“And I told the exiles all the things
that the LORD had shown me.”
Ezekiel 11:25 (ESV)
Relationship is the spring from which inspiration flows. No living individual can produce in themselves the vital elements of ministry. Vision comes from seeing through His eyes. Divine love flows from union in the Godhead, for His love is His love. It originates and ever remains His. Our access to His wonder will never be known apart from a relation with Him.
“You search and keep on searching and examining the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and yet it is those [very Scriptures] that testify about Me; and still you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
John 5:38-39 (AMP)
The Simplicity of Ministry
is the fruit of relationship.
The New Covenant distinguishes itself from all the religions of men. Its power and wonder do not rest upon the capabilities of the individual. When Jesus presented the essential nature of His kingdom, He used a simple yet profound model: that of a vine and its branches.
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
John 15:5
The vine places no expectations on the branches except one of relationship. Fruitfulness is the result of a live connection. The ease with which the ministrations of His life flow confound the wise, the strong and the self-willed. Paul presents to us the nature of the true faith in contrast to its counterfeit.
“But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.”
Romans 16:26
Another translation presents this truth more clearly by stating “the obedience that springs from faith.” The purest expression of faith is obedience. Jesus is the vine, yet His perfect obedience unto the Father characterized His life here on earth. The branch that draws its life and vitality from the vine will by nature become obedient and submissive to the Father. There is no other way!
Stubbornness, self-will, and obstinacy are harbingers of fruitlessness and stagnation. The more submissive we become to the promptings of His Life, the more dynamic will be His expression through us. Faith will never leave us where we are. Its wonder is rooted in the eternal life of the Son, ever pressing, ever drawing us to infinite and eternal possibilities in God.
“Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.”
Philippians 3:12 (AMP)
Paul’s cry and intensity of spirit were the result of a living faith that created a necessity for the fullness of Christ. He could not rest in his current apprehension. There was something greater that filled his horizon and produced a stretching and a longing for more of the living Christ.
The relationship we were born INTO will fill us with the same desire for Him that He has for us. If we are in union with Him, by virtue of that relationship, we seek that union with others who are His.
“What we have seen and heard we also proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship [as partners] with us. And indeed our fellowship [which is a distinguishing mark of born-again believers] is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
1 John 1:3 (AMP)
Fellowship transcends mere social interactions. The Greek word translated here as “fellowship” is best understood as comprising three distinct aspects: communion, intimacy, and joint participation.
The determining factor of the depth of our fellowship with others is the expression of each member’s relationship with Christ. May we allow His Spirit to communicate and impart to us the majesty of God’s idea of “fellowship.”
“What we have seen and heard we also proclaim to you,
so that you too may have fellowship [as partners] with us.”
Only those who have an active and living relationship with Christ can participate fully in this fellowship. Sharing flows from what each has seen and heard of the living Christ. This is not a gathering based upon agreement to a doctrine or a commonality of belief. It is a gathering that shares in the wonder of His Life.
“And indeed our fellowship [which is a distinguishing mark of born-again believers]
is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (AMP)
John follows this powerful verse with:
“We are writing these things to you
so that our joy [in seeing you included]
may be made complete
[by having you share in the joy of salvation].”
1 John 1:4 (AMP)
The simplicity of ministry flows effortlessly through those who seek the involvement of others to participate in the life, the richness and the unity that grows from glory to glory. The heart of all true ministry is rooted in the joy of seeing others share and participate—the model of having only one person who ministers can never produce this living wonder.
“From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in [unselfish] love.”
Ephesians 4:16 (AMP)
Related Post: The Prayer that Pleases God
“Just in proportion as the soul is in fellowship with the Lord
Jesus, in communion with His will, shall we trace His leadings,
hear His voice, and understand in part.”
Anna Shipton
Brian Troxel
Amen, Brian! Praise God!!
Funny (not really just a figure of speech!) You pistes this-I was just thinking this morning how Jesus was paid nothing to preach the kingdom of God for us but these churches sure want a lot of money heart breaking!
*posted
Thank you!
“What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.”
1 Corinthians 9:18 (NKJV)
There is much covetousness in our day!
Ministry is a privilege of grace.
Blessings
BT
Yessss! Absolutely 💯!! Great post!
He paid the price for us!!
🙌
Beautiful post, very good verses! Glory to Jesus Christ!
Thank you for the kind words – be blessed today!
BT
Christ in me, the glory! Apart from Christ in me and I in Christ, there is no glory emanating from me, thus no simplicity of Spirit service proceeding, with the power and peace of purity, through me. Who or what in spirit and in truth can approach, approximate, or supersede that superscendent state or station of Christ’s flow, Himself, the glory in and through you or me?
Christ in you or me, the glory, is illimitably worshipfully worthy of all glory, always in all ways, for He is the Way, the real and living Way, to the Father of glory, the Giver of every good and perfect gift from above, of Whom He is forever the exact expression and infinite impression.
Resting, reveling, and richly rejoicing in this ravishing reality, a conscious or subconscious sense of neediness to be in disunity, for whatever perception or purpose, with other members of Christ’s body is null and void, zilch. In actuality, disunity is nonexistent.
Instead, astonishment, filled with immense, illustrious amazement, is the celebration of this grand grace given to us, this unearned mercy, unmerited favor, divine enablement, holy empowerment and ennoblement, vitalmost union and celestial communion that is His glory, the gladness and gratitude for His splendor, His wisdom, His goodness, and His power everlastingly undiminished, the magnificent and munificent manifestation of which is eternally expanding, as the Person Whom He Is.