God’s Word is like a navigation system that helps us to see where we took the wrong turn. So God’s Word reproves us. It shows us how we can get back on the right track. So, it corrects us. Also God’s Word helps us to stay on course and not get lost. So, it instructs us in righteousness.
We saw that usually Jesus first served people and helped them practically and then pointed them to the eternal things – to their Heavenly Father. We must remember that the goal of ministry is to help people reunite with God through our good words.
True ministry will require of us to sacrifice something. But we do it for the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel
We see that Jesus experienced serious difficulties in the days of His earthly life, but He did not focus on them. Jesus was busy serving the Father and those He was sent to serve. While Jesus served people, the Father made sure people ministered to Jesus; God met Jesus’ needs through His ministry.
When we serve others, God motivates others to serve us. We always reap what we have sown. We do not serve people because we do not have any problems, – we serve people because it pleases God. And when we serve, despite the fact that we have problems, needs and concerns, God makes sure some people that we do not even know serve us by meeting our needs
When we serve people, we should be careful to see to it that all the good works we do, such as taking care of people, giving words of encouragement, gestures and deeds of love are all done for the purpose of drawing those people closer to Jesus and uniting them with Him, and not to glorify ourselves. You should understand that people’s problems will be solved only when they are united with God. If we really want to help people we should understand that nobody can do it better than our Creator.
The ones who minister to God and men will be continually changing and being perfected in God’s wisdom. God will change you through ministry!
The call to serve God and people is the call to change, growth, perfection, fruitfulness and happy life. Have you answered God’s call to serve other people with the gifts you have received from God? Maybe you have been regularly praying for the Lord to change you. I want to say to you that you should keep praying, because God does change us through prayer. But God will also change us through ministry. That is why He tells us that if we want to see obvious changes in our lives, we must minister to others with the gifts we have received from Him.
« He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love ». (1st John 4:8).
If God is love it’s vitally important to know and understand how Love behaves.
« For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life ». (John 3:16).
Many people do not understand the essence of faith. Faith brings progress into a person’s life. A person who believes God and lives by faith will not degrade; on the contrary, he will succeed and advance in his life. Faith lies at the basis of any progress in live, because it is faith that lifts us up and changes us for good. Have you noticed any obvious changes in your life since you got saved? If not, then there is something wrong with your faith.
When that happens, you will experience tremendous freedom!
Freedom comes when we walk in the light; it is not just how long we pray. When we do the right things that are based on God’s Word, the Son of God sets us free and we are free indeed:
«Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free» (John, 8:31-32).
(1) Teacher – apprentice.
We see examples of this type of relationship in Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy. This form of accountability implies having a disciple or apprentice that you invest yourself into helping him to grow in God. This type of relationship means that a teacher is responsible for his disciple and the disciple submits to his teacher. It helps both teachers and disciples to grow in Jesus Christ and walk in submission to the Lord.
What does it mean? For example, I give account to someone once in six months, – it is a long period of time; I really can mess up during six months. So I need some structure or system that would allow me to give account regularly and systematically, at least once a week.
