Sent

-
      Jesus said, "I can do nothing on My own initiative, As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  John 5:30

    Years ago, I went to a church where there was a sign at the end of the parking lot.  It said, "Now entering mission field".  The truth is, that though there are professional missionaries who get paid to go to other places and do mission work we are all on mission.  A lot of the time most christians forget that and think they are simply here to do their own will instead of God's.  Jesus Himself repeated many times that he was on a mission that the Father had sent him on.  You'll notice, particularly in the gospel of John, that the word "sent" is used numerous times.  What were you "sent" to do?

    I say this because I think it is easy for us to get off of God's agenda for our lives and get on to our own.  We can get caught up in the attraction of having things or doing things that are good and miss the best.  I think this is why Jesus spent so much time in prayer.  The temptations were there for him both big and small.  They wanted to make him king more than once.  But, he steadfastly refused because he understood that was not a part of his mission.

    I think this is one of the things that makes the gospel something that brings hope to people.  That God gives us a purpose and mission also.  Back in 1988, I went on a mission trip with several other people to the state of Nevada.  We did some backyard bible clubs (poorly organized) and VBS (I think I worked in about 5 that summer) and I did some preaching (poorly).  After coming back someone asked me why I went and what I had learned.  I remarked that the only thing I learned was that I didn't want to go out west.  Sometimes it is still hard to see where and why God sent me to some places or if God did.  But, God's word does not return void.

     But, I think we also need to be careful about trying to get God to bless our agenda.  We can fool ourselves sometimes with our motivation.  God's people do all sorts of things for their own agenda and reasons instead of his.  That doesn't mean that he is going to bless our agenda or mess that we create.  He patiently waits for us to get on the same page as Him and that requires humility, solitude and prayer.  It requires for us to get our priorities right.  It requires for us to be quiet.  Do you know how hard it is for some people just to be quiet for one second?

 

Popular posts from this blog

Some thoughts about the church in Corinth

-
Image
    Since March of this year, I have been doing a verse by verse study of the book of 1 Corinthians.  I have also listened to the class on 1 Corinthians taught on the bibleproject web site.  In that class, the teacher spends some time speaking about the controversy of chapter 11 and Paul's role of women in the church.  Though Dr. Lucy Peppiatt has some different views than mine it is a very interesting class that I would recommend.        I have found it encouraging that though the Corinth church had many problems Paul still had a lot of good things to say about them.  For example, in chapter 1 verse 4, he says that he always thanks God for them because they have been enriched in every way.  It says that they do not lack in any spiritual gift.  He never questions their salvation, though he does describe them in chapter 3 as "infants in Christ".  Paul may have written another letter to Corinth which remains lost that was possibly more direct and harsh.  But, he never gives
Read more

The wise men Matthew 2

-
    Matthew chapter 2 starts like this 2  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,  [ a ] wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,  2  saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”   3  When Herod the king heard  this,  he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  4  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.   5  So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6  ‘But   you, Bethlehem,   in   the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’  ” I've always thought that there were three wise men who came to find Jesus, but the scripture doesn't actually ever say that there was 3 men.  It says that there were wise men who gave Jesus three gifts
Read more

Introduction and chapter 1 of 1 John notes

-
  Study of 1 John started November 5, 2023 1 John Introduction The author- John was possibly born in Bethsaida (John 1:44) and was a son of Zebedee and Salome.  It appears his mother helped with the financial support of Christ (Mark 15:40,41).  He and his brother James were called “sons of thunder” Mk 3:17.  John lived in Ephesus, the capital of the province of Asia Minor, the Roman proconsul resided there.  John may have been battling against Gnosticism during his later years.  It said that deity cannot unite itself with anything physical such as a body.  It understood that knowledge is superior to virtue.  John battled against this by saying that Christ came in the flesh.  It is possible that 1 John may have been written around 90 A.D.   Wycliffe divides the book up into these sections Fellowship’s conditions 1:5-10 Fellowship’s conduct 2:1-29 Fellowship’s characteristics 3:1-24 Fellowship’s cautions 4:1-21 Fellowship’s cause 5:1-21 1 John 1 John begins by saying that which was from
Read more