A minister wrote me this week, requesting following:
"We would like more information about this ministry.We are so excited with your programs you do there. As we went through your website, we feel at home.We recognize that it is the blessings of the holy spirit that we can carry on the journey towards you.We are Christian fellowship group not affiliated with any ministry or church.Therefore we would like to be acquainted and well informed of your ministry."
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Reply:
When Jesus walked on the earth, He did not seem to have any plans for "His"
ministry. He just followed God and did the will of
God. That is what we try to do. Each of us daily
just try to follow God.
Individually we read the Bible, pay attention to any word spoken by the
Holy Spirit, forgive those who trespass against us, put aside our flesh and try
all through the day to keep our egos and fleshly ideas under control...
committing everything second by second to God.
And we try to set up what we do according to the Bible by the Spirit of God.
For example: in the Bible, we see the apostle Paul refer to himself as an "apostle/teacher". It is proper for a New Testament minister to call himself/herself apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher. But no human in Bible refers to himself as "Reverend". And Jesus said not to call yourselves "Father", "Rabbi" (Mt. 23) so we wouldn't do that.
First, we must be truly called by God and set into the ministry offices and taught by God to operate in those offices. (No man taught me what an apostle/prophet does. I turned to God and asked HIM and HE taught me, often by taking me to scripture for specific examples. See blog: 5-21-12)
We have no plans. We just take care of daily business on this present earth. And when we feel God shows us something we do it. And when we have a "good idea" about a work, we try to calm down and commit that "idea" to God ... and sometimes God gives us wisdom to show us that "good idea" was not of HIM so we refrain from doing it.
An example: A person in charge of a Christian school wrote me a few days ago asking me to send any books that we have so their students could read these books. I replied that we don't have any books. All we have are the things which we print on internet and they are welcome to make copies of these and distribute them to people.
The next day, I awoke thinking of how easy it would be for me to write a book. I even pictured the title of a book. I knew how to contact various publishers. I could even picture such a book being on tables in Christian book stores.
But is it the will of God to do that?
Let me tell you how God settled this for me.
A few hours after praying, I was reminded of one word, "copyright" ...
Published books have "copyrights", prohibiting people from copying the book.
But I would want people to be free to copy and distribute materials.
God showed me HIS will by this one word on the issue ... "copyright" ... (Do not write book)
I laughed.
Something can seem right ... it can seem a "good thing" ... and still not be the will of God
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Early on, God taught me the following concepts:
Jesus said: I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. Jn. 5:30
Paul said:
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus
Christ, and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and
in fear, and in much trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was
not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power: 5That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God. I Cor. 2
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When I speak or write, it is not all planned out in advance. I might have one scripture to begin with or one concept and I just begin speaking that one thing or writing that one thing and follow the Spirit of God and HE takes me where HE will. (I'm no more than the microphone on a recorder. The microphone just transmits what it hears from the speaker ... in my case I just try to transmit what I hear the Spirit of God say to my mind.)
I just follow the daily routine of meditating the the scriptures, cleaning myself up by the word of God, living the instructions from the Spirit of God by the scriptures.
Much as you feed information into a computer so it can respond when you are ready, I keep myself ready by doing the above things so when God is ready for me to speak or write, it is all there and I simply speak or write as led by the Spirit of God ... just exactly the way Jesus spoke what HE heard from God and the way Paul spoke what he heard from God. They are my examples.
This I have done for past 34 years.
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We write exhortations by the Spirit of God daily. We are so happy this is available to us and it is available to you and to others everywhere to help us as the Day of the Lord approaches. (Heb. 10)
Joan
Heb. 10 ...And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is (we "assemble together" each time we share exhortation such as these writings ... ); but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
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