Called into His Presence

Ministry Wednesday: Called to be in God's Presence

We often think we are called to reach out to people without thinking about the presence of God.
We are tempted to be more focused on being in front of people to minister to them than on being in God's presence.

Meanwhile, ministry in itself is all about receiving from God to deliver to people. Delivery will be empty without receiving from God. That we ask God for utterance to speak as we ought doesn't mean we are dumb or ignorant, it only means we are mere vessels or pipes that convey spiritual matters between their divine source and their human recipients, without contaminating the content with personal inputs.

It means we are actually and primarily called to God's presence. It is there that we receive both content of the message and the mode of delivery. It is from there we receive our mandate and direction. It is there we contact the power to back up what's being said.

That's why apostle Paul went to Corinth not with excellence of speech or of wisdom but in weakness and in vulnerability, not making his speech of enticing words of men's wisdom but bathe in the power and the demonstration of the Spirit and power of God, so that their faith would not be in the wisdom of man but in the omnipotence of God. 1 Corinthians 2:1-4.

Such an operation that depends so largely on divine content does not happen by human abilities but by the grace of God.

That's why the early Apostles were careful not to permit people administration and management to derail their focus on prayer and the ministry of the word. They decided to give themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. If they ever lose the presence of God, they'd lose everything and the food being served would have no meaning.

The minister's ministry depends so much on the personal relationship cultivated with God and His Spirit through the Word and prayer in the closet.

It may be a physical closet but most importantly a heart closet, where spiritual sacrifices and prayer are offered from the altar of the temple within our bodies continually.

This is primarily what we are called to do. It is from here that ministry rises. We need seclusion and being alone with God, shut off from whatever distractions from our immediate or remote environment. We must learn to manage our fellowship with God within the environment and society we have found ourselves, if we desire an impacting ministry that leaves hearts burning and mind thinking.

Moses didn't go to meet with God on the mountain so that his face might shine, but the effect of the time with God showed off on His face. The apostles were unlearned and ignorant common men but people marveled at their impact and they took note of them as people who have been with Christ.

We are told that if we walk with Him in His light, we have fellowship one with the other and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all iniquities. The cleansing is an effect of the the Person we walk with. The book of Proverbs says, he who walks with the wise shall become wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Staying with God alone in seclusion adds quality to the life of God's servants who then comes out to impact on the people they are sent to.

Being alone with God, even in the multitude of people and activities isn't negotiable for the minister. A minister should even be more concerned about that than about being with people so that whatever little time spent with people can truly make a difference in their lives.

God has made this simple and easy by making our bodies His temple, indwell by the Spirit of God in real time.

The phenomenon starts with the conviction that the Holy Spirit dwells within us as individuals and that He prepares the ground and coordinates our fellowship with God, with Christ and with each other. It is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit through faith. Though He is invisible, our faith brings us to the reality.

Ministry isn't a show, it isn't basically a display or performance like that of an entertainer but a serious and sober delivery and transfer of encounters from the depths of God by grace.

We must never permit the gifts we have received to make spending time in God's presence secondary. Gifts don't guarantee relationship or fellowship. They are there without repentance, and they may make us look as if we are efficient or effective but we must never be deceived that God's primary desire is that we be His children and heirs which calls for fellowship and not just for ministry performance.

If we minister just by gifts, we can get a lot of superficial results but when we minister from the depths of relationship with God, we reach out to the depths of people's hearts. Depth only calls to depth. Ministering from encounters with God then has the potentials of delivering deep down, beyond the ephemeral excitements that accompany the display of gifts which may only entertain but not impact deeply.

Meanwhile, the world has perfected the art of distraction. We now dread being alone. We fear seclusion. We crave to socially feel and be felt. We are weary of concentration. Meditation now looks like being depressed and a time wasting burdensomeness. Thinking deeply is now scary both for the one to think and those watching him think. Meanwhile, God awaits His servants in the secret place. He longs for that fellowship by which He robs off on us His power and His glory. But to many of us, it's antisocial and too demanding.

But we should rather learn to enjoy it though. The exuberance and the extroverted expressions of life must never be used or become reason to obscure the demands of sobriety and deep reflections where God meets with us.

When He comes calling, may He find us not bring afraid and hiding like Adam, but to always meet ready and hungry hearts, longing for Him as the deer that pants after the waters.

We are called into His presence, shall we boldly come into the holiest of all please, so that our emergency will be with the demonstration of power and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace to you.

If this has blessed you, can you please share it to bless another?

It's a great day!