The Ministry Belongs To God

Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts."

The biggest hindrance to the church today is man and his man-centered methodologies that have quenched the Spirit of God. Do you agree?

The Church is a sovereign work of God, not man. We can rest assured that Jesus will fulfill His promise to build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). One of the things I love about His church, spread out across the world, is its diversity. Since there are so many different types of people, there are different and diverse congregations that worship Jesus supremely! Within these local fellowships there is tremendous diversity among the people, too. Yet together, true believers, no matter the 'church' they attend, are all a part of the same church family with Jesus as its head.

We can never forget, especially those of us serving within a church, that the ministry belongs to God and not us. It's vital that we keep our fingerprints off the bride of Christ, His church. We need to see that our local church is a work of His Spirit, and in our service to Him that it remains a work of His Spirit. Because it's too easy to jump in and take charge, we need to be careful not to fleshly drive the church, with human wisdom, human ingenuity, and man centered programs and processes (Galatians 3:3).

Don't try to fit into any type of mold. Instead, just follow His Spirit. God will lead you exactly where He wants you and empower you with exactly what you need when you get there!

By Grace,
Pastor Ed


Response
After breakfast this morning I was out in the parking lot of the Village Inn with my neighbor. I followed your example of praying for someone right there and then. As we were praying a truck was parking in the space right next to us and when we were done, two men get out of the truck and one of them says, "Did He answer?" I said, "He will." Then an amazing thing happened, he quoted scripture and said "When two or more are gathered in His name......" I said, "that's right" and he said "well, I was praying with you before I got out". He asked where we went to church. We all said. And I felt so blessed upon leaving knowing that three believers from three different churches experienced God's appointment and I'm sure all three of us felt blessed. That how amazing God's love is that I could feel so unblessed in the morning to so full of blessings (that will probably last for days) an hour later.