Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
In the past we have wrapped ourselves around many good things of God such as ministry, callings, church and so on in our search to fulfill the deep desires of our heart. We are attracted to the life we sense on these things yet the day always comes when that life ebbs and many times we respond in disappointment, withdrawal and some become critical and throw the baby out with the bath water. The problem is not with ministry, church, etc.; the problem is when we try to get something from them that only the Lord Himself can give us. I read a quote from Bill Johnson that shed some light on this. “To draw near to God for ministry and not relationship is professional intimacy. What do we call those who are intimate as a profession?” So the most important thing there is in this life is for each of us to know the Lord personally and get life from Him (Jn. 17:3).
There is something else that is also important and it is really an outcome of knowing Him, it is making Him known. The disciples asked Jesus a very direct question, “Will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). He did not say He was not restoring the kingdom to Israel and He did not speak to the timing, but He did say how the kingdom is restored. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be witnesses of Me in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This was Jesus’ answer as to how the kingdom of heaven was going to come to earth and ultimately be established on the earth and headquartered in Jerusalem. Israel is still central in God’s plan.
That was Jesus’ answer then and it continues to be His answer today. It is His directive for the Body of Christ to be filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to be witnesses of Him all over the earth and then the end will come (Mt. 24:14). A witness by definition has to see and/or experience something first hand. The Holy Spirit will bring us into the experience of “being with Jesus” (Acts 4:13), which is the essence of being a witness and as a result of being with Him we can make Him known. That is what the Spirit filled life is all about.
The power of the Holy Spirit cannot be optional with us. The Holy Spirit River is real and is precious as it actually flows from the side of Christ (Jn. 19:34) and the throne of God (Rev. 22:1). My personal testimony is that I love Jesus Christ more at this time in my life than I have ever loved Him. I have never had the hunger for Him that I have now. That is a gift from God and I believe it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit River that we have experienced.
Practically, if we are to truly pursue Holy Spirit empowered gospel ministry we must learn how to give time for it in our schedules and allocate finances for it in our budgets. Evangelism requires contact with non-believers. We have to be intentional to go outside the believing community to reach the non-believing community. The work of the gospel ministry must include personal, local, creative and relational evangelism. We can’t just have a focus on reaching the nations and neglect those who live, work and play around us. We have to instill in our church culture that we value and support reaching our neighbors as much as a team going and ministering to the persecuted church. Being His witness is about going into the nations and doing it as you go about your life.
We have a simple purpose, to know Him and make Him known.
Many Blessings, BW