After a couple month hiatus, I picked up once again in rereading “George Whitefield’s Journals” (emphasis, mine).

A couple things impressed me here.

1. THE POWER Whitefield received. But not only the power, but THE GOD WHO GAVE HIM THAT POWER. Yes, we have to say that George Whitefield was exceptionally talented and uniquely gifted, and yet let us not forget that Whitefield had access to the VERY SAME POWER each and every Christian has access to because we know the VERY SAME GOD.

Not long before I’d picked up the Journals yesterday, I had been praying over a situation in which I clearly needed both God’s wisdom and power to respond to someone, for I knew in my own wisdom and power, I could do nothing to direct this person to an understanding of the living God. As I read Whitefield’s words, what a timely reminder that the God who does wonders might very well be pleased to give me such power in my communications with this person and my words might go out with His power! We have not because we ask not!

We see the believers in the book of Acts praying for such boldness. As Christians, though we have received the Spirit in first believing, we are in need of fresh supplies for the journey, and so once again I am asking for new supplies of His Spirit, and in particular for power and wisdom, and I would ask you to be praying for me in this (and for yourself as well).

2. THE TWO RESULTS OF GOD’S POWER:

As we keep our eyes on God’s eternal plan of redemption and the battle we are engaged in, it causes our life’s purpose to be righted once again. It’s too easy for temptations and the cares, riches and pleasures of this life to distract us (Luke 8). We too easily forget we are God’s ambassadors here. And as we are sent out, God is ready to supply us. Let us be bold and ask our Father to supply for us all we need so we might run the race set before us so we might obtain the prize.

Update on church

A while back I had mentioned I had an opportunity at our church (see my posts here and here). As of now, that’s still not developed much, and that has been frustrating to me at times, but I am trusting God’s timing in this since I know the delay is all for His greater glory:

Only recently did I notice how wonderfully God condescended to us there in that passage. In verse 18 we see the LORD tell us He will be gracious to us. But then, knowing that we are sometimes dense and hard-hearted, He reminds us that He is not only gracious but that He is VERY gracious. Is He not to be adored for His bearing with our weaknesses in this way? He does not treat us as our sins deserve! He knows we are frail, doesn’t He? More than wonderful! What a Savior!

I will ask you to be praying that God would lead me to women at our church who are hungering and thirsting for Him. Lord willing, I hope to ask a few of them to join me in a study of the book of John in the near future. I wrote a while ago about my desire for God to raise up sweet knots of religious friends all over His Church (that phrase “sweet knots of Christian friends” taken from Whitefield), and that is my desire not only for myself but for each of you, that you might find true and deep fellowship with believers in your own congregations and communities. We need to be encouraging one another daily (Hebrews 10) and building up each other in our most holy faith (Jude).

Personal note

One of my dearest Christian friends passed into glory recently, and I would appreciate your prayers for both her family and friends, as well as for myself, and in particular that this might be a wake-up call, not only to unbelievers to believers as well. I was privileged to be able to speak at her memorial service, to give her testimony that Jesus Christ was her sustenance, which is a message that so much of the church is missing at this point in time. She was my best friend to date who has died, and so I will miss the times we shared together in encouraging one another in our faith. She was one of the few people with whom I pretty much bared my whole soul, and she was a great encourager to me in my spiritual journey as well as my blogging here.

Please let me know if there are ways I can be praying for you. I feel I’ve lost a bit of focus in the past several months with my purpose here and my blogging on my sites, so I would also appreciate your prayers for God’s clarity and God’s leading in that regard. Thank you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.

~ Karen

If you’ve been reading my other blog, you know that the past couple weeks have been a struggle for me. (Please my posts here, here, here, here and here and here.) I’m not going to recount all that here, but I will say during that time I felt about as pressed and tempted as I have at any time since I’ve been saved, and though not having been afflicted or burdened as much as Paul was, I felt for the first time that I could genuinely relate to Paul’s words in II Corinthians 1:

The week before last I pulsed

Then later that same day I expanded on that request in my post asking a hard thing.

I had seen I was beginning to look to earthly results for my joy and knew I was headed in a very bad direction, very bad.

My face was not radiant because I was not looking to Him. Psalms 34:5: Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. I was looking pretty ugly and feeling joyless.

After that time I attended a conference at which I received a hand-out on evangelism. It broke the process into three phrases: cultivating, sowing and harvesting. This was truly a God-sent blessing as I read this under the description of the sowing phase:

As soon as I read that, I thought something like, “This is me! That is just what I love to do and thrive on!” I’m not saying I haven’t ever been involved in or wouldn’t ever be involved in cultivating the soil (human hearts) or harvesting the crop (the reproduced life of Christ in hearts), but God has given me a passion and love to sow seeds, and more particularly to sow seeds among those who are already in the church to shore them up in their faith, so their faith might grow deeper. (Notice that Paul told Timothy to do the work of an evangelist and yet Timothy was a pastor.)

Since that time I’ve been praying, “If You’ve made me a sower, then I want to be a happy sower! Lord, make me a happy sower!”

A few days after that I was brought down again and had to scratch and claw back and immerse myself in the Word and God’s promises and to remember that I could always trust God as I am faithful to do what He’s called me to do and not to obsess about the harvest or results.

This is a continuing battle but I’d not had such an extended and intense period of struggle and temptation with it since over a year ago, when God brought joy to my soul in a way He’d never done before. I’ve known His joy in increasing measure since that time, and I’ve come to know that no one or nothing compares. No one. Nothing. So this whole thing continue to grieve my soul as it grieved His Spirit, I know.

I am also more convinced than ever that the messages of joy and assurance are so vital to the church since I keep meeting joyless and unassured Christians over and over and over again.

Jesus Christ came that we might have life and have life abundantly. He came that our joy might be full. The Gospel is a message of great joy to all peoples.

There is so much more I’ve been wanting to write about all this. I hope and pray the Lord will give me the opportunity to do so. This is not only a vital message for others, but I have to say that it blesses my soul to write about God’s love and the joy He makes available to all of His children through Christ and it also brings God honor and glory as we remind one another that Christ alone is our true joy and His love for us endures forever and we need not doubt or fear or waver in our faith.  What glory! What other love compares to Him! What other joy compares to Him!

I’ve been reflecting on Isaiah 55 in the past day. I put my iPod touch onto shuffle yesterday and it ended up on a John Piper message Preaching in the Power of the Spirit. It was really excellent and I highly recommend it, but near the end he referenced verses 10 and 11 from Isaiah 55, and since that time I’ve been pondering those (as well as the whole chapter):

Gospel seed is a gift from God. (Thank You, Lord, for every seed You give me!) I am learning to count Him and that seed ever more precious. I can trust God will accomplish His purposes and it will succeed as He wills.

One of God’s purposes is that I steward that seed well and do so with joy. So, as He gives it to me, I want to be a faithful steward and sower of His seed, to persevere in sowing seed with joy for the sake of the elect.

There’s another thing I’ve been pondering. On my post here, David (TravelingStranger) commented, “God bless; keep up the holy work.”

Holy work. Holy work! The Gospel is holy because God is holy. Anytime we proclaim Christ, we are engaged in holy work. What a wonder that God chooses fallible, broken and feeble vessels like us, but we know it is all to bring God maximum glory (I Cor 1, II Cor 4). What a privilege and joy! As soon as I come to my senses and see the holiness of what I’m doing and the preciousness of the seed I’m sowing, I am melted down and can’t help but weep. I love Jesus and despite my recent wandering, I have known Him as my chief joy and my greatest treasure. I rejoice in Him and treasure Him even more today as I’ve seen His love constraining me back into His fold, to feel His embrace, to hear Him rejoicing over me with singing and quieting me with His love.

Throughout the day today I could particularly relate to the apostle Paul’s words:

Realizing the holiness of the task at hand, the awesome responsibility we have, and the hungry souls needing to be fed I was humbled. I knew that in and of myself I could do nothing. That’s a good place to be. And whenever we’re not there we need to ask Him to put us there once again.

As I said, I’ve been pondering Isaiah 55, and there’s more I would like to write on it, though I’ve not really had time to sit with as much as I’d like, except to say I can’t help but look at verses 4 and 5 and 12 and 13 and see how the Church is in dire need of truly knowing the deep joy of our salvation and having full assurance of God’s love for us:

If we continue joyless and unassured in our faith, are any nations really going to run to us? If we aren’t having joy and peace in believing and breaking forth into singing, are any nations going to have joy and peace in believing and break forth into singing? Are they going to have any interest in a God whose people are miserable and whining all the time? Are we going to be making a name for the LORD (other than bringing reproach on His Name )?

However, if we know God and His love in increasing measure so we might be filled with His joy and walk in deeper assurance, in both the dark and cloudy and stormy days as well as in the bright and sunny and calm days, what a witness that will be of God’s everlasting Gospel!

I do appreciate your friendship and your continuing prayers and support as I strive to be a happy sower by the grace of God at work in me.

One more thing I would ask you to pray about is for wisdom and discernment for me regarding my place in my local church. Long story short, it appears God is presenting an opportunity to me to have an impact on the women’s ministry there. I want to walk in obedience to God’s will for me and not to jump ahead of Him in this. I tend to jump ahead rather than waiting on Him. That was something our Father has had to discipline me several times in the past. This time around He gave me grace to be able to wait and pray, and I did not push, but now a door has been opening by His hand. (This is what I was referring to in my post Trust, delight, commit (Psalm 37:3-5) a couple days ago.)

I am also privileged to pray for you, so please feel free to leave requests in the comments below and/or message me.

The Lord has rejoiced my soul and made me glad!
Karen

Continuing from my last post, John 11:6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick… (reflections on ministry, #1)

A few more reflections on ministry…

The scope of our ministry

There’s no way I could ever minister to everyone I see or hear of who is in need. Nor could any of you. That would be a sheer impossibility. The needs of people can be overwhelming at times, particularly as we read blog after blog here.

We have to remember that God calls each one of us to minister to certain people. Unlike God, we’re not infinite. We’re going to see far, far too many needs out in the world. We’re not called to minister to the whole flock of God, but to a smaller flock, and perhaps we may be called to minister to a single sheep at a particular time. God alone is the Chief Shepherd. We’re undershepherds. (No, I’m not saying we are all pastors per se there; I don’t mean that.) We have to remember that the single soul is precious to the heart of God. God’s love for us is likened to the shepherd who left the flock of ninety-nine to go after and find that one lost sheep. Let’s not discount that private behind-the-scenes ministry God has for us. (Note to self.)

Burnout comes when we start to think we have to minister to everyone we see. We can’t do that. And God won’t ever call us to do that. We must ask God to give us wisdom and discernment in this. We can trust God will equip us to minister to each soul He entrusts to us. That will stretch us, of course, which is good, because we do need to be reminded we can’t fulfill the calling He’s given us apart from total reliance on Him and His power.

Of course, we can certainly be praying for those other souls, and we can and should be praying God would raise up other believers He wants to use to be His instruments of restoration in those people’s lives.

The timing of our ministry

There’s always the temptation for me to swoop in with help, and that help may very well be Biblically based (I’m hoping to write more on that soon), but it may be the wrong time. Once again, we must be asking God for discernment. “Is this person really ready to hear this?” “Are they mature enough?” “Is it time for me to listen a bit more, so I might have greater insight?” “Must the Holy Spirit be allowed more time to work to soften this heart to receive the word?” “Would this be too tough right now?” The right word given too soon will only be snatched up by Satan or choked away by the cares of life. The fallow ground may need to be broken up a bit more. It’s really hard to be patient in this.

All that means we may end up watching someone get into a worse and worse state. That is probably one of the worst pains of ministry. Think of the father in the parable of the prodigal son, who waited for his son to return home. To know someone is making bad decisions and is oblivious and is inevitably making a clear path right into that pig sty, and yet in all that, God has His hand on you and is constraining you and saying, “No, not yet. This soul needs to begin to hunger for me even more. Then it will be time for you to go ahead and cast your pearls there. That soul will be sick of the corncobs, the pigs and the mud in a little while. Abide still in the same place where you are. I’ll let you know when you can go ahead.”

That “little while” can be all but tormenting since you really do want that dear soul to avoid the pig sty at all costs. Yet you do know that trip to the pig sty is sometimes God’s ordained means to bring a wandering, rebellious soul to his senses. The Father’s times of loving discipline are precious and priceless, no, not pleasant at the time, but eternally profitable for sure. We must constantly ask to have God’s mind in these matters, so we don’t interfere or impair the Father’s refining work in another’s soul but rather work in concert with Him.

The attitude of our ministry

I can also be tempted to swoop in with Biblically-based help, and perhaps it is at the right time, but it’s all done in the wrong spirit and with the wrong attitude – the spirit of pride and superiority rather than humility. I can be self-serving rather than seeking to serve. I can minister out of vainglory or strife rather than out of love and gentleness. That’s far from the way of Christ, our suffering Servant, and His plan for us, His servants…

One of our main goals in ministry ought to be that people come to rely on Christ alone. That means they shouldn’t be relying on any person, including me. It’s very nice to be relied upon. It makes you feel good, very good, but that’s dysfunctional for all who are involved. I don’t want anyone to come to rely on me more than they rely on Christ. If that’s happening, then I’m not being Christ’s minister, am I? I must always be pointing people to Christ and not me. Forgive me, Lord, for having done that. Keep me from idols, serving self being my greatest idol.

The impartiality of our ministry

It’s easy to spend time with and minister to our “favorite” people. We have to confess we all have such favorite people, those souls with whom we share more of a kindred spirit, those souls with whom we are more comfortable and safe. Yet God Himself is not a respecter of persons. So if there’s a time when God is calling us to minister to someone else, we can’t ever make our “favorites” a priority, but we must respond in obedience to God’s call to minister to whomever He sends us. Peter didn’t really think much of going to the gentiles, but what if he didn’t? May God give each of us the grace not to delay in helping any robbed, stripped, wounded, lonely soul He gives us eyes to see and a heart to serve on the Jericho road.

I remember the time I was attending a family gathering and had prayed to witness to my unsaved family members there. Well, I ended up in the hotel pool one morning and had the opportunity to witness to a total stranger. Only later as I was reading that account of Peter in Acts, did I realize how unChristlike I was in my attitude. I’d not really prayed at all for God to give me opportunities to witness to whomever He was sending me. May He open our eyes to see the harassed and helpless sheep as He does. May He give us hearts of compassion to care and weep for them. After all, He has graciously shown compassion to us and saved us so we might go out in the harvest field with Him, has He not?

Closing thoughts

When I hear of a need out there, no matter who you are, no matter how dear you may be to me, if you’re someone God has called me to minister to, know that I may not come to you immediately, but like Jesus, I may delay and abide in the same place where I am for a time. But know that during the delay I am anguishing with you. I may not ever end up commenting on your post, but know that I will be praying for you. I may not message you immediately, but I will try to eventually. And, when God shows me you’re really dead in some sense, but you’re not seeing it, and you’re stuck in that tomb like Lazarus (i.e.- you’re persisting in walking in the flesh), as God calls me to do so, I’m going to come round and yell at you while you’re in that tomb, “Friend, come forth!” fully trusting that the Spirit of God will come and work through my works and will quicken you and help you to get walking once again in the Spirit by His Spirit. God’s desire for you is to have Christ formed in you and to have life abundantly and His joy to the full. I am praying these things for you.

I love the Lord and I long to minister for Him according to His leading. I don’t want to be disqualified. Know that I am weeping with you when you are weeping, except I may not think it God’s time yet to come to you, but know that I am going to the throne of grace for you, to the God who is merciful, gracious and longsuffering and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.

I am privileged and blessed to be working with you for your joy and the joy of Xanga/Revelife and of the nations,
Karen

• the overwhelmed minister’s prayer and the promise of God’s sufficiency
• Bible Reading-Isaiah: When We Think the LORD Has Forsaken and Forgotten Us
• Are you robbing God? Where is God telling you to “Rise and go!” for the joy of others?
• “After the death of Moses” ~ will you obey God’s command to arise, go?
• They went everywhere gossiping the word; shouldn’t we also? (Acts 8:4)
• are you gossiping the word to one another?
• the commission is given to all
• my ministry & your attitude toward the Word of God