Ministry, however, is simply loving the person in front of you. It’s about stopping for the one and being the very fragrance of Jesus to a lost and dying world.
The only currency that will heal every culture is ceaseless love. To be a minister, we must walk like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and be like Jesus for a broken and dying world.
The only currency that will heal every culture is ceaseless love.
But Jesus always leaves the ninety-nine to chase after the one. He always searches for the one lost coin.
All I could think of was what a privilege it was to give my life away for love’s sake.
Every single human being is created in the image of God; created for dignity, created for the Father’s love, created for kindness, created for mercy.
The abundance of fruit comes out of intimacy with the Lord.
The poor know they are in need.
Ministry is being one of theses sent out ones, a labourer of love.
God told me once, ‘I want you to come up to the lowest place.’
There is always enough because I died for you.
It is when you become immersed in the love of the Father that you truly begin to love like Jesus. He wants to immerse you. He wants to hold you. He wants to take you to a place where you are so far over your head in the river of God that miracles happen all around you. He wants to fill you entirely with His Holy Spirit.
Rather than being purpose-driven, I prefer to be presence-centered. All our efforts in God’s Kingdom must originate from the place of rest, the place of His presence.
God, I’m not satisfied. I cannot live ankle-, knee-, or waist-deep. I must be completely immersed in Your presence. Lord, here I am. Immerse me. I do not want to keep from drowning. I want to drown in Your love. I want to know what it is to be immersed and undone. I want to know what it is to be out of control and for You to be totally and completely in control. Lord, come like a rushing river. I invite You to sweep me away to deeper places.
We have to let go of our preconceived ideas, our carefully worked-out plans, our way of doing things so God can live in us. We need new life, His life. If we are going to make room to carry His glory, we have to die first. We have to take our place at the cross and say, as Jesus said, “Not my will but yours, God. Your will. I will drink the cup You have called me to drink, whatever the cost.
Here’s some news for you: Without Him, you’ll never be good enough. I’ll never be good enough. We are nothing without our God. He takes our little lives, laid down at His feet in the dirt, and He wrecks us with His love. When we see Him in all His beauty and let Him reshape us and fill us with His Holy Spirit, we no longer look at our failures and faults, because our eyes are drawn to see only Him. Unless He fills me, everything is impossible. When He fills me, nothing is impossible.
It is not how good we are at being Christians but how good we are at dwelling and resting in God.
I have been beaten up, shot at, and lied about. People have even tried to strangle me. I am not afraid. To this day I can walk boldly into gangs of armed thugs and tell them to stop in the name of Jesus. I expect them to drop their knives. Generally they turn surprisingly nice. Sometimes they look at me and apologize.
We are able to become lovers of God because He already accepts us. We may think we know ourselves, but when we do not accept ourselves, we only prove how little we understand. What a tragedy! The truth is that the God of the universe loves us deeply. We are covered in His blood. That is what allows us to know and love Him. When we understand this fully, we will walk in holiness and be altogether healed.
If you want to birth the miraculous you cannot afford to waste time getting offended. Offense stops you carrying the promise to full term and you never really know what God plans to do with a situation that offends you at first.
A minister is simply a sent one. You might only be sent across the street, but it does not matter. To God, whether it is to one or the masses, it is the same – it is love incarnate.