For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the
time being.
In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first
posting in the series – John 14 (One).
This sounds somewhat loveless, does it not – to throw a
branch away and let it whither? Do I see a lack of mercy here? No, Jesus said
they are like a branch that is thrown
away and withers. If we do not stay in touch with Jesus and learn from him, tap
into His infinite wisdom, power and knowledge to increase the same within ourselves,
we will stagnate, die spiritually and become like such a branch. Jesus did not
say such a person will be thrown out of the Kingdom. He used the illustration
to give an indication of what the value of such a person will be to the
Kingdom. We have heard the illustration before of a water tank that needs to be
emptied and filled constantly for the water to stay fresh.
This I have experienced a number of times in my own
life. At times my ministry was hampered because we went through a time of
adapting. Such times were hard because we seemed to have a lot of trials
individually and as a family. We have resisted the attacks and fought in
prayer, pleading the Lord to deliver us. We made all kinds of decisions to
change, but it seemed with no avail. The Lord wanted to teach us, and therefore
you, something. When the attacks came my focus turned away from the ministry to
the circumstances and I began to sink like Peter did when he took his eyes away
from the Lord. However, the moment I started to minister again by means of teaching
wherever opportunity arose, the hardships seemed to fade away in the light of
the blessings that poured in. In my personal life, in our family relationships
and in my testimony to the outside world the favour of the Lord seemed to pour
in.
Why would that be? The sap started to flow from the
vine again. I put my personal little desires and excuses aside and took His yoke upon
me and
learned from Him, for He is gentle and humble in heart, and I found rest for my soul - for His yoke is easy and
His burden
is light (Matthew 29:11, 30 adapted). To prevent the branch from
becoming useless and dry it needs to allow the sap to flow from the vine to the
resulting fruit. For the water in the tank to remain fresh and alive there need
to be an inflow and an outflow. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said,
streams of living water will flow from within him,” (John 7:38).
Stagnant, rotten water is the flesh - the carnal, selfish nature that takes
control and causes us to focus on ourselves and our circumstances. Living water
is the Holy Spirit in control.
So how do we allow the water to flow? Every one of us
has received a number of gifts and talents. “We have different gifts, according to the
grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to
his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of
others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern
diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully,” (Rom. 12:6-8).
If we look at these gifts listed in Romans 12 we see that it covers all the
areas of need in the church and if all of us just function within our talents
and gifts diligently, the church will be a strong growing organism. I love to
teach, encourage, organise and motivate, but have good friends who do not so
much care about witnessing and the Word as they do about helping others in a
practical way. No ministry can do without such, because things break and people
need transport. It does not matter what our sap or water consists of, as long
as it flows and produces fruit.
Being diligent about this
is in our hands and making the opportunity available for each and every gift is
very much in the hands of the church leaders. Usually gifts such as helping and
mercy are initiated by the individuals and are easily accepted by the church,
since there is a great need for such. But when the Lord wants to move through
gifts like teaching, leadership and prophesying the leadership is responsible
for ‘equipping the saints for the work of the ministry’ (Ephesians 4:11-13).
They should make every effort to develop these gifts (To be continued).
Lord, please show me how
to let your Spirit flow through me.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
No comments:
Post a Comment