.
Finally when Jesus was willing to start talking to her he told her that he wouldn't help her because she belonged to the wrong group of people. He basically told her that He wouldn't help her because she didn't belong to the right "Target Group". She had 3 strikes against her: She wasn't Jewish, he was a Gentile and she was a woman.
So, what was it that stood out about this woman to Jesus that allowed him to ascribe to her as being a woman of great faith? What did Jesus see or what stood out to him?
This woman wasn't crying out for help for herself! She was begging Jesus to help her daughter. This woman had so much concern and care about her daughter that she was willing to risk the ridicule and rejection that she knew would probably come because of her being a Gentile woman asking help from a Jewish man. But she was willing to endure the ridicule and shame because of the concern for her daughter.
Does our faith propel us to risk being made fun of or being endangered all because we care and are concerned about another? Does your faith push you to take risks in order to help another?
Did you notice that even though Jesus ignored her and his disciples rejected her she didn't give up and she stayed persistent in crying out over and over again to Jesus for help. Can you picture the scene? Envision Jesus walking down the road with his disciples and here is this woman following you, not going away or giving up, but keeps on crying out for Jesus to help her daughter. It probably wasn't a quite crying out but a loud one that was gaining the attention of everyone around.
Did you notice in verse 25 that the woman even knelt before Jesus in complete submission to him and his authority. The woman in all her crying out wasn't rude at all. This woman showed tremendous about of respect and submission to Jesus in her request for help.
And then after she knelt down before Jesus she begs him once again passionately, "Lord, help me." You could probably see her heart full of passion to get help for her daughter written all over her face and in her eyes. Her face was probably drenched with tears and her eyes bloodshot from all the crying.
And then after Jesus basically calls this woman a "dog" when he explained to her that the reason why he could not help her was because it was not proper for the food that belongs to the children to be given to the dogs that this woman, through her faith, demonstrated true humility as she once again made her plea of faith. Listen to the words of this woman,
"Yes it is, Lord,' she said. 'Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table."
This woman's response back to Jesus was simple this: "I am not asking you to give me anything that belongs to the children; I'm just asking for the scraps that fall onto the floor from the masters table". In other words she was saying, "I maybe a dog but I'm at least entitled to eat the food that hits the floor."
This woman had so much faith in Christ that she knew that even the scraps that fall from his table is enough to heal her daughter.
When Jesus say those things that expressed her faith He was absolutely blown away! He stopped, he looked her straight into her face and say, "You have great faith and your request is granted."
This was an ordinary woman with nothing going in her favor except that she knew Jesus could heal her daughter if he just gave the word for it to happen and her faith wouldn't allow her to stop asking, crying out and begging Jesus with all humility.
This could be you and me! You don't have to be born in a family with great wealth - you don't keep to graduate from some fancy school - you may have even been born on the wrong side of the tracks. None of that matters. The only thing that matters is you FAITH IN CHRIST.
Based upon Jesus’ instruction in Luke 10 when He sent out the 72 to every town and village he was about with the purpose of finding, what Jesus referred to as, the Person of Peace this simple strategy was developed and designed to help you find the person of peace that God has prepared in your neighborhood.
A Person of Peace is someone that God has prepared and is ready to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ and could potentially be the key to reaching his or her entire network of relationships for Christ. This strategy is designed to engage your neighbors and find a person who is ready to give their heart and life over to the care and control of Christ.
The thing to remember when reading and implementing this strategy is that it’s not your goal to share with everyone about Christ but to find the person that God has already prepared, The Person of Peace, and to lead to Christ and into disciple. This person of peace will be empowered by God to reach their network of relationships.
You want to make enough plates of chocolate chip cookies for the number of houses in your neighborhood. Each plate should have about 4 to 5 cookies on them.
Write out and memorize your personal testimony of coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Your testimony should include 3 parts:
The story of the Sinful Woman is found in Luke 7:36-50. Read the story 4 or 5 times and then rewrite the story in your own words. Be true to the text, don’t add or subtract anything to it, but make sure to tell it in a way and with words you would normally speak and use. Practice telling the story over and over again. . Make sure you practice it by saying it out loud so you can hear your own voice telling the story.
Ask them if they admit that they are a sinner in need of forgiveness by God.
Share with them that Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for their sins and then was raised from the dead proving that he has power over death, grave and sin. Ask them if they believe in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.
Share with them that they can have their sins forgiven if they are willing to surrender the control of their life over to the control of Jesus. If they are willing to confess Jesus is Lord they can receive forgiveness of sin. Ask them if they are willing to surrender control of their life over to the control of Christ. Ask them if they are willing to pledge their allegiance to Christ and live for Him.
After you finish sharing the story of the sinful woman you can seamlessly transition to sharing you testimony by saying something like this:
“You know there was a time in my life when I was desperate for God and His forgiveness just like the sinful woman in this story …”
“ and now one of the things that God has me doing is going around sharing with other people that just like the sinful woman was able to have her sins forgiven and just like I was able to have my sins forgiven, you too can have your sins forgiven if you’re willing to …”
I got to tell you this strategy works amazingly in finding the person that God is already at work. Here’s the best part! You’re not trying to convince anyone of anything. You’re just sharing the Gospel and looking to see how they respond. If they respond negatively, you just move on to the next house. If they respond positively you have just found the Person of Peace – you have just found the person whom called has already prepared to come to faith in Christ.
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO JOIN CHRIST ON HIS MISSION
LOOKING FOR THOSE WHO THE FATHER HAS ALREADY PREPARED!
Are you ready to join Christ on His mission? Are you ready to bring the Kingdom of God to your neighborhood? If so, go buy all the fixings for chocolate chip cookies, memorize that story and your testimony.
Missional Living always happens when we hear the call of Christ to come join Him however, that invitations doesn't always come when conditions are perfect. As a matter of fact Followers of Christ often hear the call of Christ during some of the most difficult of times.
Take a few moments and watch this Missional Living Devotional and be empowered to join Christ where he's at work when Christ calls you to join Him.
Do you know of other Followers of Christ who have put off joining Christ on His mission because they don't feel the conditions are right? Do you feel this devotional could encourage them to drop whatever it is that's holding them back and join Christ where He's at? If so, take a few moments and share this post on Facebook, Twitter, and your other social media venues.
Members from Enchanted Hills Baptist Church after going out on a Door To Door Prayer Walk!
The people above received the T4T Reproducing Disciple Making Basic Training and then went out to do a Door To Door Prayer Walk to find where God was at work. Watch to the video below to hear the results of their time joining God on His mission. You just might be encouraged and empowered to do the same!
“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
The previous principle of actualizing a worry free life that I shared was to have faith in Sovereignty of God. It was designed to help us understand and believe that God is able to do anything, through anybody, including each of us. If God is truly God then nothing is impossible for Him and all things that He wills can and will be done. In other words, there’s no force or authority above Him or beside Him.
God most definitely is in control.
But trusting and believing that God is in control, when left by itself, does provide insurance that we won’t be filled with worry and anxiety. As a matter of fact, it is quite possible for a person to be actively doing God’s will and still have no peace about it! People can be in service to God, doing exactly what He has asked them to do, with full assurance that God will accomplish His task and still be worry and anxious about it! That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But it’s true.
Let me give you an example using the prophet Jonah. You know the story of Jonah. Jonah is commanded by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because their disgusting wickedness had come up to God. Jonah however, didn’t want to obey God so he ran away and hopped on a boat headed for Tarshish. While on the ship God sent a hug storm to come up against them and almost sink the ship and everyone on it.
Jonah then convinced the other men of the ship that the only way to save the ship from God’s wrath was for them to throw him overboard. While floating around in the water, God caused a whale to come and swallowed him up. However, this whale swallowing experience wasn’t intended to kill Jonah but for God to get his attention and compliance. As Jonah was sitting in the belly of the whale, He cried out to God, committed to obeying Him by going to Nineveh, and preach against the city. Then after being burped up onto shore Jonah did go to Nineveh, he did preach against the city but once the king of Nineveh heard the message, on his own initiative, he got the whole city to repent and beg God for mercy.
As God heard the sincere cry of repentance from the people of the whole city, He did show mercy on them and pulled back His wrath. This, however, was not what Jonah wanted to happen. Jonah didn’t want mercy to be shown them but instead he wanted the judgment of God to fall on them. Jonah then begins to act like a spoiled little brat and throws a temper tantrum. Listen to what the Bible records Jonah saying once he realizes that God had shown the people of Nineveh mercy.
“But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, ‘isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God; slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:1-3 (NIV)
While there are lots of lesson that we can learn from those first 4 chapters of Jonah, the one I want us to understand and meditate on today is this:
Just because you’re doing God’s will doesn’t mean you’ll experience God’s peace and be free from anxiety. Just because you’re being obedient doesn’t mean you won’t have worry in your life!
Why? Because a Christian who wishes to experience a worry free life not only needs to trust in the Sovereignty of God but they also need to surrender to the will of God in their attitude as well as in their action. If our attitude is wrong, even when doing what is right, we still won’t have a life filled with peace.
Jonah went and did what God wanted but he went and did it with a bad attitude. Even, though his actions were right – his heart was wrong. Jonah didn’t want the people of Nineveh to be forgiven – he wanted them to be judged and condemned! Jonah knew, from his understanding of the nature of God that “if” the people of Nineveh repented God would forgive them and because of this understanding of God, Jonah worried that God would forgive them and show them mercy if they repented.
The worry free life that we all are seeking always will come from both right actions and right attitudes. Jonah obviously didn’t have the right attitude. Jonah desired something that was contrary to what God wanted and as a result, even though He was obedient, Jonah neither had peace about the assignment or joy about the outcome.
Now with this as the backdrop, let’s once again take a look at part of Hudson Taylor’s quote.
It’s that last part of the sentence I want us to focus on,
Hudson Taylor had come to a place in his daily life where he could honestly say that he not only sought to do God’s will but also that it was his sincere hearts desire to see God’s will accomplished, regardless of what it was.
So here is the third principle for a worry free life. We can experience a life free of worry by:
What I mean by that statement is that when we get our hearts to desire that which God desires; that we want what God actually wants; that we have no desires of our own but only to do the will of God then we can be freed from worry.
Jesus, after talking to the sinful woman at the well described his desire to do the will of God in the following manner,
In other words, Jesus was so desirous to do the will of His Father that it was being hungry and thirsty. It was only through complete obedience that Jesus was able to satisfy that desire.
Think about a time when you were so hungry or thirsty! How did you feel? Wasn’t getting something to eat and something to drink an all consuming desire and thought for you? Of course it was!
Nothing else will satisfy. Satisfaction only comes when we obey!
There’s an old gospel hymn that perfectly describes this principle of conforming our attitude and desire to match that of Christ’s.
WHEREVER HE LEADS I’LL GO
Wherever He leads I’ll go,
Wherever He leads I’ll go,
I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so,
Wherever He leads I’ll go.
He drew me closer to His side,
I sought His will to know,
And in that will I now abide,
Wherever He leads I’ll go.
My heart, my life, my all I bring
To Christ who loves me so;
He is my Master, Lord, and King,
Wherever He leads Ill go.
(Alan Jackson)
A true worry free life comes when we 1). Abide in God’s will; 2). Surrender our heart, our life and our all to Christ regardless of where He leads us.
In order to experience the worry free life we must be willing to exchange our will to that of God’s will.
Not sure? Then watch this weeks Missional Living Devotional and see what the Apostle Peter said should be the resolve of every Christian.
“I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize that He is able to carry out His will for me. It does not matter where He places me, or how. That is for Him to consider, not me, for in the easiest positions He will give me grace, and in the most difficult ones His grace is sufficient.” – Hudson Taylor
The prospect of attaining a worry free life is a wonderful proposition for many but has, at the same, seemed like a pie in the sky ideal that is completely unreachable. The lesson we learned in Part 1 is that it’s not an unattainable goal but actually a completely Biblical one that Christians can make part of their daily lifestyle.
We saw how both Hudson Taylor and the Apostle Paul claimed to achieve that state of being and we also learned that Jesus taught that living a worry free life should be the kind of life that His followers should experience.
In today’s lesson, we are going to learn where to start in the development of that worry free disposition. Every journey starts with taking the first step. So, today we are going to look at the first step in ridding our life from the stress, worry and anxiety that life throws at us.
Lesson #2:
Trusting In The Sovereignty Of God
We will start this lesson by looking at the second statement that Hudson Taylor made in his quote.
“ … I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will for me…”
In this one short phrase, Hudson Taylor gives us the starting point for developing the worry free life that we’ve been talking about. For him there could be no other first step. All other subsequent steps are dependent upon this first step being actively embraced. If a Christian fails to take this first step, then all the other steps are unattainable for this first step lays the foundation upon which to build all other steps.
What is that first step? It is simply this: Trusting In The Sovereignty Of God!
While that may sound profound, what exactly does it mean? To help us answer that question here’s a definition that resonates with me:
“God, as the ruler of the universe, has the right to do whatever He wants and whenever He wants and also has the ability and power to bring it about.”
In other words, God has both the authority and power to do whatever He decides to do. It means that nothing is out of God’s control or outside His authority. Or, you might even say that God’s will, will be done!
From this statement in Hudson Taylor’s quote, we can conclude that he came to the place in his walk with Christ that he sincerely believed that God is able and willing to accomplish whatever He has planned. Taylor realized that there was no need to worry since God would be successful in accomplishing His endeavors. He knew that God would be successful and would never fail.
Taylor wasn’t concerned that people, in their sinful actions, would mess up God’s plans. He wasn’t concerned that Satan with all of his scheming and deceitfulness could alter God’s will. Why? The answer is, because Taylor understood all of creation, whether angel, man, or demon, is under the complete authority of God. Taylor truly believed that with just one word from God all of creation, both willing and unwilling, would do His bidding.
Listen how the Bible describes the power and authority of God in Romans 9:19-21 (NIV):
“One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?’ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?”
In this verse, the Apostle Paul asks a couple of rhetorical questions,
Here’s the point of this whole verse: God is in control! Nothing exists that is outside of God’s control. This was something that Hudson Taylor understood and believed in the very depths of his heart, and it was the foundation that brought him peace and allowed him to live a worry free life.
Hudson Taylor also applied this truth to his own life! Take a look at that quote again. Notice that it says,
“…I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will for me…”
The last two words at the end of the quote make it so powerful and so personal at the same time. The phrase, “For me,” is so powerful. Why? The reason is because if one doesn’t truly believe that the truths of God apply to them personally then they will never experience them personally. Hudson Taylor could say that he no longer got anxious about things because he applied the truth of God’s sovereignty to his own life.
How peaceful and restful it is when we finally come to the place where we truly know and believe that nothing is able to hinder or prevent God’s will from being worked out in us and through us. Think about it for just a moment. Other people cannot mess up God’s will for your life. You can’t even mess God’s will for your life!
Once a person truly understand and believes, with their whole heart, that God is truly and completely in control and His will, will be done there’s no need to worry. THINK ABOUT IT:
Jesus said it well in Matthew 6:27,
“Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worry?’
The obvious answer is “No.” And here’s the lesson: Worrying over something cannot change what is or will be!
If we truly want to join Hudson Taylor and the Apostle Paul in a worry free life, then three things need to take place:
Once we successfully accomplish those three things, we will have laid the foundation from which a worry free life can be built.
“I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize that He is able to carry out His will for me. It does not matter where He places me, or how. That is for Him to consider, not me, for in the easiest positions He will give me grace, and in the most difficult ones His grace is sufficient.”
Hudson Taylor was the great missionary that came from England to China. Many of his quotes have been persevered over the years that allow us to learn some valuable lesson into missional living.
One of the biggest lessons that we need to learn is how to join God on His mission without being overwhelmed with worry and anxiety. Experiencing God’s peace in the midst of trials, tribulations and the lack of resources is an essential disposition for all Christians to have especially if they are going to brightly shine the Light of Christ.
From Hudson Taylor’s quote, we learn how to develop that worry free disposition so that we are able to join him in saying,
“I am no longer anxious about anything.”
Can you say that for yourself? Are you free from worry or do you still get a little anxious or maybe even extremely stressed out about uncertain circumstances?
Over the next few posts, we are going to learn those lessons that Hudson Taylor learned in living a worry free life and how we can apply them to our life. There’s a total 7 of them.
Again, what did Hudson Taylor say? Read it one more time and let it really sink in!
"I am no longer anxious about anything ..."
WOW! What a claim! He is saying that he has come to a point in his growth in Christ that he is no longer gets anxious, no longer worries about or gets stressed out over the things of this life.
Hudson Taylor believed that the worry free life was not only a possibility but also something that every Christian should seek after and attain.
What are we to conclude about such a statement? We can come to the conclusion that Hudson Taylor was either:
But before we get to far along in judging Hudson Taylor let's take a look at what the Apostle Paul had to say about the topic of worry and about experiencing personal contentment. (My Definition Of Contentment Is: The state of mind that is freed from a life of worry).
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Do you see it there? Paul is basically saying the same thing that Hudson Taylor said. Paul is telling us that there is no need to be anxious about anything! What does “anything” include? It includes everything. In other words, there is absolutely nothing that you will go through in life that you need to worry about if your life is in Christ. Those that belong to Jesus have no need to worry about anything! That’s exactly what this verse is teaching.
So, if the Bible is telling us to stop worrying then it must be possible to do!
There's no question in Paul's mind that living a worry free life is not only possible but also should be expected!
Paul doesn't stop there. He goes on to tell people what to do when the circumstances of life are uncertain. Paul clearly instructs us to to stop the worrying, which is our normal response to uncertainty, and start praying about it.
In other words, do an exchange! Instead of worrying over the uncertainties of life exchange that activity with the activity of talking to God about it. Place your faith in the god who's not uncertain about what the future hold but actually controls it.
PRAYER IS A LEARNED BEHAVIOR THAT MUST BE NURTURED IF WE WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE A WORRY FREE LIFE!
Paul says in Philippians 4:12 that he has discovered the "SECRET OF BEING CONTENT"! Isn't it interesting that the Apostle Paul refers to contentment as being a secret? Why would he do that? Maybe it's because this contentment that so many of us are striving for is also what has alluded us so often and hard to hold onto!
This contentment that Paul is talking about is to be found in any and every situation! Not just some situations but in all situations and circumstances. Meditate on that thought for a just a little bit!
And then Paul shares what that secret is in Philippians 4:13,
"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
The secret of contentment is trusting in Christ who helps us do all things and specifically being content in the midst of the most uncertain of situations. It is clear that the Apostle totally agrees with Hudson Taylor that a worry free life is the expected life style of God's people.
But, just in case you think that both the Apostle Paul and Hudson Taylor were crazy let's also take a look at what Jesus himself had to say about a worry free life.
In Matthew 6:25-43 Jesus talks about worry at length as part of the Sermon On The Mount. Let's look at a couple of statements that Jesus made about worry and how to view it:
Did you notice that in the spam of 9 verses Jesus instructed us four different times NOT TO WORRY! Basically Jesus was saying,
What does that tell us about Jesus position on being anxious or worried? Simple this: It’s not part of the lifestyle that He has planned for His disciples to have, it's an unnecessary activity and if we are chronically suffering from a lifestyle of worry we are not experiencing the life he has intended for us to live.
But before you experience that stress free – worry free life you have to embrace that kind of lifestyle as attainable. In order to get there you have to believe that others have made it and that you can too, with Christ help and strength, can make it.
NO ONE CAN EXPERIENCE A WORRY FREE LIFE IF THEY DON’T BELIEVE IT’S POSSIBLE!
The starting point is to just to believe that with Christ and through Christ an anxious free life is possible.
So, are you ready to take the plunge? Are you ready to draw the line in the sand and declare that it is God’s will that you no longer worry about anything but pray about everything and allow the peace of God that transcends all understanding to guard your heart from disappointments and your mind from confusion, as you stand firm in the contentment that Christ provides you regardless of the circumstances God allows you to go through, rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, slave or free?
Are you ready?
If so, you are one step closer to making the worry free life your reality!
So what exactly is faith? I mean we have all heard the Biblical definition of faith from Hebrews 11:1,
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
And I would agree that this is by far the most meaningful and beneficial definition that any person can hold to. But in order to help us begin to view Biblical faith in God differently but in total agreement with what Hebrews says I would like to offer the following:
It's Obeying What God Says Even When It Doesn't Make Sense!
"By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8
Can you imagine that conversation between Abraham and God? Think about it for a second and imagine with me if you would how that conversation went:
So let me ask you from our human perspective does it make a bit of sense to pack up for a journey that you are going to take at some unknown point in your life, to go on that journey without any idea how long it will take to get there and without any map or instructions on how to get there?
NO! IT MAKES NO BIT OF SENSE!
But that's faith in God. He tells us to do something but it doesn't make a bit of sense to us but we do it anyhow! Why? Because we trust God and we trust that he can do anything even if it doesn't make sense to us.
I don't think that it made a bit of sense to Gideon to engage in a battle with his enemy numbering 10,000 soldiers when his army army had been downsized by God to only 300 men.
"So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley. During that night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands.If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.” His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash,the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. “Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.” Judges 7:5-24 (NIV)
Really does that make any human sense? Does it make sense to downsize your army to 300 men and tell them to shout, blow horns and reveal some light from lamps that each man was holding and then as a result then enemy would run around and kill themselves.
Not unless it's God who is doing it.
You see Gideon had faith in God just like Abraham to believe that God would do exactly what he said he would do even when what it didn't make a bit of sense.
So, how well are you following God's instructions? Do you ever get a word from the Lord and then try to redefine it because what you understood from God doesn't make sense? Why do you think that God gives us instruction that don't make sense and shouldn't work at all? Why?
Because God is doing something that will prove that he really does exist and can do anything! That's why!
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