good morning fall.

yesterday was a perfect first day of fall. nice little breeze, there were actually crunchy leaves, and last night i had to wear a sweater to dinner.

these are all things that make this girl a happy camper.

i know it is a little early, but i got up to prepare my heart, soul, mind and body for a nice little 19-mile run with william. and as i was sipping on a small cup of coffee, i decided to pick up my good ole friend Oswald Chambers.

Mr. Chambers and i have a lovely relationship. he is deep enough to give me something to chew on, but his daily entries for Utmost are not too long that i have to reread them 8 times to fully catch every morsel of insight.

after i read today's reading, i had to share. i was going to just tweet a blurb, but you can only say so much in 160 characters.

it's called The Missionary's Goal. and the verse is Luke 18:31. here is what the reading said that struck me...

in our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, 

but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning,

and the beginning and the end are exactly the same,

namely,

our Lord Himself.

We start with Christ and we end with Him.

The goal of a missionary is to do God's will,

not to be useful or to win the lost.

A missionary is useful and he does win the lost.

HIS GOAL IS TO DO THE WILL OF GOD.

Nothing EVER diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. 

Neither gratitude or ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose.

The SAME things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to "jerusalem." 

There will be works of God exhibited through us, 

people will get blessed, 

and one or two people will show gratitude 

while the rest will show total ingratitude. 

but

NOTHING must divert us from going up to our jerusalem.

there are so many times i hear christians across the globe get discouraged because "people are not receptive" or people "aren't hearing them." that is when i think about Jesus and how he was rejected, tortured, and slain by the very ones He came to save. the students will never surpass the master (matt 10), so why would we think we would be accepted with open arms?

this was so encouraging for me. especially with the work we do here in Atlanta. 

this should be encouraging to you, through whatever you are doing in your life. 

let nothing divert you from your goal; from doing the Lord's will. 

surround yourself with people that will build you up to reach your goal. 

or who will serve under the same mission. 

what is diverting you away from the goal as Christians and missionaries? 

family?

            friends?

                        your job?

                                        your relationship?

                                                                    yourself?

remember who we are as Christians. we are imitators of Jesus. so in our lives, let us demonstrate this. 

let nothing divert you. 

i am a missionary. my goal is to do the will of God. 

i hope this gives you something to chew on this wonderful fall morning. 

peace and blessings. 

mb.