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Present and Future

“Invest in seven ventures, ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land”  Ecclesiastes 11:2

I know this may sound catastrophizing, but consider: do we really know the future of what will come on the land?

We saw COVID hit, we see technology changing every day. We don’t even always know what tomorrow will bring. but God does. 

 

I think this is a great verse for missions and for here in the U.S.

Some invest in technology because it will “always be here” but so will God.

The difference is that God cannot be moved by human hands. Technology can. 

“For wisdom, like money, is  a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner” Ecclesiastes 7:12

 

 

 

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine He keeps those alive during famine” Psalm 33:19  — not talking about end times here, just focusing on God’s faithfulness. 

Jesus did however make note to certain things coming in the future, like:  “And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and they will lead many astray’ – (Matthew 24:4-31).  this is referring to a FUTURE time that WILL happen. Why would Jesus talk about end times when we are living here, now? 

I realize some people start to doubt/get crazy when people talk in this way. But, for some of us, maybe we are called to focus on the future. It can keep the body of Christ safe when you are doing your job and something only God could have known would happen happens, and you were hearing from Him / obeying. I went to Thailand right when covid hit, and I took online classes at that time, unknowing that covid would exist. I was simply following God, NOT trying to “fix” it myself per say by my own expertise or wisdom. Because of online classes, I was able to transition back to the US and I missed the class movement thing where everyone transitioned to online classes; I was already taking online classes. 

Maybe God has given you a distaste for a specific kind of ministry because He wants you to explore that in a new light at a different time (so that your vision of it isn’t spoiled), OR it could be because He is inviting you into a greater understanding of that kind of ministry – realizing that in order to learn about it and pursue it, you may find yourself forsaking some other things UNLESS you are committed to “carrying it all” so to speak (which can carry a toll). Mentally, it can be difficult to do this until you realize the Holy Spirit is also at work to help you and work through you to minister in a variety of ways. 

 

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” 

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

Ephesians 4:11 – 15

 

 

*** I personally do not believe that modern day apostles exist, but I do believe that you can ask for spiritual gifts. Hopefully without covetousness. Hopefully with a pure heart. There are many kinds of spiritual gifts. That’s not a cause for division – maybe God is giving you a different belief on that topic right now because of what He is calling you to currently (considering “spiritual growth” which we are all going through) and what He has called you to / is leading you toward in your life. But the Gospel – this is like the most important part of fruitfulness and the Church. 

 

In community, this affords you the opportunity to allow others to take a few burdens and have a “role” so to speak on the mission field. God has sometimes given others words that reflected exactly what I was thinking, and I see this as Him working in the body of Christ. I know for me, my assigned role in the World Race for my squad is the Intercessory Prayer Coordinator. I will be planning prayer times to help with a) our squad, b) the places we are going to, and c) fostering relationship with God. But this isn’t my only role – God has given each of a purpose to fulfill, and we should fulfill the ministrie(s) He has called us to while being faithful to maintaining unity in the group BY how we see His view of the Church. What I am saying now is more related to my view of the Church trying to express how I see Christ. 

If we become selfish and start seeing everything for ourselves, we will lose the vision of Christ, and people will not see Him as clearly. Did you know that the Church is like the buttress of truth? 

On the other hand, if we are so invested in community and forget God’s call for you, we will be missing the point. 

 

Upon looking up “Buttress of truth” on Google, I found this:

Visual search query image

“Buttress of the truth. This image gives us another facet of the role of the church in society: the church is a strong defense, a buttress. A vibrant church is a source of God’s protection upon a nation, society, or city. This is because the church defends the truth and in so doing, brings the truth to bear on society.”

 

We can become over-zealous and forget that God is our own fortress, but look at the importance here. The church brings healing to society. Why should a society shut out the very thing that heals it? Why do we hide as Christians? Why should people reject believers. This is what we did to Jesus and what people did to Him what He came to Earth. But He did not come alone- He came with the Father.

Then you consider government though – how much have we given back to the country around us? Whom many choose to take adv of to buy housing (voluntarily). No one forced you to use government money. 

There is an important Proverb that I want to share here to protect people from lashing out against government for no reason: 

Proverbs 24:21 21Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,

We don’t live in a kingdom governmental structure, but there is so much anger in politics 

There is a such thing as injustice. But God brings justice regardless of where we, as in, He will repay that person who is constantly doing evil in His sight and hurting His Church – like, limiting His Kingdom from coming. We don’t always have to .. but we do need some way of maintaining our lives with God. Like, spiritual protection is just as important as physical protection sometimes because we need to see what the truth is (men, this applies to being a leader in the family but it also applies to interacting as members of a society). 

“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.” Proverbs 28:5.

Some people have so much uncertainty at how a king will react, but we need to remember “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1). I’m not sure if this applies to politics having a president, but that’s not my case here. In my mind, I am thinking of instances like Paul speaking before the king in Acts, or consider Daniel approaching King Nebechenezzer, where he was threatened to be placed in a fiery furnace for not bowing down and worshipping the nation’s gods during worship. What was the result? God protected him, and the king actually believed afterwards. The king was glad that he was untouched by harm in the end, that Daniel survived the Lion’s Den. 

 

This is NOT about politics. It’s about how God views how the church is meant to bring healing to the society around it but acknowledging the fairness of the ways that we are reliant on the economy and governments around us – we are GUESTS but also spiritual leaders here who are bearing fruit in the environment around us – we would not bear fruit if we were consumed by what hindered people in Matthew 13:22 – “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” – read Matthew 13:1-8. 

(Note to self: when given the opportunity to converse with a king, also consider: “The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life.” Proverbs 10:12

 

 

You see, there’s so much freedom though in how you serve Christ even though we do have a calling. God gives choices sometimes, some more than others if He really trusts you with those. You gain God’s trust as you are faithful and obedient to Him. When you see the Church as one that expresses Christ, every expression of Him matters. There will be those in foreign countries who express Him a certain way there but you will still see His character.

Even video games play a part in the Kingdom of God. It engrains pictures in memory. And you can express God accurately or do things selfishly and do it for some other reason. Christian video game designers will bear fruit in God’s Kingdom. 

I.e., I have memories from childhood that God has allowed to stay there because I can use them still in ministry to relate to teachings that He is showing me about His Word. I played Runescape when I was younger if you are familiar with that. I don’t anymore, but there’s this place in there that literally had a kingdom – where you would maintain the grounds / landscape of the kingdom. You’d have to interact with a variety of people in the society to get that. Some of us may think, oh wow that’s just for fun. But it has a purpose – I remember that still, and it gives me the opportunity to still use that to remember specific concepts that can be used in understanding concepts the way God wants me to understand them (reapplying them or using them in teachings or moments at a later time)!

 —   For example, God has taught me to have a picture for the Israelites being led through the wilderness by a pillar of fire (before and behind them), (not an exact picture but just that concept of thinking vertically) to recognize what is happening in the spiritual realm. Following God doesn’t always look like physically going where He wants you to go, but it can. For me, it sometimes looks like managing information and listening to what He’s saying to you. That term, ‘following God’ may look differently in your life and the way you understand that term could depend on your brain which God works with. 

 

 

I know that on this trip (the World Race), I plan to be one who does kind of “follow God in real time” and track with Him so that I can be prepared for future events, while maybe some people on my team are more present – what’s “in the moment” minded. We are all called to “seek God”. God knows when someone you are playing sports with is going to make a certain move before it happens – some might use this to “get ahead” in the game (or focus on career which will save money) .. others might use this in the context of that game to display His power and authority. There’s not telling how God can use that idea in the real world. One day, I actually want to be a missions and evangelism pastor but I have other interests too and ways God can use me. 

 

Some people are good at art. Did you know that art is a good expressive talent for displaying the character of God?

This is not about who gets what is better – it’s about survival and also expressing who Christ is. Correct expression of God can remind the Church of correct doctrine because art/visual is sometimes more powerful than words. Or, sometimes they work with words.  I’ve even learned about God by doing some of these activities BECAUSE I was doing it with Him. 

So, it’s part of “defending the doctrine”. Others may desire to use art to reach out to those who are yet to be believers. 

 

 

 

Part of the reason I share this is also to emphasize the usefulness of gaining wisdom at this time. “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” Proverbs 19:20 

  — For “future” here, I don’t know how long that is. 

  — Also, sometimes you need to pray about who you accept advice from, especially for specific scenarios. 

This is what I picture discipleship looking like – and, a brief mention – younger people can provide advice and be a good example to older! This isn’t a bash on older at all but is a truth, and sometimes we can learn about each other based on it. But then there’s this too: 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6). 

This is what I see as “fresh” wisdom. But we should realize that in terms of faith, without faith, we would have a famine of this kind of wisdom! So, without faith, we would be without the ability to continue asking for and receiving this! Later on in James, it describes the difference between wisdom from above and wisdom from below (Read James 3:13-18). Here is wisdom from above

And a harvest of righteousness is sown by those who make peace.” James 3:17 – 18. It helps to read the full chapter though to see the difference between the two. 

But I want to share this because it does show that we can gain wisdom now but also want to consider – don’t we want to be wise in the future too? We have great leaders to imitate sometimes – When Paul was speaking to the Corinthian church, he was given the opportunity to  . We have the opportunity to do really well when it comes to No one is perfect, but as a church member, it does help to have like role models. And then think, what about them do you like or is God pointing out? Are you meant to imitate that (not covet) but imitate that? And, a pastor did once tell me too – to follow them AS they follow Christ. Not in everything. The Church needs you, God needs you and God’s expression of Christ in you. Comparing helps you understand what is for you and what is for others, but it should not be used to follow what someone else is doing when following them causes you to sin. What is acceptable to one person in God’s eyes may actually not be acceptable for another person in His eyes. 

And finally, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” Ephesians 5:1. Also, I personally challenge what people who disciple you say. Because it leads to you growing.