Running to Win the Race

Have you ever wondered why some Christians seem to take one step forward only to be pulled two steps back? Or why they seem to be stagnated and stalemated? I believe some in the Christian Church of today, have put so much emphasis on specific types of ministry gifts and, to their detriment, totally ignored others. Some of my observations are: Many times in my Christian walk, which spans more than 50 years, I have seen people run from one meeting to another because a famous “apostle” or “prophet” was speaking. These people will hang on every word of what these “apostles” or “prophets” say, and seek for them to speak a word over them. Therefore, they never grow up in their walk with the Lord because they do not seek out what God has spoken over them in His Word. The Bible says “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15) Some will go to meetings where “the fire of the Holy Spirit” will fall, they will shout and run the aisles, yet no Word will be shared. They believe that this is a wonderful meeting because “the Spirit fell.” However, when the thrill of the moment is gone and they get up on Monday morning to face reality, there is no Word to sustain them. The Bible says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word.” (Romans 10:17, King James) Still others believe that you haven’t had a true church service if the pastor or preacher doesn’t scream, holler, and beat on the pulpit. In a lot of cases, the ministry gift of Teacher has been totally overlooked. Don’t get me wrong, there are times that I love to hear a “good preacher”, but most of the time I prefer a “good Teacher” of the Word. I learn so much more; and the more I learn, the more I realize how little I truly know. We should be “ever learning” and coming to the truth. The ministry gifts that Jesus gave to the church can be found in the book of Ephesians 4:11-15: And He gave some, apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Notice what the purposes are for these gifts: 1) to help the Body (church) grow up, so the Body is not swayed with every false doctrine; 2) to speak the truth in love - so that the Body can do the work of the ministry. I normally operate in the office of Teacher, and as a Teacher, I strive to teach in such a way that encourages Christians to grow in their walk with the Lord. Sometimes I use a lot of scripture verses, tying things together, in accordance with Isaiah 28:10, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” I call this “Connecting The Dots.” Remember when you were a child, your teacher might give you a piece of paper with a bunch of numbered dots on it. You would be instructed to connect dot #1 to dot #2, and so on. As you would move from dot to dot, an image would begin to emerge. When you finished, you would have a nice, complete little picture. When we accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, we are born into His Kingdom. When something is born, it is brought forth by birth. If you were born in a hospital, your mother was taken to the “delivery room,” where you were delivered from the way of life that you had known for the nine months you were in her womb, to a new life outside of her body. You begin to learn a new way of living. The same is true when you are born into the Kingdom of God. You have been delivered from one way of life into another way of life. However, you have to learn how to thrive in this new way of life. And eventually as you grow and mature, you learn about this family you have been born into. It is my sincere desire that the chapters in this book will help you as you study the Word of God for yourself, helping you to grow more in your walk as a son or daughter of His.