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Taking the Mystery Out of Ministry - Part II

by Tonja Taylor
6/29/2021 / Christian Living

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.--I Peter 2:9, AMPC

Today I want to help you understand how to take the mystery out of ministry.
         What is "ministry"? It's different things to different people. I can tell you when I got saved at the age of 9, a few decades ago, while in Vacation Bible School, that I REALLY looked up to ministers! I had them on a pedestal, which is a wrong thing to do. Anyone in ministry was like...almost like God to me, and in one way that could be a good thing, because they do deserve honor. We give honor to whom honor is due. But we must remember that ministers are people too!   in fact, I thought about writing a book called, Pastors Are People, Too! and having been a lay minister for a few decades, and a licensed minister for a few years, I can tell you that I'm just like the rest of the ministers---I'm not perfect.
         We have challenges. We have emotions. We have struggles. We are not perfect, but the more that we yield to the Holy Spirit--Who is Love, because God IS Love--I John 4:8--then the more we are portraying Christ, Whom the world needs and desperately wants to see...and that is what "ministry" is--LOVE!
       I tried to make it simple. It's complex in many ways. "Ministry" is many things to many people, but the bottom line is love, and that's what the LORD is talking about, I believe, when He says that every Believer has the "ministry of reconciliation".
        What is "reconciliation"? It's a big word that just means you're helping people love God--that's the first relationship, the first reconciliation: "Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20)--come to the LORD--forsake your sin, be saved, receive Christ Jesus as your Savior. so you will be sealed with the Holy Spirit and get to go to Heaven. Then, be reconciled to one another.
       So the relationship first is vertical, then horizontal. So the "ministry of reconciliation" is a ministry that EVERY BELIEVER has! The minute a person becomes born again, THEY ARE MINISTERS--Ministers of Reconciliation! So, if you want to just say, "Ministers of Love," or "Ministers of Light"--because God is Love, and God is Light, then you can say of yourself, "I'm a Minister of Light!" or "I'm a Minister of Love!"
           And if you need some help with that--and we ALL do!--then you can go to I Corinthians 13, verses 4-8, not to mention many other places in the Bible, like John 3, and the whole book of John; and the Psalms, and just about everything else in the Bible, which is His (God's) love letter to us! But you can start with I Corinthians 13:4-8. I try to rehearse those often, and I wish I'd done more, but the point is "ministry" can be a term that people mistake for things that....it is NOT.
           We have a tendency as humans to glamorize things, and ministry can be "glamorous," but most of it is h--I'm not going to say "hard," but I'm doing to say DILIGENT--because our years of hard service are over (Isaiah 14:3). You must be diligent. You must be responsible. You must watch what you say, what you think. You must guard your heart; guard your relationships; guard your activities. You must seek to be holy, for He is holy, and the LORD always leads us in right paths. He always wants to do us only good, because He IS Love. He IS Joy. He IS Peace.
           So the Ministry is not mysterious. If you desire to go up in ministry--even if you don't--but if you desire to go up in ministry for the pulpit, and teach other people, then what you MUST do is base your life on the Word!
          God is Love, and the Word of God is His Love Letter to us. It is our Rock, and in this CRAZY world--we don't know how it can get any more crazy and shaky--right?!--in this crazy world, that's volatile; that means "changing, unstable"--GOD's WORD IS the stability: The UNchanging, ETERNAL, UNfailing, immortal, LIVING WORD OF GOD!   That's how you get the "mud" out of your life--You pour in the Living Water of the Word and wash your emotions, wash your mind, wash your soul, wash your spirit, wash your...body, even!
          (Sigh). There's so much I would like to say! But this is a short sermon, so, taking the mystery out of ministry is just this: REMEMBER: The people that you see in "ministry"--they are people who have been given a great responsibility. because it is a great position of influence over other people's spirits, souls, even bodies--and I'm talking to myself!
           So, let us all walk in Love, because that's what it all boils down to. And, just like any of us can do--and what the LORD's had me doing lately--is just going into WalMart or wherever, and as He highlights a person to me, or draws me to them inside, then I go up to them and say, "You know, God says He loves you very much!" That's usually all I say, recently.
           They're like, "Thank you!" and they realize--they look into my eyes, and they realize I'm serious. There's no strings attached, no hidden motive, I'm not selling anything, I'm not asking for anything. I'm simply yielding to the Holy Spirit and being a vessel of reconciliation; a vessel of Love; a Minister of Light.   SO CAN YOU!
           That's what it all comes down to: the world is crying out for the Love of God, and we Sons and Daughters of the Living God must rise up and walk in Love.
         It can be hard with some people. I understand. Don't ask me how I know. We even need to learn ourselves better, so we can love others better. That's another sermon.
       So take the mystery out; take the emotion out of it, like God told me one time. Just LOVE people.
      That reminds me of something in closing that I heard from Joyce Meyer. It occurred to her one day that, when she loves other people, that's GOD working through her, because God is Love.   Amen!
      So ask the LORD to direct you to people to show the Love of God, and He will give you creative ways to do that. It doesn't always mean praying for people, inviting them to church, giving them money...all of those are expressions of His love, if it's led by Him. Ask Him for wisdom, because there's a lot of people out there that can be con artists, and they're not really receiving the love. But they need the love more....However, the LORD will lead you. He is Love.
      He loves YOU, and that's why He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him should not perish--not die--but have everlasting life, for God is the God Who loves! So PARTNER with Him today, to go love some people and win this world for Christ so we can all get out of here and go Home!
       God bless and HAPPY MINISTERING! BYE!

Through books, courses, presentations, service, prayer, worship, and more, Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. Her series for girls, P.O.W.E.R. GIRL ADVENTURES, is now out (books I-V), along with LEGACY; YOUR HOLY HEALTH: VISIONS OF THE KING, and more. See the "River Rain Creative" YT channel.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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