theTask….

On Monday, our last day in Kenya, we’ll be traveling on the road
to Tanzania. It will be a day of change
for us, but for me a reminder of one important thing; “the
Task”. On June 28, it will have
been ten years since I came to Christ in 2000 at a summer youth camp called
Mission Fuge in Nashville at the age of seventeen. I grew up in the church, “said a
prayer” at nine and baptized, but it wasn’t until that night when the camp
pastor spoke on Luke 9:23-26 and I was cut to the heart, that nothing was more
valuable in life than Jesus. I would
have to die to myself daily with my cross and follow him. Lose my life in order to save it, and to
confess him with boldness or He would be ashamed of me. You see, we like him to be our Savior, but to
truly say that He is to be LORD over ALL of my LIFE can seem risky. But if you don’t jump in, not knowing the
bottom of the water where God’s future is and can’t give it to Him completely,
you’ll never experience life because your own control and personal expectations
are chained to your soul. And during
that week the theme was “theTask”, one of taking the gospel to the
nations based out of the book of Acts. And it’s no coincidence I would be celebrating ten years of being saved
across the world after grasping what “theTask” really meant. 

 

In Acts 20:20-27, there is one of the greatest farewell letters
of all time as Paul is saying goodbye to the church of Ephesus. Paul gave his life for the gospel. Verse 24 says, “But I do not account my
life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and
the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of
the grace of God.” and latter in 26, “Therefore, I testify to you
this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you.” Paul is about to be sent to Jerusalem knowing
that great trouble awaits him, but it’s doesn’t deter him from what his mission
is. He must go, because God has called
him regardless of what happens. Paul
lived a hard life for the gospel, and he always said what needed to be said;
even if words and actions would lead him to death. But he had a fire burning within his heart
for the glory of God and that his name would be known around the world. He sought it so much and shared it, that he
said he’s innocent of them all if they never believe, because he lived with
such a passion that he couldn’t be blamed for them not knowing the Truth. Am I living in such a way that no one can
blame me for not knowing?

Give me a new passion to speak Truth; it’s hard to hear but it
takes out the lies. There is a false
gospel out in this world of self, prosperity, making Jesus serve you to be
happy, and people are spiritually sick. Saying you won’t get physically sick and get money/blessings from God is
just like a bandaid on a huge gash just to make you feel good but you won’t
have a heart healed until you come completely broken before Him. In order to receive, I must give. Do I desire God’s presents over his presence,
or have I come to know that good or bad, God get’s the glory? I did not come to Jesus or sign up for this
Race be comfortable, but to share the love of Jesus and bring justice in a way
I could, but it doesn’t have to be done here. We had jobs and God said, “You will go!” and we had to leave
because he called us; it may not have been easy and it was not
comfortable. We had to sell many things,
lose stuff, some moved back in with parents, and others felt like we were
taking some major steps back in life before the Race, but God wants to know how
much I truly mean that He is my everything and that HE IS ENOUGH. Racers aren’t special, but the Lord is good
because we have an opportunity to move all around the world seeing Him work,
and it’s making us grow like crazy. He
is the same God everywhere; all nations around the world, and one day we’ll
worship in one spot. We should be
passionate about this. But, we should
live in such a way to bring others with us until then. He deserves the worship of all people,
language, and it doesn’t matter what or who, it’s all about God and His glory.

We should be passionate and share all of the Word, good and
bad. In America we can lose
passion. We need not depend on money,
cars, or beautiful houses, but remember how good Jesus is because He loves us,
more than we could even understand and that should lead us to worship and
praise for Him. Jesus said, “Where
your treasure is, there your heart shall be also.” What is your treasure? Someone recently told me that we should learn
to take care of things, and I agree. But
the most important thing we should take care of is our heart and soul before
our Creator, nothing else will be more important than that. Give me a mud house with sticks with Jesus
and I will be better off eternally than the nicest car or house and Him only being
a “part of my life”. He sees
every part of our hearts and loves us the same, and that’s hard to
imagine. That should make us excited. We should be a light to the Muslims, the
Buddhist, all political sides, the lost, the poor, the wealthy, and to go and
share the Task! Passion to work for the
Lord for He is good and no matter what we face, suffer or not, God will get the
glory and we’ll worship Him forever. Don’t let the world take your sight off what He has for you and quench
your thirst for Him.  

 

Ten years later, nothing has been greater or sweeter than the
name of Jesus. David Crowder you are so
right, “there are so few words that never grow old; JESUS.”

 

 

 

The grace of a Savior, the face of Lover, the absence of what I
fear. I’m not alone for here I’ve found
my home.