But, let's step back from our families, friends, and jobs for a moment. Step back from our neighborhoods, even our cities and country. What is the big picture? Why are we here on this earth? Why, once we accepted Jesus as our Savior, didn't He take us right up to Heaven to be with Him?
Because He has work for us to do here on earth. But what is that work?
While I was growing up, living the "American dream," I imagined that the work God had for me was to do the best I could in school so that I could go to a good college, get a good paying job, get married, have children and live a comfortable life in America. But...is that it? Is that the "work" God left me on this earth to do?
I think the answer is yes and no. Yes, we are to love our husbands/wives, children, family and friends, do the best we can at our jobs, raise our families and do our best to provide them with a healthy, safe environment. But...Jesus told us something more.
When He left earth to be with His Father in Heaven, Jesus left us with some very important commands. The Gospels records His words...each a bit different but all with the same central theme:
Matt 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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.'"
Mark 16:15 "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'"
Luke 24:45-47 "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'"
The central theme is that we are to go and tell the nations about Jesus. And this command wasn't given to just a few of His disciples but to all of them, including each one of us, if we have accepted Him as our Savior. But for the longest time, I just skipped over this command when I read these passages. If I thought about it much at all, I was glad that missionaries went overseas and I asked God to help me be more bold when talking to friends about Jesus. But that was it.
Then the change began. It began, in 2006 when we moved to Korea, with my desire to know God more. I began praying, asking Him to make Himself known to me. I began to ask God to do for me what the words of this song, Hosanna, by Hillsong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uep8qULLJE so poignantly say: "Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause." And He did!
Suddenly, I found myself going to bed at night thinking about all the people who would not go to bed in a comfortable bed, in a safe home, with a full stomach, their children and husband or wife safely with them, and most importantly, resting secure in Jesus. This prompted me to pray. And as I prayed more, God spoke to me more about His desire for the nations. He began to break my heart and fill me with compassion for the lost and the persecuted church. But, I didn't start out with this goal. My only desire had been to grow closer to God and to do with my life what He wanted me to do...beyond my family. He is the One who grew these passions, these desires, these prayers and actions in me.
This passion for the lost and the persecuted began to spill over into my family. I began teaching my children about the world, the Church, the lost, missionaries...basically, teaching them to be Great Commission-minded. My goals for them changed. At first I had the goals for them that I had had for myself growing up. But now, my goal is that they would passionately follow Jesus Christ wherever that may lead them. My desire is that they either go as missionaries or be a sending force for missionaries. I plan to talk much more about educating your child and the wonderful resources that are out there in later postings.
The big picture goes beyond our family, beyond our communities, beyond America. It reaches to the least-reached people in the most remote, repressive areas of the world. We have got to start thinking about them, praying for them and doing what we can to share the good news of Jesus with them. And we do this all for the glory of God. Jesus deserves this! The lost deserve this! And we, in the process, will be incredibly blessed and will be "storing up for ourselves treasures in Heaven."
But it all begins with prayer. God will speak as long as you are asking and listening. I believe He will break your heart for the lost, just as He is breaking mine. He will light “a spark for world missions that will grow into a fire for the unsaved like you’ve never had before...(that) God’s love for unreached people (will) burn so strongly inside you that it will start spreading to others, specifically to your own children and to the young people you come in contact with.” Ann Dunagan
My prayer is that this website will help you on this journey into fulfilling the Great Commission. There is so much that you can do to use the time that He has given you for His glory!
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