J.A. Matteson
Beware of filling your mind with the bias of men rather than the word of Jesus Christ as you go about ministry in His name. "...that they would be with Him...." (Mk. 3:14). Moses was forty days on the mountain; for the first six days he waited on the LORD, on the seventh day He spoke. God's servant tarried patiently, receiving from God, in His time, that which he was to know. The twelve tarried with Jesus night and day for three years. Impatience before God is a ministers downfall. It will invalidate your ministry if what you convey to those under your care is not His word to them, but the opinion of men. Ministers must become the incarnation of the word in the sense that it must first be pressed through them by the Spirit, becoming their personal experience with Jesus Christ, otherwise what is communicate lacks life. It is an exacting and deliberate act of the will to surrender your idea of urgency and wait on God. We would much rather seek out a detour, a shortcut. Spiritual immaturity itches to find another way to be a minister of grace, so by our choices our lives become packed with activity and commitments, all in the name of the Lord; we do not have time to wait on God. So we defiantly bypass God's way in pursuit of mans, reaching for the opinions of others in the form of books, CD's, DVD's and seminars, anxiously hoping to find inspirited truth. Rest assured, beloved, those under that form of guidance know that you have not been with Jesus Christ because what you proclaim lacks the unction of His Spirit. Both you and they know it is an act. Your words comes across as academic, lifeless, rather than Spirit infused transformational truth. If we want to be used much by God as ministers of His word there are no shortcuts, no bypass routes, we must ascend the mountain and spend as much time before Him as He deems necessary to instill within our hearts His message for His people. Any other preaching and teaching is a charade and of minimal spiritual benefit to those listening. If you find your self protesting, "Have you seen my schedule? I just don't have time." Then you have a decision to make, do you not? Get alone with Jesus for His guidance.
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