Today I want to continue our talk on starting ministry in the presence of God. Yesterday we saw the example of Lord Jesus Christ Himself, but today we are going to see the example of prophet Isaiah.
The classic example of prophet Isaiah is another strong illustration that shows us how effective ministry must begin in the presence of God
Hope is one of the greatest words of the Christian faith. It is one word the unsaved man cannot use, because there is no hope for the unsaved according to the Bible (Ep.2: 11-13). If you are reading this word today and you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your hope begins with that step. If you want to take that step but you don’t really understand what that means and how to do it, please read our booklet: The Jesus you never knew or visit our page: becoming a friend of God.
First, we must choose with our will to have the fear of God above all else.
Proverbs 1:29 says, “Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord…” God will not give this fear to us unless we want it. We must see this as something we choose above all else because we desperately need it.
If you fear God, the first thing you consider in any decision you make is: “What is God’s will in this matter? What does God say about this issue?”
The first question you ask in hard times should never be “How hard is it going to get doing what I am doing” BUT RATHER what is God’s will in this matter?
The first way to know this is to understand that the fear of God expresses itself in a hatred of evil.
“To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Prov. 8:13) (see also Prov. 3:7; 14:16; 16:6; 23:17; Job. 1:1,8; ; II Cor. 7:1).
This is just the opposite of the wicked (Eccl. 8:13—”Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow”). (see also Prov. 1:29; Ps. 36:1-4. ).
The Bible says, „Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29: 18).
Another translation of „revelation” means revelation of the redemptive purposes of God, but the phrase „cast off restraint” is translated as „destruction”. Thus, without a clear understanding of the redemptive purposes of God, the nation of God is destroyed because they cast off restraint.
If you can remember, yesterday we talked about the fact that what defiles a person is not what is done to him, but his personal reaction to that. In the following Scripture we saw that neither the man nor the woman were willing to take personal responsibility for their actions.
„The man said, “The woman you put here with me–she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.» Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (GEN 3:12-13)
Can we serve God on His conditions, instead of ours? does our service to God cost us something? Whether we give to God the rests of our time which and so is not present, or we give to It from the rudiments? Do we give to God the left over of times or do we commit the first fruit of our time to God? Do we serve God only when that is convenient and favourablу for us, or we are ready to sacrifice our comfort for the sake of the interests of the Kingdom God?
Ministry conforms a person to Christ and transforms him from an egoist into a loving and giving person. One of ways we can improve our love walk is through our Christian service.
Jesus said that when a person loves Him, the person will obey His commandments. (John 14:15)
Begin to boldly interpret dreams for someone!
Begin to bodly teach and lead a bible study group!
Start a faith clinic and boldly begin to minister to the sick!
