I was recently invited to address a group of ministers and Church workers on the above subject. The meeting was a blessing; and in this write up I will try to highlight some of the key points. I trust you will be blessed.
Take heed unto thyself, and unto thy doctrine; continue in them; for in doing this thou shalt save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1 Tim.4:16 There are many preachers in hell right now. There are those who cast out demons in the name of Jesus that are smoking in hell right now. Many more will join them. But I don't want my life's journey to end that way. I want to make heaven. Being a GO however is not a guarantee. Paul counselled Timothy "Take heed unto thyself"
*Make it your habit to pay close attention to yourself.
*Keep a critical eye upon your own life.
*Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching-message. If the preacher does not want to end up in hell after preaching others to heaven he must take heed of that counsel. Keep a critical eye in your character and your life. By so doing you will save yourself FIRST and then those you preach to. Certainly the worker comes first before the work, and I state the following as my reasons.
1. Your public ministry can never be stronger than your private life. The quality of your WALK with God will certainly affect the quality of the WORK you do for Him.
Have you noticed how many times Jesus will close a miracle service, send away the crowd so that He could be alone in prayer with the Father? The crowd wasn't tired of the miracle service. People are never tired of seeing miracles. But Jesus interrupted those services because there was something more important in His agenda -a time alone with the Father. Mark 6:45-46, Luke 5:15.
If your private life is shallow, so will your public ministry. If your private walk is strong, so will your public ministry. Our work for God must come out if our walk with God. 2. The second reason why the worker comes ahead of the work is because God will never fully empower a person He had not first conquered. If you have not experienced a genuine brokenness, God will not empower you fully.
In John chapter 2:23-25, Jesus will not commit Himself to certain believers. He did not trust them. He knew what was IN them. Although they said the right things, and did the right things, the Lord was not moved. What is IN man needs to be dealt with first. You see the making of a man of God takes time and it takes pains. It takes a lot of polishing that looks like punishment. There is no crash program. There is no quick fix. To put something big in your hands God will first do something big in your heart.
.....to be continued, pls stay connected. God bless you.
