Even More Precious

Since being baptized with the Holy Spirit in 1980, I have always been extremely passionate about divine healing.  It is always a thrill to see people receive the healing that Jesus paid for them to have.  But this book wouldn’t be complete without a reminder of God’s perspective on the matter.

I was in a ministers’ conference, worshipping the Lord with all I had at the beginning of the service, and the Lord spoke something to me that I will never forget:

“What you are doing right now is even more precious to Me than what you will be doing later.”

What I would be doing later was calling out healings by the word of knowledge in front of a large number of ministers around the world, simulcasted and translated on multiple continents, as part of a team ministering prophecy and healing.  It was certainly an honor.  It was also a big stretch for me, which was probably unbeknown to almost everyone watching, because my main mode of ministry had been power gifts (gifts of healings, working of miracles, special faith) and I figured that probably half of the people there would be better at calling out healings by the word of knowledge than I would.  In fact, my reasoning was that if God really wanted to use me that way in a greater measure, it should have been apparent before in almost four and a half decades of ministry.  But I was asked to do it anyway because I guess the Lord wanted to stretch me.  One speaker talked about being willing to jump into the deep end in the Spirit.  To me this was like jumping into the deep end without being good at swimming, believing I’d suddenly become a good swimmer with a lot of people watching.  It worked out well and it was another case among many where I’ve learned to “never say never” to what God wants me to do.

But even having a mic in front of a big crowd and having the Holy Spirit all over me is not the ultimate thing.  In eternity that will be unnecessary and I’ll never do it again.  But I will be able to worship God forever.

As always, I won’t ask you to take my word for anything, as Scripture is the only valid source of doctrine.  Let’s look at what Jesus told seventy preachers He commissioned:

Luke 10:17-20:
And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

As great as it is to know your authority in Christ, it is an even greater thing to know God personally.  We must never let ministry, good as it is and exciting as it is, become an idol, which is something we pursue more intensely than our fellowship with God.

1 John 5:21:
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Idols are not just Baal statues or Asherah poles.  Even things that are good in and of themselves can become idols to us, including ministry.  We have to be on guard.  If all we pursue is ministry, sooner or later we will miss the mark because we weren’t hearing our latest marching orders clearly, having de-prioritized time with God due to being over-busy.

John also put the excitement of knowing our authority in Christ in perspective.  He spoke to three groups of believers.  The first was new believers.  He told them that their sins were forgiven and that they knew God.  The second was people who had been believers for a while.  He told them that they were strong, had the Word abiding in them, and had overcome Satan.  Then he spoke to the mature believers.  What could he possibly talk about with them?  It turns out that all he said was that they knew God.  Things finished where they started.  The ultimate thing in life is knowing God.

1 John 2:12-14:
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

It is wonderful to have God fulfill the desires of your heart.  Certainly, flowing in the Holy Spirit is a desire of my heart.  But God tells you how to get to that place, and it isn’t by making ministry your biggest delight.  In fact, I looked up all the major translations of Psalm 37:4 and could not find a single one that said, “Delight yourself in ministry and God will give you the desires of your heart.”  Nor did any say, “Delight yourself in the business God gave you the idea for, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Here is what it DOES say:

Psalm 37:4:
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Many in the church world have reduced Jesus’ purpose in coming to forgiving our sins so that we could go to heaven.  While that is a vital part of the New Covenant, it isn’t ALL of it or even the most important part of it.  Even the verse that perhaps gets quoted more than any other shows us that there is more to Jesus’ coming than letting us avoid hell:

John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

To many, everlasting life just means going to heaven instead of hell, but that is NOT how Jesus Himself defined everlasting life.  If we are going to repeat Jesus’ statement, shouldn’t we at least know what He said everlasting life is?

John 17:3:
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

God didn’t just want us to be forgiven.  He wanted our fellowship, and He wanted it NOW, not just in the life to come.

1 John 1:3:
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 13:14:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

John reminds us that eternal life is something we have NOW, not later.

1 John 5:13:
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Ministry of the New Covenant should be part of every believer’s life, but knowing God IS life.

It is possible, but not desirable, to do ministry at arms’ length from God.  The disciples complained about a man who was not even with Him doing miracles in His name (Mark 9:38-39, Luke 9:49-50), and Jesus Himself spoke of people who didn’t know Him doing works in His name (Matthew 7:22), though one could argue that these works were no more genuine than the perpetrators.  If we aren’t careful, we can let our ministries degenerate into script-driven rote exercises devoid of the God-breathed life that comes from cooperating with the Holy Spirit.

Keeping this healthy perspective will stop you from seeing yourself as just “God’s Workhorse” in the ministry.  Jesus came so that you could be God’s beloved child, not a mere workhorse for the kingdom.  When you fellowship with God, the journey will be a delight as opposed to seeming like forced labor where you simply follow orders.