Marriage, Motherhood or Missionary
"I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:26 NKJV
Have you ever pondered what majestic thing God has in store for you to do in your lifetime? Will you have the ministry of marriage, motherhood or missionary? Perhaps you think you need to wait on His timing or training in answer to this question. Well, I have good news: you need wait no longer! God's perfect timing is right now, and his perfect candidate for ministry is you! There are many things Jesus taught us through the example of his own ministry here on earth. None of which require anything more than faith in God as our benevolent Father. Here are a few things which you can follow Jesus in and begin practicing right away.
Commune with your Father. Is this a ministry? This is the prelude to any kind of ministering. The law and the prophets hang on this, that we love God and love each other. Part of loving God is communing with Him as often as possible. When you love someone, you want to spend a lot of time with them. After being ministered to by your Father, you are then able to move among His people. Jesus spent much time with His Father and did only those things which His Father told Him. They were so united as one that Jesus thought His Father's thoughts - Jesus walked in His Father's steps and reached out with His Father's hands. He spoke only what His Father told Him to speak. When we commune with our Father in His Word and through prayer, we can begin to have His mind and walk in His steps as He leads us to minister to those around us. "Come to Me," is His continual invitation. "Go," is His continual command. "I will be with you," is His continual assurance.
Be moved with compassion. When you spend time with your Father, He will fill you with compassion. When Jesus went to the people, He was moved with compassion towards them. This compassion moved Him to walk among them and heal them and attend to their physical and spiritual needs. We need compassion in order to see the real needs around us and meet them as our Father directs. A judgmental and critical spirit will blind you to people's needs and deafen your ears to the voice of God. Ask God to open your eyes to see His opportunities and to fill you with compassion to follow through.
Declare His name. At the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, He prayed to His Father saying He had completed the work He was given (John 17). What was this work? He said that He declared God's name and He would continue to declare it. This is an eternal work. He prayed that we would be one in this work. If we are to declare His Name, we must first know it. To know Him, we need to commune with Him and study His name and character.
"Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11
Do you think you know a lot about this highly exalted name? The Word of God is rich in hidden treasure. Proverbs says that though it costs all that you have, get understanding. The man or woman who makes it his aim to know God through His Son Jesus Christ will find this hidden treasure as well as joy unspeakable and full of glory.
"I have declared to them Your name." In Greek, the word declare is gnorizo - "to make known, certify, declare, give to understand." The word name is onomah - "name, authority, character." Therefore, Jesus made known and gave us to understand the name, authority, and character of God.
How do we make known this Name? We'll go back to communion with our Father. As we come to Him, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth concerning Him. As we are filled with Christ's Spirit, He will declare the Father to us and through us. And, He will work out His purposes "... for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).
Why did Jesus declare the Father's name? The verse goes on to say, "that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26)
Jesus said that He declares the Father to us so that the same love God has for Jesus would be in us. Just how much does God love His Son? He loves us with that same love. Jesus declares the Father to us so that we will know the Father's love and that we would love the way He loves. Jesus desires to be in us and wants us to see and feel what He sees and feels when He looks at those He's placed in our lives. Don't wait, commune with your Father and get to know the highly exalted Name of His Son. Then, go out with compassion and declare the name and character of your Father through Jesus Christ to all those around you, for this is your ministry!
Copyright, 2004. Used with permission. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com Jubilee@TOSMag.com
Originally published July 29, 2004.
