How to enter your ministry III

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ!

I welcome you to „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! We have been talking about how to enter out ministry. We have established that, first; we have to have a strong desire to serve God with our gifts and talents. We discussed the tact that ministry helps us to discover our potential. We know now that God desires us to be fruitful and glorify Him on earth. Also, every one of us has to find out for himself what he can serve with. The following things as education, experience, gifts and talents and skills can help us in this.

There is something else that we have to learn for ourselves: we must learn to think big.

God’s Kingdom is bigger than just a church; the Kingdom cannot be hidden inside the church walls. The Bible tells us that we are salt to the earth and light to the world. It means that our ministry has to go beyond the boarders of a church and leave an impact on the city, the country and the world. We need to think of how to salt the earth and enlighten the world.

We should start locally; but we must think globally. «You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth», – said Jesus in Acts (1: 8). The Kingdom of God can enter a particular territory as a tiny mustard seed that contains the potential of dynamic growth. The seed grows in a very subtle way, but eventually it turns into a big tree and many birds find shelter under its branches. God’s Kingdom is like leaven that leavens the whole dough. And this Kingdom works everywhere you let it in.

You start your ministry with serving one particular person; at the same time you start thinking big. If you feel a burden of serving to the youth and taking the Kingdom of God into this part of the society, then you shouldn’t just think of the youth in your church (even though you will start with them); you should think about winning the youth of your town for the Lord, of creating a movement that would impact the youth of your country. When you start thinking like that, God will give you a strategy; He will help you out because it is His will.

You have to view every social or professional group as a ‘nation’ that God has called you to: «Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations!» – it is God’s commandment! These nations are our Promised Land that we are called to capture for the Lord.

But it won’t happen without a fight, because there are giants in the land. People of Israel weren’t able to conquer the Promised Land until the giants were cast out and their idols were destroyed. It is impossible to do it without a supernatural help; that is why God promised to be with us.

I would like to point out several important factors:

• We must enter the land realizing that the Lord is with us. This understanding makes us as courageous as David was when he went out to fight Goliath.

• God was leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land. And when they followed God’s leading and were obedient to Him, God gave them victory. We fellowship with God and read His Word in order to receive His leading and guidance on our way to our Promised Land.

• Prayer is not some religious activity. It is a way to fellowship with God and to receive instructions from Him. Prayer becomes interesting, effective and active when we intend to conquer our Promised Land. Otherwise, prayer becomes boring and dry religious ritual. Jesus said that without Him we can do nothing; that is why only those that are close to Him can enter their Promised Land.

• When we follow the Lord, we get to know Him in the fullness of His power, wisdom, love and victory. We overcome all the hindrances on the way to our land and find His wonderful provision and support.

• We will only find our peace and rest, if we enter the Promised Land, that is, enter our calling. It means that apart from our calling we won’t be content and whole. We are created for this purpose, and when we live in accordance to our calling, we are full of joy, contentment and peace.

You must prepare yourself for your ministry.

We have already established that in order to enter your calling you will have to fight. It does not come easy! There will be serious opposition; so you need to get ready and arm yourself for battle. Your weapons will be knowledge and a strategic plan, among others.

For example, if youth is your ‘promised land’, you need to learn about the challenges that young people face in your city or region; you need to know where they gather and you need to develop a plan of how to get in touch with them. You need to have ‘a plan of attack’, so to speak.

These are just some ideas you need to think about. Life on earth is a serious mater. You need to live your life to please God and to fulfil your calling.

God bless you!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye