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The other day I saw a t-shirt that said, “Love people like Jesus died for them”. It hit true because too often we Christians love others well only when it’s convenient for us. True love doesn’t stem from our own strength but from the power of Christ. The love we pour out to others through Jesus Christ isn’t the easy way of loving others that already love you but loving those who do not reciprocate. Matthew 5:46 says, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” We can love all people well by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the example of Jesus Christ. 1 John 4:16 & 19 reminds us, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him…. We love because he first loved us.” We’ve seen this play out through our own children. We love and show our love deeply to our children but also to anyone who steps through our home. Our children have seen and felt that love, and now they pour love and welcome on others despite cultural/social backgrounds or how those people might view their parents. So, let’s love people like Jesus died for them with a love like that of a child.
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Everyone goes through an end. Sometimes it’s the end of a season, work project, school year, huge planning event, raising a kid, or a ministry commitment. Too often we get to the end feeling worn out and tired and maybe a little bruised and broken. We just want to relax, find rest, or look forward to what’s next instead of staying the course and finishing the current season strong. Ecclesiastes 7:8 reminds us, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” We must remember to finish well the race set before us. It’s not enough that we start strong, but that we endure and finish the current chapter well. We must remember that the work that we do is a way to glorify Christ and honor him so we may be the salt and light the world needs whether that’s at the start, middle, or end of a season. Colossians 3:17 encourages us in this way, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” It’s easy to say, “I’ve done enough to get the job done, so time to move on.” But let’s encourage one another to not do enough to get done but to do it with all our might even unto the end!
We get the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19-20 which says,” Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Does this mean that every Christian should drop what they’re doing and fly off to the far corner of the world and start spreading the good news? The reality is the imperative in this command is to make disciples, the go is implied as part of what making disciples entails. Some of us go to foreign countries, some go to office spaces, some go to the local coffee shop. To fulfill the great commission isn’t to just throw out the seeds of salvation but to make disciples. Evangelism is part of the process but not the whole. Christ built his church for the work of making disciples. Discipleship isn’t just always one on one, but in triads, small groups, and even big groups. It’s not about just teaching, but modeling, correcting, and loving others towards obedience in Christ. God has gifted us in different ways to do this, and it often requires us stepping outside our comfort zone. The great news is we are the body of Christ and not alone in making disciples. What I love about sharing my testimony, handing out a tract, or preaching the gospel from the pulpit isn’t that my work is done but now the work has just begun. Why do I say that? Because He is with us always, even to the end of the age!
Our American culture teaches us that hard work will get us the results we want. At a young age I learned the opposite. As a young boy I built with all diligence a wooden race car with my father for the pinewood derby with hopes of getting 1st place. It raced, and I did not get 1st, 2nd, nor 3rd. My hard work did not give me the results I wanted. God’s word teaches us that hard work is used for a different purpose. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Successful hard work doesn’t mean you always get the results you want: CEO of a company, a multi-million-dollar business, 50 churches planted in 5 years. Successful and diligent hard work is that whatever your hand finds to do you do it with all your might to the glory of God. Whether you work with 3 or 3,000 people your work matters. Do you teach? Teach well. Do you clean? Clean well. Do you raise children? Raise them well. Our diligence in the work he gives us is a way for his light to shine in our lives so that more might come to Christ and more might be discipled.
Do you ever find moments where it seems like all energy is gone but your list of tasks keeps growing? There are times when conditions just aren’t ideal, but the work must continue. We must continue in life despite lack of sleep, continuous needs, and that 5th cup of coffee isn’t really working. We knew the season would be busy and most everything was planned for, but how do we muscle through? Psalm 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;” We don’t have to rely on our strength to get through our work/ministry. We look to him, because he gives us the strength to endure and the help to finish. When we don’t do that, we end up collapsing because we extend ourselves beyond what we can give and beyond what our abilities are. He knows what you need, so ask Him! He gives us strength in the moments planned and unplanned. Whether it’s surviving that last meeting of the day, preparing one more Bible study/message, lasting that final hour between supper being finished and the kids going to bed, He gives us strength!
It’s the middle of summer here with no A/C. We’re hot and tired, and over the last month we’ve had myriads of people in and out of the house. Since the beginning of the year not one month has passed where we haven’t hosted visitors or multiple people staying with us. Mixed in with that have been tough conversations with others on difficult ministry matters. So how do we maintain the joy? How do we put one foot in front of the other to continue in obedience? Simple. Our hope, our joy, our strength is not determined by our circumstances but is found in our God. In Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah reminds Israel that it is the joy of the Lord that is their strength. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 helps us maintain our joy when Paul says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” We count it joy when we go through hardships (like overwhelming heat, persecution, tough conversations) because in the end these sorrows and difficulties are eradicated. However, in the midst of them, we get to glorify God and point more to Jesus. On the other end those moments of rest, prosperity, and peace (though temporary) we count as joy because of the reminder of the taste of what is to eternally come.
As spring has faded and the busy season of summer has descended, we want to pause to reflect on and be grateful for the work that the Lord does. Too often we believe the rise or break of a ministry falls upon the back of one or a few. We think if it’s not in our hands or the gospel is not coming directly from our lips then how can there be success? Our hubris leads to our misery in ministry. Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” We must humbly do the work that the Lord gives us knowing it’s in his hands and praising Him when we see the great work that he does. It’s like what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” We throw some seeds here and water a bit over there, but we must marvel and praise our God for the harvest that he produces.
For those of us that fall under the label of full-time ministry we always stumble in wanting success to be by our standards. We pour in all this money, labor, effort, and hours into things we think will make front pages in our Christian circles. We want stories of thousands coming to Christ at once, or giant buildings and churches sprouting up overnight. The reality is ministry is hard, difficult, and messy. Even our personal walk in sharing the gospel and making disciples is lined with just as much failure as success. I remember years ago setting up an event for a Christian group to reach out to the local community to build relationship and share the gospel and not one single person from the community showed up. We then ask ourselves, “Is it worth it?” For me that question is always answered with a resounding “Yes!” Jesus said in Luke 15:10 “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” That event helped me better understand how to reach the community with the gospel, and that group did return and made an impact in people’s lives. Our faith in God’s plan allows us to endure, to continue to labor in the field, and to try again when we fail or stumble. Why? James 5:11 reminds us why, “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” So, continue to give your prayers, time, efforts, finances to the kingdom work because it’s worth it for even that one who comes to repentance!
We’re about to start the gospel of Mark in our Bible Study. As I am preparing for that I was reminded of Jesus’ primary message right in the beginning in Mark 1:14-15 which says, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” The gospel was always forefront for Jesus in that people need to repent and believe, but he never went around shoving this message down people’s throats. While the message stayed in front he healed and fed others, spent time with people, and listened to their stories. We might not be able to walk on water or turn it into wine, but we can invite someone to dinner and hear their story. As kingdom workers we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s openings to preach the gospel into people’s lives all while loving them well. Kingdom work doesn’t mean we elevate the social care over the gospel, nor does it mean we say the evangelist is doing far superior work than others. Remember that street preacher has a team: someone who drove him there, someone who designed and printed out his evangelistic pamphlets, set up his audio equipment, even an entire group praying for him during his entire time on the street corner. Don’t belittle the work you are doing for the kingdom. He always gives us opportunities to share the good news, make disciples, and glorify him along with the continued roles he has placed us in. Don’t forget, even the disciples passed out fishes and loaves, went to fetch a donkey, and prepared rooms for Passover. What you do matters because you are walking in obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
So often we desire stability and rhythm in our lives but refuse to except that we live in a world of constant transition. We transition jobs, people, stages of life (with or without kids), even our homes are transitional (whether moving, remodeling, or even destruction). Very few of us get constant stability. Even Jesus was in transition throughout his ministry (Luke 9:57-58). Here’s the good news despite the blurry pace we seem to be swept up in; God is the rock we stand on in the midst of such transition. Hebrews 13:8, says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” No matter the transitions in life whether its death and sickness, new life, or that dream job; the foundation of our faith, drive, and purpose is always in him. Psalm 18:2 reminds us, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” We handle each transition by fixing our eyes on him and not the fallout from the latest change. Even in ministry we continue to bend our knee and focus our eyes on being obedient to the one who gave us everything so that we might glorify and honor him no matter what ebbs and flows through the house.
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September 2025
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