The Missionary’s Goal 9-23-2010

September 23rd, 2010 by JDVaughn Leave a reply »

The Missionary’s Goal

September 23, 2010
He . . . said to them, ’Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem . . . ’ —Luke 18:31

In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?”. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . .” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.

In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”

“. . . there they crucified Him . . .” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ’up to Jerusalem.’ “

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September 23, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I sense freedom and at the same time I am a little apprehensive about letting go of all my preconceived ideas about spirituality and religion and simply focusing on Jesus.

And God says…”He is the way the truth and the light. Regardless of the question, He is the answer. He is the answer to your all your questions. How you shall live, grow, stand against adversity, and how you shall love and worship Me. You are not to wonder what happens next or how to deal with this trial or that burden. Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly He came as your victorious Shepherd. He is victorious, and so are you when He lives through you. Stay connected to Jesus and everything else falls into place; your life, ministry, family, work, and future are in Jesus.”

DJR Journal 9 23 10

This familiar quote from Jim Elliott came to our mind today.

And we would add from what we have been learning … that it is only available thru connection with Jesus.    And we also saw in today’s lesson the value of a clear mission … to keep us on track in times of temptation to react to the ups and downs of daily existence.   This is parallel to the business world where a clear mission/vision will assist us in decision making.   Jesus had this clear mission and stayed true to it.   Same with us,  in life and business,  It is the “overspray” of staying true to mission that generates fruit and good works,  almost as a “by product” rather than something that we strive for and measure.    That’s what the Pharisees did and they didn’t get good marks from Jesus.


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