21 "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Tim 2:21-22, NASV
I wanted to follow up with two big pieces of advice for those of you who read my last post about hearing from God. All week I have been thinking about this and about hearing from God. Two big lessons that it took me years to learn I want to share with you. It took me a very long time to get these two things.
One word regarding knowing God's will is that God cares about who you are more than where you are. When you look at the words of Paul to Timothy, you might expect that as an apostle to a young preacher that Paul would have a lot of practical things he wanted to say to Timothy about the church that he left in his care. But, Paul focused on encouraging Timothy in the area of his character. He knew that Timothy was a good man, but he was also a man. He needed encouragement like the rest of us. Your never going to get where God wants you until you are who he wants you to be.
In practical terms, what this means is that often times before God can do a work or move you on to a greater work he has to clean house with you. He has to convict you of some things and give you some hard words. He convicts us of sin, righteousness and his judgment. He does this so that we are ready to be used in a greater way. John 15:1-5 calls this process pruning. Pruning is in order to create greater growth. And pruining can be a painful process of giving up the things of the flesh. But, you should be encouraged that this is in order for God to use you in greater ways.
Sometimes people resist the pruning of the Lord. There are churches full of christians who are church going people who have known the Lord for 30 plus years but they are baby christians. They got complacent somewhere in their walk with the Lord and refused to give up the things that he wanted to remove from their life. As a direct result, they have been in a spiritual holding pattern for years. Do not resist the pruning of the Lord. There are seasons when this has to happen just like when a gardener cuts away dead things.
The second thing and I mean this mainly for those of you who read this who are already somewhere in a ministry. God doesn't want you comparing your ministry to someone else's. Pastors are especially bad about this comparing how big their church is to someone else or how many they baptized or how many are in Sunday School. You can get caught up in the numbers. God doesn't think your unfaithful if you had 50 in Sunday School and someone else has 500. God wants faithfulness where he planted you.
I guess it is just natural in the flesh to see someone else getting attention or promoting books or something and get jealous. You think that what your doing isn't as important or good. Looking over the fence the grass always looks a litte greener. How do you know if you went there that it wouldn't be a huge disaster for you? Instead, our attitude should be thank God that God has blessed that other brother or sister with a great ministry and thank God for them. But, don't be jealous for what they have. You haven't walked in their shoes and your not suppose to. God made you a unique ministry that is just for you. He's going to use your dark places and your joys and everything between to do a great work and redeem even your greatest pains to bring glory to Him. Keep your eyes on him and not that other minister or ministry down the road.
Have a great week
I wanted to follow up with two big pieces of advice for those of you who read my last post about hearing from God. All week I have been thinking about this and about hearing from God. Two big lessons that it took me years to learn I want to share with you. It took me a very long time to get these two things.
One word regarding knowing God's will is that God cares about who you are more than where you are. When you look at the words of Paul to Timothy, you might expect that as an apostle to a young preacher that Paul would have a lot of practical things he wanted to say to Timothy about the church that he left in his care. But, Paul focused on encouraging Timothy in the area of his character. He knew that Timothy was a good man, but he was also a man. He needed encouragement like the rest of us. Your never going to get where God wants you until you are who he wants you to be.
In practical terms, what this means is that often times before God can do a work or move you on to a greater work he has to clean house with you. He has to convict you of some things and give you some hard words. He convicts us of sin, righteousness and his judgment. He does this so that we are ready to be used in a greater way. John 15:1-5 calls this process pruning. Pruning is in order to create greater growth. And pruining can be a painful process of giving up the things of the flesh. But, you should be encouraged that this is in order for God to use you in greater ways.
Sometimes people resist the pruning of the Lord. There are churches full of christians who are church going people who have known the Lord for 30 plus years but they are baby christians. They got complacent somewhere in their walk with the Lord and refused to give up the things that he wanted to remove from their life. As a direct result, they have been in a spiritual holding pattern for years. Do not resist the pruning of the Lord. There are seasons when this has to happen just like when a gardener cuts away dead things.
The second thing and I mean this mainly for those of you who read this who are already somewhere in a ministry. God doesn't want you comparing your ministry to someone else's. Pastors are especially bad about this comparing how big their church is to someone else or how many they baptized or how many are in Sunday School. You can get caught up in the numbers. God doesn't think your unfaithful if you had 50 in Sunday School and someone else has 500. God wants faithfulness where he planted you.
I guess it is just natural in the flesh to see someone else getting attention or promoting books or something and get jealous. You think that what your doing isn't as important or good. Looking over the fence the grass always looks a litte greener. How do you know if you went there that it wouldn't be a huge disaster for you? Instead, our attitude should be thank God that God has blessed that other brother or sister with a great ministry and thank God for them. But, don't be jealous for what they have. You haven't walked in their shoes and your not suppose to. God made you a unique ministry that is just for you. He's going to use your dark places and your joys and everything between to do a great work and redeem even your greatest pains to bring glory to Him. Keep your eyes on him and not that other minister or ministry down the road.
Have a great week
