Life’s Work

Life’s Work – Ministry – Change the Heart

Obedience

We are called to be obedient to the law given by God. This not to obtain our own righteousness, but to display God’s character to the world. The Bible is filled with instructions on how we are to live our lives as Christians. The Bible makes it clear that if we love God we will voluntarily follow the commands given to us on how to live.

James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

Proverbs 10:17 “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.”

Deuteronomy 28:1 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.”

John 14:23 “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.'”

We see it plainly taught in scripture that obedience to God’s word is a foundational aspect of a relationship with Him. It is simply unthinkable that we could love the Lord without obedience.

Prayer

There is a story of a pastor in South Korea who had to walk everywhere to administer the Gospel. He asked God repeatedly for a bicycle, but his prayers seemed to go unanswered. Finally in frustration he said to the Lord, “Why have you not granted my request.” God said, “You never told me the color you wanted, how many speeds you needed, and what accessories were necessary. How else would you know, that it was I who had delivered your request.” Faith requires specific requests.

Worship

The foundation for divine living is rooted in our purpose for being in this world. We are here first and foremost to worship God. All aspects of life are rooted in our need to worship Him. Worship is not just what we do on Sunday morning. It is much greater than that. Worship begins with a heart centered on loving God and loving our neighbor. It is an attitude of putting others first. It is a work ethic of looking for ways of blessing others through our means of making a living and in our walk with our neighbor. It is directly opposite of what the world teaches, “What’s in it for me?” It is praying each day for the divine opportunity to “reach people for Christ.” It is the art of becoming a marketplace pastor and making work our worship of the Lord. Pastoring in the marketplace is for everyone.

Purpose

Ultimately we find ourselves ministering to the world at every opportunity. In Deuteronomy 6:5-9 we read, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. Our goal is to inspire marketplace pastors who have a heart for people and a heart for bringing people to Christ. These pastors are to be equipped with skills in counseling people in finance, career, business, health, college, legal, aging, retirement, leadership, education, mental health, and family all from a biblical worldview.

Scripture

As weak Christians we often limit God by putting fences around God’s ability to deliver a miracle. Can you imagine putting yourself in Moses’ shoes when God said to him ‘I will give the people meat for a month?’ In Numbers 11:21 we read, “But Moses said, “Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!’ Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?” The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”

Perhaps God doesn’t see it this way, but I see God laughing at the lack of faith of not only Moses, but all of us who choose to put fences around God’s capacity to perform miracles.