Mobilize Your Mission: Fulfilling God's Plan for Your Life Behind Enemy Lines

By Bob Black

Make no bones about it. Mobilizing your Mission will stretch you, your faith. Do you really believe in God’s promises? Ready yourself for your beliefs to be tested. At times your only choice will be to cry, “Lord, Help!” Beautifully, in the midst of your surrender, he will be there for you. Could you experience deep Intimacy with Jesus any other way? How else could you experience the greatness of God? How else could you uncover who he made you to be? How else could you become more like him? Challenging but, oh so good!

Are you ready to receive your Mission and move out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664272187

Bob Black

Bob Black was nearly twenty years into a successful, stable career when God got his attention. After two years of struggle, he jumped - guided by a Mission - into a rousing adventure behind enemy lines. Drawing from his personal journey, and now with over seventeen years as an advisor and certified coach, he has since led hundreds of people to likewise experience the adventure of their lives. Bob and has a wife and two grown children and lives in Bend, Oregon.

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Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-7219-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-7220-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-7218-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022912772

WestBow Press rev. date:   08/08/2022

Contents

Introduction

RECEIVE YOUR MISSION

Am I Awake?

Your Mission is...

A NEW NATURE

Priority Reboot

Which Son are You?

Exert Your Chisel

Battle for Intimacy

Two Keys

Upend Your Urgency

Spirit to spirit

Flip to DC

GO!

Enter the Open Door

Mission Pulls

Practice Poking Around

It’s Not All About Me, or Is It?

In (offensive)

Money Paralysis

Lord, help!

What You Focus on Increases

BE BOLD

Your Million Dollar Idea

Slacklining Monkey Face

A Dangerous Trap

Just My Imagination…

The Emperor Has No Clothes

The Mountain in Front of You

Isn’t the Real Mountain

Becoming Worthy

Hidden Pathways

PERSEVERE

What is Good?

Shine Like the Noonday Sun

Mission (Im)possible Predicaments

Who’s Holding My Feet to the Fire?

Live on the Cutting Edge

I Throw the Dice, but…

Breaking Through the Wall

God’s Powerful Questions

LEGACY

Why?

The First Domino

Move to Flourish

Time for a Promotion?

Master Your Mission

The Finish Line

Ripples

Mission Completed!

VICTORY

Themes and Definitions

Summary of Spirit Talk

Introduction

Remember the old Mission: Impossible series? Jim Phelps, an Impossible Missions Force agent, listens as a recorded voice says, Your Mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is . . . Five seconds later the tape vaporizes in a cloud of smoke. Jim always accepts his Mission . . . otherwise there’d be no show, right? Though dangerous, none of his assignments actually proved impossible . . . of course!

Wouldn’t it be great if you received a recorded message informing you of your life’s Mission? You’d no longer have to ask, What am I here for? What a relief! Lacking this, and confused by thousands of self-help solutions floating around, most people plod along never knowing theirs. Upon reflection later in life, they resort to rationalization to mask their sense of regret. You might say: no Mission, no show.

Isn’t your life more valuable than this?

In contrast, imagine the adventure that would ensue after you discover and accept your God-given Mission. Think of your life—flourishing and perhaps a bit dangerous. Yet vibrant and fulfilling, just as for Agent Phelps.

Life is but a handbreadth, will you abandon yours to aimlessness?

Instead, seek to know and mobilize your unique, God-given Mission. Yours is vital to the Kingdom of God. What if it’s left undone?

Be careful! Before you ascertain your Mission, answer these questions (prerequisites, you might say) to gain critical perspective that will protect you from being misdirected.

Fools base their thoughts on foolish assumptions, so their conclusions will be wicked madness. King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 10:13)

Deeply held but mistaken premises can lead you to senseless or even harmful answers. Recall hearing that people believed the world was flat? Imagine how the fear of falling off the edge might have subdued their decisions. Solidify your underlying beliefs to reach a Kingdom-worthy answer for What am I here for? This is serious stuff.

Question 1: What do I believe about eternity?

Most look toward eternity future, neglecting the significance of eternity past. God is eternal, having no beginning nor end, existing throughout a timeline pointing to infinity both back and forth. On the other hand, as created beings with a beginning point, we think within the confines of our physical bodies which clearly have an endpoint. Our obsession with living long and healthy lives and with the fear of death speaks volumes. We may ponder eternity beyond our death, but as an entirely separate life. If you answer What am I here for? simply in the context of your physical life you’re likely to miss the mark, erringly focusing on things that stroke your self-love as you strive to find personal fulfillment. Even a life dedicated to good deeds does this in a convoluted way.

Shifting to a vantage point in eternity sets a dramatically different scene. Eternal priorities quickly dwarf those of the world. What once seemed important fades into the dust.

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be . . . So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Jesus Christ (Matthew 6:19–33)

Jesus makes it clear—take an eternal view by aligning the desires of your heart with his priorities. Anticipating your fear of a dangerous adventure, Jesus reassures. He will take care of you along the way as you mobilize your Mission, rewards forthcoming! His word is trustworthy.

Reflect: What are Jesus’ Kingdom of God priorities? Which priorities of mine must I change to align with his?

Question 2: Where do I fit along the timeline?

Two pivotal milestones bracket your life. Following the creation of the heavens and the earth came the first—the fall of man. When Adam broke trust with God, he essentially handed Satan his keys to the earth (now broken).

The second milestone occurs when Jesus returns to reclaim what is his and, sadly, discharge all who’ve rejected him. Your life is being lived out between these milestones—in a world under enemy rule. My friend, whether you realize it or not, you were born behind enemy lines. Stop! Consider the implications. How does this change the way you look at . . . everything?

Imagine yourself a baby coming into the world amidst an epic battle. Ongoing for thousands and thousands of years, the world has grown numb to it. How would you know a war was raging, your life hanging in the balance?

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. The Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Taking no chances, your enemy does anything and everything to keep you in the dark, from establishing a connection with God. Do whatever makes you feel good . . . eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you’ll die! he persuades. He promotes sin as it carves a path of destruction, around and even through your life. Though a sense within knows the fallacy, living in the immensity of it all, you’re prone to succumb, resolving to do the best you can.

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Jesus Christ (Revelation 3:20)

In the vastness a knock echoes. Jesus’ heart longs to connect with those born behind enemy lines, to regain the special Intimacy he intended before the fall of Adam tore them from him. Their minds blinded and neglecting his knock, most remain lost. Unsaved, they’ll never know who their creator made them to be. They’ll never be assigned the Mission he had for them. At best they can serve worldly causes. Good perhaps, but not great, nor enduring. Having no connection with God, call them MIA.

Bravely resisting the enemy’s taunts, you open the door. Boom! A penetrating break through enemy lines creates a magical reconnection. Saved! Instantly you’ve become a citizen in the Kingdom of God, under the rule of Jesus Christ. This adds a significant twist . . .

Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. The Apostle Peter (1 Peter 2:11)

While born again, you’re still behind enemy lines, a foreigner. This ups the ante. Now answering What am I here for? carries great significance . . . and danger! Our enemy does not rest. I must keep the saved ones preoccupied, lest they cause more damage. I’ll raise doubts, make them fearful, and persuade them to be religious and self-righteous. . . . Yes, the guise of good will keep them from becoming great.

In the face of fear, worry, and challenging circumstances, seeking a moral life seems good. A vast majority live on, saved, but never really appreciate the gravity of their position. Dormant, they are alive but produce little if any fruit. Sure, from time to time they may wonder, Who did God make me to be? And why does he have me here? but life gets in the way and the desire for comfort dominates. The enemy grins, having locked them up.

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. King David (Psalm