Variables in Ministry

As I read again the story of the Sower in Matthew 13, I am struck by the variables that Christ wants us to consider as we sow the Word of God, which is the one constant throughout the parable, no matter what the soil type.

Variables that are often outside of our control are “the enemy, tribulation and persecution, cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches.” Things that we are responsible for are that people, “hear, receive, and understand” the Word. The difference in harvest between the path and the good soil was understanding. Communicating the Word in an understandable way is a key to fruitfulness. Another key that Jesus gives is that the Word “finds root” in the individual. Even though a person may hear, receive and understand with joy, harvest cannot come until it takes root in the heart and life of the individual.

Roots are the unseen part of the plant that grow and flourish in winter and in drought. I believe we nurture roots through prayer, intercession, meditation and discipleship. If we are not careful, we can become frustrated or discouraged with the variables that are outside of our control. When we don’t see the growth that we would like to see, it is time to nurture the roots of our lives and the lives of those whom God has entrusted to us.

As we pray for the persecuted church in largely unreached areas, let us pray that their understanding be enlightened, and their roots will go deep into God, that at the appointed time of rain they will spring up and “produce a harvest, some a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

1 Corinthians 3:7-8 “Neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

Andy Clark

A Revelation of God

Isaiah 6:1 “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.” NIV

Uzziah was a powerful and godly king most of his life but spent the last ten years of his life as a leper because in pride he burned incense in the temple. (2 Chro. 26) History records that Uzziah may have been Isaiah’s uncle and that Isaiah grew up in the palace. It was a great time of peace and prosperity for Isaiah. It is interesting that in the year that Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord. Uzziah’s death marked the end of an era and may have strongly impacted Isaiah’s life.

Like Isaiah, there may be people, things or circumstances that hinder us from really seeing the Lord. In the changing and uncertain times we in which are living, things or people that we have put or confidence in may be stripped away. God wants to reveal Himself to us in new and greater ways, but something in our lives hinders us from seeing God in His greatness. We are living in a time when God wants us to move our trust from the systems of this world and our past to put it totally in Him.

God was highly exalted. The term for God here is “Adoni,” (Adonaay) the one who has all authority and dominion.

God was seated on a throne. Seated is a place of rest. Throne is a place of authority.

1. A throne of glory before which we must worship.

2. A throne of government under which we must be subject.

3. A throne of grace where we can come boldly.

4. A throne above all competition and contradictions.

The train of his robe filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1

Picture the long ornate train of a king or a bride. God revealed the train of His glory to Moses. Exodus 33:18-19 and 34:5-8, 29-35

God’s glory or presence identifies us as His people. Exodus 33:14-16

1 Cor 6:19-20

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

A cleansing of the temple. Isaiah 6:5-7

It is only in the revelation of God that we truly come to recognize our inadequacies, the inadequacies of our programs, structures, our political systems and man-made things.

2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. NKJV

The angel touched his mouth with a coal from the altar.

1. To cleanse his mouth.

2. To enable him to speak for God. God wants to speak through you revelations that come from being in His presence.

A commissioning of the temple. Isaiah 6:8

Arise and shine. Isaiah 60:1-2

Isaiah 60:1-2

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”(from New International Version)

The year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

May you have a new revelation of God that will encourage you and empower you to do what God has called you to do.

Andy Clark

Contentment

Luke 1:15-17

“For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

In my devotional reading I have been intrigued by the ministry of John the Baptist. Here is a man who was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.” Luke 1:41 records that he “leaped in his mother Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice.” From birth he had this spiritual connection and awareness of His life destiny. He ministered with such authority that thousands came out into the wilderness to hear him. He did not have all the technological advances and resources of our day that seem to drive our lives, work, and ministry. Unlike the Jewish leaders of his day, he had no position, wealth, program or glorious temple to attract people.

John, with the thousands that followed him and his prophetic ministry, could have had all of the above things. Yet, he lived in the wilderness, wearing animal skins and living off of locusts and wild honey. This was hugely abnormal and not the typical road to success. I’m sure there was plenty of opportunity for John to have advanced himself and enjoy the fruit of his work or ministry. Yet, John seemed to have an unshakable sense of his calling and destiny that allowed him to be content with what God had called him to do.

John said, “I am not the Christ.” "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the Lord."' “It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." (John 1:20,23,27) He went on to say in John 3:27, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” In other words, the things that I do, the authority that I walk in, and the success of my ministry are from heaven. So he goes on to say, like the friend of the bridegroom, my joy and complete fulfillment is in ushering in the bridegroom. Therefore, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

We often spend so much time trying to advance or better our living conditions, career or ministry that we lose the simple joy of loving, honoring, and lifting up the bridegroom. The great Apostle Paul said, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” (Philippians 4:11) Paul could even sing for joy when beaten and in prison. Contentment is not void of hard work, challenges, struggles, and pain. But like John the Baptist, contentment is the joy of doing what God has called, gifted and anointed you to do in preparing the way of the Lord, even in the wilderness.

Andy Clark

Reaching Your Potential in Christ

Genesis 1:27-28 ‘God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

To reach our potential we must recognize our source of life and identity are in God. God formed man’s body from the earth, but the breath of life and what makes us who we are came from God. The day Adam and Eve sinned, they died because they were cut off from the source of life. Their soul man began to degenerate with sin and their body eventually died also. It was like cutting a healthy green tree from its roots. The tree will stay green for a while, but then the leaves will begin to dry and fall off. Eventually the whole tree will die and begin to decay. But through Jesus Christ we have been made spiritually alive and connected back to God.

1 John 4:4 says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Our training, education, five senses and, and life experiences try to keep us connected to the world. We measure ourselves and others by what we see, hear, and feel. It can cause us to worry and fret, feel devalued, measuring ourselves by how we look or what we own, or how we perform. If we are not careful, we even measure our spiritual life and ministry by man’s standards. As long as we see ourselves and others by worldly standards, we are bound to this decaying world. But we are not of the world, we are of God! Those who are of God, overcome the world!

Daniel, who was taken into captivity, rises to become the second in the empire. Joseph, unjustly sold as a slave in Egypt, rises as a slave to be in charge of Potiphar’s whole house. When falsely accused and thrown in prison, he is put in charge of the whole prison and from prison rises directly to be second in Egypt. David, the shepherd boy, kills a lion and a bear, then kills Goliath, and becomes the greatest general in Israel’s history. It was he of whom the people said, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” David then becomes the greatest king in Israel’s history.

What was their edge? What enabled them to rise above the injustices of life? It was because God was with them. Daniel, as a youth arriving in Babylon, purposed in his heart not to compromise himself with the Babylonian system. (Daniel 1:8) Three times a day he knelt down to pray to remind himself that he was not a Babylonian, that he was a child of God and that God was his source. (Daniel 6:10) Joseph understood his God-given destiny. David was a man after God’s heart. They all worked hard and were good at what they did, but their edge in life was their relationship with God.

We often relegate the Holy Spirit to ministry, but like Daniel Joseph, and David, the Spirit wants to give us success in every area of our lives. The Holy Spirit is a creative genius, a brilliant educator, ultimate economist, righteous politician, and noble warrior. But we often get so busy and caught up in the world’s way that we fail to hear His still small voice and do things His way. “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” No matter what area or field of life you work in, your edge is your ability to bring the Holy Spirit to bear on what you are doing.

Andy Clark

Your Sphere of Influence

Genesis 2:7 says, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” So often we see ourselves tied to the earth. We see our life and existence as from the earth. Humanism ties us to the earth. However, the Bible says that even though our body was formed from the earth, God breathed into us His life and we became living beings. So, our life connection is not to the earth but to God.

When Adam sinned, man’s spiritual nature died, but through Christ we are born again and are now spiritually alive in Him. Jesus said in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The flesh and the sprit are two spheres of influence. Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight.” (John 18:36) And again in John 14:30, Jesus tells his disciples, “the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” Jesus understood that His battle was not with earthly authority and powers.

Satan is the prince of this world. The world is his area of operation and influence. Satan is constantly using this world to influence us and to draw us into dealing with him in his area of influence and strength. He wants to battle against us on his turf and according to his rules. But like Christ, we need to see beyond the earthly conflict and understand that our life is in God. As born again, blood-washed, spiritually-alive individuals, our area of influence is in the spiritual realm.

Ephesians 1:20-21 says that “Christ is seated in “heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” Then it goes on in Ephesians 2:6 to say that we are seated “together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” This and not the earth is our place of strength and influence. Paul carries this truth forward in Ephesians 6:12 where he writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

In 2 Kings 6 we read the story of the King of Syria who sends a great army to surround and take Elisha captive. When Elisha’s servant saw the vast army, he said to Elisha, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" That is normally our response when we encounter conflict and problems in this world. What shall we do? Elisha prayed that the servant’s eyes would be open, “And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Elisha’s response was not what shall we do, but what do we see? He was operating from His seat in heavenly places. The army was Satan’s area of influence and power. Elisha did not respond in the natural but from the spiritual realm, his area of influence and power. It was out of that position that he led the enemy captive.

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” (IICorinthians 10:4) We who are born again are not of this earth, our kingdom is not of this earth, but we are from heaven. To overcome and extend God’s kingdom we must operate from our area of influence and strength in Christ Jesus. Whether it is family, ministry, business or work, you have an edge over the world “because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (I John 4:4)

Andy