Do We Have a Missionary Heart?
Do We Have a Missionary Heart?
Yesterday, I saw fear in her eyes. The noise caused her head to whip immediately to the right, and even though I sat at my work-desk more than 5,000+ miles away from her, I felt her fear. It was real. Her eyes strayed to the right mere seconds. She only looked right for a time, and then she gazed back at me, and I saw her fear. After looking intently at me for the briefest of time, she whipped her head again to her right. The enormity of time she looked right felt long, and that time, just as she did, I had heard the noise. Her fear was palatable. The sound was real, and she was scared. “I’m so glad you are online with me,” she said.
FEAR!
It’s a reality.
It’s an overtaking of one’s being, a sudden quaking within one’s heart.
It’s a sensory reaction, a pounding of the heart, a tingling of the hairs lifting on the back of the neck, a cold sweat, a widening of the eyes, a dry mouth, and a flaring of the nostrils.
It’s real.
It is felt.
There is no denying “fear” when it comes upon us.
There is no escape.
Thus, yesterday, when I saw fear in her eyes and knew there was so little I could physically do because I was so far away from where she sat, a truth and promise of God came to me in that moment.
FEAR!
WE DON’T NEED TO LIVE IN FEAR, FOR THE LORD’S PROMISE IS SURE!
See with me God’s Word spoken by the prophet Isaiah.
“They will see the glory of the LORD,
The majesty of our God.
Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.
Say to those with anxious heart,
‘Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
The recompense of God will come,
But He will save you.’ “
(Isaiah 35: 2b-4)
So, today, I wonder—Do we have a missionary heart? That question comes to my mind as I ponder the fear I saw in her eyes & am reminded of the significance of today—this important day—Ascension Day—a returning back to heaven—Hemelvaartsdag.
It is a Dutch word that can be defined as “heaven going day.”
The Son of God.
The Son of Man.
The King of the Jews.
The Savior of the World.
The King of Kings.
Emmanuel.
Messiah.
LORD.
Jesus Christ.
Just as surely as Jesus ascended that day as the apostles stood watching Him go toward the clouds, Jesus will come again for us; He will return. It is a promise of God!
It brings great peace to realize God’s hand is upon EVERYTHING!
It brings great peace to realize God’s omniscience & omnipotence & omnipresence is EVERLASTING!
Oh, thank You God!
Such great peace to realize Jesus—the Savior of the world, will come again—just as He ascended into heaven.
Surely, we can know the assurance found in this truth, this promise.
The Peace found in God.
- Do we have a missionary heart?
- Do we fully trust our Father?
- Do we walk in absolute faith?
- Do we stand in the middle of our dusty garden, asking God to send the rain—with our umbrella raised high above our head because we know God will answer our prayer as He sends down the droplets of rain?
- Do I kneel down on my floor, lifting up the twenty-three names listed upon my prayer list?
- Am I asking God to lead them to see the truth, to save their souls?
- Yes, I wonder if each of us have a mission heart—with our eyes daily upon God’s Word, trusting that He will hear our request?
- Do we trust God fully?
- Do we trust God 100%?
- Do we walk in complete obedience?
- Do we: Do-Go-Say—Exactly as He leads, Where He leads, & How He leads?
Do we have a missionary heart?
- Faith Talks.
- Faith Acts.
- Faith Goes.
- Faith Believes.
- Faith Walks, Runs, & Trusts God Fully.
- Faith Does!
- Faith Trusts God in what He says He Has Already Done! &
- Faith Trusts God in what He says He Is Doing Today! &
- Faith Trust God in what He says He Will Do!
- Faith is trusting and counting on God to come through, to answer our prayers, to save the ones we are praying for, to lead them to a saving knowledge, to accept Jesus as LORD!
What are we trusting God for today?
What need do we have that we should be placed at the foot of the cross?
What need must we give to God, fully trusting Him to do what only He can do—Sustain Us, Keep Us, & Receive Us to Himself.
In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, these words resonate with me on this immensely, special day.
Please See with Me.
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,
even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;
and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving a full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
(1 Timothy 1: 12-17)
May we listen today to a beautiful melody—“God So Loved” by the band We the Kingdom, & may we be reminded of God’s Truth.
May we not walk through this so-important memorial day that commemorates the return of Jesus to heaven.
- May we Celebrate!
- May we Raise our Hands High & Praise the King of Kings!
- May we Trust Jesus!
Jesus will come again for us—just as He promised!
It is a promise of God!
Today’s celebration reminds us of this fact!
Many are perishing. So many have not yet received eternal life. Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. Even Billions need to receive the Saving Grace of Jesus.
May we walk through today with a missionary heart for those who still walk in darkness.
May we proclaim, “Today is the Day of the LORD!” as we walk through this holy day—Ascension Day.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that world might be saved through Him.”
(John 3: 16-17)