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Everyone has a Ministry - Read this

Posted on 10 February, 2016 at 20:44 Comments comments (0)
There is so much said about 'The Ministry' since the ninety's I thought
I would address this topic one day. On the About Me page, you will see a
mention of my ministry that is necessary now.....but I never introduce
myself saying "My name is______ and I'm in the ministry" to people when
I meet them (so to speak). Someone asked me the question today and
I simply said "Yes" and then shared about us all having a ministry.

You don't have to be a Pastor or Evangelist to be used of God. There
are many ways we can serve The Lord and many giftings Jesus imparts
so we can. And it is exciting to see what He is doing in this Day.

There are spiritual giftings and natural giftings. Whatever your gifting is, you
can be led of the Spirit just like a pastor or evangelist can. We all have the
same Holy Spirit and the same Lord over all.

I shall give honor to the so-called lesser Ministries First.
You will be surprised and delighted when you see
how wonderfully we can function in these special roles.
They don't have to be mediocre - there is no mediocrity in God.
Ask the Holy Spirit how to find your best expression in
your gifting and if you are faithful with it, you don't know
     what else He has planned for you! 

If we care for someone and run errands for them, it is no less important because
we can show the Love and Compassion of Christ on a constant basis to that person,
making them feel loved and accepted.......bringing them Mercy and Comfort and Cheer.

I know someone who changed from a small business role he was passionate about
to a carer role a year ago. He enjoys it and the people love him!

My sister is a natural, when it comes to hospitality. So is a friend who had a real desire
to mix with other Christians and meet together often. She enjoys fellow-shipping
and bestowing honor on others. She is such a gracious hostess and delights to hear
everyone's stories. For eight years, she has a small cluster of Christian friends (now)
who seek to be with her and each-other. They even go out to Cafes together and
spread the Joy of The Lord - the way they relate is contagious and they have had requests from a few people (from other tables) to join them. How is that? I will mention something else about them. They don't attend the same church and they are from
different areas......north, south, east and west of the city. These women travel miles
out of their way to fellowship together!

Sometimes we can have two ministry giftings. My sister is also a wonderful Carer who
brings Peace, Joy and Comfort to our mum in her senior years. You cannot call basic caring what my sister does with and for our dearly loved mum. Among other things, she is helping her grow in The Lord before meeting Him in Glory. And those she fellowships with around her table are still coming and gathering around my mum these days who lives with her. My sister loves to make meals for these occasions. She also plays piano
and they sing together. My mum waits for them to arrive with great anticipation
every time she hears they are coming.

Sometimes our ministry role can change too. My nephew had homeless people
staying with him years ago - different times - and led them to The Lord. Since then, he has been a Helper for several years in the lives of different people. He loves to give practical assistance in various situations. His tasks vary considerably. He has been a
skilled Carpenter and had other types of work - an interesting mix - and likes to
put his talents to use. After years of faithfulness, he has been called to something else
in God's time (near future). The gifting was actually in him for some years but he
did not strive for it - he is happy to do whatever The Lord wants him to do at any time.

There is a lovely Spanish sister who prays every morning for The Lord  to lead her to people when she goes out and give her the right words for them. She brings blessing to them in her own quiet simple way. She does this with wisdom and sensitivity
people welcome. Sarah reflects the nature of Christ in her daily life and loves to pray.
You can find links to articles in my blog she comments on Here. She really knows
her God and I will be commencing a Sarah's Page on a new website blog similar to this one soon. I feel to do this because she has a Christlike spirit and has so much to offer.

Sarah and my sister spread the fragrance of Christ everywhere they go because
they so love Jesus and want to be like Him.

We can be like Him in our homes as well - this is such a blessing to spouse, children or parents. There is a saying "Bloom where you are planted" we don't need a platform.
There's too many leaders in churches and work places - a glut of them. That kind of imbalance displeases Him.The Holy Spirit is into Body Ministries (every member).
He is also into everyday living through everyday Christians. He started this with
Early Church believers (read Acts). He moved in believers, not just the Apostles.
Since Constantine changed the Church into a State Institution in 300AD and
Christians have gathered in buildings, that has been lost (in the main).

In the Restoration of All Things to the Body of Christ, Home Churches are
coming in again - as was listed in Romans 16  and many Christians are
desiring a closer walk with JESUS.

There is plenty of opportunity for Lifestyle Evangelism in the work place most Christians don't think of. You can ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom like Sarah does when she goes shopping and different places. There was a brother once, who wanted different work because he was unhappy in his work situation. The Lord spoke to his heart on one occasion and instructed him to work as if he was working for Him. He responded to this and did his best. Some months later, Jesus had seen his faithfulness and showed His favor. His work place promoted him to work he liked very much in another work place they had. They needed someone to fill that position and they chose him!

In the year 2000, I heard words in a message I have never forgotten. There was a simple country town preacher who said "The children of Israel moaned in the wilderness and it was their complaining that prevented them from entering into the Promised Land.
The Lord wants us to stop murmuring about things in life so He can move us on. The Land we desire is conditional. Decide in your hearts that you are not going to complain anymore". Friends, the promised land for us is the Good Things of God and those
things soon awaiting us in the Moving of His Spirit - they are only for those who
have the right spirit and live close to The Lord. Everyone wants the promises but
not everyone wants to be a Father Pleaser.

Prophetic preachers have no right to tell us about the Good Things that are Coming without making a people ready. They simply let us assume we will be included - regardless of our attitudes and walk with God - giving illusions as it were, because the things they have seen for the coming days are only  for those who are ready. Neither does any Pastor or Teacher have any right to tell us that "we're all going to meet Jesus in the Rapture when He Comes because there is no mention of the Church in Revelations after that glorious event. The Church is removed from the Earth".

The truth is that only the latter part of that is true. The Church - Ecclesia (called out ones) will be called out of this Earth and those who are not ready for Him will be left on the Earth because they are not ready according to JESUS and will no longer be referred to as the Church but will need to work out the Salvation of their souls for eternity in Heaven like everyone else. But The Lord wishes to spare us from those perilous times. He has given us full counsel in Scripture, how dare anyone give us different.
That will simply not be so.

And we are not meant to live to ourselves and be concerned with
"I, Me and Mine" all the time like those in the world.
We are called out of that mind-set.
How many of our prayers and "spiritual" pursuits are centered on ourselves,
if we're honest? Try to think outside the square!

And speaking about squares, how about that Television or computer
that claims so much of your time - would'nt you be better off
spending some of that time seeking God?

We say that we're waiting for Him to do this and to do that.
Could it be that He is waiting for us?

Honestly, there is no other way He is going to
impart precious things to you and me.

Remember, for now, there is a Promised Land to enter this side of Heaven - don't
miss out. His Spirit will start to Move in the Earth in the Miraculous, transforming hearts and lives. How can we expect to carry the miraculous if we can't be trusted with the ministry roles we have now - in the various Graces of God - and live with a close Prayer-Life? We are only deluding ourselves. An Evangelist prays for a few hours early
each morning before he/she moves in the miraculous. Do we honestly think we can 
offer half-efforts and Jesus will do the same through us.

I remember a sister in her late 20s years ago. She had a lovely gift of personal prophecy that she moved in evangelistically among people she met and in her place of work.
She had a prayer life to match. She did written work at a Solicitor's Firm and was not ashamed of the Gospel. Please Note: we need to be careful we are really led by the Spirit of God to do such things and she had a proven gift of prophecy. She reached many people for Jesus who would not have found Him on the church scene. Notice, a church leader could not do this? We all have different ministry roles - different faces for
different places. In God's economy, you are not left out......that is His order of
things, different than the way He has been presented often.

There is a young Christian man who has a way of finding gems in scripture and can
also prove the validity of the Bible through Scripture. The Holy Spirit gives him the
ability to do this. That is his gifting from The Lord. He selects whoever He wills to do various things. I met this brother at an informal  Christian gathering 4 years ago and recently catching up with him.

There was another young man (from teenage years) who had a revelatory gifting
of bringing Scriptures to Life and you just wanted to be around him wherever he was,
so you could take in the wonderful things he had to impart. He learned all this
directly from The Lord - he did not attend a bible school, but He taught in one some years later. Do you know how he started? I personally witnessed this in the 70s.
When he was a teenager, he would go often to the Jesus House (for young people
in a Christian center) and meet with Christian friends after school. They helped themselves to refreshments then gathered together in a room there and he would share those precious gems with them. Now, no-one told him to do this - it was spontaneous on his part - he would faithfully show up on a regular basis. A few years later, he was a young people's pastor and a much sought after Teacher sometime after that. 

There is a key-note here, David was faithful to The Lord with his gifting and
applied himself diligently to his tasks - even as a teenager  when other things
could have attracted him. He had a real thirst for the things of God and loved the scriptures. He would constantly enquire of The Lord and soak his spirit in them.

As we can see from his story, the gifting from Jesus is often resident in a person
sometime before acknowledgements and positions take place.  However, his young friends obviously acknowledged this gifting (without a name tag). Don't you love it?
The way we do not need credentials etc to move with The Lord in simple ways?


Please read the following Post
for Update




True Ministries and Giftings, What is a Healthy Church?
 
 
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