May peace and grace from our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied in your life on this wonderful day! I pray for God’s Word to penetrate your heart and strengthen you in your spirit, soul and body.We are discussing what true ministry is and how ministry changes people’s lives. 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:
«So Jesus answered and said, „Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life» (Mark, 10:29-30).
You see, Jesus pointed out what the reason of our ministry and sacrifice is: “…for My sake and the gospel’s”. That is the goal of Christian ministry. We serve in order for people to have opportunity to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom and get to know our King – the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it so important?First , Gospel is the power of God for salvation for every believer: «For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek» (Romans, 1:16).
Second , the only Saviour and true Helper is Jesus Christ: «Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved» (Acts, 4:12).
So it turns out that we are not helping anybody if we only serve them, but do not make sure they learn of the Gospel and Christ. We only rob people of the power of God to salvation that is hidden in the gospel and of the connection with the only Person Who can truly help them – connection with Christ.If our ministry does not introduce people to the Gospel and to Jesus, then people will place their expectations on us and not on God. In such a way we train people to trust other people, instead of trusting the Lord. Please, take a note that it says in the Bible: «Thus says the LORD: „Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. (..) Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD” » (Jeremiah, 17:5,7).
It is very important to take these things to heart when it comes to true ministry. It is not enough to play your role well; you have to play it by the rules.Jesus established for us the goal and the rules of Christian ministry. He did not just help, heal and feed people; He always pointed them to their Heavenly Father. Jesus helped people to understand that men do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Heavenly Father: «But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” » (Mathew, 4:4).
We can and we must give a piece of bread to the hungry to meet their needs. But bread is not the thing that keeps us alive. True life is not possible without accepting God’s guidance. A man shall not live by bread alone. By meeting the physical and material needs alone we cannot help him to solve the problem of his soul and to fill the void in his heart. A full and happy life is only possible when a person learns to live by the word that proceeds from the mouth of God!God bless you! I will talk to you again tomorrow in “Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”. Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
