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Something
for Nothing?
As men and women
of God we are called to be first and foremost servants to our brothers and
sisters in Christ. Regardless of our specific ministry function of apostle,
prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher, we will be called upon to serve others.
Sometimes for a season, and at other times, it may be a lifetime. Throughout
your ministry career, and we have members whose ministry experience ranges from
just a few years to over 60 years experience, you will be sought out for
“something.” Some will be legitimate, and others will be an assignment from
hell to drain you of everything you have.
We must learn to recognize early
on that not everyone who comes to you is YOUR assignment. Just because someone
says, “God said, you would help me,” doesn’t mean it’s true. We must be
sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit to recognize what is truly from God, and
what is merely sent to drain us of all of our time, energy, and strength. The
enemy will send “vampire” spirits to sap you of your anointing and leave
nothing for those who truly need it. Remember, Jesus said He only did what He
saw the Father do – John 5:19.
Dealing with these ‘spirits’
early on will save you a lot of heartache later. Identifying them is easy.
- They want something for nothing – they will never
give back financially or, in any other way.
- They want your constant attention.
- Their situation never improves.
- It’s always an emergency.
- They will take you away from the things that matter
– i.e. prayer, family, and rest.
This is NOT serving others as
Jesus taught. Please understand,
while we do not serve others to “get something” yet, when done with the
proper motives – love, humility and gratitude for the privilege to serve
others, we WILL be rewarded.
- For
whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to
Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Mark 9:41
- Then
the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you
gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you
clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to
Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You
hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see
You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did
we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will
answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Matthew 25:34-40
Paying
The Price -
Now, let’s look at
serving others in a different light. While anyone can benefit from this service,
still, it is primarily a service for the servants of God (ministers) to honor
those who have served before us.
Prior to Elisha’s
commissioning as the prophet to Israel, he was first known as a servant to his
master and spiritual father Elijah. (2 Kings 3:11) As a result of his unfailing
service, he was granted his request that he might have a double portion
anointing from his father Elijah. He received a “mantle” – an anointing
– to step into his prophetic office and then take it to the next level. That
is the sons receiving their fathers ‘spiritual ceiling’ and becoming their
‘spiritual floor.’ That is, they begin their ministry at a level where the
other left off. My dear brothers and sisters, that is what Father God wants to
bestow upon us. He desires to take the last generation’s anointings, miracles,
signs & wonders, and add it to what we already have and take it higher than
its ever been before.
He is looking for a
generation of servants, yes, servants who are willing to pay the price for
someone else’s breakthrough. It isn’t about what we have, or what we want,
it is about desperate and willing vessels of God who will do whatever it takes
to see someone else go free. If the anointing you have will not cast the devils
out of those who are perishing, will you fast and pray until “this kind goes
out?” Will you weep before the altar for your brothers and sisters who are
dying of cancer, aids, and other life threatening illnesses? Will we humble
ourselves that someone else might be exalted? How far are we willing to go to
set the captive free? Even if it means we don’t get the credit for it?
When I was younger just starting
out in ministry, I thought I knew more than my spiritual fathers and mentors. I
thought they were just “old school” and their time was fading out. I
didn’t listen to those whose years of ministerial wisdom would have saved me
from many a heartache and failure. I was confident and sure…translation: proud
and self-righteous. I could have saved myself from years of agony and
frustration had I only listened to their seasoned wisdom. What I didn’t learn
from them then, I did eventually learn. However, it took a few years in a
spiritual desert to do so.
The point is: Our spiritual
fathers and mothers paved the way for the rest of us to be here today. If we
will honor them for their service to the Kingdom, God will honor us before those
we now serve. Where will their mantle fall? Who will pick it up and run with it?
Honoring The Fathers
{A side note here for our international brothers:
From 1947 until the late 1950’s America experienced an unprecedented healing
revival with literally hundreds, if not thousands of miracle working evangelist
preaching across the US in tent meetings. Miracles of every kind were performed.
The blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked, etc. Some of the more well known
ministers were men like Oral Roberts, William Branham, A.A. Allen, and Jack Coe
to name a few.}
I’ll close with this example
of someone close to me who recently heard the word from the Lord, “Honor
those men of God from the healing revival.”
Needing a breakthrough in his
own ministry for the blind to see he did a “google search” and found a man
in his late 70’s, now a retired widower, who had been a part of that healing
season. He had known and worked with A.A. Allen as well as others. He himself
had traveled with his own tent ministry seeing thousands of miracles across
America and beyond. He told my friend he had never been around another man like
A.A. Allen who carried the presence and power of God like him. He personally
witnessed when Allen was introduced to the platform to minister the demon
possessed would cry out and manifest when he walked on stage.
My friend told this precious man
of God what the Lord had told him to do and he blessed the man of God
financially and materially. The elderly saint told him whatever it is you want,
you must understand, “I’m old-school.” To which my friend replied,
“It’s time for old-school to meet up with new-school, you have something we
need and I’ll not let you go until you bless me.” It is the beginning of an
Elijah-Elisha relationship.
Yes, there will be Heavenly
rewards for our service to others in eternity. However, this is the kind of
service to others that brings rewards from Heaven into the here and now.
You won’t need the breakthrough once you’re in the heavenly city. Here
is where you need them and here is where you’ll get them. The words to
an old song once said, “You gotta serve somebody.”…
Let’s take the time to learn
to honor those behind us and serve those before us.
Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and
followed You." So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to
you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or
mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who
shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and
sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age to
come, eternal life. Mark 10:28-30
Eddie
T Rogers
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