18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:19-20

One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go!

My sisters and I used to say this childhood chant while preparing to launch ourselves off the swings in our back yard. Part of the fun was timing the rhythm so the word go was uttered at the exact moment the swing was at it’s highest forward motion. Of course we had to emphasize the word go with a shout! At this moment, we let go of the swing and flew through the air, plummeting towards the earth. A free-fall. A letting go. Untethered. It took courage to let go and, well … go!

Jesus tells us to go.

We are to go and take the Gospel to all nations.

The Gospel.

Go …

Go … spel.

Take the Gospel.

The word go seems to be very straight forward.

Move. Progress. In the Greek it means a little more than just moving. Go means “to lead over, to carry over, to transfer over.” What are we moving, leading and transferring? People. Priceless souls whom God loves. We help lead them from death to life.  We help transfer them from curses to blessing. We help carry them over from darkness to light. All this going is made possible by the blood of Christ. The Gospel.

Go also means “to continue one’s journey.” Matthew 28:19-20 is everyone’s calling. We were born for Matthew 28:19-20. It is our mission, our calling, our purpose. Matthew 28:19-20 is yours. It’s mine. It’s ours.

Does anyone know where we are going?

Exactly where are we to go? The verse above tells us to take the Gospel to all nations

These days all nations are closer than you think. All nations may be the house next door  or the apartments on the other side of town. All nations can refer to the people across the sea or the people across the street.

• Go and take the gospel to work today. Those people who bug you and annoy you … Jesus died for them.
• Go and take the gospel to your family today. Those people who bug you and annoy you … Jesus died for them.
• Go and take the gospel to the gym. Those strong people are weak without Jesus.
• Go and take the gospel while you’re running errands. Those tired people in customer service don’t need your wrath, they need God’s grace. Give it to them.

Go shopping. Go running. Go out to lunch. Go next door. Go to church. Go to the PTA. Go to the meeting. Go to the hospital. And in all your going … take the go-spel.

Action Points:

1. Think about where you are going today. Who will you run into that needs to hear the Gospel?
2. Pray and ask God to bring someone to you who you can show the love of Jesus to today.
3. Prepare a two minute talk about why you decided to follow Jesus. Ask God to give you opportunities to share His message.

Please leave a comment below about how you plan to go and make disciples today!

Life is sweet. Go!

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onlybyprayer.com

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

“8 He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts …” Mark 6:8

I looked at him; peaceful, confident. We left him at the bus station in South Bend, Indiana. I watched him as he climbed aboard a bus heading west. He was traveling to Yellowstone. Hired by Christian Ministries to the National Parks, our son would be gone for the summer serving the tourists and locals by leading worship and Bible study meetings. He was heading to Yellowstone … with nothing but a backpack and a guitar. Traveling light.

Freedom.

Freedom to serve Christ.

What ties you down?

What keeps you from really serving others and following Christ, from traveling light?  We say it, we sing it, we talk about it, but do we do it? Do we really follow Jesus and serve others? To be honest I am usually very enthusiastic about following Jesus and serving others until it costs me something.

I’ll give as long as I have enough money to eat my organic food.

I’ll sacrifice as long as I can still get my hair done each month.

I’ll serve as long as I have time to get a massage this week.

Money. Pride. Selfishness.

These attitudes tie me down. Hold me Back. Pull me under.

Traveling heavy.

To be painfully honest, the idea of going out to the bush and not being able to do my hair and makeup for for three weeks would be REALLY HARD. But just think, I could leave a whole suitcase behind if I didn’t take my flat iron, curling iron, shampoo, cream rinse, styling lotion, gel, hairspray, mascara, eyebrow pencil, four different face creams, cleanser, toner, etc. The list gets longer and heavier as I get older.

I think I need to lighten up.

Jesus wants to send us out.

Jesus told his disciples they would be traveling light. They could only take one thing. No bags. No organic food. No money. No makeup. Only a staff. Hmm …

My traveling plan: Stuff

God’s traveling plan: Staff

Staff vs. Stuff

Why? So they could focus on the mission. Stuff gets in the way of the mission. The more you own, the more it owns you. More stuff requires more energy. It gets in the way. A staff, on the other hand, is a walking stick which helps travelers hike faster, safer, more efficiently. In the Bible, staffs were used by shepherds and kings. They represent authority and guidance. Sounds like the Bible. Our staff.

Let’s get rid of some stuff (traveling light), pick up our staff (the Bible), and take the Gospel to our world today.

Action Points:

1. What is weighing you down and getting in the way of sharing God’s message with your world? Is it your appearance? Go without makeup for one day. Is it coffee? Commit to drinking only water today. Is it shopping? Go one day/one week/one month without spending anything except for groceries and bills.
2. Find a way to reach out to another today and share the truth of the Gospel. Be available. Ask God to show you how to serve another today.
3. Is there a habit, attitude, activity, or relationship (this is not a ticket to get out of your marriage because you aren’t happy) weighing you down? What step can you take today to begin traveling light?
4. Pray and ask God to show you what you need to let go so you can begin traveling light.

Please leave me a comment below on how you plan to begin traveling light!

Life is sweet. Travel light!

Try this new Bible study format from Sway! Be sure to toggle to the full screen mode!

P.S. If you’d like to print this out in a convenient form, choose the green Print/PDF icon at the bottom right of the post. It even gives you the option of printing without pictures.

For your listening pleasure: Traveling Light

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

” … rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer …”

Romans 12:12

I like lists. You may already know that about me. I often start my day with a list of things to accomplish … complete with allotted times. It gives me great satisfaction knowing what to do and when to do it. That’s why I like Bible verses like Romans 12:12. It gives me three things to do, it tells me when to do them AND how to do them.

What to do when you’re hoping – rejoice!

Why can we rejoice in hope? Because we worship the God of Hope – therefore we always have hope. No situation is beyond God’s reach.

Are you sick? He’s the healer. Jehovah Raphe

Are you lost? He’s the God who sees you. El Roi

Are you in need? He’s the God who provides. Jehovah Jireh.

Are you neck deep in sin? He’s the God who washes away sin. Jehovah Tsidkenu.

Biblical hope is different than worldly hope. With worldly hope, you hope something will happen. With biblical hope, you have hope because something will happen. Whatever your need, God sees you and He’s at work. He is your hope. So start rejoicing!

What to do when you’re facing tribulation – be patient!

Since we can rejoice because we always have hope, we can also be patient in tribulation. I usually define the word patient as someone who controls their temper and frustration. In Greek, however, the word patient means to tarry, to wait, to remain behind. To wait for what? For God to act. Instead of trying to work a frustrating painful situation according to your will, wait for God to work it according to His perfect will. Everyone wins.

While we’re hoping and waiting for God to move, He gives us a job …

Continue steadfastly in prayer.

Don’t forget – while you have all this hoping and rejoicing and waiting going on, cover it all continually and steadfastly in prayer.  The KJV of continuing steadfastly in prayer is “continuing instant in prayer.” I love this definition. Every moment is the right moment to continue in prayer.

This instant.

No matter what you are doing.

Pray.

Action Points

1. How can you actively rejoice over a current hope you are waiting for?
2. How can you show God you are waiting for Him to move in a current trial? What can you do to show Him you are waiting for Him and His will? What do you need to stop doing to show Him you are waiting for Him and His will?
3. Pray! Pray over your hopes, your tribulations, your everything. Pray!

Life is sweet. Hope. Wait. Pray.

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Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

^{6 “}And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 2:6

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord–who is the Spirit–makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”2 2 Corinthians 3:18

I sat with my back propped against my husband’s legs. My sweatshirt felt good against my skin as the northern summer breezes flowed landward off Lake Michigan. The tall sea-green beach grasses wafted gently in the water. The sunset promised to be a keeper. My heart felt as content as the unusually peaceful waters of the Great Lake.

My eyes scanned the horizon like a seasoned sailor, counting the moments until the great event — the setting of the sun. We Michiganders take our sunsets seriously. Tourists and natives alike dotted the dunes along the shore. Watching. Waiting.

As the sun slipped lower in the sky, something caught my attention along the shore; a quiet radiance amid thousands of dark cool stones at the waters edge; one stone made brilliant by the setting of the sun. Loathe to disturb my comfort, I turned my head for a better view of the shining pebble.

Why a stone?

It stood like a lighthouse among its dull counterparts, beaming and casting its light. I marveled that such a small object could make so great an impact. A rock. Plain. Small. Unremarkable. Why a stone? Why not a diamond? Or a ruby? Just one small, plain stone.

Why one stone?

Thousands of millions of stones line the beaches of the northern Great Lakes … tossed and tumbled … worn smooth by relentless waves of time. But, only one glimmered in the sunset. Why? Three reasons: Position. Reflection. Water. The small rock, washed with water, was in the right position to reflect the light of the sun.

“And you are living stones …

… that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”

We are His stones. Small. Plain. Unremarkable. Made of clay. But, as living stones we can have great influence for three reasons: Position. Reflection. Water. Position in Christ. Reflection of His glory. Living Water. God has placed us on beaches of this earth, among the thousands of millions of people tossed and tumbled by the relentless waves of deception, to reflect His glory and truth in the darkness. Soaked by Living Water, we shine and reflect His light, enabling others to find their way to the Father.

Let your light shine before men.

Action Points:

1. How can you let your light shine?
2. Name something specific you can do today to shine God’s light to those around you.
3. Do you tend to shut down your light around certain people? Why?

Life is sweet.

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Copyright 2015.

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

She Heard

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” …“The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”

Matthew 12:38-39, 42

Jesus is speaking to the crowds. While teaching from His Word, He heals a demon-possessed man of his many afflictions. The Pharisees are not happy. Like the rest of the crowd, they’ve been listening to Jesus preach. However, the teachers of the Law want a sign: a miracle on demand. Would they see with their eyes when they would not hear with their ears? What greater sign did they need than an exorcism? Jesus calls them out by mentioning the queen of the South.

The queen of the South? She heard. She heard all the way from Sheba. What the Pharisees would not hear from across the temple courtyard, she heard from across the continent. 1,200 miles. And she came to hear more.  Imagine being mentioned in the Bible, not because you won a great battle or conquered a terrible foe, but because you heard.

I Kings 10:2 gives us little more information: She spoke to Solomon about all that was in her heart.  That’s the difference between the Pharisees and the Queen of Sheba. She heard with her heart. The Pharisees, deafened by pride,  could only hear with their ears. (To learn more about the connection between the heart and the ears, look up the following verses: Deuteronomy 29:4, Proverbs 23:12, Isaiah 6:10, and Ezekiel 3:10.)

God has an antidote for deaf ears. Acts 7:51: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Ask God to circumcise your ears to hear His Word.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord and open the ears of my heart.

In the Greek and Hebrew, to hear means not only to sense with the ears, but to understand, consider, comprehend, and OBEY.

Hearing God’s word requires change.

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Let’s follow the example of the Queen of Sheba, and do what it takes to hear from God.

She heard.

Action Points:

1. How can you put yourself in a position to hear from God?
2. What noise is blocking the Word of God in your life?
3. What action can you take to hear from God today?

Life is sweet.

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel, and the man was very rich. He had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 3 The name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. And she was a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance; but the man was harsh and evil in his doings. He was of the house of Caleb.

1 Samuel 25:2-3

Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a beautiful woman and her evil husband. Now, the husband was a fool, but Abigail understood.

The account of Nabal and Abigail rivals any fairy tale of long ago, complete with a beautiful woman, a wicked husband, a valiant king upon a steed and an intriguing plot.

To summarize, David and his men protect Nabal’s flocks from raiders and predators until the time of shearing. When payday arrives, instead of wages, David’s men receive insults. Justly so, David orders his men to saddle-up and ride for Nabal’s house.  Enter our hero, actually a she-ro … Abigail.

She understood.

She understood whom? …  she understood what?

She understood her husband’s harsh evil ways.

She understood her God’s righteous holy ways.

Abigail learns of her husband’s foolish behavior from one of her servants. Without a moment to spare, she quickly orders a gift for David, loads the donkeys, and saves the day (and her husband’s neck). Why did Abigail chooses to act on behalf of her cruel harsh husband? She could have easily been rid of him that day … let him reap the consequences for his actions. Who would have blamed her? Instead, she acts on his behalf. Why? Because she understood.

Abigail understood …

… she must trust God’s Word over her own feelings.

… she must do the right thing no matter the cost.

… she must protect others from themselves.

… she must do right for those who do her wrong.

Because she understood, Abigail saves the lives of her husband and the male servants of her house. Her quick thinking also protects David’s reputation and his relationship with God. She does the right thing, the hard thing, the wise thing, and leaves her life (and husband) in the hands of God. And because she understood, God has a wonderful happily ever after for Abigail (and a not so happily ever after for Nabal). You can read the rest of the story in 1 Samuel 25.

And the beautiful woman received a message, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife … and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.” So the beautiful woman and the king lived happily ever after.

Action Points

1. Wisdom does not depend in IQ, but on the Word of God; the more Word we have, the wiser we become. How can you get more of God’s Word in your heart? (Hint:  Joyce Meyer Ministries  oneplace.com, Living Proof Ministries)
2. Think of a current situation are you facing. What do you feel like doing about it? What does God’s Word say you should do about it?
3. What parts of your situation need you to take godly action? What parts do you need to leave in the hands of God?

Life is sweet.