The Key Ingredient Required For Realizing Your Vision
The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
Helen Keller
God may have given us a vision, but this is not all we need in order to fully achieve a mission mindset.
If we go full-out in an effort to realize the vision we have been given but we fail to cultivate our relationship with God, we will be useless. We will be missing out on the key ingredient of a mission mindset.
In Exodus 2:11-25, we see Moses who has been given a vision to save and protect the people of Israel. As a young man, he goes after this vision with pride and perhaps self-absorption. He kills an Egyptian who is mistreating an Israelite. His reputation among his own people quickly deteriorates. It seems that Moses’ initial actions towards achieving his vision is done so without God. Next, he heads into the wilderness where he lives for 40 years. It is here, he meets “I AM WHO I AM” in the burning bush. His wilderness experience provides an opportunity to be re-centered on God and to be personally humbled. Only in this state can Moses lead effectively and can he appropriately approach the vision he had originally been given to save and protect the people of Israel.
I have a vision to write a book about short-term missions and mission mindset. Last year, I spent a lot of time outlining this project and working toward this desired outcome. I sent the outline out to some trusted friends and advisers who gave me incredible feedback and confirmation regarding this project. I put the project on hold for several reasons. In a way, I felt like Moses being sent into the wilderness to meet “I AM WHO I AM.” I needed to be humbled and re-centered on God before I could effectively go after this vision.
As I’ve pursued my relationship with God more intentionally, this vision has been reignited and the content creation has become much richer and deeper than I originally outlined. In fact, the outline which I spent so much time on last year is being altered based on my reinvigorated pursuit.
I don’t know what vision God has put on your heart, but I’m sure it’s exciting and worthwhile. In the pursuit of realizing this vision, don’t forget to pursue God first. This is a decision you will not forget.
What vision for the future have you been given? What is preventing you from realizing your God-given vision?
How To Have The Best Dreams
Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.
James Dean
People are always talking and writing about dreams. I think it can be healthy to dream and to have big dreams for the future. But it can be discouraging when the dreams don’t come true. Maybe we don’t always have the best dreams.
What if I told you the secret to having the very best dreams?
A short-term missions trip can be the catalyst for developing a vision for the future.
Shortly after returning home from my last trip to Guatemala last summer, I took time to write down some of these visions or dreams in a post titled “Guatemala Dreams.” These visions and dreams are great, but they often fall to the wayside when we return to the pushes and pulls of everyday life off the mountain.
Keeping these dreams and visions alive can be a real challenge. I look at this list, and I remain hopeful that they will be realized over time.
And yet, I’m reminded that it is so important that these dreams are birthed out of a vision from God. Knowing God’s vision for me will only truly happen as I seek to know Him.
I still have these Guatemala Dreams, but I see how I must pursue Him first… then all these things will be added unto me….
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
And this is how you will have the best dreams!
What are you dreaming about? How do you know you are having the best dreams?
Knowing God So We Can Make Him Known
“We slander God by our very eagerness to work for Him without knowing Him.” Oswald Chambers
“To know Him, and to make Him known…”
We can’t do the second part very well without the first part. While I’m convinced God can use us despite our failings, I’m fairly confident He desires so much more.
A mission mindset starts with us going on a mission to know God. This isn’t a one time event. Knowing God is a daily pursuit.
Our mission first and foremost is the make sure there is nothing between us and God. Only then will be able to serve Him and make Him known. Along this journey, there will be times when we must fully rely on the strength of Christ. This will happen when we’ve done the upfront work to know Him.
How are you getting to know God these days?
Dive down into this deeper by checking out Mark 9:14-32.
From The Mountain To The Valley – Life After Short-Term Missions
A short-term missions trip can provide a real mountain-top experience. On a short-term missions trip, there is often a feeling of euphoria in getting to experience something different and so satisfying. Who doesn’t want this feeling?
There is so much good that can happen as a result of a short-term missions trip (see 3 Changes That Happen When You Go On A Short-Term Mission Trip), but we must be careful.
We were not made to live on the mountain top. We were made to live and exist in the village or valley at the bottom of the mountain.
We can experience God’s glory on the mountain top – while we are on a short-term missions trip, but this isn’t where we live for His glory. We live for God’s glory in the humility of home. This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to having a mission mindset. It’s almost easier to serve God in the streets of a short-term missions trip that on the street where we live.
Choose to live for His glory today, right where you are!
How do you serve God when you get home?
No Excuses!
He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Benjamin Franklin
If God is calling you, you must go.
We make up so many excuses. “I have this activity planned.” “I can’t miss this or that.” The reality is this: our priorities are out of whack! (Yes, “out of whack” is a theological term.)
Having a mission mindset requires us to respond to the urgency of God’s call. We must learn to deal with our perceived “inconvenience.” And we must understand that following through with a mission mindset requires sacrifice.
I confess that I haven’t always appreciated this requirement for serving God and serving others. I have seen it played out in my own experience as I’ve watched my parents move around the country seemingly tearing our family apart geographically leaving me in Pennsylvania, my brother in Milwaukee, my other brother in Dallas, and my grandparents in the Midwest. It’s not always “fun” or “convenient” to be so spread apart, yet I understand it’s part of following Christ.
I want to respond well when I hear the all of God. I want to go where God sends me. No excuses!
Are you listening to the call of God in your life? What’s He saying? What step do you need to take to respond to His call?
(To be challenged further on this subject, read Luke 9:57-62.)
3 Steps To Take Before You Can Serve Effectively
Christian faith is… basically about love and being loved and reconciliation. These things are so important, they’re foundational and they can transform individuals, families.
Philip Yancey
In order to serve effectively, we must first seek out reconciliation.
A mission mindset cannot be fully realized without our initial conviction and action toward reconciliation.
Our service for God and for others is misaligned if we have unresolved conviction in our path.
Before stepping into the mission field, we must look inside ourselves. We must have a desire for a clean heart.
“Create in me a clean heart, oh God.” This is the prayer of my heart. (Psalm 51) I want to serve effectively.
In Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus teaches us to pursue reconciliation. He provides three basic steps we must take before we can serve effectively.
3 Steps To Take Before You Can Serve Effectively
- Stop. Leave your gift at the altar. Before we can serve effectively. We must stop in our tracks.
- Go. Pursue the relationship that requires reconciliation. It takes action on your part before you can serve effectively.
- Reconcile. This most likely requires humility on your part, but this is an important aspect of preparing you to serve effectively.
When you take these three steps, you will be ready to move ahead in developing a mission mindset.
In what area of your life do you need reconciliation? What step do you need to take next in order to be reconciled?
Experience The Supernatural
When I was a child, I watched cartoons. One of my favorite cartoons was Super Friends. I liked watching the superheroes from the Hall of Justice work together with their different superpowers to fight evil. My favorite character was Superman. He was the leader of the Justice League, and his supernatural powers were pretty cool to a young kid.
Of all Superman’s superpowers, I always wanted to fly. I can remember running down the hallway of my parents house from my bedroom into the living room. Several feet from the couch, I would leap into the air towards the couch. While I’m sure this wasn’t the greatest things for the springs on the couch, it was a fantastic experience for me. For a very brief second, it felt like I was flying.
Today, the television and movie screens are filled with stories of the supernatural. People are attracted to the supernatural. They find ways to experience the supernatural through these movies and television shows.
What if I told you there was another way to experience the supernatural?
There is a supernatural aspect to truly having a mission mindset.
Serving others in our mission field is not natural without the grace of God. And God’s grace is supernatural. It’s what allows us to do things and to pursue relationship that would typically be beyond us.
If you truly want to experience the supernatural, follow Christ!
If you could have a supernatural superpower, what would it be?
Developing A Mission Mindset Through Daily Transformation
My worldview, my philosophy, my attitudes, my relationships, my parenting, my marriage – everything has been transformed by my relationship with Christ.
Lee Strobel
Following Christ with all we have requires us to deal with our junk. We want to jump in and serve, and this is good. But we must daily confess and repent. We must seek reconciliation with others whenever possible.
Having a mission mindset is not just about going into the mission field. A mission mindset is also about being personally transformed into the likeness of Christ. This doesn’t happen by accident. We must spend time with Christ. We must be hungry for God’s Word. We must take up the practice of dying to ourselves.
This is what it looks like to have a mission mindset.
How has your relationship with Christ transformed you? How are you being transformed today?
Are you on a mission to be personally transformed?
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
You are a missionary!
You are a missionary!
Did you know this? Is this what you signed up for?
When you decide to follow Christ, you are choosing to become a missionary.
Maybe you are called to be a missionary in a strange land far from your home. The more I go to Guatemala, the more I want to go back and serve the people there. More than likely though, you are called to be a missionary right where you live.
Accepting this fact, it becomes critical for you to develop a mission mindset.
Looking at Christ’s life, we see He clearly had a mission mindset. His goal – His mindset – was to do the will of His Father. This too should be your aim. He loved people. He taught people. And He sacrificed Himself for people. This is the heart and the actions of a missionary.
You are a missionary!
This will require sacrifice. It will require a shift in your thinking – a shift from your selfish ideas and pursuits to an ever-building longing to do God’s will.
Are you ready?
How do you feel about being a missionary? What scares you about being a missionary? What excites you about being a missionary?
What Is A Mission Mindset?
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
John 13:14
Following Christ fully implies a life of service toward others. We are called to set aside our best interests and to take action by serving others.
When we serve, it’s not to raise our own name. We are called to a lowly position, so Christ can be glorified in and through us.
A mission mindset is focused on glorifying God and bring others into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
If you want to see this fleshed out, read John 13:1-17.
How do you define or describe a mission mindset?