[Missions] -The Gospel.

  I'm sure you've heard a lot about missions and missionaries. I'm pretty sure you can't go to church and not hear about one, one time or the other. I've never thought of myself as someone who would go to the end of the earth and tell Christ to the milllions who don't know him. I'm mean, sure, if God called me there and I felt a leading I would go, right? Well this chapter I'm reading from the Gospel was about urgent missions, and God was able to convict my heart on the subject. This particular story pertains to the fact that there are millions of people who have never heard about God.

Read this story from the Author:

   I heard a story several years ago about a man who was driving his car down an interstate outside of Los Angeles late one evening. A significant earthquake rumbled through the region and so the man pulled his car over on to the side of the road to wait it out. The earthquake was severe but over after a few seconds. So, the man pulled his car back onto the road, took a left onto a bridge and began to cross over. About halfway across the bridge he noticed the taillights of a car in front of him disappear. he stopped his car, got out, and realized a section of the bridge had falled out during the earthquake. The cr in front of him had driven into the chasm, at full speed, plunging nearly 75 feet into the warer below.
    The man turned around, and realized that several more cars were headed toward the break. He began to wave his arms frantically. People driving across the bridge outside of Los Angeles at 3 a.m are not likely to stop for what looks like a crazy person on the side of the road, and so he watched as four cars drove past, plunging to their deaths below.
     He then saw a large bus coming toward the break. He made up his mind that if that bus was going off the bridge, it had to take him with it. So he stood in the path and waved his arms. The bus honked its horn and flashed its lights, but the man would not move. The bus driver got out, saw the danger, and angled the bus so that no more cars could go past.
      What would you have done if you had been that one to discover the break in the bridge? You probably would have done just what that man did--passionately plead for people to stop.
      People in the world who do not know Chrit are headed fora  destruction far worse than that presented by the fallen bridge. Millions more are headed there now.

    I love the comparison here, because its explains it in a way that most of us can understand. Sometimes you just need that clear explanation and than finally there's LIGHT! YOU UNDERSTAND.
    I hope you understand why I shared this story with you. I put myself in that position and for a moment I was there. I mean, what if a family with four kids was going to go over that bridge? What if there were seventeen older people in the bus? I would definitely wave them down in any way I could.
    But lets raise the stakes here. What if I knew that they were not saved, none of them? What if I knew that they were going to meet their maker if I didn't step in front of that bus?
    Friends, I am urging you to consider this! There are millions of people out there who don't know about Jesus Christ and you might even pass them wherever you go. It doesn't all have to be foreign missions. There are a billion people right here, right now, that need Jesus Christ. So I urge you to ask Jesus to show you a way to share him with other people. And at the very least I urge you to pray for those souls! Brothers and Sisters, let us step in front of that gap and share Jesus. What kind of disciples are we if we do not share Jesus with the world?
     Be encouarged, and share Jesus. His name, His glory, His power, His love, His light should be spread for all to see and hear. Let us be a part of that calling today, whether by prayer or action.

   "As you have been to me, so will I be to others." -JD Greear

~Hannah

[Continuing in Faith-Abide in Jesus] -The Gospel

   Have you ever started something and then stopped in the middle? For me the best example would be in school. I'm ahead in my classes, and I think, 'well maybe I'll just do one more'. Then I look at the homework, and how many pages it has, and I think 'well maybe it can wait till tomorrow.' Ever do that? I laugh sometimes, because, hey, doesn't everyone? It just kind of what we do, whether in school, or something else we wait.
   Unfortunately, in faith, this also happens. We don't necessarily wait, but we stop or slow down. Perhaps we're not as enthusiastic. Then guess what happens? We turn around, and oops, we sinned a lot. We notice our behavior has shifted downward, our relationships with people aren't as good, because why? We started waiting, sitting, or whatever you might wish to call it. Once we learn an incredible truth and live it for a couple days, we can't stop there.
   I am very bad at this myself. I tend to get on these really big spiritual flurries and then it slo--o-oows d-o-owwnnn. It's a very bad habit. And then what happens? I feel so empty because I've lost sight of Jesus. I'm driving on a foggy rode, and the light I was following went out. Then I feel afraid, and I'm more prone to sin.
    What should we do? 
     Simply: Abide in Jesus.
  Greear says, "Abiding in Jesus means reminding ourselves constantly that there is nothing we could ever do that would make God love us more, and nothing we have done that can make him love us less."
   I know I've quoted that a million times. If we examine it though, it will wow! us every time. Greear also says, "You must dwell on this great truth daily, sometimes hourly. Sometimes every minute......Why so often? Because again, you are hardwired for works-righteousness. When you're not deliberately thinking gospel, you've probably slipped back into self-justification mode."
   Yes, friends, it's that easy. The moment we take our eyes off the road, what happens? We crash. We crash spiritually every day.
   So I encourage you, fix your relationship with God! No matter who you are, there is always something that is between you and God. Something that takes him away. Whether it's this large black spot in your life, or tiny spects, its worth fixing. Should we not endeavor to fix everything, for the Christ who gave everything? We'll only ever be content in life, when we are abiding in Jesus.
   Again, I encourage you, Abide in Jesus. Keep going! Don't stop here, and say I'm done. Push through and live the life worthy for the King. Only in Him can we do this.

   In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make you love me more, and nothing I have done that would make you love me less- JD Greear

~Hannah