“6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:6-7 (KJV)
 

The world seems to be going crazy – Turkey, Zimbabwe, France, Orlando, Texas… to name a few. Jesus Himself said that it would happen. The world will only get darker – but this gives the church (the believers) the opportunity to shine even brighter. Light shines best in darkness.

 

Prayer is not the answer for the world. There have been many calls to prayer (especially on social media) but prayer will not change a nation. I’m not against prayer – it’s good to pray for believers to be strengthened by realizing who they are in Christ, and to pray for believers to go boldly to unbelievers to minister the gospel to them. We need to pray for opportunities to minister the gospel and we need to pray for the people we minister to, but praying for world peace is a waste of time, and so is praying for people to be saved. We need to go to unbelievers and share the gospel with them and give them the opportunity to receive Christ. 

 

Prayer is not the answer for the world – you are! You are Christ’s representative here on earth; sent on a mission to share the message of Jesus’ unconditional love and grace with the world. God is in you and He is reaching out to the world through you with the message of His good news. The devil (your enemy) knows this. He might not be able to steal your destiny from you by getting you to live in sin, but he seems pretty effective in preventing believers (the church) from fulfilling our destiny to impact the world with the good news by getting us distracted with anything and everything – even good things – which are not mission. The devil will even try to keep you in your prayer closet, and prevent you from talking to people about Jesus. Yes, you should pray for people but you can’t just pray for people – you need to minister to them by talking to them and telling them the good news!

“16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
John 3:16-17 (NKJV)
 

God sent Jesus into the world to deal with the sin problem (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2) and rescue the world from perishing, but people need to believe in order for them not to perish; they need to hear about Jesus in order to have the opportunity to receive Him.

“13 Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 But how shall they ask him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” Romans 10:13-14 (TLB)
 

The gospel is the answer for the world. It is the message of peace through God’s unconditional love and grace. You have been entrusted with this message (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). You are an ambassador of Christ with His message sent to influence the world. We’re all part of this! Wherever we go and wherever we are as believers, we can share the good news of Jesus with others. And through our generous giving to the church we enable people to go around the world to share the Gospel, disciple the nations and start churches. 

 

For God so loved the world that He sent Jesus (John 3:16). For Jesus so loved the world that He sent us, the church (Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 1:8). You have a significant purpose and destiny! You are a part of God’s worldwide rescue plan!