Mission means to be given an important task which most time lead to travelling. Everyone at one point of their lives will have gone a mission, some more important and more traveling than others, but a mission nonetheless.
There are different types of missions but the most important one is the one Jesus has given to us believers. Soon after Jesus rose from the dead and the news broke the disciples went and met up with him where he gave them their greatest task yet. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(Matthew 28:19-20) We've been left with the most important mission to ever exist, it is our duty as christians to share the word with everyone we encounter in anyway possible. Jesus Christ has entrusted us with a mission so big that we must take it seriously and obey him. It is crucial that we not forget our mission while going through life and its struggles. As we constantly fight and pursue our dreams and goals this mission should be added first on our list of priorities. Serving God and following his instructions is more significant than anything. In todays society talking about God and his amazingness is taboo, nobody wants to hear it.. This should not be a reason to stop sharing the word, but a reason to continue fighting and pushing. For when a soul comes to Christ all of heaven is happy and celebrates. Of all the missions in this life that we will embark on, this one takes the cake! This mission allows for those who are blind to see, for those who are lost to be found, for those who died to be resurrected. As a fellow disciple of Christ I encourage you to take this mission very seriously, the advancement of Gods kingdom is in our hands. Happy mission to all!!! - ANP
0 Comments
Lately i've been feeling like i'm just at a stagnant place in my life and spiritual life. I feel as though, i'm not moving forward, i'm just stuck in the same position I was in a couple months ago. It got to the point where I started doubting God, and wondered if he would actually guide me through or if he just forgot about me. For a while I battled with those thoughts and really started to be upset with God. I said to him once "I thought we were in this together, how come you've left me hanging but have been able to help out everyone else?" For a while I just began to be frustrated with him, and just not understand why he would just abandon me. .......But then God replied!! In Haggai 2 it speaks about how Joshua was tasked to rebuild Solomon's temple, the journey to building it was dreadful to say the least. Every aspect of building that temple was an issue; the cost, the support, the workers .. EVERYTHING. After a while it just seemed as though the reconstruction of it was not going to go anywhere. The work and effort that was put into it seemed to be a waste of time more than anything. People around them where even discouraging them, and telling them to abandon the project. One day, the day where Joshua was ready to abandon it all, God used the prophet Haggai to go speak to him and encourage him with this project. Haggai 2:4 ".. But now take courage .. and work, declares the Lord, for I am with you." Further down it even goes to explain how the temple will look and be better then what it used to be. When I read this, it just showed me that number 1; the enemy was feeding me with lies so that i could doubt my God. Number 2; it showed me that there is absolutely NOTHING that God starts that he will not complete. He is a God that gets the work done. When he does a job he takes his time and does it well. Therefore, if you are feeling like me and feel as though you are not moving and God has forgotten about you and hasn't been working on your life. Shake those negative thoughts out of your mind, it is a lie! God is there and is moving in ways that you cannot imagine. You may not see his works physically now, but soon enough you will. Trust in him and stay kingdom minded always. Don't lose focus. Your victory will come. Lastly, I just wanted to remind you that sometimes God will use people or things indoor life to speak to you and motivate you but you have to be willing to hear him. If Joshua wasn't willing to listen to what Prophet Haggai had to say he would have never had the confirmation that God was with him and the temple would never of have been build. You believe in God? Great, you go to church every Sunday? Awesome... but unfortunately that just isn't enough. So many people believe in God but not enough live for him and love him for who he is and not what he can give. Does your life reflect christ? Do people look at you and see God through you? See the problem is people think that acknowledging that there is a God automatically makes them okay. As if God needed their validation... We must understand that the Lord does not need us to do anything for him but rather the contrary. Believing is a step in the right direction but is NOT the only.
When you encounter God and have experienced him, often times you want to fill others in on the amazingness that is your God, and you try to show them through your life, because you understand that you if you are connected to the king your life will surely prove it. You understand that words aren't enough but that if they see it with their own eyes, they too will be amazed. In todays world so many people know and believe that there is God, they'll be quick to say they serve him but as you take a quick glimpse into their lives you wonder if thats really the case. Let that not be your truth, dont just believe, but have a relationship with him, let him take over your life, let yourself be transformed and allow others to see him through you. Allow your life to a living testimony. Words aren't enough ... actions speak louder than words ever will. - ANP We've said goodbye to 2017 and stepped into 2018, We've said goodbye to January and we're now saying hello to February. Looking back at January I can't help but to be grateful and give thanks to the Lord. In just a short amount of time he has taught me so much and showed me so much which has really helped my growth in him.
Too often do we let our days, weeks, months go by without really thanking God for what he has done. We think that because something major hasn't happened we aren't blessed, which is FALSE. Every second that goes by that we are alive is a blessing. God does not need to protect you, and keep you from harms way but he does it anyway. He does not need to bless you, give you the job you want, the car, the house, the partner you want to be worthy of your praises. Understand that on your worst days God is good just as much as he is good on your best days. I want us to stop this tradition of giving thanks only on the thanksgiving holiday, but let us give thanks to God all day EVERY day. Lets stop taking ownership and praises for things that only God has done in our lives, he alone deserves the glory, NOT us. As a christian community let us be intentional in this, every morning we wake up we should praise his holy name, every breath we take we should be grateful. We should be living in an attitude of gratitude that is ongoing and contagious. -ANP Have you ever been at the point where everything just seems like it's at a stand still. You know God exists but you don't feel his presence in your life to the point where you're almost doubting him. Examining other christians and non-believers bathe in all the blessings and goodness from above, yet here you are unable to even get God to look your way. In summary, your life resembles that of Peters' before Christ came along. The comparison of Peter being a fisherman symbolises the lack of favour in your life compared to everyone else. In those days Peter being fisherman was not very well seen. Most times fishermen were people who weren't educated and were part of the lower class. They were looked down upon and didn't appear to benefit from Gods' love and grace.
Being or feeling like a Peter is perfectly fine, but even Peter didn't stay rotting in the same spot. If we examine Peters' life for a little bit we can see that the little uneducated fishermen went from glory to glory with the help of the Lord. The first sign of Peter slowly rising was when Jesus told Peter to follow him. Although Peter felt like he wasn't worth nothing Jesus saw something worthy in him so much that he wanted him around and part of the people he kept close. This means that God sees you and wants you close, what you do not like about yourself, he loves and will use it to bring you to higher heights. Secondly, Jesus healed those around Peter. Not long after following Jesus Peters mother in law fell ill and was quickly delivered by Jesus. Meaning that when you level up with God your blessings automatically become those of the ones around you. No longer will you have to beg others to do for you, because now you have access to the source which can do for them what it does for you. Lastly, when you are on the winning team there will be circumstances and situations you will be put in to stop you from being great and achieving Gods plan. But, because you are associated to the great I AM and your name is listed in the book of life you will remain VICTORIOUS through it all. This is very well demonstrated in Peters life when he is imprisoned but then escapes. This is not to say that that everything will automatically fall into place once you dive in and decide to grab Gods hand, because through his life Peter definitely had ups and downs in his faith. Like the time where he denied Jesus. The message i'm trying to get across is that whether you feel like your walk with christ isn't going anywhere or you just want a move of God in a different way. You have to dive in face first, its like what they say "take a leap of faith" , sit back, relax and watch God work wonders in your life. Bible references: Matthew 4 & 14 Mark 1 & 6 John 6 As we go on about our daily lives; whether it be at work, watching TV, scrolling through our social medias I've noticed that a common theme that seems to always be around is 'Protect your heart'. With all the trends and things that are going on it is so obvious that people are just heartbroken and are trying their best to hold on to the little piece of thread that is holding their broken heart together. What was once a pure and innocent organ is now destroyed and empty with little hope.
But GOD.........! There's just something so sweet and reassuring when you serve the Lord because you know that although you are broken he will fix you, although you are missing pieces here and there he will make you whole again. Psalms 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" Psalms 73:26 " My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. " This new generation is so stuck on being "savage" that they don't realise that by trying to protect their heart the best way they know how they're actually making the damage worse. The type of healing needed can only come from God above. The surgery that needs to be done is to deep and complex for just anybody to do, it takes the divine presence and healing of God to repair your damaged heart. As I think of what it is to be kingdom focussed, the image of Jesus grabbing my hand comes to mind as we walk hand in hand towards the heavens. As we get closer, the beauty of it all mesmerizes me and I can't help but to be in awe of this magical place. I can only imagine what it would be like to feel Gods very presence 24/7 , to become one with the angels as we honour and glorify the magnificent creator of all. My heart longs for that day, and I'm certain yours does too. To reach that goal, our focus MUST be kingdom focussed at all times! A question that one may have can be; "but how?" Simple! Deuteronomy 4: 29 "seek the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and you will find him." To do so there are 3 important steps: 1. Far sighted vision 2. Understanding (do you get y ur doing this?) 3. Taking action/separation An eye that is farsighted sees things differently than a near sighted eye. The difference being that the farsighted eye's focus is not on the things around him, nor the things close enough to distract but it is focussed on the future. It is focussed on the important things that are not tangible such as the kingdom of God. The earthly desires and distractions do not phase him. All in all, Farsightedness is wiser compared to nearsighted vision. To ensure a smooth sailing toward the kingdom; wisdom is key and essential, a gift that should be cherished. One cannot truly be kingdom focussed if they don't have a profound understanding of why they're focus is directed that way. That would be like hopping in a car and driving, without any idea of where you're going. Which would in turn defeat the whole purpose of being focussed on a goal. Someone who is focussed knows exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it. Take this time to reflect on this: do you know why your kingdom driven? When you have a goal set and you are determined to reach it actions must follow. It's the same thing as we pursuit the kingdom, we need to make moves that help us get to that magical place we all long for, it'll take sacrifice & hard work. The sacrifice may come in different ways, for some it may be having to change the circle of friends, for others it might be having to dedicate more time to serve. whatever the case; it takes action and separation from the things that may hinder you getting to that breathtaking kingdom with God. Don't lose focus , stay kingdom minded always. Remember; there is no greater focus than to be kingdom focussed! Audrey PierreKingdom Focussed |
Quote“The Gospel is only good news if it gets there on time" |