Christian missions is obeying Christ
Christian missions is following Christ’s call: sharing the Gospel with the lost world through God’s wisdom and strength. God could convert everyone using a blinding light and the voice of Christ as He did with the apostle Paul. Instead, He gives Christians the mission of reconciliation (Acts 1:8-9). He works through us, calling sinners to turn to Christ in repentance and faith.

Christian missions is sharing Christ
Our mission is proclaiming Christ as the only way to abundant, eternal life. Whom do we tell? Jesus made it clear that Christians are to reach out to “all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). Instead of countries, He was referring to people groups, those ethnic cultures without a Gospel witness. Christian missions, however, is not limited to overseas ministry. While believers should faithfully support those who go to the unreached, all Christians have the mission to share Christ on the home field with family, friends, coworkers, and the community. The Christian missions of sharing Christ does not end with a sinner’s salvation. The commission was to make disciples – not immature believers. Thus, Christian missions involves not only evangelism but also discipleship.

Christian missions is relying on Christ
Sharing the Gospel humbly, boldly, and passionately is our Christian mission. But we cannot do it alone. While our mission is sharing Christ, the power and results come from the Lord. He gives us the wisdom, strength, and desire to witness! Through our witness, He works repentance and faith in the sinner’s heart (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

Although it is God’s work, Christians are responsible to understand the Gospel and have a strong relationship with Christ. Such a relationship guards them from hypocrisy. “Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope. Give a kind and respectful answer and keep your conscience clear. This way you will make people ashamed for saying bad things about your good conduct as a follower of Christ.” (1 Peter 3:15-16). Jesus assured that suffering would accompany missions, but God uses it for good.

In sum, Christian missions is obeying Christ, sharing Christ, and relying on Christ. Specifically, God sends missionaries through the support of the church to the unreached. All Christians, however, have the mission of reconciliation. The Lord works through them to rescue the lost. What greater mission can one answer?                             (S. MICHAEL HOUDMANN)

Heavenly thinking is learning to see all and do all with the perspective of eternity. It is something we can learn to do. Do you know someone who has learned to set their hearts on what is above? Have you seen someone who faced death without fear but with joyful anticipation? Do you know someone who faces conflict with grace and trials with serenity? Do you know someone who is content in this world? If so, then you probably have a living example of one who has learned to “look up”. Let me share with you a story:

Martha was not only one of the oldest members of the congregation, but one of the most faithful. One day, she shared the news with her pastor that her doctor had just discovered a previously undetected tumor. “He says I probably have six months to live.” Martha’s words were certainly serious, yet there was a definite calm about her. “The Lord has been good. I have lived a long life. I’m ready to go. You know that. But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it, and there are things that I know I want.”

They talked about Martha’s favorite hymns, the passages of Scripture that had meant so much to her through the years, and the many memories they shared from the 5 years the pastor had been with the church.
When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Martha paused, and then added, “One more thing, pastor. When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other.” “A fork? Why do you want to be buried with a fork?”

“I have been thinking about all the church dinners that I attended through the years,” she explained. “I couldn’t begin to count them all. But one thing sticks in my mind. At those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost finished, sometimes, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, `You can keep your fork.’ And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! It didn’t mean a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don’t need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie! When they told me I could keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come!

“That’s exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. “But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, `Why the fork?’
“That’s what I want you to say. I want you to tell them that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come.”

This woman understood what it meant to set her heart and mind above. As you go into the week ahead, no matter what you face, I pray you will remember to keep to look up often and to keep your fork in your hand.  (REV. BRUCE GOETTSCHE)

Dear Lord:

Because love is patient: Help me to be slow to judge, but quick to listen, hesitant to criticize, but eager to encourage, remembering your endless patience with me.

Because love is kind: Help my words to be gentle and my actions to be thoughtful. Remind me to smile and to say “Please” and “Thank You” because those little things still mean so much.

Because love does not envy or boast, and it is not proud: Help me have a heart that is humble and sees the good in others. May I celebrate and appreciate all that I have and all that I am, as well as doing the same for those around me.

Because love is not rude or self-seeking: Help me to speak words that are easy on the ear and on the heart. When I’m tempted to get wrapped up in my own little world, remind me there’s a great big world out there full of needs and hurts.

Because love is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs: Help me to forgive others as you have forgiven me. When I want to hold onto a grudge, gently help me release it so I can reach out with a hand of love instead.

Because love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth: Help me stand up for what is right and good. May I defend the defenseless, and help the helpless. Show me how I can make a difference.

Because love always protects and always trusts: Help me to be a refuge for those around me. When the world outside is harsh and cold, may my heart be a place of acceptance and warmth.

Finally, because love always perseveres: Help my heart continually beat with love for You and others.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your love. May I see each circumstance in my life as an opportunity to grow in Your love. May I see my environment as a place to grow in Your love. May I then take this love to other people…

Lord, grant that I may take no pleasure in criticizing others, but that I may see good in them, as You do. When I begin to concentrate on the faults and failures of others, give me courage to praise their accomplishments.
Help me be loyal to those you give me to love. AMEN.

Our enemy says, “Youth for pleasure, middle age for business, old age for religion.” The Bible says, “Youth, middle age, and old age for your Creator.”

But as it’s especially in our youth that we are most inclined (determined?) to forget our Creator, it’s especially in these years that we must work to remember our Creator (Ecc.12:1). Remember that He made you, that He provides for you, that He cares for you, that He watches you, that He controls you; and remember that He can save you too. That’s a lot to remember, but it’s much easier to start memorizing when we are young!

1. Energetic years
However, that’s not the only reason why God commands us to remember our Creator in our young years. It’s also because these are our most energetic years.
Why wait until we are running down, until our gas is almost empty, before serving our Creator? The God who made us deserves our most active and healthy years: our bodies are strong and muscular (well kind of), our minds are sharp and clear, our senses are receptive and keen and sensitive, our enthusiasm is bright and bushy, our wills are steely and determined. Remember Him in your energetic years.

2. Sensitive years
Why do far more of us become Christians in our youth than in our middle or old age? It’s because youthful years are sensitive years. We can say that it’s “easier” to believe and repent when we are younger. It’s never easy, but it’s easier. And it’s easier because as we get older our heart is hardened thicker, our conscience is seared number, our sins root deeper, our deadness becomes deader.
Let’s use our youthful sensitivity and receptivity to remember our Creator before the evil days of callous indifference set in.

3. Teachable years
We learn more in our youth than in any other period of life. That’s true in all subjects, but especially true in religious instruction. All the Christians I’ve met who were converted to Christ late in life have expressed huge regrets about how little they know and how little they can now learn. I encourage them to value and use whatever time the Lord gives them, but they often feel they have to study twice as hard to learn half as well.

4. Dangerous years
Young years are minefield years: hormones, peer pressure, alcohol, drugs, pornography, immorality, testosterone, etc. Few navigate these years without blowing up here and there. Dangers abound on every side – and on the inside. How many “first” temptations become “last” temptations! How much we need our Creator to keep us and carry us through this battlefield.
(DAVID MURRAY)

1.  NOAH:  Leaders do what’s right even if they are alone
As Noah was boarding the ark, God said to him, “for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.” Literally the whole world was doing what was wrong. But did that deter Noah from doing what was right? Not a chance!

2.  JOSEPH: Leaders endure in spite of circumstances
Joseph had a pretty tough life. He was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph recognized that God orchestrated the events to put him in a position to save his family. Leaders have a vision that sustains them through difficult times.

3.   JOSHUA: Leaders rule by example rather than command
After leading his people into a new land, Joshua offered the Israelites the option to either serve the God who they had always served, who had brought them into the land, or serve the gods of the surrounding lands. “But as for me and my house,” he said, “we will serve the Lord.” The people answered in unison that they will pledge their allegiance to God. Because they believed in Joshua’s leadership, they followed Joshua’s example. He didn’t have to threaten them; he merely inspired them by his example.

4.  JESUS: Leaders are servants
One of the most powerful images in the life of Jesus was when He washed His disciples’ feet in John 13. When He finished, He said to them, “You call Me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Jesus, of course, wasn’t talking about feet. He was talking about servant-leadership. Great leaders focus on serving those who follow them. Great leaders wash their people’s feet.

5.  PETER: Leaders recover from failure
Peter denied knowing Jesus three times while Jesus was being crucified. He realized what he had done and wept bitterly. In Acts 2, we see Peter giving the first sermon after Jesus’s ascension into heaven–to a crowd of thousands of people. Leaders don’t become discouraged when they fail. They don’t wallow in self-pity and give up due to the mishap. They pick themselves back up and continue on. Leaders do better next time

6.   PAUL: Leaders are passionate for what they believe in
Paul was a very zealous individual. As a Pharisee, he violently opposed the spread of Christianity, killing and imprisoning Christians. When Jesus appeared to him and changed his mind, he became equally adamant about the truth of Christianity. Paul traveled across all of the known world, spreading the message about Jesus and establishing churches everywhere he went. Leaders are driven by a sense of purpose. Leaders have a fire lit under them and feel compelled to accomplish their objectives. There is no place for apathy in the life of a leader. Leaders always care…and care deeply.                                                               (DOUG RICE)

Imagine not being able to look at a reflection or picture of yourself for an entire week. You would wake up  every morning and try to wash your face, brush your teeth, and comb your hair with no idea of what you looked like.

How do you see yourself? How would you describe yourself to someone who doesn’t know you?

If that same person could know what you think and how you act and hear what you say 24 hours a day, what would they think of you?

God does know what you think and how you act, and He hears everything you say.

What was the only thing in the story of creation that was given life by the breath of God? Read Genesis 2:7.  What does that mean to you?

Read Genesis 1:26. Why are you a reflection of God?

How are you described in Peter 2:9-10?
The next time you look in mirror and see a reflection of yourself, consider that you are a reflection of God.

Reflect Him well to others today.