This week we are continuing to talk about what God loves, and He loves His church. He loves the ones who have answered the call to minister to the sheep of His pasture. Eph 4:11-12 reads like this:
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
Jesus gave the ministry gift of Pastor so that we could have an earthy shepherd to teach us God’s Word. God calls people into the ministry so that they can minister to us. If we didn’t need a pastor, Jesus wouldn’t have given pastors to the church! I was actually in a church service at the age of 13, when I knew God solidified in me what I felt was may calling into the full time ministry as a 9 year old. I don’t remember anything about the service, but right in the middle of the preaching, I had a knowing on the inside, that God had set aside my life for service in the ministry. I was never the same from that day on. God used my pastor at that time in my life, as he was teaching the Word to the congregation, to direct the Word, by the Holy Spirit specifically to me, to solidify the call that God had on my life. I was at the right place at the right time, getting the right results. I was in church! As we walk out our Christian life, it is an adventure. The greatest one ever! It is a journey, a pilgrimage, a pathway of following the Lord, directed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that we will go from strength to strength as we stay on the path, and keep going and growing in the love of God. In the House of the Lord, we experience the love of God. Step by step as God’s love is manifested in us more and more as we connect with God’s people and His presence. We learn to love the Word in the house of the Lord. We learn to love times of prayer as we pray for others and have other believers pray for us in God’s house. All of this happens in church. Where we long to be, because we long for God’s presence and love to be manifested in us. If you don’t have a church home, or you don’t attend regularly, find a way to get connected, and increase your love for the time you get to spend in God’s house.
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