The Missionary Tentmaker

9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you. 10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers.

2 Thessalonians 2


Observation:
When we work to support ourselves, we are able to preach and not be held guilty of being paid to work for GOD. There is high respect for ministers who do not rely or depend on the ones they are ministering to for food or shelter because in this way, they make it clear that they are working for GOD because they are willing to do it without an exchange for anything. When ministers pay their own food, rent, travel and other expenses, people who hear them have the tendency to believe them more because they see that these servants of GOD are willing to serve them out of their own expenses.

Application:
To work for our living and to serve GOD at the same time without being a financial burden to others will give laborers of GOD's kingdom more results and greater harvests because of their faith and trust in GOD to provide for them and not on the trust in man who will help them.  To make it a life long goal to be like Paul, to work as a servant or missionary sent by GOD. 
To be a tentmaker, one who works in GOD's kingdom and at the same time working for himself to supply his own needs.

Prayer: 
Abba Dearest, May you give me the grace to work hard for myself to earn a living and enable me the strength to persevere and to have the heart to work for You in your Kingdom, in service to others. So that others may not think that I am working for the pay but because I am working from a sincere heart out of my own hard work and expense, many will be own to Christ and belong to YOU - Creator of all Heavens and the Earth. In Yeshua, AMen!

Like a Nehemiah

The city officials did not know I had been out there or what I was doing, for I had not yet said anything to anyone about my plans. I had not yet spoken to the Jewish leaders—the priests, the nobles, the officials, or anyone else in the administration. 17 But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!”18 Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king.
They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.

- Nehemiah 2:16-18

Nehemiah had so much faith about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem he didn't even speak to his countrymen yet about his plan to rebuild the wall. He just started to inspect the walls by himself at night and then told his fellow Jews his plans. But he would never have gotten there if it wasn't for the faith he had to rebuild the walls. His fellowmen could see that his story was not ordinary and that his journey to get to Jerusalem took a lot of faith and prayer from being the King's cupbearer to coming there with the King's help and blessing. GOD's favor and grace in Nehemiah's life had so much to do with them being convinced that it was indeed GOD's will that they should rebuild the walls.

But these walls would never be rebuild if it didn't start with one man who had a burden to do so. And the rebuilding of the walls took such hard work because their enemies were threatening them day and night, and they didn't have enough workers. The people were starting to complain because they couldn't use all the men to rebuild, some had to stand guard to protect the workers. There was not only threats but so much pressure and the people were starting to complain. But by GOD's gracious hand and favor, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt all because one man repsonded to the burden and call of GOD in his life. We all have work to do, we have regular routines in our busy days but only a man of GOD could take time to get out of his job to do GOD's work wherever there is a need to do so. Are we Nehemiah's of our time? Where we consider GOD's work more important than our earthly toil? Do we have the heart of GOD where we not only feel the burden HE placed in our hearts but chose to act on it because we can do something about it? We have a choice, would we rather please ourselves or do we want to please GOD like a Nehemiah? Search your heart, what is the burden GOD has placed on you, pray and have faith to do it for GOD's favor and grace are waiting to be poured on you.