four crucial things we need to do in order to minister life to others in serving the Lord

How do we minister life to others? Is our life filled with purpose so that every word we speak ministers life to the ones around us? Or is our Christian life or Christian service like a firework – sometimes it is brightly shining and everyone is happy and amazed – and this shining is short but bright – while most of the times we have a routine church life, a routine Christian life, and a routine serving of the Lord?

I was recently encouraged that as ones who love the Lord and His interest, as ones who are burdened by the Lord to not only enjoy Him but also minister life to others, we need to do at least four things every day:

1. First of all, we need to have an adequate contact with the Lord – we must purposely go to Him every day not to ask Him things or pray for people / things / situations but to just spend time with the Lord! Go to Him to purposely spend time with God and be infused with God! Even when you’re burdened to serve with the younger ones than you – first go to the Lord every morning!

   Our experience will eventually be like the one in Exo. 21:2-6 where the slave who is now about to be released comes to his master and says, I love my Master, I love my wife, and I love my children – I will not go out free! We will realize that we love the Lord – we are captivated by Him with His beauty and life – and we love the church (the “wife”) and we love our children(the younger saints): for this cause, we don’t want to go out free! In our time with the Lord we will eventually come to this conclusion,

   Lord, I don’t know about others, and I know that I can just go out free – but I love You, I love the church, and I love the younger ones and the new believers: I don’t want to go out free! I want to remain Your servant, Your slave, here in Your house! – When such a transaction between you and the Lord happens, He takes you to the doorpost and “bore your ear”. The Lord will help us LISTEN To Him, hear Him…

2. Secondly, as a result of the first step, we need to learn in the Lord’s presence to be dealt with by Him – He doesn’t want us to DO things for Him but rather He “puts a hole in our ear” that we may hear Him, hear His exposing Word, His heart’s desire, and His speaking, and according to this, we would deal with anything that the light exposes!

   We don’t need to pray for more light then – according to the light that we already have when we open to the Lord in such a way, we need to start dealing with the problems and the things exposed by the light! If your inner being / inner room is a mess, start clearing up / cleaning up from where you are – little by little, matter by matter, problem by problem, until you clean the whole room.

   Deal with things as the light shines and you will have more light which will expose more things (1 John 1:5-7, cf. Acts 9:3). This will bring about a fresh consecration to the Lord as you open to Him and give Him more ground in your being – He will have more room in you.

3. After we reconsecrate ourselves and deal thoroughly with the Lord in such a way, we just need to pick up a burden before Him! Don’t pray to the Lord to give you a burden – just pick someone that the Lord brings your way! There may be some high-schoolers or other ones younger than you: pick them up, put them on your shoulders, and pray for them!

   Be one with the Lord to minister life to them and bring them into the enjoyment of Christ! Pick one or two that you may bring all the way in the church life and even into the New Jerusalem! Whatever we pick as a burden to do in the church life – whomever we pick to take care of, this is the Lord’s burden for us. He shines in us, cleanses us, purifies us, then normally yet divinely leads us to someone to take care of him/her, minister life to him/her, and pray for them until they are fully perfected!

4. We need to be interested in people – the best way to take care of someone is NOT to speak a lot to this one or do a lot of things, but rather be interested in them! For some people it comes naturally – they are just interested in people in a natural way. But we need to take the trained way – go to the Lord, deal with Him, make a list of the ones He puts on your heart, pray for them one by one, and ask the Lord to give you the proper words / attitude towards them when you meet them (Rom. 1:9; Eph. 1:16)!

   Pick some specific ones and spend time with them to know them – learn to be interested in people! Paul the Apostle spent three years in Ephesus and he admonished and took care of each one even with tears – although Paul did the great work of preaching the gospel, he also took care of the new believers one by one. One by one, face to face – personal contact!

   Learning to be interested in people – not being interested in your own needs that much, but in the needs of the ones you have on your heart.

Lord Jesus, make us such men! Fill our life with purpose – with the divine purpose! Lord, strengthen our time with You! Strengthen our contact with You every day! We really love You, Lord! We love the church! We love the young ones! And we love to serve You – we don’t want to go out free! Open our ear to listen to Your Word, and to take Heed to What is On Your Heart! Impart Your Word into our mind and into our heart! Lord, make us those who care for people! Those who are interested in people! May we have some under our care – some we can pray for, care for, shepherd, and bring them all the way into the New Jerusalem!