It is the greatest honour and privilege to be able to give to the Lord Jesus Christ and to be a blessing to him! The Lord of Lords and the king of kings has everything, and yet in his greatness, he allows himself to be vulnerable to want, receive and accept something from me, something that only I can give him….me! How awesome, how incredible, how mind blowing is that?
Ministering to the Lord does not necessarily mean ministering in his kingdom, or ministering to one another, rather it means coming to the Lord solely for the purpose of giving to him and blessing him! I make the distinction because often when we think about ministry, we automatically think about evangelism, preaching, pastoring, intercession, worship leading and the list goes on.
Revelation 2 V 2 - 4
I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked men, and have tested and critically appraised those who call themselves apostles, and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars.
I know you are and enduring patiently and are bearing up for my name's sake, you have not fainted, or become exhausted, or grown weary.
But I have this one charge to make against you, that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first ( you have deserted me, your first love)
How sad! How shocking! Jesus was actually speaking to the church at Ephesus.
The people were so busy working for the Lord that they were ignoring and neglecting him. They had forgotten that he was the centre and the whole point of all that they were doing in the first place.
Psalm 103 V 1 and 2
BLESS (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and all that is deepest within me, bless his holy name!
Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not one of all his benefits.
It is always good and healthy to refocus sometimes and to remember that our first ministry has to be to the Lord, as a priority. Once that has been established as a lifestyle, then we will minister effectively to the rest of the world, because it becomes obvious that we have been with JESUS!
We minister to the Lord when we take hold of his word that tells us he delights in us (not just in what we are busy doing for him, but in us as people, as his children.) He finds pleasure in us, he enjoys us. He loves when we use the freedom he died to give us to make certain choices. He loves when we choose to be intimate with him, when we choose to pay the price to be close to him. He loves when we stand up and declare that nothing on earth compares to loving him.
Zephaniah 3 V 17
The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a mighty one, a saviour (who saves)! He will rejoice over you with joy, He will rest in silent satisfaction and in his love he will be silent and make no mention (of past sins or even recall them), he will exult over you with singing.
It is incredible to take in! We have the capacity, to make God happy. We can make God so happy that he sings!
Philippians 3 V 10
For my determined purpose is that I may know him ( that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with him, perceiving and recognising and understanding the wonders of his person, more strongly and clearly.
It is so easy to get caught up in all the needs around us, the pressures on us and all the obvious everyday things. This is why it does take a determined purpose to keep our focus on what is really important….. It's all about Jesus, getting to know him more, and better than we do. Life is all about being intimate with him….. because out of that will come everything else!
Luke 10 V 38 - 42
Now while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed into her house.
And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord's feet and was listening to his teaching.
But Martha ( overly occupied and too busy ) was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him and said, Lord is it nothing to you that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me ( to do lend a hand and do her part along with me)
But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things.
