"Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest." John 4:35
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Do we travel through life on two separate roads - one secular and the other spiritual? If so, we have succumbed to dualism, one of Satan's greatest deceptions. The world system encourages the belief that a life dedicated to God and His plan is only for those called to "the work of the church", or of a specific form of religion.
The concept of dualism (purposeful separation of spiritual and secular existence) is purely of the world, as it is never prescribed in God's Word. To the contrary, God's Word tells us to render all service as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23, Ephesians 6:7) Proverbs 3:5-6), and encourages no distinction between our secular and spiritual lives with its clear and consistent instruction to rely on God and seek His will for all things.
In his book, Loving Monday, (the entire book may be read online) author and successful business owner John D. Beckett presents the witness of how he has operated the R.W. Becket Company for many years as his Christian calling. Struggling to determine God's will for his life as a young man, he came to the realization that he could best serve God right where he was, as long as he considered his business, personal, and spiritual lives all as one under Jesus Christ.
John Beckett is a missionary, and one of the highest order since he submitted and surrendered to God's plan for his life rather than pursue his own. When he joined his father's business it had 30 employees. After nearly three decades of operating it under godly principles, and as an integral component of his own Christian journey, it has grown to more than 500 employees, becoming a leader in its industry. John Beckett's business life is not separate from his spiritual life. He has not succumbed to the lie of "dualism" as the world prescribes.
Through his decision to become a servant for Jesus Christ, John Beckett has influenced thousands of people for the Kingdom through his work. Would he have realized a similar opportunity in full-time, church-only related ministry or missions? Only God knows, but the truth of his life has been to allow Jesus to use him as a conduit for His plan, and that's really all that matters.
Where does Jesus have you today? Wherever it is, if you've submitted and surrendered your life to Him, you are, or have the potential to be, a successful missionary.
Onward Christian soldiers!
Bob Benson
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from My Utmost For His Highest. . .
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Do we travel through life on two separate roads - one secular and the other spiritual? If so, we have succumbed to dualism, one of Satan's greatest deceptions. The world system encourages the belief that a life dedicated to God and His plan is only for those called to "the work of the church", or of a specific form of religion.
The concept of dualism (purposeful separation of spiritual and secular existence) is purely of the world, as it is never prescribed in God's Word. To the contrary, God's Word tells us to render all service as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23, Ephesians 6:7) Proverbs 3:5-6), and encourages no distinction between our secular and spiritual lives with its clear and consistent instruction to rely on God and seek His will for all things.
In his book, Loving Monday, (the entire book may be read online) author and successful business owner John D. Beckett presents the witness of how he has operated the R.W. Becket Company for many years as his Christian calling. Struggling to determine God's will for his life as a young man, he came to the realization that he could best serve God right where he was, as long as he considered his business, personal, and spiritual lives all as one under Jesus Christ.
John Beckett is a missionary, and one of the highest order since he submitted and surrendered to God's plan for his life rather than pursue his own. When he joined his father's business it had 30 employees. After nearly three decades of operating it under godly principles, and as an integral component of his own Christian journey, it has grown to more than 500 employees, becoming a leader in its industry. John Beckett's business life is not separate from his spiritual life. He has not succumbed to the lie of "dualism" as the world prescribes.
Through his decision to become a servant for Jesus Christ, John Beckett has influenced thousands of people for the Kingdom through his work. Would he have realized a similar opportunity in full-time, church-only related ministry or missions? Only God knows, but the truth of his life has been to allow Jesus to use him as a conduit for His plan, and that's really all that matters.
Where does Jesus have you today? Wherever it is, if you've submitted and surrendered your life to Him, you are, or have the potential to be, a successful missionary.
Onward Christian soldiers!
Bob Benson
***********************************************
from My Utmost For His Highest. . .
October 16
The Key to the Master’s Orders
Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest —Matthew 9:38
The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work—that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders—the key is prayer. "Pray the Lord of the harvest . . . ." In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view.
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person—Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life—are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, "Oh, but I have a special work to do!" No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, "a servant [who] is not greater than his master" ( John 13:16 ), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work—He calls us to Himself. "Pray the Lord of the harvest," and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
Amen!
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"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." Matthew 16:24
From Jesus Christ’s perspective, there are no nations, but only the world. How many of us pray without regard to the persons, but with regard to only one Person—Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life—are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, "Oh, but I have a special work to do!" No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, "a servant [who] is not greater than his master" ( John 13:16 ), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work—He calls us to Himself. "Pray the Lord of the harvest," and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.
Amen!
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"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." Matthew 16:24
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