Christ, Courage, and Finishing the Mission

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As we continue our study of Finish the Mission during GO Month 2015, we come to the topic of courage. A short definition of courage is simply to place yourself in a position where the outcome is uncertain. Courage is often associated with heroes who place their very life at risk in order to save others. Firemen, police men, and soldiers are modern examples of courageous servants.Hebrews 11 provides a long list of examples of courageous men and women who lived their lives in strict obedience to God. Hebrews tells us that the element that made their service courageous and pleasing to God was their faith.How do you learn faith yourself or teach faith to a child? Key is knowing for certain what we believe and in whom we believe. Faith allows us to follow God in spite of our human fears. Jesus gives evidence of this kind of faith in the garden the night of His crucifixion when he prayed, “not my will, but your will be done.” Jesus knew the pain and ultimate loss of life that was in front of Him, but by faith in God’s greater work and ultimate resurrection, Jesus willingly went to the cross out of obedience to the Father.Growing in Faith falls into that gray middle ground between our own determination to be obedient and the work of the Spirit to produce fruit from our lives. Consequently, when we seek to grow in our faith and obedience to the Word of God, we must seek the help of the Holy Spirit but also recognize the battle that we will face with our own flesh.God is at work throughout our world today, and He has equipped each one of us for a unique contribution to His work. To join Him, we must move to where He is working. This may be across the street or around the world. Yet, as so often happens, fear enters in and we fail to take that first step towards obedience.Key to growing in faith is investing time in the Word of God. Through regular, daily Bible study, we come to know the Lord at a deeper level, and become sensitive to His leading in our life. As we follow Him, He grows our faith little-by-little.The Lord will finish His mission, the question is whether He will use your gifts and contribution or do so without you. To be left behind is our loss. We should rather be no where else than in the very heart of God’s will for our lives. Join with me this week and pray that God will grow our faith, and that we will discipline ourselves for the race ahead, so that together we can finish the mission God has prepared for First Family Church.This week's R2R distinctivePatience (Proverbs 14:29): I take a long time to overheat and endure patiently under the unavoidable pressures of life.For this week's devotional study, download this issue of The Compass.