Ministering to The Lord
Scripture Reading - Acts 13:1-4 KJV
1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
Greetings fellow believer in the Mighty Name of Jesus today’s lesson will speak on the topic of “Ministering to The Lord”. This is a common occurrence in Heaven and sometimes demonstrated upon the earth but we (ihlcc) are sure this should be done much more often. The lesson is to stir up your faith to pursue “Ministering to The Lord” so that you can know more about God and He can know more about you. Yes, we said know more about you because even though God knows all things including your thoughts it is obvious according to the scriptures that when we spend more time with God He really does know us better. Remember the example in Matthew 7:23 Jesus claimed He never knew the workers of iniquity and in Matthew 25:1-12 the five foolish virgins who weren’t ready for the bridegroom they said, “Lord, Lord, open to us” but the Lord said, “Verily (Truly) I say unto you, I know you not.” Yes, it is very possible and often practiced with certain people that the Lord knows all about them but He doesn’t know them intimately because they don’t spent time with God. This happens when He receives reports about your activities through believers and the ministry of Angels without you talking to God personally on a regular basis. Yes, God even hears the reports that unbelievers speak about us because God does monitor the words spoken about all His Children. The Lord always has our best interest in mind but we must be open and honest with God to receive His best for our life. “Ministering to The Lord” is generally thought of as worshipping God. In several Holy Bible interpretations the word “worshiping” is substituted for “ministered” signifying that we should follow the example of the original leaders of the church as recorded in the Holy Bible for today’s reference scripture. We notice that these leaders included prophets and teachers which desired to fellowship with God and others who were serious about knowing God better. In verse 2, two very distinct things happened through the will of the leaders. First, they “ministered to The Lord” (worshipped God) and secondly they fasted. The term “ministered to The Lord” can be viewed as the disciples worshipping God, praising God and/or giving thanks to God for His Awesome Power and glorifying Him for His Holy Person and Majesty. The key is keeping your mind on God without any distraction. This is why fasting was mentioned because people often like to mix in food with fellowship but we see in this context food was not an option. There are times in our life that we pass over the plate of food to place our full attention upon the Person of Jesus Christ and God, our Loving Father. Yes, fasting in this context doesn’t mean starving yourself for three or four days to beat your body down but rather just not mixing food into your fellowship with God. The key with “Ministering to The Lord” is that you are opening yourself up to God on an intimate level where you can empty yourself before God and God, if He so desires, can talk to you about whatever He wants to discuss. Yes, even notice in this specific atmosphere that the people involved with this time of “ministering to The Lord” were working as a united team such that one person could mention what they were hearing from God and the others in the group could confirm it (agree with it) and join in. Please remember according to 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 that all prophesy should be judged against God’s Word and when it is God all those involved with that prophesy will agree that the words are from God. Yes, the spirit and the words should be God ordained, so be sure that when you are gathered with others and “ministering to The Lord” that what is said for you or with you agrees with the Holy Word of God. Yes, in agreement with 1 Corinthians 14:3 that prophecy should speak to edify, exhort and comfort the person they are speaking to. This balance keeps everything done in a decent and orderly fashion as God commands in 1 Corinthians 14:40. Thus, “Ministering to The Lord” is holy and special; it is a time of close fellowship with God, your very own Father and your Savoir Jesus Christ. We should look to spend extra time with God through personal prayers and meditation upon God’s Word this is right and good. However, we will also have other times when we need the company of others to help us see the next direction for our life. We know in this instance the Holy Ghost did have something to say and His statement affected the course of history for Barnabas, Saul and countless others. We (ihlcc) don’t know if your “Ministering to The Lord” encounter will affect as many people as Barnabas and Saul did but we do know it is important to God to speak to His Children when He needs to help them with direction, understanding or comfort. “Ministering to The Lord” creates an atmosphere that does two separate things that produce a single godly result. First it creates an atmosphere that is conducive for God to speak and secondly it opens your heart to hear from God because your undivided (full) attention is on Him. This is why we think “Ministering to The Lord” is invaluable to each believer and the Body of Christ as a whole. The Voice of God speaking to your heart and you hearing Him as God should set the foundation of God’s Will being done in your life because you will obey God when you know what He requires; at least that is our belief in you in Jesus Name. So be a doer of this word of God by scheduling a time of “ministering to The Lord” when you personally need to hear Him speaking clearly inside your heart and please remember this should be done with elders (leaders, mature ones) in the Body of Christ (The Church) not those who don’t have an intimate relationship with God that shows the obvious fruit of God’s Spirit with the consistency of speaking forth God’s Word with signs following (confirmation). Remember, this is God’s Meeting where people can be led by the Spirit of God and this is intended to Glorify God by giving Him full place (attention) into your life such that if He has a specific word for you He has an open platform to share it in love, peace and safety within the confines of your team, which is ultimately God’s Family, His Team at heart under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Amen!