(John 13:4-8)
The first 3 years of my ministry, I spent 51 weeks a year
on the road doing evangelistic meetings in over 500 churches of every
denomination, racial make-up, ethnic background, and size. I am deeply
appreciative for the Lord opening so many doors to give me such a wide range
of experiences. I then devoted the next 4 years almost exclusively
producing programming for Christian TV stations nationwide. Again, God
opened the doors for me to become involved with almost every national ministry
and many of the top Christian music artists. While I still preach in
selected situations and am still involved in producing programming for
Christian TV, for the last 10 months, my time, energies, and focus have been
almost 100% on our Liveprayer.com ministry. You see, the one thing the Holy
Spirit greatly impressed upon me over my years of preaching and producing
television, as I was being exposed to so many ministries and people in God's
work, was this....WE ARE HERE TO SERVE OTHERS. Our job description is very
simple...SERVANT.
Because of the incredible access the Lord gave me to so many ministries,
churches, and people in the Lord's work, I came to realize two very real
truths. One is to always keep God first. There are some very large
international ministries that reach millions of people, yet whose focus is
strictly money. The people are simply an avenue to generate money. Even
though the Lord can minister in spite of wrong motivations, He has always
judged those who used His work strictly for personal gain. We have seen,
even in our lifetime, large ministries that virtually disappeared overnight
when they ceased putting Jesus first. There are many examples in the Bible
of God exercising His judgment on kings and kingdoms that quit honoring him.
I can tell you in no uncertain terms, that this country we live in has been
richly blessed by God, yet if we continue to rebel by killing unborn
children, stopping prayer in our schools, and forgetting God in our daily
lives, we may see God's judgment on the United States in our lifetime.
When we stop putting God first in our life, our church, our ministry, and our
country....He knows how to remove His hand of blessing and allow judgment to
come. Go and read again the life of King Saul to see God's anointed judged
for not putting Him first.
The second truth I have learned is that those churches, ministries, and
people serving the Lord who followed after the example of Jesus...and became
a servant...were richly blessed by God and saw much fruit from their work.
Don't forget, "richly blessed" doesn't always mean the biggest church, the
most people, or the largest bank account. That is the way the world judges
things. God judges by totally different standards. I have been in churches
of 5,000, brand new buildings, and huge offerings. I have also been in churches
of 80, small storefronts, and sacrificial offerings. If those in the 5,000
member church are simply coming to be entertained, or out of guilt, or as a
ritual, yet not growing spiritually or serving people's needs.....and those
in the 80 member church are growing in their personal faith, are out serving God
in their lives, making an impact for the Kingdom....then even though the
world may judge the 5,000 member church a success and the 80 member church a
failure....God says the 80 member church is the success and the 5,000 member
church is the failure. Those who follow Christ are to be servants, as He was
a servant.
I will be praying for you today to always remember in everything you do to
keep God first and to be a servant. I love you and care about you so much.
I spent 12 years of my life living in rebellion to God, living to be served
by others. By the world's standards I had everything you could ever want in
this lifetime. Yet I was never happy, never at peace, and there was no lasting
joy. God mercifully broke me, took everything away so that I had to be
totally dependent upon Him. These last 8 years I have tried each day to be
a servant to others, to selflessly share Christ's love with others who were
hurting. As I have been fulfilling the purpose God gave my life, to serve
and glorify Him with my life, I have found peace, joy, and happiness above and
beyond anything I had ever imagined. Before I had so much, but actually had
nothing. Now I have only a little, but in reality have everything that
matters in life.. God gave us this life not to be served, but to be a
servant.
