Luke 9.57-62, And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
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So, will YOU be passionate? Will you take diligent heed to... love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, keep His commandments, cleave unto Him, serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul?
Joshua 23.14-16, “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.”
Will you be faithful?
Are you going to follow God and seek His will for your life? Will you diligently seek Him now and twenty years from now? Are you making Him and doing what He says first priority? Do you love Him with everything in you? And your response is, “Obviously, yeah. Why is that even a question?” I am sure the majority of us would say, “yes.” But as these passages of scripture have held up a challenge to my heart, I hope you truly consider this thought. I hope upon consideration, your response is an even more resounding YES! That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. Isaiah 45.6
All along the way, God has gently directed my heart toward missions. He has sweetly softened my heart and desires through influences beyond my doing. Moments beginning when I was four and five and “adopting a missionary family” shaped my thinking. I distinctly recall the framed picture and sitting around it as a family (come to find out, I ended up going to school with some of those kids years later). Plastic white church-shaped banks in our Sunday School classes where change would be collected for the missionaries each week where, even as an eight-year-old, Faith Promise Giving was being taught. I remember having widowed missionary shut-ins and listening to their stories frequently. I had close contact with the missionary families that would come through, was encouraged to write a letter to a missionary wife as a teenager and became pen-pals with her until they left the field, having friends who surrendered to missions and are now serving on their respective fields, being gifted a roommate in college who was a missionary kid herself and hearing her desire for Germany, as well as the classes taken with Bro. + Mrs. Hainline and witnessing their love and passion for missions first-hand. Through the process of time, I was led to see closely God’s heart for missions. |
Lizzy parkerMarriage.
Motherhood. Ministry. Missions. Archives
January 2023
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