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| 1874-1917 |
God took me in hand from the
moment of birth to be his servant.
Isaiah 49:5
I am created for God; he made me. I must continually keep my soul open to the fact of his creative purpose and never confuse it with my own intentions. A missionary is created for the purpose of being God's servant, one in whom God is glorified. Beware lest you forget God's purposes for your life.
~ ~ ~
You address me as Teacher and Master, and rightly so. That is what I am.
John 13:13
God wants me in a relationship where he is so easily my master and teacher that I have no conscious awareness of it - a relationship where all I know is that I am his to obey.
~ ~ ~
You are not your own.
1 Corinthians 6:19
You are not your own.
1 Corinthians 6:19
A missionary is someone in whom the Holy Spirit has brought about this realization: 'You are not your own.' We are called to be Jesus Christ’s own and are not dictate to him what we intend to do.
The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, 'I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.' Be entirely His!
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.'
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.'
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.” To go simply means to live.
Jesus says, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden.” (Matt. 11:28) - and how many missionaries are!
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose - that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.”
Once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you 'turn aside to the right or the left.' (Deut. 28:14). He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them.
A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front - to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him - to carry out His plans.
In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, but we must remember the command of Jesus Christ - “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19).
The desire that comes into a disciple is not one of doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The missionary’s secret is truly being able to say, 'I am His, and He is accomplishing His work and His purposes through me.' Be entirely His!
~ ~ ~
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.'
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.'
~ ~ ~
Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life.
Matthew 28:19
The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. He says, “Go on the basis of the revealed truth of My sovereignty, teaching and preaching out of your living experience of Me.” To go simply means to live.
Jesus says, “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden.” (Matt. 11:28) - and how many missionaries are!
“None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:24). That is how to keep going until we are gone from this life.
~ ~ ~
They set out under the banner of the Name.
3 John 1:7
The key to the missionary’s devotion is that he is attached to nothing and to no one except our Lord Himself. It does not mean simply being detached from the external things surrounding us. Our Lord was amazingly in touch with the ordinary things of life, but He had an inner detachment except toward God.
The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The men and women our Lord sends out on His endeavors are ordinary human people, but people who are controlled by their devotion to Him, which has been brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
~ ~ ~
I chose you.
John 15:16
God is at work bending, breaking, molding, and doing exactly as He chooses. And why is He doing it? He is doing it for only one purpose - that He may be able to say, “This is My man, and this is My woman.”
Once God has placed His call upon you, woe be to you if you 'turn aside to the right or the left.' (Deut. 28:14). He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.
All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them.
~ ~ ~
Just as the Father sent me, I send you.
John 20:21
A missionary is someone sent by Jesus Christ just as He was sent by God. The great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in our service for God is behind us, not ahead of us. The tendency today is to put the inspiration out in front - to sweep everything together in front of us and make it conform to our definition of success. But in the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, and is the Lord Jesus Himself. The goal is to be true to Him - to carry out His plans.
In missionary work the great danger is that God’s call will be replaced by the needs of the people, to the point that human sympathy for those needs will absolutely overwhelm the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, and the conditions so difficult, but we must remember the command of Jesus Christ - “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19).
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