For many years, we have relied on our faith leaders to do the heavy lifting when it comes to the work of the Kingdom. Many believed that attending service one day a week meant that God’s requirement was satisfied, and we didn’t need to do much more than that. One of the things that history teaches us is that God is all about progress. He wants us to expand and increase in Christ. None of us have any capacity whatsoever to go back into our pasts and relive them. All we really have is right now, and God expects us to make the most of it. His Word, the Bible, is a forward-looking Book. It tells us about the future, and not only this, Jesus Christ teaches us in John16:13 that the indwelling Holy Spirit tells us about the future as well. So, it is very easy to see that God’s design is such that as we know more about Him and His Kingdom, we will do more and become more like Jesus Christ!
In recent times, one of the more significant errors to creep into the minds and hearts of believers is to think that we can receive more of God’s rewards without the discipline of putting on more of Christ. God’s plan from the very beginning of time is to bring all things together under the authority of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:9-10(NASB) says, “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He set forth in Him, regarding His plan of the fullness of the times, to bring all things together in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and he is our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord! For thousands upon thousands of years, God kept the mystery hidden regarding what He would accomplish through Christ. None of God’s people living on earth, not even the prophets, knew that through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, humanity would be redeemed from the curse of sin and rescued by God from the darkness and bondage of satan. And if this isn’t miraculously magnificent enough, through our Savior, God adopted us into His family. He made us His children through Christ and placed His spiritual seed, the Holy Spirit, inside our body temples. 1Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT) declares, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
Regarding God’s plan to bring everything together in Christ, and to bring us into His family through our Lord and Savior, 1Corinthians 2:8(NLT) informs us, “But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.” If the devil had known that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would make it possible for us to be born again in the Spirit and to receive God’s seed, 1Corinthians 2:8 declares that the devil would never have crucified Christ! Because he shed his blood for us on the cross, there are now millions upon millions of Jesus Christ replicas in the earth. We are the brothers and sisters of Christ. We are his ambassadors. 2Corinthians 5:20(NLT) tells us, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
We sometimes forget that as ambassadors for Christ in the earth, we have been strategically positioned by our Heavenly Father. When the United States sends ambassadors to foreign lands, everything about their assignment is specific and strategically planned. They serve at the pleasure of our highest official, and they will go where they are sent and needed. They are expected to represent the interest of this country in the greatest and most honorable way possible. It’s the same with us, except our calling is exponentially higher, for we are commissioned by the King of all kings, and not one detail of our assignment is left to chance.
Acts 17:26 tells us that Heavenly Father has appointed the times and places of our births. This is not a random thing. God has ordained our purpose within His plan, and it is to be fulfilled according to where He has positioned us. The spiritual gifts we have received are not just for us, but they are also slated for those that are within our span of influence. When believers ignore the perfection and positioning of God according to His divine plan and purpose, they also neglect and ignore the manifold opportunities He gives us to be a blessing and therefore receive a blessing.
Note that our Master Jesus did not come to the earth a fully-grown man. God certainly could have made that happen, but He didn’t do this because it would not have followed God’s divine order. Jesus had to be born in a mother’s womb. He had to first be a child, and then he needed to grow and mature into an adult. Heavenly Father ordained that Jesus would not skip or alter the order of human development in any way. Jesus had to spend time in a family unit first. He received nurturing and gave nurturing to those closest to him, and he did this before his ministry to others increased. We should not neglect his pattern, because it can be very helpful to our purpose within God’s plan.
All of us have a span of influence. Our responsibilities within this span of influence include the ministry that God has called us to. It includes continual prayer and doing all that we can to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we miss this, we will have missed a whole lot. The first tier of our span of influence begins with our families. The second is our friends and faith communities. Finally, the third includes our work, government, and the world at large. It would not be wise for us to have a blatant disregard for Heavenly Father’s attention to detail when it comes to where we are and who is in our lives.
Some of us pay more attention to the world than we do our own families. We have to change this. We’re concerned about what this or that celebrity did, or what Sister So-and-So is doing, but we know Cousin Joyce is addicted to drugs, and we’re not even praying diligently for her salvation and deliverance. Not once have we thought about sharing the Gospel with her or others in our families that don’t yet know Jesus in the pardon of their sins. Of course, as with all things, we have to hear from the Father about how best we can minister to others, but there are so many believers that are asking God for increase, yet they haven’t developed the heart of Christ and are not ministering the Gospel within their own family units. God set things up so that the family is where we give and receive spiritual nurturing first, and according to God’s Will and plan, we expand from there.
It is true that there are some folks, family or not, we simply can’t allow too much space. They would do more to hinder than to help, but we can’t allow our knowledge of this to keep us closed off from those God wants us to be a blessing to. Again, with all things, we are to seek Him first, and pray for everyone.
We cannot cover our eyes and deny the reality that the unity and well-being of our families are under demonic attack and have been for a long time. It’s important for you to know your ministry and own it. If it’s baking, cooking, cleaning, teaching, encouraging and inspiring through writing letters and sending greeting cards; it could be showing great compassion and caring in other supportive ways, whatever it may be, don’t let it slip. Utilize what you’ve been given to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in even the smallest way. God has strategically positioned you to be a blessing. There are many, many ways that you can minister. We must be diligent to pray to the Lord that our eyes are continually open, so that we fill in the gaps and carry out the ministry He has assigned specifically to us. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible 2020
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“Know Your Ministry” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!