1) Delight – Psalms 37:4 says if we will delight in the LORD Himself, not in what we do for HIM or what we want Him to do for us, then we will be given desires that we feel are ours (they are), but they have been given to us from HIM. The first aspect of DELIGHTING ourselves in God for who HE is, not what he does or even what He wants done is absolutely essential. Intimacy with God is always first before laboring for God. The Hebrew day starts with a meal then rest. If we know Him, we will delight in obeying Him. This insures we are pursuing His desires for us not our desires (James 1:14) with His blessing. 2) Desire – What we desire to do for the Lord is a big deal and our motivations need to be regularly evaluated. Doing God’s will our way can cause some to end up departing from the Lord! (Matthew 7:21-23) And it is His will to be done, not ours. When we love and behold the Lord, we are transformed into HIS likeness. (2 Cor 3:18) He makes us to look and act like Him. Initially we might have the stirrings of a desire from the Lord to do a certain kind of ministry and until we are mature this can even look like what the bible calls selfish ambition. But our work must be purified and the Lord will even allow us to experience frustration and failure with attempts to do things to break our will. Philippians 2:3 actually says,”Do NOTHING out of selfish ambition”. James 3:14-16 strongly warns of the havoc and damage it causes to people, churches and homes. Our ambition should be from Him. 3) Discovery – This is the step where the Lord allows us to be put in a situation to do the calling He has given us desire to do & then we discover who we are in Christ. Most people have an inward knowing and confirming about all they will be told by the Holy Spirit which is their spirit agreeing with the Holy Spirit speaking to them. (Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.) The Lord reveals Himself in us at an opportune time. When we need a manifestation of the Spirit we are to ask God,then step out in faith and see what God does. For example if we need wisdom, we ask for a Word of Wisdom. James 1:5 says He will give it to us if we ask.
4) Develop – I once had a vision of a gym with 1000 seated in an auditorium. I somehow knew it was also a church. They were all sitting in workout clothes watching one person on the stage work out w/weights, treadmill, etc. It was the pastor. Then 5 others came up and spread out some stuff on the stage and they worked out. I imagine this was the worship team. There were all these folks ready to work out their gifts and callings but there was no place to do it. This is a vision of the typical church today where there is no format or even opportunity to exercise and practice their spiritual gifts and people are observers not participators. Believers need to find ways to “work out their salvation” and use their spiritual gifts outside the walls of the church in the marketplace, schools, work and neighborhoods. Matthew 10:7-8 says,”As you go”… 5) Deploy – Once a believer begins to see success with using their gift of faith they need to use it as a regular part of their Christian lifestyle. For example in our church we have daily outreaches where people can deploy their gifts and talents from God in multiple ways like healing, evangelizing or prophesying. Or if a person has a gift of mercy, God can use those folks to comfort people who have lost hope in cancer wards or nursing homes. We need to simply ask the Lord to open our eyes to see the things going on around us and our lifestyles will be full of ministry deployment for EVERY believer. Do your best to get moving in the area you are called to work in and keep trying different areas till you feel confident! |
AuthorPastor Marc Lawson Archives
July 2018
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AboutThere are 168 hours in every week. The 166 Factor is the answer to the question: "Who are you the OTHER 166 hours a week when you are NOT in church?" Join the community here as we will be discussing this and other topics related to Reformation in the Church, The End of Church (As We Know It) & The 166 Lifestyle.
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