And
Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Insights: This week the mission team that went
to Argentina gave a testimony report at church.
This week’s Thoughts by Scott will be mini synopsis of each of the
testimonies mixed with some of my perceptions.
William Carey once said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great
things for God.” In many ways Carey’s
statement is a consolidated expression of Tammy Smith’s testimony report. She shared how the cost of the trip was going
to cost around $20,000 and how we had a plan of raising $8,000. Along the journey of raising funds Satan was
at work trying to prevent this trip from occurring. At one point Tammy was being attacked severely
with doubt, frustration, and disappointment because it did not seem we were
going to reach our goal. The week in
which Satan attacked the hardest was the week in which God said to Tammy (in
Scott’s paraphrase), “I love you my daughter, trust me and watch me work.” That week Tammy “ran into” two people. The first said to her, “I have been reading
your Facebook posts, how can I help.”
Tammy proceeded to tell her about items the missionaries, Grady and
Claire Milstead, asked us to bring down with us. The lady told Tammy to give her the list and
she and the ladies of her church took care of every one of those items. The ladies mother even gave a substantial
check in order to cover an extra suitcase expense if we needed it. The second person was a man that “ran into”
Tammy at a gas station. He said to her, “Last
night our church voted to give you a $1,000 for your mission’s trip.” The significance of that donation was it
brought us to the $8,000 goal. At that
point, doubts, frustrations and disappointment left and Tammy boldly proceeded
in faith. God responded to the teams’
faith as well. He said, “Watch this!”
and prompted family and friends to give an additional $6,000 above the original
goal. God is great and greatly to be
praised.
Questions:
- What was the last great thing of faith you experienced
from God?
- What great thing are you presently expecting from God?
Prayer: Lord, thank You
for stretching the mission teams’ faith.
May my faith presently be stretched as well. Mold me into the type of person that hears
from You and expects You to do great things for Your glory. Then, Lord, please grant me the courage to
follow through with what I have sensed You are doing and attempt great things
for You. Amen.
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