Dear
Intercessor,
“You shall
put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him,
that he may minister as a priest to Me. “You shall bring his sons
and put tunics on them; and you shall anoint them even as you have
anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and
their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood
throughout their generations.” Exodus 40:13-15(NASB)
“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in
Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative,
but the Father abiding in Me does His works. John 14:10(NASB)
Over the last
several years as we in Northeast Ohio have been seeking God to hear
from Him we have become acutely aware of His requirements for those
who serve Him. We have come to learn that the works that we, as His
church, have been called to are actually His works that He desires
to do through us. The scriptures clearly illustrate that all of
God’s activities bear the unique characteristics of His divine and
supernatural nature. Quite simply put He does what no one else can
do, and He often will do what He does through His servants who are
quite human. The Lord Jesus spoke of doing the “works which no one
else did…” John 15:24
(NASB).Those works through His servants
and His Son proved to be a powerful testimony that He is indeed God.
God’s working
through His servants always brings with it requirements upon them,
as those who are called to represent Him. His servants must have
His heart toward their particular assignments. To have His heart
requires regular and intimate communion with Him as well as an
abandoning of one’s own agendas. Five times Jesus, who understood
that He had been sent by the Father, states that He did nothing of
His own initiative. His desire was to please the Father and His
communion with the Father characterized His life. A life of
consecration, a life set apart to His Father. Even His title, the
Messiah or Christ (Gr) which speaks of Him being the anointed one,
fulfills the requirements set by God for those who serve Him. God
requires communion, consecration and anointing of the life of His
servants. Without meeting those requirements our works are often
presumptuous and do not reach the threshold of “works which no one
else did…” The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us to repent of
such works, calling them “dead works.”
Often in going
about fulfilling our respective ministries little thought is given
to God’s concerns over His relationships with His servants. Our
attentions and priorities are given to outworking strategies and
fulfilling duties, giving only minimal time to pray and then only
concerning some specific tasks. Rhonda Hughey recently spoke of
losing Christ in the midst of revival ministry. We who are involved
in ministries are essentially practicing a Christless Christianity.
Those who serve
must follow the example of our Lord where the reality is that the
Father abiding in us, as a result of our communion with Him, does
His works. Then and only then will we see, in the ministries for
which we are praying this month, manifestations of His divine and
supernatural nature and their works become powerful testimonies that
He is indeed God
As you pray for
the various ministries this month, pray especially, for those
serving, for an increase in their level of communion, that they
would connect with and carry God’s heart for their assignments. Just
as importantly, pray for an increase in the level of consecration
and a resultant increase in their anointing.
Praying with you
for those who serve in our city and region!
Carlton H.
Smith, Founder
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