The Mission Field

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There are so many people living on this earth who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus being Lord of their lives sometimes causes fear that if they accept Jesus they can no longer do what they want in their lives. God gave every human free will, we have the ability to choose what we do with our lives and what we believe. Within those choices, there are tremendous blessings and also curses depending on every decision we make.

God does not want us to make decisions that result in curses, pain, suffering, or hurt. The Bible tells us the consequences of each decision so we will know what the outcome is before we make the choice. He tells us how to live a life full of joy and peace, nothing that the world offers will bring us perfect joy and peace – never has and never will. We see this in John 14:26 and 27. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

In these verses, followers of Jesus are promised the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Truth, the Word of God, our instructions on how to have lives full of joy and peace. And finally, Jesus gave His followers His peace. This is not a peace that the world can find or discover no matter what path is taken. This peace is only gifted to the followers of Jesus.

When you consider that the vast majority of people on earth do not have this peace as they do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, it may feel overwhelming. There are so many people to reach , so many people who are sinning and doing terrible evil acts – it can feel overwhelming. But the Holy Spirit encourages all followers of Jesus to see the world as full of opportunity. Opportunity to share Jesus and provide desperately hurting people with the answers they seek. The opportunity to expand God’s family and actually share with Him in the work of showing His love to every person. God loves every single person on earth, how can we join Him in showing everyone who He is?

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to share about Jesus with everyone. Help us to stay focused on You and Your Word alone. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

When you are surrounded by confusion . . .

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We are living in odd times. It is difficult to know what is truth. What news outlet can you trust, what statements can you trust, what leader can you trust and who in your personal circle can you trust? Even the weather apps on our phones and devices are consistently wrong every day. It seems that we are living in a time of chaos and confusion.

With all that is going on around us, can we even trust ourselves? Can we trust the emotions we feel? I would offer that it depends on what prompted the emotion. Was it something we read, or saw, or heard about? And if so, what is the source of that information, is it reliable?

It seems that much of the information that is available to read, hear and watch is not true. The search for truth is an age old journey. Pilate, as he was sentencing Jesus to death asked, “What is truth?” In John 18, starting in verse 36 “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” 

Jesus was sentenced to death by a man who was confused by the shouting crowd. Whether Pilate believed what the crowd said or felt pressured to go along with them, Pilate’s journey is the same as ours, we are all looking for truth. Truth brings stability, predictability and a sense of peace. The only truth we have available to us is THE Truth, God’s Word, Jesus. Everything else should be treated with skepticism. Jesus even told us the whole reason He was “born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” It is that simple, listen to Jesus.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to listen to Jesus. Help us to stay focused on You and Your Word alone. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

We are to be holy, but how?

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There are several verses in the Bible that command all children of God to be holy because God is holy. One example is found in Leviticus 11:45 which says, “..you must be holy because I am holy.” The definition of holy is “dedicated or consecrated to God”. In the Old Testament, the Israelites had to consecrate themselves or cleanse the sin to be prepared to encounter a holy God.  

The book of Leviticus contains instructions that were given to the Israelites on what to do and not to do to live a holier life. There are many commands of how to be holy and what to do to avoid defilement. Leviticus 11:46 says, “For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves . . .”.

The way people become defiled is through sin. As humans, we can never live a life from birth to death that is holy, one that is free from sin. All humans have either had bad thoughts, lied, cheated, stolen or committed some other sin at some point in life. Once we commit a sin, we are no longer holy or set apart, we are defiled.

So how can God command that we be holy, how can we ever successfully obey this command? The answer is simple, belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In John 17:19, Jesus says. “And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” It is through the sacrifice of Jesus that we are made holy. There is nothing we can ever do to earn holiness and because we are all imperfect, we cannot be holy by our actions. Once we accept that Jesus died on the cross for us and we accept His holy sacrifice, then we are made holy through Him. Yes, we will still sin as we are humans. But, through Jesus, we are forgiven and made holy each time we approach Him to receive His forgiveness, love and mercy.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to be holy through Your sacrifice. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to trust in Your plan and be an example of Your love to all around us. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

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Sometimes life is hard. There is pain, hurt, betrayal, sickness, suffering, and so many more painful things that we endure each day. The Bible promises us that we will have trials, so do not be surprised. In John 16:33, Jesus says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

When trials become overwhelming, keep your eyes on Jesus. Remember that you are not alone – all of the believers across the entire world are suffering along with you. 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Stand firm against him (the devil), and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”

1 Peter 14:12 says, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”

If the trials become too much to bear, recall the disciples who were sawed in half and crucified upside down because they believed in Jesus. It is unlikely that you are facing such physical tortures, try to keep your trials in perspective. “We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to overcome our trials by keeping our eyes on Jesus. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to trust in Your plan and pray for those who may be causing us trials. Lord, help us to grow in You and stand firm in Your love. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Wear a Smile

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Every single person on this planet has been hurt by someone or something in their lives. The hurt may be physical, emotional, spiritual or a combination. As we all move through life together, why not wear a smile.

When you smile, your body releases chemicals that make you happier. When others see you smiling, they will either smile back or wonder why you are smiling. So – go ahead and smile.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to smile, help us to show love to all people. Help us to trust in You and pray for those who are not smiling. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Protect Your Peace

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Have you ever considered that we should be stewards and protectors of our own peace? This is a different mindset than being a peacemaker between people. This kind of stewardship is about the protection of our own personal peace.

The world is full of chaos and hurt, so we most certainly need to protect our peace. What does that mean and how do we achieve that?

Peace is being tranquil, calm and free from disturbances. To protect our peace means to first identify what or who causes us to feel disturbed? Once we identify what or who is disturbing our peace, we need to pray about what steps to take to protect our peace. This may mean that we need to put distance between ourselves and the person/thing, we may need to take a break from seeing or talking to someone. We may need to stop spending so much time scrolling on our phones or watching television.

Focusing on how someone or something makes us feel is the key to protecting our peace. Once we realize that we are becoming less peaceful, we need to better protect our emotions. In those moments, we need to remind ourselves that the peace we have is from Jesus. It cannot be taken from us (Romans 8), but we can hand it over.

In John 14:27 Jesus says, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” Stop handing what Jesus gave you away to those people and things that do not have the right to have your peace.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to stop handing away the gift Jesus has given us, peace of mind and heart. Grant us wisdom in how to protect our peace and what steps to take to keep peace surrounding us in our lives. Thank You for Your love and for the cross. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

Easter 101

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Why do we have a day called Easter? There is one constant in all of humanity across time: past, present or the future. People will lie, cheat, steal, cause pain, be greedy, and not show love. This is the state of every single person who has ever lived and ever will live, we are all born into sin. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).

Our state of being born as a sinner started with Adam and Eve when they made the decision to disobey God. As a sinner, we are all going to hell when we die because we fail to meet the standard to go to heaven. The standard is perfection. No human being, no matter how perfect they may think they are or you may think they are, is good enough to avoid hell. We are all imperfect. Mark 9:47 describes, “hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.” How then can anyone avoid living all eternity in hell, filled with unimaginable suffering?

It is quite simple. Believe in Jesus. He is the Son of God and came to earth to die for you and me. He became our sin. That means He was perfect and he chose to drink in our sin to then sacrifice His perfect life for you and me. Jesus willingly laid down His life on Friday, went to hell on Saturday to conquer hell for us and then rose to life on earth on Sunday, what we now call Easter.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to believe in Jesus. Our lives on earth are short, but eternity is forever. Once we die, it is too late – we are either going to heaven or hell. Help us to understand Your love for us and that You sent Your Son because You love us. You want us to be in heaven with You and the only way is belief in Jesus. Thank You for sending Jesus. In Jesus name we pray, amen.