Close to God

One of the traps we fall into as more mature Christians is thinking that we're close to God because we read our bible, pray every day, fast occasionally, go to church for every service, and generally avoid all appearance of evil.
Those are all good things, no question about it, but I'm realizing more and more that those things don't necessarily bring you close to God.
Have you ever been at some sort of a function and eaten whatever you wanted to to your hearts content? Burger, fries, pizza, baked potatoes, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, lasagna, washing it down with punch, and pop before downing ice cream cake, chocolate cake, cupcakes, cookies, donuts, and a sundae.
On the occasions I have allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted to I've felt incredibly fat and gross after. While all those things sound delicious and are delicious, you can generally only really enjoy them one at a time and in a moderate dose. You have to enjoy them properly.
I am relating eating all that 'good' stuff to doing all that 'good' (reading, praying, church going etc...) stuff in my life because I feel spiritually 'fat' afterwards but I am not nourished or any closer to God for them.

You wake up early on a Sunday, do your devotions, pray for the upcoming service, you put your best clothes on to go to the house of the Lord, you teach, you help out, you sing, you listen and learn, you stay late and fellowship and you feel all good about yourself but when you go home and really think about it, you're not much better off than you were while you were sleeping on Saturday night.
What did you really do by doing all that, who were you serving, who was it for? Did God really get the glory in it?
For me, and I'm willing to bet most christian's I know and fellowship with, I do those things because I like to, I enjoy it, it's part of my being.
I grew up going to church because my parents went to church and I had no choice. Now that I am an adult, I have my own relationship with Jesus and I go to church because its part of a healthy relationship with God, I love church, and I need church. Between growing up in church and choosing to continue to go now, I can say that going to church is who I am- it is apart of me and not being able to go would leave a very big hole in my life.
It's the same as reading my bible and studying it- it's part of who I am.
So if it's part of who I am, what I enjoy doing, is it really glorifying God? Is it really bringing me closer to Him?

What I have come to realize is that maintaining real and deep closeness to the Lord  empties you- it requires sacrifice. It's like being lean but fit.

And Ornan said unto David, Take it to

thee, and let my lord the king do that which

is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen

also for burnt offerings, and the threshing

instruments for wood, and the wheat for the

meat offering; I give it all.

And king David said to Ornan, nay; but I 

will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not

take that which is thine for the LORD, nor

offer burnt offerings without cost.

So David gave to Ornan for the place six

hundred shekels of gold by weight.

1 Chronicles 21:23-35

David wants to buy a threshing floor from Ornan to sacrifice to the Lord and Ornan tells him he will give him the threshing floor and the oxen for the sacrifice. David declines because it's not a true sacrifice to the Lord if it does not cost the one who is sacrificing anything.

And Elijah took twelve stones, according

to the number of the tribes of the sons of

Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD

came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

And with the stones he built an altar in

the name of the LORD: and he made a

trench about the altar, as great as would

contain two measures of see.

And he put the wood in order, and cut the

bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood,

and said, fill four barrels with water, and

pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the

wood.

And he said, Do it the second time. And

they did it the second time. And he said, Do

it the third time. And they did it the third time.

And the water ran round the altar;

and he filled the trench also with water.

1 Kings 18:31-35

This takes place during a grievous drought; in a test to see which god is the true God, Elijah pours over the sacrifice the most precious commodity in the land- water. If you don't know the end of the account-

Then the fire of the LORD fell, and

consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood,

and the stones, and the dust, and licked up

the water that was in the trench.

And when all the people saw it, they fell

on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is

the God; the LORD, he is the God.

1 Kings 18:38&39

Almost immediately after, there fell a 'great rain'. 

In both the accounts above it is evident that the Lord responds to real sacrifice and real sacrifice means that there is a cost involved- in David's case, money, in Elijah's case, water. 

I can say really easily that going to church, getting involved, reading my bible, praying, sometimes even fasting are easy for me to do. I have done all those things for years and they have become part of who I am- I am God's child, these are the things His children do if they want to be in fellowship with Him. However, being close to God requires sacrifice and while those things listed are good and edifying, oftentimes they do not require sacrifice.

My pastor spoke about rest in his Sunday morning sermon and he mentioned that that night (we don't have evening service one Sunday a month) he didn't intend to pick up his bible and read it.

I began to think about that and wonder if maybe I feel like I need to read the bible a lot because I'm trying to feel close to God. While he preached I found myself shamefully wondering if my constant need to read another chapter or get off alone to pray was a way for me to compensate for not being close to God.

God teaches me a lot, He's teaching me a lot right now, He's answering a lot of questions I have- which I will share eventually. But knowledge isn't evidence of closeness. Fellowship is not evidence of closeness. There are people in my church who I fellowship with, I love, I help but I am not close to them. That's fine, you can't be close to everybody but you should fellowship and be close to God.

I've been a Christian for years and I know what to do to be a 'good' christian. What I realized is that I want to be close to God but retain all my creature comforts. In other words, I don't want to sacrifice the things that make my flesh happy to be close to God. In other other words, I'm happy to do the easy things to be in fellowship with God but I am unwilling to make the little everyday sacrifices to walk closely with him.
I am unwilling to sacrifice my will for God's will.

On Youtube, for example, I was watching a Pokemon Go vlog because I'm not going to play the game but I was very curious about it. Of course I got hooked on the vlog and I had to watch the newest one every day. The videos averaged 15 minutes or so, there's no cussing in them, no graphic images, there is some blasphemy but not a lot, I really enjoyed them but I was under constant conviction that I should not watch them. Every time I would watch one I would think to myself that it's okay, I'm just taking a little break, this is harmless- except, God didn't want me to watch them.
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter why I shouldn't watch them and frankly I don't care why. It might seem like a trifle to others but it was preventing me from being close to God. It's not like I can apologize for watching it one day and then watch it the next day. It's either the vlog or my relationship with God. So I stopped watching it. It's not a big sacrifice or anything but it's me, sacrificing my will to God. I still want to watch them but I don't, that vlog is not worth my relationship with God.
Don't shake your head like these little things don't matter. If you obey in the small things, God will trust you with bigger things. If you're stuck in a rut in your Christian life, if you don't seem to be moving forward or being taught anything it's because you haven't done anything with what God has already put in front of you. As soon as I made up my mind just to stop watching, God taught me all this.
I know that is a silly, small example but it's the very thing that I am talking about in this post. The little everyday choices we make that either bring us close to God or take us away from Him.
Driving is another example- the speed limit is the law. Is your relationship with God really worth speeding? I like driving fast but my willingness to obey the speed limit is another small, everyday thing that will really show God whether you are serving yourself or serving Him.

The last time I fasted I tried to go for longer than I've ever fasted before (which is not that long by the way) and it was not easy at all. In those extra hours I fasted and it became a real sacrifice to refrain from eating, I finally learned that it's real sacrifice that draws you close to God.

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a

trumpet, and shew my people their 

transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know

my ways, as a nation that did righteousness,

and forsook not the ordinance of their God:

they ask of me the ordinances of justice;

they take delight in approaching to God.

Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and

thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted

our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?

Behold, in the day of your fast ye find

pleasure, and exact all your labours.

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and

to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall

not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice 

to be heard on high.

Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day

for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow

down his head as a bulrush, and to spread

sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou

call this a fast, and an acceptable day unto the

LORD?

Isaiah 58:1-5

The purpose of fasting is to starve your flesh and feed your spirit. Eating is a primal need, it's what keeps our physical bodies going and abstaining from that shows our flesh that it is inherently wicked, it needs to stave, it needs to die but we are stuck in it until our souls are called Home (Romans 8).

In the above passage, the people are fasting but to their own ends. They are not fasting to afflict their souls, bow down their heads, and mourn therefore God does not hear them, He does not regard their fasting, it's as if they're not fasting.
I am not saying God does not regard my going to church, reading, praying, fasting, etc. The fact is, that those things serve me as much as they are evidence of my serving God. It is no thing to me to go to church three times a week. I love the fellowship, singing hymns, I really love preaching, I love praying, I just love church. My going to church is not evidence that I am close to God- it may be to the world but I know it is not for me. My going to church is not a sacrifice for me. It is good, well pleasing to the Lord, but choosing to put on the breaks to go from 61 to 60 when the speed limit is 60 is a far greater token of my desire to be close to God. What's the point of going to church if I'm going to break the law all the way there?

If thou turn away thy foot from the

sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy

day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy

of the LORD, and honourable; and shalt honour

him, not doing thine own way, nor finding

thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own

words:

Then shalt thou delight thyself in the

LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the

high places of the earth, and feed thee with

the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the

mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Isaiah 58:13&14

(side note, Isaiah 58 is a great chapter to read before or during a fast)

So though I do get up early and study, I take time to go to church and take steps to be involved in it, those things, while good, edifying, and fruitful do not necessarily bring me closer to God. 

The things that bring me closer to God are doing His way, finding His pleasure, and speaking His words in the little things that no one notices. God knows and He'll reward you for it up in Heaven.

It has only been a few days since I've really learned this but I've already noticed a greater peace and more security in knowing that I'm doing right.
I used to go through my whole day almost worrying that I wasn't in God's will and walking close to Him because I hadn't read my bible in the last two hours. Now, I know that if I just make the right decisions every minute and let God really and truly control my day, I will be close to Him even if I go 10 hours without reading.
This will go for everything except praying (we are instructed to pray without ceasing). If we just make His decisions instead of our own, we will read when we need to (extra reading beside set devotions), fast when we need to and as long as we need to, witness the right way, and be a bigger blessing and more fruitful at church.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:30

I hope I explained this right, and that it's a blessing to you!

27

I turned 27 yesterday and looking back on 26 I know that the biggest area of personal growth for me was knowing myself better. I don't mean personal preferences, faults, strengths and things like that. I mean the deeper things that make me do what I do.

Before this last year a lot of my knowledge of myself was based on ideals and things I wanted myself to be. In the words of the dowager Lady Grantham I'd 'read too many novels'. I've learned a lot this past year just about myself, what I really am, my real motives, and what is at the heart of everything I do.

Something that's helped me learn about myself, is looking at myself as the source of all my problems. I know to the world that sounds horrendous but it's absolutely liberating.

For instance, I was hurt by some people not too long ago.

I was really struggling with it when God pointed out that it wouldn't be what it was if I wasn't carrying on. While their actions were indeed hurtful, my holding it against them was what was really hurting me.

As soon as He showed me my error, I got it right and moved on.

Another example is my husband not doing things I think he should be doing. I realized that there's a lot of things I should be doing that I'm not and looking at him wasn't improving my lot at all. A preacher once pointed out that maybe our spouses' get away with things we think they should be doing so that God can test us and reveal what's really in our hearts.
Turning my critical focus from other people to myself has made a world of difference in pursuing peace in my relationships- especially that of my marriage.

Another thing that's helped me learn about myself is leaving social media. I know I keep going back to it and I wrote a whole post about it here. I don't want to delve into a topic that I've dealt with before, but its really amazing what you'll learn about yourself, learn to do, and accomplish when you're not drawn to your phone/tablet/computer to see if someone posted something new or post something yourself.
The other temptation or tendency, even with blogging, is to spend your time thinking about what to post. There are better things to occupy our minds.
For me, social media is a weight that besets. It puts things into my mind that wouldn't be there otherwise. It gives me impressions of people I don't need to have. It makes me want to 'attain' what others have 'attained'.
Getting out of it was a good clean cut. All the clutter in my brain left when I left social media.

It comes down to being honest with yourself- seeing yourself for what you really are. It is allowing God to use those trying times to build character where you are lacking. It's also being able to pinpoint those things that keep us from moving forward and getting them out of our lives.

Having cut out a lot of unnecessary issues in my life, I've come to this place where I am able to pursue meaningful things fully and freely.

Fully as in I'm able to give good time to the pursuit, and freely as in without need for validation from people.

This blog is a good example of that. In almost a year of writing I still have no idea if anyone actually reads what I write. Whether people are reading or not it does not matter because this blog was God's idea, it's God's work, it's for God's glory, He gives me the time to write, He gives me the words to say, He gives me things to write about, and I am just an instrument.

I've heard a few things from my sister about some of my posts but if I never hear anything from anyone about it again, it really doesn't matter because it's not about me or anyone else. It's about my relationship with God.

My bible class is another example- It's God's class and I try to follow His directions as closely as I know how. I may never know what kind of impact I have on those children- hopefully its a good impact if any- and that's okay. I only need to worry about following God's leading in the class and letting Him work. If I've done that, I'm a success. 

Knitting is a non spiritual example- for me it's a blessed pursuit, given to me by God. It's something I keep to myself but pursue passionately.

I think, as I attempt to bring this to a conclusion, that learning of myself has enabled me to yield control, yielding control has liberated me, and my liberation has helped me find satisfaction in the things my hand findeth to do.

(1) Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which

are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of

meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be

tempted.

(2) Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law

of Christ.

(3) For if a man think himself to be something, when

he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

(4) But let every man prove his own work, and then

shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in

another.

(5) For every man shall bear his own burden.

Galatians 6:1-5

I just want to focus on verse 4 but I needed to establish the context of the passage- The work God gives each one of us is our own burden and proving the work gives us rejoicing.
My bible class, for example, is a good burden that is mine to bear. I love those children, I want the best for them, I want them to love God and His Word. Those are my burdens that I must bear and I must prove my own work in them. Teaching those children gives me joy- it's not that my pastor or the parents, or anyone appreciates that I teach them- it's that I'm doing God's will God's way.

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own

ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from

himself.

Proverbs 14:14

This is an incredible verse that says so much. It's interesting how you can do everything your way and not be satisfied. A good man shall be satisfied from himself, not because he does everything his own way, but because he does it God's way.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD:

and he delighteth in his way.

Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:

for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

Psalm 37:23&24

Good Preaching

At the moment my husband and I are relaxing after a long week of moving.
It rained today so we weren't able to do as big of a move today as we were hoping to. We managed to get most things over to the new place and at our old place we just have big furniture, the TV, and some random things.
I'm looking forward to getting back to writing more often but that may not happen until I get my kitchen and my clothes organized.
Anyways, I'm thankful we moved out of an apartment building and into a house (with a yard!), and I'm thankful we have until the end of the month to clean out our old place.

Today I thought I'd share a sermon I listened to yesterday that made me realize a HUGE error in my thinking on certain things. I'll write more about that later but I thought I'd share the sermon because it's a good one. Honestly, all the preachers I've been listening to lately have been on fire. It's so good how God speaks to us.

I hope this helps you as much as it helped me:
Dr. David Peacock- Clean Inside

My Burden to Teach

I take my position as a Bible teacher very seriously. It is something I love and am very passionate about. I want the children I am privileged to teach to be armed with love for the Bible, a desire to learn it better, and knowledge to help them through life.
Growing up I attended all sorts of children's ministries- sunday school, AWANA (briefly), wednesday night classes, youth group, camps, vacation bible school, and so on. In all those years no one ever bothered to tell me about what people's names meant, that numbers mean something, and that the wise men were mocking Herod when they asked about he who was born king of the Jews.
I love things like that- bits of knowledge that enhance your bible reading and cause you to hunger for more knowledge.
When I was a child I thought that the Bible was God's word and it was just full of stories about people whose names I could not pronounce and lists of things I could not do.
Having spent my whole life in church I could answer all the questions about all the major people in the bible, and I could give you some doctrine too.
It was not until I read the bible for myself that I realized a lot had been left out of my education.
I certainly can't blame anyone for my lack of biblical knowledge- it is always up to the person in question to study for themselves- but I was rather astonished that no one had ever told me that God hardened Pharaoh's heart as Pharaoh refused to obey Him.
That's a very necessary part of the event, people, I wonder how on earth I learned anything meaningful from those Sunday School lessons except for the event details (minus a few things).
I keenly remember my ignorance and I do not want to do that to the children God has entrusted me with.

For instance:
Since I've taken over the Bible class I've taught the children a song called 'Did You Ever Talk to God Above'. It's a very sweet and simple song about prayer and our ability to pray to God whenever and where ever.
We sing it every Sunday so they can learn it and a few Sundays ago I elaborated on the song a bit. I told them that God 'neither slumbers nor sleeps' (Psalm 103) and that He will always listen.
We continued through the class and our lesson for that day was 1 Samuel 8.
Reading along, we came to verse 18:

And ye shall cry out in that day because

of our king which ye shall have chosen

you; and the Lord will not hear you in that

day.

One of my very astute students pointed out: didn't you say that the Lord will always hear us?

I explained to them about how God has given them a full warning, they know exactly what they are getting into and they are choosing to do wickedly. They are purposefully bringing God's judgement upon them.

I explained that God is love and God is a consuming fire. (I think we, as part of God's beloved Son's body, forget that God is a consuming fire. We don't experience that side of Him very often.) I also explained that God is perfect in His anger and jealousy- things we equate with sin.

To me this is a vital part of a child's biblical education: to know who God really is.

Frankly, I thought He was like Santa Claus- a kindly old man with a long white beard that cried when we sinned.

Yeah... no. God is not like that. I'm not sure where I got that idea but it was not done away with by any of the teaching I got from anyone. 

I was more interested in studying the Bible when I learned who God really was: A holy God who will take vengeance on His enemies and bring every soul to his or her knees in worship.

One of my favourite verses is:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a

white horse; and he that sat upon him was

called Faithful and True, and in

righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Revelation 19:11

That one verse alone should tell you everything you need to know about who God really is. 

Last thing:

A false balance is abomination to the

Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

Proverbs 11:1

Any teaching about the Bible must be balanced. You can't only preach out of the four gospels and expect to have balanced preaching, you can't only preach on the 'good things' and have balanced preaching, you can't preach against sin all the time and have balanced preaching. 

Balance comes from preaching 'all the counsel of God' (Acts 20:27). If you leave anything out, your preaching and teaching is not balanced and what's worse: not honest.

Do not shy away from difficult topics when you teach. Teach the Word and let the Lord take care of it.

(Obviously have discretion when it comes to things like Judah's situation with Tamar, David and Bathsheba and so on- don't go into deep details on that, you don't want to teach them how to sin or put any ideas into their heads.) 

When it comes to teaching I do three things: pray, study, and let the Lord lead.
Prayer
I've written it here a few times: I do not know what my students home lives are like. Right now they are all from Christian homes, I know their parents and have met some of their grandparents- all saved people. There may come a day when I'll have unsaved students with unsaved parents. I don't know. I do know that God knows what each one of them need to hear.
In prayer I ask that God will give me the wisdom, discernment, and knowledge to teach them. I ask Him to guide me in my thoughts, studies, and teaching. The class is His, I have no right to usurp His authority by doing what *I* think is best.
Here are some of the things I pray for:
-Each one of my students by name
-All their families
-Class time
-that each child will learn something
-for peace during class
-for me to be filled with the Holy Spirit
-for ways to teach them, activities to help learn, and songs to sing
-for utterance
Those are just a very few things but it puts God in control and gives me peace concerning my classes.

Study
At the moment I am working through a lesson book my pastor has given me. I'm following it through until it is finished.
I find it is incredibly important to study ahead of my current lesson so I have an idea of where I'm going. I also make sure to have my lesson plan done by Monday or Tuesday. The sooner I have it done, the more I can pray over it and prepare for it.
I only use scripture when I teach. I will certainly use examples from my personal life and things that I know, but I let the Bible tell its record itself. For example: this week we're studying David and Goliath. I'll go to the passage and select verses to for myself and my students to read out loud. As we go verse by verse I explain things to them, answer questions, and point out details and lessons we can learn. I'll always have a main thought to point out to students but I want God's Word to speak for itself and no important details left out.
On Sunday mornings instead of my usual devotions I will read a chapter of Proverbs and re-read the passage I will be teaching in my bible class.

Let the Lord Lead
Something I keep myself from doing is thinking about what I am going to say during my lesson.
I plan the verses we will read and I'll think about how to relate it to the children personally but I will not rehearse exactly what I will say.
Here's why:
I was once a warehouse manager for a Vancouver jewellery store company. There was a girl named Jordan who started giving me trouble- she was leaving early, not locking the jewels away when she was done, not completing her tasks properly, and so on.
Finally I had to do something about it but I was seething mad. I wrote out a list of the things I needed to speak to her about and while I waited for her to get back from her lunch break I rehearsed what I was going to say to her.
I did pray to God about it but I kept repeating my own angry words in my mind.
She came back from her break and I spoke to her. I said everything that I had rehearsed in my mind.
She stormed out angrily and never came back.
After the dust had settled and I thought about what I had said that made her storm out, I came to this conclusion:
My prayer for God to guide my words did not take because I did not let Him.
I planned out everything I wanted to say and said them in anger.
God did not help me at all because I did not let Him.
For this reason, I do not rehearse anything I am going to say. I let God guide me the whole time and He does. Many times the lesson does not turn out at all how I think it will simply because God leads in a different direction from what I had planned.
Like I said, I do not know what the children need to hear but God does. I just need to trust and obey Him.

I hope this was in some way a blessing to you!

Gleanings from Hebrews

I recently finished a study of the book of Hebrews. I have never looked at Hebrews in depth before so I found a whole treasure trove of discoveries.
A while back my position as a dispensationalist was questioned. It's not a bad thing to have your beliefs questioned, as you grow in Christ you need to re-examine your stance on things and change according to what the scripture says. When my position was questioned I studied the matter for myself and made sure what I believed was right. I did not have to change my beliefs. In fact, I'm even more persuaded of them now then I was before.
Before you go running off calling me a hyper-dispensationalist, let me explain. I take the whole Bible as the perfect Word of God and I believe it in it's entirety. I believe the whole Bible is written for us but not everything in the Bible is written to us.
I will not skip over books like James, Hebrews, the gospels, even the entire Old Testament just because they were not written to the Church. I will certainly read, study and know them but I will not get my doctrine from there- specifically salvation doctrine.

For whatsoever things were written

aforetime were written for our learning,

that we through patience and comfort of

the scriptures might have hope.

Romans 15:4

That all being said, the Lord directed me to study Hebrews.
Having been questioned, a few times, about divisions in the Bible, I am ultra-sensitive to the words God uses in scripture. I don't believe God let any word into His Word if it wasn't the right word. This made reading Hebrews really interesting.

There were a few things I studied that further cemented my stance that there are divions in the Bible and that a book named Hebrews would be written to the Hebrews. I thought I'd share some of these things that I've learned. This is not a commentary at all, just comparing scripture with scripture and seeing what the bible actually says about it self.
My study began in Hebrews 1 verse 1:

God, who at sundry times and in divers

manners spake in time past unto the

fathers by the prophets,

(2) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by

his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of

all things, by whom also he made the

worlds;

God, right away, refers to the fathers who He spoke to by the prophets.

Is there any question who He is talking to?

The fathers refer to the Israelites who bore sons who bore sons who bore sons that are the nation of Israel. Peter, talking to 'ye men of Israel' elaborates on this Hebrews passage in Acts 3.

So who is the 'us' in Hebrews 1:2? The 'us' are the sons of the fathers in verse one- the jews.

This book is for the Jews- specifically Jews (and those who convert) in the tribulation. At this very moment the Jews (as a nation) do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. The book of Hebrews clarifies it for them in a way that relates to them- the Priesthood of Christ. God makes it very plain that the sacrifices of animals, made by imperfect Levitical priests cannot take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4).

Jesus, however is

Called of God an high priest after the

order of Melchisedec.

Hebrews 5:10

Just a note- the first time the word 'priest' appears in the bible it is a reference to Melchisedec (spelled Melchizedek in the OT) in Genesis 14:18. You can read more about Melchisedec in detail in Hebrews 7. The word 'priest', 'priests', 'priesthood', and 'high priest' does not appear in the bible between the books of Acts and Hebrews. 

Having established that Christ is a perfect high priest, having made one sacrifice for all, and is passed into the heavens, Hebrews 8 describes the need for a new covenant.

For finding fault with them, he saith,

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant with the

house of Israel and with the house of

Judah:

Not according to the covenant that I 

made with their fathers in the day when I

took them by the hand to lead them out of

the land of Egypt; because they continued

not in my covenant, and I regarded them

not, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant that  I will make

with the house of Israel after those days,

saith the Lord; I will put my law into their 

mind, and write them in their hearts: and I

will be to them a God, and they shall be to

me a people:

>skipping down to verse 13<

In that he saith, A new covenant, he

hath made the first old. Now that which

decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish

away.

Hebrews 8:8-10,13

He continues in this vein through chapter 9, dealing with the earthly tabernacle as a picture of the heavenly tabernacle and the ordinances of the priesthood.  

For the blood of bulls and of goats,

and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the

unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the

flesh:

How much more shall the blood of

Christ, who through the eternal Spirit

offered himself without spot to God, purge

your conscience from dead works to serve

the living God?

Hebrews 9:13&14

I think that's amazing- it might be obvious to everyone but to me it was the first time I realized that the blood of animals purified the flesh but did not purify the conscience. I did know that the levitical sacrifices were just a stand in until Christ came, but I had not really considered what the animal's blood was cleansing.

By the end of the chapter we know that Christ dealt once and for all for the sins of the world. The Holy Spirit describes it to a Jew in a way the Jew will understand. The tabernacle was given to the Jews so they could have fellowship with God. All us saved gentiles know is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We've never had to know anything about the temple (except to study).

The Holy Spirit describes Christ's sacrifice in Jewish terms- the tabernacle and the sacrifices- the covenant originally given to Moses.

Hebrews 3:

(15) While it is said, Today if ye will hear his

voice, harden not your hearts, as in the

provocation.

(16) For some, when they had heard, did

provoke: howbeit not all that came out of

Egypt by Moses.

(17) But with whom was he grieved forty

years? was it not with them that had

sinned, whose carcases fell in the

wilderness?

(18) And to whom sware he that they should

 not enter into his rest, but to them that

believed not?

(19)So we see that they could not enter in

because of unbelief.

Hebrews 4:

(1) Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise

being left us of entering in to his rest, any

of you should seem to come short of it.

(2) For unto us was the gospel preached, as

well as unto them: but the word preached

did not profit them, not being mixed with

faith in them that heard it.

(3) For we which have believed do enter into

rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my

wrath, if they shall enter into my rest:

although the works were finished from the

foundation of the world.

There is a lot we can learn here but I'm going to focus on one thing. The phrase 'harden not your heart, as in the provocation' appears three times in the bible, twice in Hebrews 3 and once in Psalm 95:

(8) Harden not your heart, as in the

provocation, as as in the day of

temptation in the wilderness:

(9) When your fathers tempted me, proved

me, and saw my work.

These mentions obviously refer to one event: the refusal of Israel to go into the promised land the first time. The record is found in Numbers 13&14.

Above, in Hebrews 4:2 notice the bolded phrase: unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them.

'Them', evidently, is referring to the Israelites who could not enter into His rest because of unbelief in the day of provocation. There is no one else in the passage who 'them' can refer to.
The gospel was preached, way back, before Christ had manifested Himself in the flesh.

Numbers 14-

(6) And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the

son of Jephunneh, which were of them that

searched the land, rent their clothes:

(7) And they spake unto all the company of

the children of Israel, saying, The land,

which we have passed through to search it, is an

exceeding good land.

(8) If the LORD delight in us, then he will

bring us into this land, and give it us; a

land which floweth with milk and honey.

(9) Only rebel not ye against the LORD,

neither fear ye the people of the land; for

they are bread for us: their defence is

departed from them, and the LORD is with

us: fear them not.

(10) But all the congregation bade stone

them with stones. And the glory of the

LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the

congregation before all the children of

Israel.

(11) And the LORD said unto Moses, How

long will this people provoke me? and how

long will it be ere they believe me, for all

the signs which I have shewed among

them?

>>skip down to verse 23<<

Surely they shall not see the land which

I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any

of them that provoked me see it:

As best as I can figure out, the text I've bolded in the passage above is the gospel preached to the children of Israel in the day of provocation. There is one more verse I should mention in Numbers 13

(30) And Caleb stilled the people before

Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and

possess it; for we are well able to overcome

it.

This was the gospel preached to them:

-Go up and possess the land

-rebel not against the Lord

-fear not the people of the land

-the Lord is with you.

If they had obeyed God in that day, they would have entered into His rest. Please do not tell me that promised land is a metaphor or a picture of heaven, while it is in some cases, in this case it certainly is not. We are talking about a literal, physical occurrence and the book of Hebrews literally tells us that the gospel was preached to them.

I was very excited when I discovered this because it is proof that there is more than one gospel preached in the bible. There is only one gospel for us in the church age, but throughout the entire canon of scripture, there is more than one gospel mentioned.

Search for yourself: is there anywhere in any of the applicable passages to the provocation that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is even mentioned?

Before you count me accursed consider this:

I marvel that ye are so soon removed

from him that called you into the grace of

Christ unto another gospel:

Which is not another; but there be some

that trouble you, and would pervert the

gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven,

preach any other gospel to you than that

which we have preached unto you, let him

be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, If

any man preach any other gospel unto you

than that ye have received, let him be

accursed.

Galatians 1:6-9

This passage in Galatians is talking about the gospel of Christ

The first time the gospel of Christ is mentioned is Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of

Christ: for it is the power of God unto

salvation to every one that believeth; to the

Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The gospel of Christ is salvation to everyone that believes. The gospel Paul preached to the Gentiles is found here: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.

Paul, the apostle to the gentiles (Romans 15:15&16), in the first book to the gentiles, in the first chapter to the gentiles, tells us what the gospel is for this age. Not only that, the term gospel of Christ is only mentioned from Romans to 1 Thessalonians, it fits neatly into the books written to the church in the age of Grace.

This business of the different gospels in the bible is for another post, one I do intend to write if I ever have the time.

Suffice it to say this: 

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you

the gospel which I preached unto you,

which also ye have received, and wherein

ye stand;

By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in

memory what I preached unto you, unless

ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all

that which I also received, how that Christ died

for our sins according to the scriptures;

and that he was buried, and that he rose

again the third day according to the

scriptures:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

That is our gospel, that is how you will be saved. Once more:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth

the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine

heart that God hath raised him from the

dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:9

Back to my study of Hebrews:

It is becoming more and more prevalent to believe that the 'age of grace' started way back in Genesis with Adam and Eve. People are leaving off rightly dividing. If you study scripture, desiring God's truth, you will come across division after division. For example: there's an Old Testament and a New Testiment- DIVISION.

God did not just put the word 'gospel' in Hebrews 4 because He had no better word. He used 'gospel' because it was a gospel that was preached.

I continued my study and a few days later I was in chapter five verse eleven:

(starting in verse 8 for context)

(8) Though he were a Son, yet learned he

obedience by the things which he suffered;

(9) And being made perfect, he became the

author of eternal salvation unto all them

that obey him;

(10) Called of God an high priest after the

order of Melchisedec.

(11) Of whom we have many things to say

and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull

of hearing.

Verse 11 struck me because it did not fit the way the writer had been writing up to this point. To my memory at least he had not just thrown out a reproof to his audience. Why would the Holy Spirit move him to tell the subject they are dull of hearing?

So I looked up the phrase dull of hearing

This phrase is mentioned three times total in the bible. First in Matthew 13:15-

For this people's heart is waxed gross,

and their ears are dull of hearing, and their

eyes they have closed; lest at any time they

should see with their eyes, and hear with

their ears, and should understand with

their heart, and should be converted, and I 

should heal them.

This is Jesus talking about the Jews. Read Matthew 13

Next mention is in Acts 28:27-

For the heart of this people is waxed

gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,

and their eyes have they closed; lest they

should see with their eyes, and hear with

 their ears, and understand with their heart,

and should be converted, and I should heal them.

This time it is Paul speaking to the Jews. Read Acts 28

The third mention is Hebrews 5:11 seen above.

Jesus, Paul, and the Holy Spirit writing in Hebrews are quoting Esaias (Isaiah):

And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear

ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye

indeed, but perceive not.

Make the heart of this people fat, and

make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;

lest they see with their eyes, and hear with

their ears, and understand with their heart,

and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah 6:9&10

You know who he is talking to? The Jews.

After the Holy Spirit tells THE JEWS that they are dull of hearing He goes on to tell them:

For when the time ye ought to be

teachers, ye have need that one teach you

again which be the first principles of the

oracles of God; and are become such as

have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

Hebrews 5:12

They rejected Christ (Acts 28:28) so the gospel of Christ went out to the gentiles and-

blindness in part is happened to Israel,

until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Romans 11:32

This proves, once again, that Hebrews is written to the Hebrews.

What advantage then hath the Jew? or

what profit is there of circumcision?

Much every way: chiefly, because that

unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Romans 3:1&2

I think I'll leave it at that for now. There is so much to get into but so little time.
I hope this was enlightening and helpful to you in some small way!

Weed Your Garden

A few years ago I was tuned in to a live sermon on Sermon Audio and the preacher was talking about marriage. He was talking about dealing with issues that inevitably come up in marriage. He said we need to 'continually weed our garden' so that minor issues don't become bigger issues later on.
I always remember that phrase 'continually weed our garden' whenever something comes up in my marriage that I could either ignore or deal with.
I always deal with things that bug me now-whether internally or externally- it helps me keep a clear conscience toward my husband and limits our arguments.
If something is bothering me I have to examine myself to see if it's a problem on my end: did I misinterpret what he said, am I being oversensitive, is there a greater issue here, and things like that. If it passes the internal test then I'll calmly and rationally discuss it with him.
One day, after lots of petty arguments, my husband said to me, 'is there something else bothering you? You can't be getting mad at me for all these petty reasons'.
That was before I heard the garden analogy, no doubt it set me up to hear it with a deeper understanding, but it really got me thinking about what I was getting mad about. Was I mad about a big thing that was making me pick a bunch of small fights with him or am I just a contentious woman? More times than not it's a big thing that has festered in my mind for too long.

As I go through life I find myself weeding many gardens in many of my relationships. The fact is, people fail us, hurt us, irritate us, and so on. This tends to happen with the people we're around all the time- our spouse, family, extended family, close friends, even fellow church members.
It has often been said that the people closest to us hurt us the most but it has also been said that we are our own worst enemy. Most of the time there is something in us that is either offended for no reason or blowing something out of proportion. Before we ever point the finger elsewhere, we need to look inside.
Situations inevitably arise and we have to deal with them but there are a few things I always try to keep in mind when interacting with others whether they be unsaved or saved. The list following contains small things that turn into great hatred if they are allowed to continue unchecked. They are things we would be ashamed to admit, never really think about in our minds, but run rampant in our subconscious. If we keep the following under control and eliminate them from our lives, we'll get along better with everyone in our lives, and when someone does do something harmful to us, we'll be in the right and able to handle it with grace.

1- Are you envious at another person's freedom?
Do you go out of your way to wear dresses and skirts to church but someone else, who is not a new Christian, comes in wearing tight pants every service?
Does that bother you? Why should it bother you? If it bothers you then deeply consider your motives.
It really should not matter what someone else is wearing. I'm not saying tight clothing is appropriate church attire but evidently God is working on a matter of the heart with them and clothes aren't important at the moment. Whatever the case may be, it should not matter. Maybe it is bothering you because you don't have the freedom to dress that way.
I find this is a big one in churches. It may look like someone is looking down on you but really they regret not having the freedom you have. It may be what you are able to eat, who you are friends with, the fact that you feel strongly convicted about homeschooling and other parents freely drop their children off at public school.
I realize this may sound silly and petty but in a few cases in my life I've had to examine why I felt dislike toward someone and it was something as silly as what they could do and I could not.

Let not him that eateth despise him that

eateth not; and let not him which eateth

not judge him that eateth: for God hath

received him.

Who art thou that judgest another man's

servant? to his own master he standeth or

falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God

is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:3&4

2- Are you envious at another person's possessions?
I think this happens to all of us- we see a thriving Christian or a wealthy unsaved family and wonder what they did to be blessed that way. The thing to remember is this: would you be willing to go through what that person went through to have the things they have today?
The religious leadership was envious at Jesus and look what they did to Him (see Matthew 27:18 and Mark 15:10). Envy is dangerous. Avoid it.

Let your conversation be without

covetousness; and be content with such

things as ye have: for he hath said, I will

never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Hebrews 13:5

3- Are you promoting yourself?
When you see people talking together, do you think they are talking about you? When the preacher is giving an example during his preaching, do you think he's talking about you?  If you automatically think of yourself in situations like these it is a good indication that you are walking in your flesh, not the Spirit. Maybe someone says something like, 'I have a nice crockpot' and it may run through your mind, 'so mine isn't nice?' If that is the case, you are in your flesh. Perhaps someone did not smile at you when you smiled at them or they did not say hi to you when they came in.
All these situations revolve around you. If you find yourself getting offended in one of the ways listed above, you're putting yourself first.

Great peace have they which love thy

law: and nothing shall offend them.

Psalm 119:165

4- Do you worry that others are better than you?
Do they live in a better neighborhood, are they more athletic, do their children get along better than yours, are they more involved, do they know more hymns by heart, do they have a better job, and so on. When you start sizing people up, your heart is not in the right place.

Be kindly affectioned one to another

with brotherly love; in honour preferring

one another;

Romans 12:10

Let nothing be done through strife or

vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each

esteem other better than themselves.

Philippians 2:3

5- Does it bother you when no one compliments you?
Maybe you sang a solo, made three dishes for the potluck, or was a major part of the success of an event and not one person told you what a good job you did.
If it bothers you, you are most certainly in your flesh.

It is not good to eat much honey: so for

men to search their own glory is not glory.

Proverbs 25:27

Reading this list over makes me very amused because they're all such little things that make a difference.

There is obviously one thread that binds all five points together: pride.
All these things can be avoided if you have the scriptural view of yourself.

When pride cometh, then cometh shame:

but with the lowly is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

Trying to be better than others, thinking you are better than others will lead to shame. 

Only by pride cometh contention: but

with the well advised is wisdom.

Proverbs 13:10

The only reason there is ever contention is pride. Next time you're in an argument, shut down your pride and see what happens.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an

haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

Your pride is not your friend. The scripture is very clear: it will destroy you.

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he

saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth

grace unto the humble.

James 4:6

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves

unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject

one to another, and be clothed with

humility: for God resisteth the proud, and

giveth grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves therefore under the

mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you

in due time:

Casting all your care upon him; for he

careth for you.

1 Peter 5:5-7

You don't need to dress in rags and have a long face to be humble. All you need to do is recognize who you are, what you deserve, and where you could've gone but for God's grace.

For ye see your calling, brethren, how

that not many wise men after the flesh, not

many mighty, not many noble, are called:

But God hath chosen the foolish things 

of the world to confound the wise; and God 

hath chosen the weak things of the world

to confound the things which are mighty;

and base things of the world, and things

which are despised, hath God chosen, yea,

and things which are not, to bring to

nought things that are:

that no flesh should glory in his presence.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

That passage should easily put us all in our place.

Finally, how many times have you been in a bad mood and said something you did not mean? How many times did you put your foot in your mouth because you were caught up in the moment and not thinking? How many times have you misjudged a situation, acted impetuously, hastily, irrationally or inconsiderately without meaning to?

I do it all the time and I hope that the people around me most often will give me the benefit of the doubt that I don't mean any harm. The least I can do is afford that same kindness to others.

My pastor once said, 'the cause of Christ is greater'. How does it look to the world if we're squabbling and hating each other for no reason other than our pride? The world is full of hatred. The church should be one place where real love is. Christ loved us enough to die for us, the least we could do is die to ourselves for the sake of each other. 

Pull out pride by the roots and all will be well.

More than Teaching

One of the things I appreciate most about my pastor is his diligence to instruct and teach. He wants us to serve the Lord the best we can and he knows that there are things we need to learn on the way.
While there are lots of classes, teachers, events, and things going on, he is constantly reminding us of the purpose of it all- strengthening our relationships with each other and most importantly winning souls.
Almost every Sunday evening before the service we have a teacher's meeting. There he checks in on all the teachers, hears prayer requests, concerns, and teaches us about teaching.
Something he's been particularly drilling home is our need as teachers to fellowship with our students outside the class and thus showing our students that we're living the Word that we're teaching.
He has stressed, many times that being involved in church and fellowshipping with our students is as much part of teaching as the actual class time. If I tell them that telling others about Christ is our number one priority and never show up for Saturday morning outreach, they will never believe I'm living what I'm teaching.
Every third Saturday our outreach is a gym-night. On Sunday pastor announced it and said it was for 'elementary and high school'. Since he specified the age this time I asked him on Wednesday if I should still come since my son is only two and doesn't participate at all.
Pastor said I should absolutely come so that I can fellowship with my new students.

This short discussion really got me thinking.
On Sunday I was talking to my little cousin, she is fourteen, and in the midst of high school. High school is a treacherous place and if you're not grounded as a believer, you will be tossed from the Solid Rock and lose your way with bad friends in a multitude of temptations.
One thing she said to me is that my sister and I seem really happy. We're both married to christian men and have our babies. We were both married by 22 and we've had our sons by 25, she sees that and it makes her consider her path. This lead to a good discussion on how we were able to get there and it made me realize the gravity of my position.
I don't know what her home life is like, but what if it's not encouraging her to live right? What if the only Godly testimony she knows is my sister and I?
I look at that and I think about the young ones at church.
If there's anything I desire for my son, my nephew, and all the children in my sphere of influence is that they live their lives to serve the Lord. They will be successful if they are in the Lord's will.
Growing up is full of aches and pains, physically and mentally. At the tender age of 18, teens are expected to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. As teachers and elders in the church, we cannot tell them what to do with their lives, but we can show them what serving the Lord is.
This is one of the things that constrains me to dress right, speak right, and conduct myself wisely every day in every situation (although I fail constantly at acting wisely), you never know who is watching and  how they will take it.
If I do something reckless or rude while I'm driving and one of my students is driving with their family and sees, how will they view me when I'm teaching?
What if I wore something inappropriate while I was out and about and they saw me?
What if they over heard me using bad language or disrespecting my husband?
How could I then teach them? I can't.

As a mother, teacher, and elder (relatively) I want to be gracious, gentle, kind, wise, and of a good report.
The terrible tragedy of today is that young ladies are no longer required to be young ladies. Men and boys can get what they want elsewhere so why would they choose a pure, wholesome girl that wants to serve the Lord?
These girls will feel more and more pressure to bow to worldly standards just to get a husband.
I fully intend to show them that they don't have to. If they wait on the Lord, He will bless them.

My pastor has a sweet older daughter who loved to help me in my previous class- Junior Church/nursery. I loved having her in there with me but I did not want to take her out of too many services. When I expressed this at a teachers meeting my pastor's wife reminded me of this passage:

The aged women likewise, that they be in

behaviour as becometh holiness, not false

accusers, not given to much wine, teachers

of good things;

That they may teach the young women to

be sober, to love their husbands, to love

their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,

good, obedient to their own husbands, that

the word of God be not blasphemed.

Titus 2: 3-5

There is so much in there to dissect but the purpose is this: we are instructed to teach. Whether the aged woman is 26 and the young woman is 8, I am instructed to teach.

If the Lord wills and tarries I may know my pastor's daughter from 8 years old to 28. I may see her through high school, college, marriage, and children. If that is the case I hope she can look at the older women in church who have gone through those things before her to be comforted, strengthened and helped by our example. There are a few young ladies her age at church. I hope I can be that example for all of them.

One last example then I'm done: I was with an older woman and a younger woman one day. The younger woman was boasting about being disrespectful to someone that had helped her and the older woman laughed about it. There is more than a thirty years between them but the older woman found disrespect funny.

That bothered me for many reasons but the biggest one is that the older woman, by laughing, encouraged the younger woman to be disrespectful. I don't know the nature of the relationship between the young woman and the person she was disrespectful to, but regardless, the older woman should have the wisdom not to laugh at a young persons folly.

Sometimes my son does something bad but it's either cute or really funny.

I can't laugh at it. He's only two but laughing at it would encourage him in sin.

This is what teachers in the church must be:

We must be bulwarks against sin. We must be a testimony of holiness, obedience, and service.

As we fellowship with our students, we get to learn about them, we're able to teach them better, and we're able to draw from our own experiences to teach them. 

So at gym night on Saturday, as I play dodgeball with my students I must be an example of sportsmanship, losing with grace, winning with humility, and being inclusive to all that come. 

Lord willing, as my students grow, they will remember some of the lessons I taught them, but I hope they remember my testimony and when they're faced with tough decisions in the future they'll remember that Miss Grace read her bible, prayed every day, prayed for them every day, and that they Lord used those things to help her do right.

Community Carnival at Park City Baptist Church

I've been taking an official break this week from writing.
My mother-in-law has been visiting and my church is putting on a free community carnival.

If you happen to be in the area, please stop by! I will be at the cotton candy tent, covered in pink sugar, and glad to be apart of an outreach event. Come say hi if you are around.
If you are not in the area, we'd love prayer from you for our community.
We take the great commission seriously and we want to be a blessing to everyone that lives around us.
We're praying that this carnival tells our community that we're here, we love them, we want them to know Christ and his blessed assurance of salvation.
Please pray that we will be loving to all those that come, good examples of Christ's passion for souls, and that we all conduct ourselves wisely. Also please pray for the planning, set up, games, and those overseeing it.

The address, time, and all the details you need are below:

How to Have A Personal Ministry

Every Christian should have a personal ministry. A personal ministry is something you don't talk about, unless asking for prayer for a specific need, it is something between you and God. A personal ministry is done outside the local church. It is the body of Christ, exercising their abilities to reach lost souls.
At the Judgement Seat, you will not be judged along with your local church. You will be judged alone, receive your own crowns for the work that you did for Christ, and have your own works tried.
While the church presents opportunities for you to do outreach, Christ's burden for the lost extends far and above once a week witnessing. We are around lost people everyday. We need to be reaching people every day.
I know for a fact that keeping yourself from reaching the lost hinders your relationship with Christ. I have personally experienced it. My unwillingness to give out tracts prevented me from having a full and fruitful relationship with God for at least two years. It's not easy talking to strangers about Christ or giving them a tract. I had to grow into it, mature into it, and fully trust that God would help me.
I realized I just needed to give out the gospel then take my hands off and let God work:

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but

ministers by whom ye believed, even as the

Lord gave to every man?

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God

gave the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:5&6

For anyone scared to give out the gospel, those verses above should comfort you greatly. All we can do is give out the gospel. God does the rest.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey (Hymn by John H. Sammis, 1887, Trust and Obey)

The hymn is absolutely true. The more you trust God, the easier it is to obey, the happier you are because you're bearing outward, inward, and upward fruit.

Without any further ado, here are my tips for having a personal ministry every day of your life:
1) Have the right motivation

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or

whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God

1 Corinthians 10:31

The best way to test your motivation in God's work is see how your flesh reacts when no one compliments you.

Having a potluck at church and no one says anything about the lasagna you worked so hard on- does it bother you? If it bothers you, you likely have the wrong motivation for serving God's people- the praise of man.

This is why you shouldn't talk about what you do on a daily basis for the Lord- how much you pray, read the bible, witness, and so on. Preachers can do that to encourage and guide their flock, but us non preachers don't need to talk about it. We shouldn't need the praise of man to do work for the Lord.

Souls getting saved and most importantly God's glory should be all the motivation we need to work for Jesus.

2) Pray about it

Pray for the burden to reach souls.

Pray for the willingness to reach them.

Pray for boldness and strength.

Pray for good opportunities to hand out tracts and speaking to people about it.

Pray for the lost people you know right now and think deeply about what they're facing in eternity.

Pray to God that every tract you give out, every person you tell will get saved.
Thank God for the opportunity and freedom to pass out tracts and to witness.

3) This ties in with that last point but is slightly different: pray specifically for everyone you give a tract to.

I've found that my experience with giving out tracts is different with everyone I give them to.

Leaving tracts in random places is one thing but to actually look someone in the eye and hand them a tract leaves a mark.

Every time I give out a tract I pray for the person who received it. I pray for them all day. I pray for them the next day. I love that I remember them and can pray for them.

This is what having a personal ministry is about: praying over those you want to see saved.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,

behold, Satan hath desired to have you,

that he may sift you as wheat:

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith

fail not: and when thou art converted

strengthen thy brethren.

Luke 22:32

Satan could have had Simon Peter BUT Jesus prayed for him. I like to think that God will do the same for those we pray for:

Confess your faults one to another, and

pray one for another, that ye may be

healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a

righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16

4) Set your priorities straight by obeying the Spirit's urgings

Your priority when you leave home is to get the gospel out. If you're a stay at home mom like me, there's really no reason you can't give out a few tracts a day or leave them in places for people to find.

You'll find the Holy Spirit will remind you when to give out tracts or if there is someone to talk to. The more you heed the Spirit's commands, the stronger you'll be in the Lord, the more Spiritual you will be, the better decisions you will make.

5) Bring tracts everywhere you go

Keep tracts with you in the car, in your bag, in your pocket (just don't crumple them). Make sure you have them. That way you have no excuse not to give them out.

About the tracts: make sure they have a clear presentation of the gospel using bible verses. Those tracts with paragraphs and paragraphs aren't to the point. The point is, people don't really care about the gospel and won't care to read a mini novel about it. A simple card with the Romans Road on it will do just fine:

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.

Isaiah 55:11

and

So then faith cometh by hearing,

and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17

Our job is to get the Word out there. God takes care of the rest.

6) Be kind, gentle, peaceable, pleasant, and generous everywhere you go

This means having a good testimony.

If you're rude, obnoxious, or just plain sullen, no one will take the tract seriously.
What often keeps us from having an overflowing testimony is not having the right priorities- Dilbert Terry
You may be going out grocery shopping, but your priority can still be to get the gospel out and be a good testimony. Always, in the front of your mind, remember that you must have a good testimony.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil- Proverbs 3:7b
How will you feel if someone goes to hell because of one thing you said to them on an off day?
I've been in a terrible mood but I've managed to smile at cashiers, be pleasant, and give them tracts. If I didn't remember that my demeanor and countenance towards them could make an eternal difference in their lives, I would never have been able to pull myself out of a bad mood and be sociable with them.

7) Have a goal/ challenge/ rule to give out tracts

For example: my rule is to give out tracts to all the cashiers I deal with when I go grocery shopping and to leave tracts wherever I go.

You may have a goal to give out two tracts every day or a challenge to give out tracts to every third person you walk by on the street.

Right now, you're shy and timid, going all out may keep you from handing out tracts entirely. Start slowly and see how God builds boldness inside you. It gets easier and easier, I promise:

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly

shall reap also sparingly; and he which

soweth bountifully shall reap also

bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6

That verse sealed my determination to hand out as many tracts as I could. I want to reap bountifully. I want to meet people in heaven that are there because I gave them a tract or told them about the gospel or was just a good, solid testimony while they knew me. 

8) Go to outreach events at your church

My church goes out every Saturday morning to put tracts in mailboxes and hand them out to people on the street. We want to saturate our community with the gospel. In fact, we're going to go door to door later this month. I'm nervous but excited. 

We have gym night every third Saturday and we're planning a community barbeque/ carnival later this Summer. 

It is a blessing that my pastor is so burdened for our community and intent on making our church as outreach oriented as possible. He said last Sunday that our job, as the local church, is to get the gospel out. He doesn't just say that, he makes it happen. Praise the Lord for that!

If your church is lacking in this area, maybe talk to your pastor about getting an outreach program started.

9) Say Hi and be helpful to visitors at your church
I know this sounds kind of elementary but it's a small thing that makes a huge difference.
-Before or after the service go up to people you've never seen before and shake their hand, welcome them, tell them your name, and learn a bit about them.
-If you see someone who clearly has never been to church before, maybe sit by them and help them find the passages your pastor is preaching on.
-If they walk in late or during singing, give visitors your hymn book so they don't have to fuss with finding the right hymn.
-Smile at everyone you see and be genuinely happy to see them at church
This goes hand in hand with being a good testimony and it could be instrumental in bringing someone to Christ.
One of the things that kept us going to the church we do now is the kindness and love bestowed on us as soon as we walked in it's doors. Kindness and hospitality go a very long way.

And be ye kind one to another,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even

as God for Christ's sake hath forgive you.

Ephesians 4:32

There you have it! Nine ways to bear fruit. By the way, nine is the number of fruit bearing- seven is completion, eight is abundance, and nine is fruit bearing (pregnancy is nine months).

I hope this helps you in some small way!

Then saith he unto his disciples, the

harvest truly is plenteous, but the

labourers are few;

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,

that he will send forth labourers into his harvest

Matthew 9:37&38