The First Requirement of Ministry
“The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord.” – Joel 1:9b
The first requirement for being used by God in the life of others is to mourn on their behalf. We must identify with their pain and suffering. Each of us must be broken for others first.
In order to be fully used by God in the workplace, we need to understand what breaks God’s heart. When we understand what breaks God’s heart, we are able to mourn on behalf of a grieving person, or a nation we are called to serve. What breaks God’s heart? When we begin to answer this question, we begin the first step to becoming instruments of change for those things that are important to God. Perhaps it is an overemphasis in our own talent and abilities, or lack of complete trust in Jesus. Perhaps it is the lack of respect for human life that leads to the killing of innocent babies. Perhaps it is the deceit and pride that often rule the workplace of commerce. Or perhaps it is the strife and divisions among His own Body that grieve Him most. When we begin to mourn over our own sins in these areas, God begins to use us as instruments of righteousness to affect these things. It was only when God let me see my own sins in the workplace and how they broke His heart that I began to be an instrument for His purposes.
Today, ask God to show you what things in your world are breaking His heart. Then see how He might want you to be the priest to affect for Him. The first step is identification with what breaks God’s heart.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 at 12:00 am and is filed under TGIF1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I believe we are called to focus on Christ in us and His Power and Wisdom to change the world around us. If we focus on our sin we become sin conscious and we get paralyzed and unable to walk in the “No Condemnation and Righteousness of God. Sin consciousness tends to breed self righteousness and one’s self righteousness breeds judgment and condemnation of others. Let us look to Jesus and listen to Him, Jesus by His Spirit will lead us into works of righteousness for then we will be in our Father’s Will. Let us listen to His Son, who now speaks to us by His Spirit and act only as He shows and guides us.