By REV. TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
CHEROKEE PENTECOSTAL HOLINESS CHURCH
Read Jeremiah 33:3; 1 Peter 5:10-11
We are each to function with the amount of individual preparation work being done. We ought to understand that the five-fold ministry gift is for the perfecting of and the preparing of the entire Body of believers to participate in the work planned for all ministries.
The ministry of the priests and pastors is to minister to God in singing and worshipping Him. They are also to minister to the congregation and to teach and train them to go out into the household of faith and to those who will soon become a part of it. These will also begin to participate, grow, and mature and have need of more teaching and instructing.
These who are to go out from each church are to have something to ‘bring to the table’—learning to love each other as family, as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Everyone is expected to stand up and at least cheer each other on. It is within the context of ministering that all saints are also expected to operate. They’ve been taught thoroughly and are willingly participating as members of the full congregation. It becomes easier to have a church home, a gathering to be a part of, as the workload grows. The larger the group it will take much more preparation and will be for the newer ones also expected. Discipleship training will be a total imperative so that no one will be left out of the preparations for Jesus’s return for His Body of Believers. Timing becomes a more important consideration.
Remembering our works have never been for our salvation, they are to help in teaching the multitudes of those who will be coming to Jesus. The teaching includes: the illegal trial of Jesus, the horrific beating, and the Cross, known as the ‘finished works’ of Jesus, we find He paid all of our sin-debts and for our healing, too.
Our works are to be done willingly for Jesus, Father God, and all others around us. When sincerely done as honoring Jesus, and in demonstrating our love for Him, they should draw them closer to Him as our Savior and Lord. All who worshipfully participate will have His eternal thanks with rewards attached to them, both here on earth and eternity.
Bringing to full maturity, the Body of Believers, brings them to an even more productive level. Working together we shall see the fullness of the Anointing that begins to splash over onto everyone. Excitement begins building.
Each day, in our personal prayer time, we are to talk with Him about our calling and asking Him for the anointing, knowledge and abilities needed to grow up fully matured in Him. There may be visions, words of knowledge, prophesies, and even more definitive instructions as we begin to ask the Lord for them in our prayers. We must always believe that He will grant the desires of our hearts as we turn to Him for the answers. Since our heart’s desires came to us directly from Him, we know they will fulfill us as we begin to use and implement His instructions in our lives.
This will be the impetus for members to stop just talking about growing the Church while also making sure they really begin ‘to be’ the Church. Allowing any fear in our thinking has always caused a type of self-preservation mentality, which we must now be sure to put behind us, avoiding it, as it actually can prevent our believing God.
Read: Psalm 139:23-24; Proverbs 16:3; Isaiah 55:8; Mark 7:18-23; Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8.
We are to ‘bring every thought captive.’ David wanted to be like God. He even wrote he wanted God ‘to look into my heart.’
Just imagine if God would take our thoughts and put them on a big screen. He sees them from ‘afar off’ even now. God knows our thoughts and could see what would be our first thoughts. Would they be justified? It is probably best to be more careful how we think. He tells us to commit our thoughts to the Lord. The establishment of our thoughts, means ‘to stabilize them’, so our ways also may be established. We are reminded there is danger as we begin to open up our thoughts (hearts) to spiritual things. God is not the only Spirit abroad, so we, most definitely, are to be conformed by the renewing our minds with His Word, found in our Bibles.
