The theme for my ministry in 2020 and my assignment in the areas of church entrepreneurship, fresh expressions, and marketplace ministry is to get disciples to take up their mantle and make other disciples in the process.
Many of you reading this blog or some folks you may know personally have vision and passion for starting fresh expressions and planting churches, but are unsure of what to do with it, or are afraid or doubting. I want to encourage you to do what God has put in your heart and don’t worry about finances or people. God will give you what you need, to do what He has assigned you to do! God never asks us to do anything that He does not provide the mechanism in which we can be successful in doing the very thing He has asked. Let me prove it to you…
I want to encourage you to do what God has put in your heart and don’t worry about finances or people. God will give you what you need, to do what He has assigned you to do!
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Elijah
In I Kings 19. 9-13 it tells of Elijah who has escaped to Horeb to essentially hide from God and escape from Jezebel’s threats. God asks Elijah what he is doing there. Then God sends a wind, an earthquake, and a fire, but He is not in any of those. He then whispers something to Elijah. After that, Elijah gets up and puts on his mantle.
It is as if God alluded to the fact that He had another assignment for Elijah and Elijah got up ready to take on that new assignment. A mantle is something passed down from someone else, and it is meant to be put on and never taken off. What mantle is God giving you this year? Is He telling you to begin anew with a fresh expression that can and will turn your community upside down in a positive way for Him? Has He whispered in that still small voice for you to gather a group of people hungry for Him and begin a journey this year of discovering true discipleship then leading others to the cross as well? What is it and will you do it?
Has He whispered in that still small voice for you to gather a group of people hungry for Him and begin a journey this year of discovering true discipleship then leading others to the cross as well?
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Mary
Let’s look at one other example-Mary. Yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus. I have been meditating on Luke 1:38 during the Advent season, and these words hit me like a ton of bricks this past Advent. “Let it be done unto me according to Your word!” Imagine this 14-16-year-old girl being approached by Gabriel the angel and being told she would be impregnated by Holy Spirit and bring forth the Messiah. Ok, no… we cannot imagine that.
Just like Mary’s life could have been threatened for being an unwed mother, our lives could also experience those same threats and ridicule. If you are reading this blog and were a teenage unwed mother, you understand what I am saying. So, taking all of this into account, Mary, took up her mantle and told Gabriel, “let it be done unto me according to Your word.” I accept the challenge. I accept the assignment. I put on my mantle no matter the cost. I want Your will for my life God. Your will be done.
What if Mary had said, NO? What courage it took for her to accept her new assignment and follow through as the mother of our Lord. It gives me chills every time I think of it.
You
What is God calling you to in this season? My assignment is to cajole, twist arms, talk, preach, teach, gather, appoint, anoint, do whatever it takes to get folks to wake up to the possibilities of what God is doing and saying in their lives. What is your assignment in 2020? What mantle has God given you and what in the world are you waiting on?
