As the day of our departure for the Philippines quickly
approaches, the butterflies in the pit of my stomach seem to be transforming
into bats as the excitement and the anticipation of our journey build! As we prepare for such missions, I always
reflect on the “why?” Why do we go? What difference does it make?
Three themes from 1 Corinthians 5 come to mind when I
consider our reasoning for engaging ourselves in such a journey.
1.
God’s love compels us! I am a wealthy benefactor of the love of God,
having received His forgiveness, experienced His goodness and am blessed to be
called to live out His righteousness. Having experienced God’s sweet and
abundant love, I am driven to reach out to others so that they too may be
blessed to know the love of God as I have.
2.
I am a new creation in Christ, called to live
for others, not myself! As someone who
has been richly blessed by God’s goodness, I am called to live for Christ by
serving others. My Christian walk is not
just an opportunity for me to be blessed, it is a responsibility that calls me to
seek out others in need spiritually and materially so that they may know the
love of God in their own lives.
3.
Because God is in the reconciliation business,
He has called me, as His follower, to be a life-long reconciler, seeking to
always live as an ambassador for Christ.
My life needs to be characterized by a continuous desire to be a person
of peace, called to preach the Message of peace wherever I go, and whatever I
do.
Our 2-week trip to the Philippines gives our team
opportunities to be the righteousness of God by being obedient in reaching out
to others in His Name. We will serve,
equipped with goods of temporal value and a Message of eternal value. We will do the work of God not as the proud
and the mighty seeking a conquest, but as the forgiven and the humble – people who
depend on God, and who have been called to make His love known by acts of
service and love with our eyes fixed on Jesus and hearts fixed on helping all
those we can who are in need as fellow sojourners on the journey we call
life.
When I consider all that God has done for me, I can only
respond by sharing with others. Please
pray for us as we seek to be salt and light and to live out the Gospel we
proclaim to others. I look forward to
sharing the highlights of our journey, as we soldier on in love for Jesus’ sake
over the next two weeks! Please keep us in mind and keep us in prayer as we go
to do God’s work, butterflies, bats and all!
Your Friend and Brother,
Sam Jackson
Angelstone-Grace-YWAM Mission Philippines 2014
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