Changes through Ministry II

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes

Welcome, dear friends!

Mercy and peace of God, Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you!

Yesterday we began to discuss the meaning of ministry and what influence it has on your life. As we clarified, that ministry is a practical way to show God’s love to the people around me. We can serve people with everything the Lord has blessed us with, e.g. finances, time, prayers, experience of life, etc. However, it’s important to remember that all these things must be based on love. Giving is the main quality of such love. The Bible says “God is love”.

 

« 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).

 

This verse from Scripture says God gave His one and only Son for the salvation of the whole mankind not as an act of feat but because He loves people.

«For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son …» – God proved His love to us through His giving.

 

« But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ». (Romans 5:8).

 

We were dead in our sins, and desperately needed freedom from the slavery of sin and the power of satan. Regardless of our sinful status God came to help us and serve us. He sent His one and only Son to die for our freedom’s sake. Giving (His life) is the exact prove of love. That’s why God calls us to follow Him as His children. Taking into consideration that God is love in what area should we as His children follow Him first? Surely love is the first thing!

 

« Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance ». (Ephesians 5:1-2).

 

By living in love we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God for the benefit of the other people around us.

 

« By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does the love of God remain in him? My little children, let’s not love in word only, neither with the tongue only, but in deed and truth ». (1st John 3:16-18).

 

Love always gives! We share our property or skills to meet the needs of people God sends on our way. It’s also possible to help other people, even sacrifice yourself, meet all people needs but have no love for them. This is what Paul’s letter to Corinthians tells us:

 

« If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing ». (1st Corinthians 13:1-3).

 

If our deeds are driven by different motives instead of love, it’s not a ministry in Biblical sense. The bible says, there is no profit for a man whose deeds are done without love. Such ministries or sacrifices do not please our God. So ministry presumes we use every blessing God has given to us to meet the needs of people around us, by expressing the love the Holy Spirit has poured into our hearts.

 

« and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us ». (Romans 5:5).

 

Thus, true ministry starts with discovery of the gifts and assets I possess. After a person has determined what he has, he or she should look around in order to find the people with whom he can share his gifts and assets with. Living this way our life will be filled with joy and satisfaction because of the privilege we have to serve or help somebody else.

Let God pour His love and mercy on you to serve other people!

See you tomorrow.

Rufus Ajiboye, pastor

Similar Posts

  • The law of harvest and multiplication

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    As a base we will use a passage from Mark chapter 4, where Jesus Himself was speaking in parables. In this chapter there are three parables, through which Jesus explains the power and the potential hidden in a small seed. First I would like to simply recount these parables, but later we will look at each of them in more detail. The first parable that Jesus talked about is the parable of the sower. This parable shows that there is a whole list of obstacles that make it difficult for seeds to grow and bear fruit. In this parable, Jesus went ahead to show us three types of obstacles which can impede the growth of the seeds that we sow. (Mark 4:3-20)

    As a base we will use a passage from Mark chapter 4, where Jesus Himself was speaking in parables. In this...

  • God looks at what we do with what we already know

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    We are talking about the importance of knowing and doing God’s will. Yesterday we talked about the fact that God reveals His plans and intentions to us gradually as we reach particular levels of maturity and grow in our ability to accept what He has prepared for us. We also established that God reveals His will to those who are close to Him, seek His will and are willing to do His will. God looks at what we do with what we already know, and only then He will reveal the next part of His plan for our lives.

    We are talking about the importance of knowing and doing God’s will. Yesterday we talked about the fact that God...

  • Qualities that make us the salt of the earth and light of the world

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes
    1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mathew, 5:3). This talks about dependency on God. Our lives depend on God. And since we realize our dependency, we must continually come to God and spend time with Him. This is a foundational step in becoming the salt of the earth and the light of the world; we must live a life that is totally depended on God!2) Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Mathew, 5:4). Sin, unrighteousness and injustice that surround us must motivate us to pray and mourn before God, to stand in the gap for our land. It must motivate us to repent of the sins and unrighteousness of our nation. When we look at the things around us with God’s eyes, then everything that grieves God will grieve us as well. This is where passion is born and a vision for change is conceived.

    1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mathew, 5:3). This talks about dependency...

  • Changes mean working hard persistently II

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    While growing up and changing we will see how we become more patient. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit God wants to be visible in your life. Therefore, God sometimes permits conflicts in your life, to help you with developing the fruit of patience. God desires to trample our pride thus transforming us into likeness of loving, persevere Christ. You are still arrogant if you show resentment at nonsense. God desires to help you to get rid of this arrogance. That´s why He allows people to do wrong to us. God is trying to teach us how to handle such situations, so that we are able to build relationships with people as His representatives on this Earth. Everything God permits in our life works together for good if we let Him mould us.

    While growing up and changing we will see how we become more patient. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit God wants...

  • When you go through hardships, trials and pain, learn to praise God in these circumstances!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 2 minutes
    Pain and problems – they are the things that God uses to spiritually discipline and develop us. We learn obedience through the things we suffer. «..though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered» (Hebrews, 5: 8).Gold is purified in high temperatures. Sufferings are ‘high temperature’ that purifies us.

    Pain and problems - they are the things that God uses to spiritually discipline and develop us. We learn...

  • The importance of our submission to God so that our authority given to us by Him could be effective

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes
    Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient unto death. And for this very reason God exalted Him and gave Him the name above every other name. Jesus having taken a form of a man demonstrated us how we should behave. Jesus Christ came to the earth to help us see how we can exercise and display the authority of God in our lives in order to fulfil the calling and mission that God has given to every person.

    Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient unto death. And for this very reason God exalted Him and gave Him the name...