Category Archives: Scripture Crumbs

Tassels and theme cards

We remember what’s right in front of us. That’s why we put our grocery lists under refrigerator magnets, pictures on our nightstands and sticky notes on our dashboards. If I want to make it to an important appointment, I set an alarm on my phone, so when the time comes the reminder is right in my hand.

Even what’s most important to us can fade or be forgotten. God knew that with time, hearts can drift from His commands and His truth. In the midst of His loving care, we can start to believe that we are the masters of our own destinies, and that our efforts and strength got us to where we are. The Israelites had the same struggle. God’s set-apart people needed a constant visual reminder that God was in charge, and He had a plan for their lives. So, God commanded that on the four corners of their garments hang blue-corded tassels.

“These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not become unfaithful by following your own heart and your own eyes. This way you will remember and obey all My commands and be holy to your God. I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”
‭‭- Numbers‬ ‭15:39-41‬

Every way they turned, those who wore the tassels would feel that God was with them and they were His, rescued and set apart. As they walked along the path, they would be reminded of God’s commands and respond in obedience. God’s calling was worn right next to their skin.

I need that kind of reminder of God’s calling. I want God’s heartbeat to be my constant playlist, compelling me to move forward in confidence to God’s commands. I desire for the Gospel to resonate so deeply in my life it spills out in Great Commission action.

God has given me the great privilege of serving as my area coordinator for Operation Christmas Child, a project that seeks to share God’s love with children in need around the world through simple shoebox gifts. This year, my team is seeking to filter everything we do through the lens of Matthew 28:19-20. This is our mission, our marching orders.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

God is calling us to center in on this theme: GO and GROW. The investment we have in ministry through Operation Christmas Child is because we seek to follow Jesus in His Great Commission. God is using us, literally, to make disciples of all nations by mobilizing people and multiplying shoebox gifts right here in our communities in Missouri. Because of God’s power and the movement of His Spirit, we are going around the world through shoeboxes to children who desperately need God’s love and salvation – and we are a part of their discipleship as they work through The Greatest Journey follow-up program. As a team, we are asking God to raise up more than 45,000 shoeboxes in our 18-county area for 2017. My dream goal is for us to reach 50,000 children this year, which means that up to half a million people in our world could be impacted by God’s love. ONLY GOD could accomplish that!!!

This is my Operation Christmas Child Team's theme card for this year. The Great Commission is the lens for our ministry efforts.

This is my Operation Christmas Child Team’s theme card for this year. The Great Commission is the lens for our ministry efforts. On the raft in this picture are several cartons full of shoebox gifts traveling to an outlying area in Fiji. If you’d like to be reminded of this calling, you are welcome to use this printable or electronic theme card. Please let me know if you are using it!

These theme cards will act as our tassels in the coming months as we follow God’s lead. We want the Great Commission ever before us, so we will post these cards on our refrigerators, bathroom mirrors, dashboards and screens. God’s Word does not return void, and we want Him to sow this seed deep within our hearts, where God has prepared soil to reap 30, 60 and even 100 times what is planted.

We have all been called by God. Called by God to be His arms of embrace and His feet to go where people need to know Jesus. Called by God to love in truth, to follow His commands, to serve together with the church to make disciples of all nations.

Is your calling ever before you? Consider this a reminder that God has a plan for your life. As one who has responded to God’s great grace, God has called you to join Him, to go and grow.

Hang tassels on your garments or put a theme card on your nightstand. Find a way today to honor God’s call and be reminded of His rescue and redemption that He intends for you to share.

Not bound

Sometimes life feels small—our view restricted to four walls. It buries us under the weight of crammed schedules and piled-up expectations. Instead of being where we want to be, waist-deep waters resist the force of forward movement.

For the Apostle Paul, incarceration for the cause of Christ changed his approach to mission, but not the mission itself. Instead of going out into the world to share the Gospel, his letters traveled for him. He sent others in his place, while he sat in chains.

In his last letter, Paul encourages Timothy, his son in the faith, to focus, endure and remember the power of Jesus Christ.

Keep your attention on Jesus Christ as risen from the dead and descended from David. This is according to my gospel. I suffer for it to the point of being bound like a criminal, but God’s message is not bound.

– 2 Timothy 2:8-9

God’s message is not bound.

Even though Paul was suffering in prison, tied up for the sake of the Gospel, bound, He knew God’s message wasn’t.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop God’s message of hope, forgiveness, redemption and love. It cannot be contained—no matter how the world tries. Soldiers may have killed Jesus, but there was nothing that could stop Him from coming up out of that grave!!

Today, no matter how small you feel or how constraining your circumstances, keep your attention on Jesus. Find your freedom in the unbound Gospel. Jesus is alive, and His grace is enough for you and for me!