Missionary Devotion

Missionary Devotion

What does Missionary Devotion mean? It means taking hold of Jesus with all our might. Not letting go of the love we have for Christ and all He has done for us. And it means wanting to share that love with everyone we meet. It means being an ambassador for Christ right in our own neighborhoods, with our families, with our co-workers and people we come in contact with every day.

Having a Missionary Devotion to Christ is like being seated with Christ in the Heavenlies and yet having our feet planted firmly on the earth because we have work to do here. God has us here for a reason, he has a purpose and a plan for each one of us. We belong to God, Jesus is our brother, but the Holy Spirit needs us to minister here on earth.

John 15:5 says “If a man remains in me (Jesus), and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

If we let go of Jesus, if we fail to remain devoted to Him and try to do things on our own, we will fail, we will not bear fruit, we will be serving men and not God.

How can we be servants of God and serve our fellowman at the same time? Is it possible to do that? Mother Teresa was a good example of one who served the Lord with all her heart. She never let her own needs come before the needs of others. She was truly the hands and feet of Jesus, working among the least, the last and the lost. Those she cared for could give her nothing in return and she didn’t ask for anything. She only wanted to serve her fellowman. She wanted to be God’s hands here on earth. But she never forgot that she belonged to God, that the Lord Jesus was her master.

We have to let the Spirit of God help us find ways to serve men. I experienced this in a wonderful way a few years ago. We lived outside Chicago and every few months we would take the train into the city for a day of recreation and fun. After a few excursions I began to feel compassion for the street people that we saw in Chicago. There are a lot of homeless people living on the streets, there are also a lot of people who make a living by pretending to be homeless. After one visit I prayed and asked God how I could help. Short of opening a soup kitchen, I didn’t know what one person could do. We didn’t go to the city very often, but I kept thinking that I could do something.

God’s spirit gave me very clear direction. We always took a back pack with us, it was an easy way to carry necessary things. God spoke to my spirit and told me to take sack lunches and give them to the ones he would show me. I began to pack peanut butter sandwiches, apples, fruit juice, cookies, whatever I had on hand. I would make about 4 or 5 sack lunches and I would put a sticker on the sandwich bag that simply said, “Jesus loves you.” Sometimes I would also enclose a tract or a devotional book, I guess I supposed that I enjoy reading when I am eating alone and someone else might also.

I would pray before we went into the city for God to show me the people he wanted me to offer food. I supernaturally knew the people when I saw them. I would always ask them if they were hungry and I would give them a sack lunch and tell them that God loved them. It was a very simple act. I always tried to offer them the sack lunch in a loving manner. After all, it wasn’t me feeding them, but God himself. I don’t live outside Chicago anymore and rarely come in contact with homeless people, but I now know what I can do for folks like that. And maybe I can’t feed all the homeless people in Chicago, but I did feed a few of them and planted some seeds for the Lord.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Wherever we go, we are to be the aroma of Christ. We should leave the world a better place. We don’t have to do big things to spread the love of Christ around. I have found that the simplest act of picking up a candy bar wrapper or pop can and throwing them in the trash is a wonderful witness. A great place to make the world a better place is in public restrooms. It is quite easy to pick up paper towels and leave the place looking better than when you walked in the door. The environment always should look better after a Christian has passed by.

This missionary devotion should also prompt us to be like Father Abraham. He was obedient and did what God asked him to do. God made him a promise that he would give him all the land that he saw. God told him to walk through the length and breadth of the land, for he was giving it to him and his offspring forever. (see Genesis 13:14-17)

The promise that God gave to Abraham is still good today. I claim land for the Lord wherever I go. As I was praying about this promise one day, the Lord showed me that he was directing my footsteps and that I was going to places that had not previously belonged to him. Now everywhere I go, I am walking on land that the Lord has given me. If we look at the big picture we can see Christians all around the world going into enemy territory and claiming that land for God.

This book is my attempt to be an ambassador for Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:20 Paul tells us, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” That should be our mission in life to tell people everywhere we go that God loves them and wants them to have a realtionship with him.

After we become Christians, we are new creations and are in this world for the purpose of spreading the good news. This will not necessarily make us popular or even liked. John 15:18-19 Jesus tells us “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

Jesus has given us a commission, Matthew 28:18-20 “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.”

We are on a mission and we can only carry out this mission in the world. It will not be easy, we may not be appreciated, we will probably be hated by some-those who are perishing do not want to hear the truth. But we are to spread the good news wherever we go.

Holy God,

May we be the aroma of Christ no matter where we are. You can use us in our occupations and in our homes, you can use us with our families and friends. Show us how to be missionaries right where we are. In Jesus’ name. Amen