Thursday, May 27, 2010

Successful Ministry

One thing that has been standing out to me lately is ministering out of the abundance within us.

In Romans 15:29 (amp) I know that when I do come to you, I shall come in the abundant blessing of the Gospel of Christ.
Paul had a confidence that when he came to them that he wasn't just come just him as a person, but that he would come in the ABUNDANT BLESSING. Abundant means: Present in great quantity; more than adequate; over sufficient 2. well supplied; abounding 3. richly supplied. So Paul knew that when he came that there would be a great quantity of blessings coming with him. That it would be more than adequate to meet the needs of who he would come in contact with.
How do you enter into your everyday life? With abundance of blessings or just barely enough to get you by in what you have going in your day?
We had my hero Mrs. Dodie Osteen at our church recently. She was in a room full of people she did not get to talk to every person. Yet every person I talked to said that they felt as though she had personally ministered to them. Wow! Think about that!!!
That so challenged me. She had such an abundance on her life that when she came into a room everyone felt the abundance of love, grace, mercy etc. then without her even speaking to them personally they felt ministered to. That I believe is some of what Paul was talking about in this verse. Being so full of the goodness of God that just coming into a room he would have enough that the room would be filled with what he had.
Ministry and life is won through having this kind of abundance I believe. I think that our spiritual self is a lot like our natural bank account. There needs to be deposits in it to keep the bank account functioning. I believe the problem with the church in general today is that we have people stepping into pulpits that are spiritually just struggling to keep themselves afloat...never mind having a fullness to pass on to others. No deposits have been made.
Frank Demazio said it best. "You should have enough joy, happiness, faith to fill a room no matter what wherever you go".
I think of Benny Perez. When he steps on the platform and ministers the room is filled with faith and an excitement. That which is in him spreads throughout the room. He comes into a service as Paul did with an abundance of blessings. That is why people leave healed, encouraged, and set free.
What a challenge to live a life that you have so much deposits of the word inside of you that you can give deposits of joy etc. into anyone and you don't miss it because you are carrying so much of it. Just like in our natural account you can't write a check if there is no money backing it the check will only come back as a hot check. Same with spiritual things. If you don't have the deposits inside of you through time in the word prayer etc. then when you lay hands to minister you are ministering out of your soul and not the spirit.