KICKSTART DEVOTIONAL
EVERY WEEKDAY AT 11 AM CST ON FACEBOOK LIVE
VISIT AND SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE
On every Mission Discovery mission trip, we begin the morning together in God’s word. One speaker is chosen to give the word of the day so that everyone else can meditate on the Scripture. Our hope is that volunteers engage in group discussions throughout the day and in their small groups.
Since the way ministry is being done has shifted, our goal is to serve by creating resources that will help others focus on God throughout the day, and influence family and small group discussion.
Join us every weekday as we explore God’s word together. We will have speakers from all over the US and the world. Here is today’s Kickstart Devotional.
Video: Phil Long // Arise and Let Your Light Shine
Social Media Image for Small Groups
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Let Your Light Shine for Christ
Mission Discovery Mission Trips with Phil Long
Phil Long has been working with Mission Discovery for about eight years. He has worked on projects in South Dakota and Ireland. He now lives in Tacoma, Washington hosting groups on mission trips.
Hey Nate and Michael thank you so much for letting me do this. It’s good to see you guys. It’s good to see that you guys are home and safe. My name is Phil Long. I am here in Tacoma, Washington. Safe in my house. I’ve been with or worked with Mission Discovery for almost eight years.
It began eight years ago when I was playing in a church in Rapid City, South Dakota and working for a non-profit organization and it partnered with Mission Discovery in a housing development up in North Rapid and worked there for six years and then moved out here to Tacoma,Washington. And I get to host groups again which is which is awesome. And I actually got to take my first Mission Discovery trip last year when we went to Northern Ireland which was amazing.
I love what you guys do. Keep up the good work and all of you that are partnered with Mission Discovery doing the Mission Discovery projects, keep it up! We need you now more than ever. And I love that about Mission Discovery, the ability to share the hope of Jesus with everybody and we need hope now more than ever. Which makes me think of,
I was reading through the Book of Isaiah this this past month or all of April and I came to Isaiah chapter 60. And so if you want to follow along I’ll be Isaiah chapter 60 starting with verse 17 and I’m going to hop over to verse one eventually but we start in 17 and the basically the last part of Isaiah is God’s preparing his people to see what’s going to come when the Messiah comes what that’s going to be like to restore relationship and how beautiful it will be when we move into eternity and this great moment of restoration for God and his people.
So, starting at verse 17
“I will exchange your bronze for gold. Your iron for silver. Your wood for bronze and your stones for Iron. I will make peace your leader and righteousness your ruler. Violence will disappear from your land, the desolation and destruction of war will end. Salvation will surround you like city walls and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there. No longer will you need the sun to shine by day nor the moon to give its light by night. For the Lord your God will be your everlasting light and your God will be your glory.”
Now we know that this is the promise of what’s going to be and I was thinking about that. Of how great it’s going to be and we know that when Christ comes and his kingdom comes to fruition it’s going to be this beautiful opportunity and experience that we get to live with God into eternity. But, as I was reading this and reading some of the other prophecies in Isaiah it hit me that this isn’t just about what’s going to come but it’s about now, because we know that in Jesus said himself the Kingdom of God is here and now it’s in your midst.
And what he meant was that he was bringing the kingdom and the Kingdom of God was that upside down kingdom that was where God ruled. And as believers especially now because of the Cross and the resurrection as believers we know confidently that we live and dwell in the kingdom of God. Now I know, that it’s not to completion yet, that it’s growing. And one day when Christ returns it’s going to come to fruition but we know now, we get to experience that real righteousness that Isaiah talks about and righteousness is right relationship in the relit, a real the righteousness is that right relationship is right relationship with God. In right relationship with each other.
And that’s what the cross meant for us. That’s what the resurrection brings and so now you and I get to experience right relationship we get to experience justice we get to experience peace from destruction knowing that we will not be destroyed. That is the hope that is the future that is the life that we live now as believers knowing that also it’s just going to keep getting better as we dwell in God’s kingdom and it grows.
Now we know that there’s another kingdom. And it’s not always so pleasant. But, we get to live and dwell in God’s kingdom. We experience that peace, we experience that righteousness, that right relationship which gives us the peace that passes all understanding as Paul talks about. Now. It would be easy
to read this and get excited to know that we live in this right relationship with God that we live in this right relationship with each other and the relationships within God’s Kingdom. It would be easy to get lazy and lax and say oh yeah it’s the good life and one day it’s just going to get better. But if we turn over now to verse 1 we see God give his people a command.
Isaiah Chapter 60, starting with verse one God says
“Arise Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see for the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. Darkness as black as the night covers the nations of the earth but the glory of the Lord rises it appears over you.”
Did you hear that command? He didn’t say just chill out and wait.
No, he said arise! Stand up! And let your light shine because the glory, the light of God is shining on you and now we stand in the power in the hope of the resurrection. And we shine to the world, so that they may know the hope and the power and glory of our God. As I said before now more than ever,
the world needs us as believers to stand, to arise and let our light shine. We let our light shine every time that we speak words of hope to others. We let our light shine when we serve in other countries. When we come alongside of people and give them help them, to stand on their own two feet doing justice, loving mercy, that’s rising up and letting our light shine. The way that we love and treat others that’s letting our light shine.
And so we can not get lax we cannot get lazy. But we must arise and let our light shine in everything we do now, more than ever. In this dark time for our country, for a globe, for our world that we live in. The world needs words of hope. The world needs the light of Christ, to shine upon them, in this dark time. So the question that you have to ask yourself, is how can you arise right now,
and let your light shine in the midst of this? And even when we’re out of this. How can you arise this summer? Step up to the plate and let your light shine. Because that’s what we’re called to do. Because that’s what we have experienced. I’m so glad I got to do this. So glad that I got to see you guys. I love you all and continue to stand up in those moments and let your light shine for Christ.
We’ll see you later.
