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Intention
God has a missionary heart, and He has done great things to reach the lost this month—and He still has great things in store.

Scripture

“Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”
—Mark 16:15

Reflection
“Are we there yet?” is the perennial question that young children like to ask their parents, even if the car has only just pulled out of their driveway for a long family trip.

The ensuing answer from those parents—“Just be patient and we will get there”—can be just as frustrating for children who don’t yet understand what it means to wait.

In Mark 16:15, Jesus called us on a journey too. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” As believers, we sometimes want to ask Jesus the same question that children ask their parents: Are we there yet?

The truth is that we aren’t quite there yet, but God’s missionary heart hasn’t changed a bit.

Jesus was on a mission from God the Father, and that’s how he lived his life. It’s also how he died. If that weren’t enough, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel” were the last words Jesus spoke to us. We know that anyone’s last words are always important. This is why we call it the Great Commission.

I remember chatting with a wise man of God in a café in Malaysia many years ago. He told me,

“Warwick, the Bible can be summed up in one thought: the Father is looking for a bride for His Son.”

It’s an incredible thought. As we reflect on this, we must recognise that the Bride is not yet complete. The Great Commission is yet unfulfilled. So we are entitled to ask of our Father in Heaven, “Are we there yet?”

But equally, God is entitled to say to us, “Just be patient and we will get there—but you also have to contribute to the journey and put feet on your prayers.” This is why Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful are the feet of them that bring good news.” This requires action from us. Sometime God’s children have to get out of their comfort zone and get dust on their feet.

These last few months we have been on a phenomenal journey. We have seen a great confluence take place between the Canberra Declaration, GO2020, the International Prayer Council, The Blessing Australia, and the Hope Story Challenge. This last initiative in particular is is the single greatest thing I have ever had the privilege of being involved with in all my years of ministry, and I believe it will remain viral for decades—and God willing, yet reach a billion people.

I have told the story of these last few months in more detail in my Daily Declaration article, Are We There Yet? Go2020, Hope Stories, and God’s Missionary Heart, and I encourage you to read it for a fuller picture. Truly, God has been powerfully at work to unite His church, raise up brilliant young kingdom strategists, and move the hearts of many to pray and share their faith during this time.

We are not quite there yet. But the good news is on this journey of personal renewal and sharing in God’s Missionary Heart, we are closer than we ever have been. More sons and daughters are being born into God’s family every day. Maranatha. Soli Del Gloria!

Prayer
Father in Heaven, help us all to love You more. Help us live and move and have our being in You and You in us. Let us be overcome with Your glory as Moses was, and in so doing, let us partner in proclaiming the good news of Your love by the power of Your Holy Spirit! We pray the prayer of the Moravians: “Let the Lamb that was slain receive a reward for His suffering!”

31 Days Prayer Points
1. Pray for five people and share the Good News of Jesus with them.
2. Pray that God would use His people to reach one billion people this May.
3. Pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic, both in Australia and globally.

Warwick Marsh has been married to Alison since 1975 and they have five children and eight grandchildren. They live in Wollongong in NSW, Australia. Warwick is a family and faith advocate, passionate to encourage men to be great fathers and to know the greatest Father of all—the Father in whom “there is no shadow of turning.”

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Daily devotions brought to you by the Canberra Declaration.