Showing posts with label Ministries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ministries. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
GIFTS AND MINISTRIES (Part V)
By Odon Bulamba (Friday 29th September 2000)
12. THE GIFT OF WISDOM
1 Corinthians 12:8
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;
to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
Verse 8 tells us about the Spirit giving the word of wisdom. What is wisdom according to men?
- Just knowledge of things according to the dictionary
This is what men call wisdom ‘just knowledge of things’. But for God things are miles apart from that: God says that wisdom is the fear of the Lord. When you start to fear the Lord, wisdom starts to grow in you, but if you don’t fear the Lord, you are not wise, despite your huge knowledge.
Wisdom is a gift of the Spirit. Wisdom is a hugely valuable treasure. When someone is wise, nobody might say it, but it will be obvious in their behaviour and lifestyle.
I remember that priests would pretend to be wise after studying a few years at the seminary: and wisdom was for them to speak in a deep voice, with innocence on their face, great politeness when speaking to others, and being well groomed. But when we were scouts we would go camping somewhere in the country and steal fruit in the priest’s garden. If the priest saw you and caught you, woe to you: at that very moment the priesthood will be put aside and you will get a serious hiding. The child might cry for forgiveness but there will be no forgiveness. The same voice that was saying in a deep voice, ‘May the Lord be with you,’ will turn into a shout, ‘You, you must know who I am’. At church, their voice sounds soft but in real life, things are opposite. Go to night clubs and bars, and you will see priests drinking beer like everybody else. They prostitute their bodies and they pretend to be wise. This is human wisdom.
God’s wisdom is the fear of the Lord, whether you are handsome or ugly, God’s only command is to fear Him. The fear of the Lord is to do what is written in the Bible. If there are people among us with that gift, they must know how to control it: it is not to show off and pretend to be someone you are not but it is about accepting the leading of the Spirit of God and to humiliate yourselves in everything. This is God’s wisdom.
FIRST REQUIREMENT: GET VERY CLOSE TO GOD THROUGH THE BIBLE
When God gives you this gift, know that the first requirement is to read the Bible at every minute. Read the Bible to know that in order to fear the Lord you must have this and that, but without reading the Bible, you will never know where the fear of God is. The fear of the Lord is in your Bible. Those who have the gift of wisdom must make it grow by praying and sharing what they have with others since God gave this gift to serve others. It is not for the world to see how great we are.
HUMILITY AND SUBMISSION ARE ESSENTIAL
We know (for example) that Peter is wise, so when there is a problem, let’s call Peter. And Peter thinks in himself, ‘If they don’t come to see me, I will not go to see them. They need me, I don’t need them.’ When you lack submission, this gift will never work in you.
This is what Adam our father missed. If Adam had feared God the world would not be what it is today but because he didn’t have the fear of the Lord, he sinned with Eve and forgot his responsibility. God had created him in His image and Adam had wisdom in him because God is wise, but he totally forgot his work, gave up his responsibilities, and sinned.
If you or I have the gift of wisdom, never think that will stop you from sinning: sin will never fear you and will always be around you, it will attack you more to prove whether you are really wise or not, to confirm that what you have is really from God.
Is there a wise person who, after being abused, will turn around and have a fight with the other person? Is there a wise person who, after being told a problem, will turn around and broadcast it everywhere? Do you think that if someone talked to you today and you spread the news everywhere that person will come back tomorrow and tell you another problem if you can’t control your work/ your gift?
13. CONCLUSION
Let us stop today, that was the first step. Actually I’d rather say it was the first tenth of the first step to know how to walk in the Spirit and know our responsibilities. If you don’t respect your neighbour, never say you respect God, if you can’t live with people around you, you will never know how to live with God. So ask God to help you so that what is in you can produce good fruit on this earth, and this good fruit will produce something in people all around the world.
When I started talking about the ministries, I said, ‘No tree planted today can give fruit on the same day’, it takes time. Our works must be seen everywhere. If I plant a tree by this house today, in 3 years the tree will be taller than the person who planted it and its fruit will be seen from far. The tree will never walk around but people’s eyes will see the fruit and they will come to eat it. As people always say, ‘Children can’t help but throwing stones at the tree to get its fruit’. But why would people throw stones at a tree that doesn’t bear fruit? So, if you bear fruit, temptations will come in your life and if you are not tempted, ask yourselves, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ This is the normal Christian life. If you are not tempted, find out what’s wrong with you. Try to first know what your gifts of the Spirit are, this will tell you what is wrong so that you can fix it.
Let’s stop there. Thank you for your patience. I know it’s hard but we will talk more about it to understand better.
12. THE GIFT OF WISDOM
1 Corinthians 12:8
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;
to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
Verse 8 tells us about the Spirit giving the word of wisdom. What is wisdom according to men?
- Just knowledge of things according to the dictionary
This is what men call wisdom ‘just knowledge of things’. But for God things are miles apart from that: God says that wisdom is the fear of the Lord. When you start to fear the Lord, wisdom starts to grow in you, but if you don’t fear the Lord, you are not wise, despite your huge knowledge.
Wisdom is a gift of the Spirit. Wisdom is a hugely valuable treasure. When someone is wise, nobody might say it, but it will be obvious in their behaviour and lifestyle.
I remember that priests would pretend to be wise after studying a few years at the seminary: and wisdom was for them to speak in a deep voice, with innocence on their face, great politeness when speaking to others, and being well groomed. But when we were scouts we would go camping somewhere in the country and steal fruit in the priest’s garden. If the priest saw you and caught you, woe to you: at that very moment the priesthood will be put aside and you will get a serious hiding. The child might cry for forgiveness but there will be no forgiveness. The same voice that was saying in a deep voice, ‘May the Lord be with you,’ will turn into a shout, ‘You, you must know who I am’. At church, their voice sounds soft but in real life, things are opposite. Go to night clubs and bars, and you will see priests drinking beer like everybody else. They prostitute their bodies and they pretend to be wise. This is human wisdom.
God’s wisdom is the fear of the Lord, whether you are handsome or ugly, God’s only command is to fear Him. The fear of the Lord is to do what is written in the Bible. If there are people among us with that gift, they must know how to control it: it is not to show off and pretend to be someone you are not but it is about accepting the leading of the Spirit of God and to humiliate yourselves in everything. This is God’s wisdom.
FIRST REQUIREMENT: GET VERY CLOSE TO GOD THROUGH THE BIBLE
When God gives you this gift, know that the first requirement is to read the Bible at every minute. Read the Bible to know that in order to fear the Lord you must have this and that, but without reading the Bible, you will never know where the fear of God is. The fear of the Lord is in your Bible. Those who have the gift of wisdom must make it grow by praying and sharing what they have with others since God gave this gift to serve others. It is not for the world to see how great we are.
HUMILITY AND SUBMISSION ARE ESSENTIAL
We know (for example) that Peter is wise, so when there is a problem, let’s call Peter. And Peter thinks in himself, ‘If they don’t come to see me, I will not go to see them. They need me, I don’t need them.’ When you lack submission, this gift will never work in you.
This is what Adam our father missed. If Adam had feared God the world would not be what it is today but because he didn’t have the fear of the Lord, he sinned with Eve and forgot his responsibility. God had created him in His image and Adam had wisdom in him because God is wise, but he totally forgot his work, gave up his responsibilities, and sinned.
If you or I have the gift of wisdom, never think that will stop you from sinning: sin will never fear you and will always be around you, it will attack you more to prove whether you are really wise or not, to confirm that what you have is really from God.
Is there a wise person who, after being abused, will turn around and have a fight with the other person? Is there a wise person who, after being told a problem, will turn around and broadcast it everywhere? Do you think that if someone talked to you today and you spread the news everywhere that person will come back tomorrow and tell you another problem if you can’t control your work/ your gift?
13. CONCLUSION
Let us stop today, that was the first step. Actually I’d rather say it was the first tenth of the first step to know how to walk in the Spirit and know our responsibilities. If you don’t respect your neighbour, never say you respect God, if you can’t live with people around you, you will never know how to live with God. So ask God to help you so that what is in you can produce good fruit on this earth, and this good fruit will produce something in people all around the world.
When I started talking about the ministries, I said, ‘No tree planted today can give fruit on the same day’, it takes time. Our works must be seen everywhere. If I plant a tree by this house today, in 3 years the tree will be taller than the person who planted it and its fruit will be seen from far. The tree will never walk around but people’s eyes will see the fruit and they will come to eat it. As people always say, ‘Children can’t help but throwing stones at the tree to get its fruit’. But why would people throw stones at a tree that doesn’t bear fruit? So, if you bear fruit, temptations will come in your life and if you are not tempted, ask yourselves, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ This is the normal Christian life. If you are not tempted, find out what’s wrong with you. Try to first know what your gifts of the Spirit are, this will tell you what is wrong so that you can fix it.
Let’s stop there. Thank you for your patience. I know it’s hard but we will talk more about it to understand better.
Monday, May 24, 2010
GIFTS AND MINISTRIES (Part IV)
By Odon Bulamba (Friday 29th September 2000)
9. GOD’S PURPOSE IN GIVING MINISTRIES
Why has God prepared the ministries?
To fulfill His spiritual plan. They are useful to show His works, useful in human being’s lives, and useful to build up the body of Christ so that all the children in Christ can grow into adulthood. There are no parents that will give birth to a child and wish their death, instead every parent who gives birth to a child wishes that child to live forever. So God who also gave us life needs to see us grow.
We should have talked about 1 Corinthians 12 before talking about the spiritual gifts, but we see that all these gifts are branches coming from the ministries of the Lord.
Ephesians 4: 10-13
He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Amen! God’s goal is for us to be adults, to reach the fullness of Christ. This text gives us the 5 ministries and we realise that in man’s life the number 5 has a great meaning.
When God created the world, He made 5 continents, which has a meaning, as well as the different races on these continents. The race in Europe is not the race in America, the race in Africa is not the same as in Oceania and the Asian race is different from them all. What does that mean? God wanted to teach us spiritual lessons through the natural things, through what our eyes can see so that we might understand the great works of God. Every one of us has a head, and we all have a nose, a mouth, ears and a brain.
THE HEAD
a. The mouth
What is your mouth useful for? To speak. The mouth is to speak and this represents the ministry of evangelism: men must go and spread the good news everywhere in the world.
b. The eyes
What are the eyes useful for? To see. The church of God also needs to see and the eyes represent the ministry of prophecy. The prophet must see what is going on.
c. The nose
The nose is useful to breathe, no matter its shape, small or big, the nose allows us to breathe. We see that thanks to our nose we can have life, because if the nose doesn’t work, we can’t breathe and we might die. It is through the source of the Word of God that we have life, and it’s the biblical teaching that gives life to the spirit of man.
d. The ears
The ears are to listen. This is the ministry of pastor.
e. The brain
Above them all, there is the brain to control the whole thing. What is it?
Jesus said He is the head of the church. The rest of the body depends on the head. If you are mentally depressed, for example, the whole body will suffer, or if your eyes can’t see, the whole body suffers from being in darkness, or if your ears can’t hear, the whole body and your feet will never know the rhythm of the music, and if you are mute, you will never talk.
10. PRETENDING TO USE A GIFT
There was a mute singer who tried to tell people about his dream: people wanted to listen to his story but there was no sound to listen to. This is compared to you or me when we don’t have the gift of giving the Word and we stand in front of a crowd to preach: everybody will wander what you wanted to say. They will not understand. So if this is not your work, leave it.
What would you think of a blind telling you about colours?
When I was a child I would joke with blinds,
- What do you see here?
- I can see a hand. says the blind.
Was it true or not? It was wrong. He says, ‘I can see a hand’ but it was wrong. And many prophets are liars today. They don’t have spiritual eyes and after observing something,
- I didn’t like the way Peter left the house this morning. I think Peter did something wrong.
And when you meet someone,
- Oh you know… God revealed to me that Peter did this.
Be extremely careful with pretending to use a gift of God: you touch God’s heart and God is against us involving Him in dirty things. The Bible tells us never to take God’s name in vain, but Christians today do it. Some people don’t have spiritual ears and say, ‘I was with Hayley and she said this and that.’ But how could you hear Hayley since you have no ears?
So if we want to work for God, He will open our spiritual eyes, ears… everything so that we can really work for Him. Remember one thing: let us submit to His will. Jesus declared He is the tree of life and if you observe a tree, you see 5 parts: roots, leaves, fruit, branches, and trunk. This is to teach us something about the church: each part of the tree has a meaning, a specific role and this will never change but many try to hide under a denomination so that people will see you only on the surface when the Spirit of God doesn’t enlighten us.
11. WE HAVE A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD
So let us consider what our real work is and what our responsibilities before God are. Every one of us has a responsibility in everything they do and if we fail we will be punished more than other people on this earth would have. We are servants of God and we must remember that our abilities are greater than regular servants’. Regular Christians can’t find how to serve God, they just pray and do what they can but you have a gift and this gift must work and the celestial will demands from you to fulfill the mission you have been given. Woe to those who leave the battle field! Woe to those who will flee during the battle.
1 Corinthians 12: 2-7
Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might led.
3 Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all.
7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal.
God says that if we are prepared for His work we must understand that there are different gifts but one Spirit working in all of them. If you have the gift of singing and don’t use it but ask God to give you the gift of healing instead, God will tell you:
- What I have given you to produce fruit has not produced anything. So if you have another gift, what will you do with it? You should have sung for God’s work so that people could have heard you and be touched, but you didn’t make an effort to work on your gift.
It is like someone physically disabled and dreaming of being a soccer star with legs, when not all of those who have legs are soccer players. So let us acknowledge what we have and how we can use it, and do not envy what others have. Do you know that envy is a sin? If I envy what is in Oscar because I don’t have it, it makes me sin and if I don’t stop that I will be jealous of Oscar and I will add more sin.
Let’s understand there are different gifts of the Spirit, and we must exploit first what God has given us before asking for a second gift.
There are many ways to serve God: if God called you to be a minister in the X department, stay there, know the limits of your work and don’t wander around other ministries. Control what belongs to you. Unfortunately, most people control other people’s life better than theirs. Let us be careful with God’s work, and control what is in our spirits which is a precious treasure given by God.
9. GOD’S PURPOSE IN GIVING MINISTRIES
Why has God prepared the ministries?
To fulfill His spiritual plan. They are useful to show His works, useful in human being’s lives, and useful to build up the body of Christ so that all the children in Christ can grow into adulthood. There are no parents that will give birth to a child and wish their death, instead every parent who gives birth to a child wishes that child to live forever. So God who also gave us life needs to see us grow.
We should have talked about 1 Corinthians 12 before talking about the spiritual gifts, but we see that all these gifts are branches coming from the ministries of the Lord.
Ephesians 4: 10-13
He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Amen! God’s goal is for us to be adults, to reach the fullness of Christ. This text gives us the 5 ministries and we realise that in man’s life the number 5 has a great meaning.
When God created the world, He made 5 continents, which has a meaning, as well as the different races on these continents. The race in Europe is not the race in America, the race in Africa is not the same as in Oceania and the Asian race is different from them all. What does that mean? God wanted to teach us spiritual lessons through the natural things, through what our eyes can see so that we might understand the great works of God. Every one of us has a head, and we all have a nose, a mouth, ears and a brain.
THE HEAD
a. The mouth
What is your mouth useful for? To speak. The mouth is to speak and this represents the ministry of evangelism: men must go and spread the good news everywhere in the world.
b. The eyes
What are the eyes useful for? To see. The church of God also needs to see and the eyes represent the ministry of prophecy. The prophet must see what is going on.
c. The nose
The nose is useful to breathe, no matter its shape, small or big, the nose allows us to breathe. We see that thanks to our nose we can have life, because if the nose doesn’t work, we can’t breathe and we might die. It is through the source of the Word of God that we have life, and it’s the biblical teaching that gives life to the spirit of man.
d. The ears
The ears are to listen. This is the ministry of pastor.
e. The brain
Above them all, there is the brain to control the whole thing. What is it?
Jesus said He is the head of the church. The rest of the body depends on the head. If you are mentally depressed, for example, the whole body will suffer, or if your eyes can’t see, the whole body suffers from being in darkness, or if your ears can’t hear, the whole body and your feet will never know the rhythm of the music, and if you are mute, you will never talk.
10. PRETENDING TO USE A GIFT
There was a mute singer who tried to tell people about his dream: people wanted to listen to his story but there was no sound to listen to. This is compared to you or me when we don’t have the gift of giving the Word and we stand in front of a crowd to preach: everybody will wander what you wanted to say. They will not understand. So if this is not your work, leave it.
What would you think of a blind telling you about colours?
When I was a child I would joke with blinds,
- What do you see here?
- I can see a hand. says the blind.
Was it true or not? It was wrong. He says, ‘I can see a hand’ but it was wrong. And many prophets are liars today. They don’t have spiritual eyes and after observing something,
- I didn’t like the way Peter left the house this morning. I think Peter did something wrong.
And when you meet someone,
- Oh you know… God revealed to me that Peter did this.
Be extremely careful with pretending to use a gift of God: you touch God’s heart and God is against us involving Him in dirty things. The Bible tells us never to take God’s name in vain, but Christians today do it. Some people don’t have spiritual ears and say, ‘I was with Hayley and she said this and that.’ But how could you hear Hayley since you have no ears?
So if we want to work for God, He will open our spiritual eyes, ears… everything so that we can really work for Him. Remember one thing: let us submit to His will. Jesus declared He is the tree of life and if you observe a tree, you see 5 parts: roots, leaves, fruit, branches, and trunk. This is to teach us something about the church: each part of the tree has a meaning, a specific role and this will never change but many try to hide under a denomination so that people will see you only on the surface when the Spirit of God doesn’t enlighten us.
11. WE HAVE A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD
So let us consider what our real work is and what our responsibilities before God are. Every one of us has a responsibility in everything they do and if we fail we will be punished more than other people on this earth would have. We are servants of God and we must remember that our abilities are greater than regular servants’. Regular Christians can’t find how to serve God, they just pray and do what they can but you have a gift and this gift must work and the celestial will demands from you to fulfill the mission you have been given. Woe to those who leave the battle field! Woe to those who will flee during the battle.
1 Corinthians 12: 2-7
Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might led.
3 Wherefore I make known unto you, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus is anathema; and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all things in all.
7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal.
God says that if we are prepared for His work we must understand that there are different gifts but one Spirit working in all of them. If you have the gift of singing and don’t use it but ask God to give you the gift of healing instead, God will tell you:
- What I have given you to produce fruit has not produced anything. So if you have another gift, what will you do with it? You should have sung for God’s work so that people could have heard you and be touched, but you didn’t make an effort to work on your gift.
It is like someone physically disabled and dreaming of being a soccer star with legs, when not all of those who have legs are soccer players. So let us acknowledge what we have and how we can use it, and do not envy what others have. Do you know that envy is a sin? If I envy what is in Oscar because I don’t have it, it makes me sin and if I don’t stop that I will be jealous of Oscar and I will add more sin.
Let’s understand there are different gifts of the Spirit, and we must exploit first what God has given us before asking for a second gift.
There are many ways to serve God: if God called you to be a minister in the X department, stay there, know the limits of your work and don’t wander around other ministries. Control what belongs to you. Unfortunately, most people control other people’s life better than theirs. Let us be careful with God’s work, and control what is in our spirits which is a precious treasure given by God.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
GIFTS AND MINISTRIES (Part III)
By Odon Bulamba (Friday 29th September 2000)
5. ABOUT OBEDIENCE
Hebrews 5:7-8
Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;
The Bible says that although Jesus was the Son of God, He would always beg God and shed tears when praying. The only reason for God to answer Jesus’ prayer was that He was submitted and obedient. This is essential for us; in order to be heard by God, we must first submit to Him. Jesus learnt obedience through all His sufferings, so if we don’t suffer today how can we learn obedience? Do you want God to treat you harshly so that you will obey Him by force? Let us stop and think and acknowledge what we should do.
OBEDIENCE THROUGH HIGH DISCRETION
God always communicates with His servants. When He gives us a message, we must know how to protect it. Unfortunately, most Christians today feel that God’s messages are heavy in their heart and they will feel urged to find someone to unload the charge.
- Brother Guillaume, you know what? Today God revealed to me that Hayley did that.
- Ange, you live with Hayley… you know that she is not doing well, because God revealed that to me.
And God will see that you are not submitted to Him: you were not given a message to broadcast it if God hasn’t given you permission. Your mission with this message is not to tell everyone but to sort something out. This is what we call ‘to control your mouth, keep your tongue and keep secrets’. Yet, many people think that these secrets are about our natural life and can be shared with everyone.
You must know that there is no secret under this sun for God and He reveals it to who He wants. When God saw His servant in the wrong somewhere, a king for example, He used to send a prophet to talk to them in order to correct the mistake.
When God uses us, we must know our mission’s boundaries, and not to be nosy in other people’s business. If you are the Minister of Education, control your own business and don’t try to control the Ministry of Justice (for example).
OBEDIENCE THROUGH HARDSHIP
In order to be prepared to serve God most servants go through serious hardship. God gave us (people here) this grace not to have known what serious hardship is.
1 Kings 19:1-4
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel send a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
Here the servant of God Elijah preferred death to life. But God has allowed suffering through persecution to confirm what was in him.
How many times were you persecuted for the glory of God?
Numbers 11:11-15
And Moses said unto Jehovah, Wherefore hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
We see the same thing with Moses: instead of carrying on, he wanted to die.
In 1 Kings, Jezebel was the prophet’s enemy and she wanted to exterminate Elijah.
6. OUR FIRST ENEMY IS TO SEEK SUCCESS
Today, we think that our enemies are people around us because we want success above all. But if you want to be successful, the gifts God has put in you will never work and you will never serve God. When someone finds healing after their prayer, for example, most people seek their own glory. They wait for a ‘thank you’, they wait for that testimony to be broadcast at church and to hear in front of the whole church: ‘Michael prayed for me, I was healed, so Michael is a servant of God.’ That would give him real joy.
This is exactly what kills the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Remember that when Jesus prayed for the sick, He would say, ‘Go and don’t say anything to anyone’. But the Christians today are unable to do this because we are not submitted to God’s work. If God tells you to speak, speak but if God doesn’t, keep quiet.
7. OUR SECOND ENEMY IS MONEY
We all know that that money contains things that make us impure. Let’s be careful with money.
8. THIRD ENEMY WHEN OUR BELOVED ONES COME BEFORE GOD
Third thing is our marriages, our partner
- Should I take care of my husband Michael or of God? thinks Sylvie.
- Should I take care of Sylvie first or of the work of God? thinks Michael.
Others will talk about their fiancée. The Bible gives us light about all of this and the teaching we have is a very useful to guide us in the work of God.
5. ABOUT OBEDIENCE
Hebrews 5:7-8
Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;
The Bible says that although Jesus was the Son of God, He would always beg God and shed tears when praying. The only reason for God to answer Jesus’ prayer was that He was submitted and obedient. This is essential for us; in order to be heard by God, we must first submit to Him. Jesus learnt obedience through all His sufferings, so if we don’t suffer today how can we learn obedience? Do you want God to treat you harshly so that you will obey Him by force? Let us stop and think and acknowledge what we should do.
OBEDIENCE THROUGH HIGH DISCRETION
God always communicates with His servants. When He gives us a message, we must know how to protect it. Unfortunately, most Christians today feel that God’s messages are heavy in their heart and they will feel urged to find someone to unload the charge.
- Brother Guillaume, you know what? Today God revealed to me that Hayley did that.
- Ange, you live with Hayley… you know that she is not doing well, because God revealed that to me.
And God will see that you are not submitted to Him: you were not given a message to broadcast it if God hasn’t given you permission. Your mission with this message is not to tell everyone but to sort something out. This is what we call ‘to control your mouth, keep your tongue and keep secrets’. Yet, many people think that these secrets are about our natural life and can be shared with everyone.
You must know that there is no secret under this sun for God and He reveals it to who He wants. When God saw His servant in the wrong somewhere, a king for example, He used to send a prophet to talk to them in order to correct the mistake.
When God uses us, we must know our mission’s boundaries, and not to be nosy in other people’s business. If you are the Minister of Education, control your own business and don’t try to control the Ministry of Justice (for example).
OBEDIENCE THROUGH HARDSHIP
In order to be prepared to serve God most servants go through serious hardship. God gave us (people here) this grace not to have known what serious hardship is.
1 Kings 19:1-4
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel send a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time.
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
Here the servant of God Elijah preferred death to life. But God has allowed suffering through persecution to confirm what was in him.
How many times were you persecuted for the glory of God?
Numbers 11:11-15
And Moses said unto Jehovah, Wherefore hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
We see the same thing with Moses: instead of carrying on, he wanted to die.
In 1 Kings, Jezebel was the prophet’s enemy and she wanted to exterminate Elijah.
6. OUR FIRST ENEMY IS TO SEEK SUCCESS
Today, we think that our enemies are people around us because we want success above all. But if you want to be successful, the gifts God has put in you will never work and you will never serve God. When someone finds healing after their prayer, for example, most people seek their own glory. They wait for a ‘thank you’, they wait for that testimony to be broadcast at church and to hear in front of the whole church: ‘Michael prayed for me, I was healed, so Michael is a servant of God.’ That would give him real joy.
This is exactly what kills the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Remember that when Jesus prayed for the sick, He would say, ‘Go and don’t say anything to anyone’. But the Christians today are unable to do this because we are not submitted to God’s work. If God tells you to speak, speak but if God doesn’t, keep quiet.
7. OUR SECOND ENEMY IS MONEY
We all know that that money contains things that make us impure. Let’s be careful with money.
8. THIRD ENEMY WHEN OUR BELOVED ONES COME BEFORE GOD
Third thing is our marriages, our partner
- Should I take care of my husband Michael or of God? thinks Sylvie.
- Should I take care of Sylvie first or of the work of God? thinks Michael.
Others will talk about their fiancée. The Bible gives us light about all of this and the teaching we have is a very useful to guide us in the work of God.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
GIFTS AND MINISTRIES (Part II)
By Odon Bulamba (Friday 29th September 2000)
2. BEING A MINISTER IS DEMANDING WORK
This is what God is teaching us. He gives us everything that’s necessary for us to learn. When we learn, we must practice these things to become someone in God’s work. People often think that serving God is funny and easy, but I tell you that being a minister in a country is a very, very demanding job. Every 5 minutes the phone rings and every 10 minutes a problem arises; and ministers need secretaries in their offices to help them with their work. And because their workload is so heavy the government takes charge of the cost of their houses, transport etc. The minister might have a driving licence, but he will never drive, he has a chauffeur so that all his thoughts can be focused on the country’s wellbeing. If they drove with such a busy mind, they might cause an accident.
The Christians’ head is the Spirit in us. This Spirit in us must work, must think of our future and prepare God’s plan in our lives; God has already provided for us a chauffeur, a house etc (spiritually).
When the applicant minister agrees with the President of the Republic to become minister, he must remember he is the boss of the department: a little mistake means destroying the reputation of a whole country. That is exactly what we are called to do now. God has helped us since the beginning to be equipped and get to that level.
3. FIRST THINGS FIRST: THE LIGHT
The very first thing God gives us is in Proverbs 20:27
Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah,
Searching all his innermost parts.
So, the Spirit of God is given to enlighten man, and the Spirit of God never enlightens the physical man but the spiritual man. Someone prophesying hasn’t been enlightened by God in their physical being but in their inner being. What is able to be enlightened in man, his spirit, must in turn enlighten the world.
The Bible recalls how some people served God and could dialogue with Him. God was very close to them. I was wandering how this could happen, how every 2 or 15 minutes, they say, ‘God said this and that’ until I discovered that God enlightens their spirit all the time. And there is only one way to be enlightened by God; it is to obey the Word of God, to be flexible before His Word and answer His call. Most people today don’t read the Word that’s why they don’t have the Spirit of God in them. Their spirit is darkened because they don’t obey it, and although they always cry out to God,
- God, we want to see, we want your light
God answers
- If a child refuses to study, nobody will force them.
Their parents might try everything to push them, if the child refuses, nothing else can be done.
4. GOD GAVE US A BODY BUT ASKS US TO REGARD IT AS DEAD
And the same thing is true between God and us. God always offers to enlighten our spirit, but we refuse it because we are disobedient and don’t want to be humiliated by the world or by the Word of God and we don’t want to be flexible in our decisions and our actions.
My Mum told me one day,
- Have you ever seen a corpse refusing to be put in a coffin?
- Never.
We must be corpses regarding the Will of God and may God treat us Christians how it pleases Him. If He decides that eagles will eat the corpse meat, let us accept it. If He decides that the corpse will be buried somewhere, let it be so. In that way, the Spirit of God will enlighten us. And Paul said, ‘I treated my body harshly’, so if you don’t treat your body harshly you can’t benefit from the gifts of the Spirit of God: you might have a minimum of them but you will never have what you actually want.
God sent Paul in the desert for 3 years, and he suffered greatly, but it was for God’s glory. What about you and me, have we ever suffered for the glory of God in our lives? Have we accepted to put what we have been taught into practice yet?
1 Corinthians 9:27
but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means,
after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Paul declares he must buffet his body in order not to be rejected in the end.
Why did he say that? He knew that among all what was in him, the Spirit had the greatest value. If we are not careful with our body, we might fail in the end.
This is the first problem with the Christians today:
we might know the Word of God but we refuse to buffet our bodies.
GOD GAVE US EYES, BUT ASKED US TO BE BLIND
When I see someone doing something I don’t like, I feel in my heart I hate them but if I didn’t have eyes I couldn’t hate that person but because my eyes belong to my body, they push me to hate. Therefore, I must buffet my body and tell my eyes, ‘My eyes, calm down. If you saw a mistake, it is not your problem; your only concern is the spirit in you’
You have learnt something from someone,
- You know… Ange drank beer yesterday
- I knew it. I knew she will do it one day.
- Why do you judge Ange that way? says the Spirit in you.
So, if you didn’t have ears to listen to that person, you couldn’t hate Ange. So, we must buffet our body, and close our ears. Everyone has two eyes, but we must treat them harshly so that we might be blind, let’s lock our mouth and become mute and the Word of God will teach us freely how the Spirit works in us.
When I was young, I had a little sister who one day went to a neighbour’s house. This person was disabled and would always hit my younger sister with his false leg. One day my sister found the false leg and she took the leg saying, ‘Follow me if you are a man’. The person couldn’t walk because something was missing.
Similarly, if we combine false and natural members and the false thing is stolen, we will become disabled. The false prosthetic members is our body, the one we have on earth and if we use it to do the spiritual work, we can be sure that one day, Satan will steal the prosthetic thing and everybody will see who we really are.
2. BEING A MINISTER IS DEMANDING WORK
This is what God is teaching us. He gives us everything that’s necessary for us to learn. When we learn, we must practice these things to become someone in God’s work. People often think that serving God is funny and easy, but I tell you that being a minister in a country is a very, very demanding job. Every 5 minutes the phone rings and every 10 minutes a problem arises; and ministers need secretaries in their offices to help them with their work. And because their workload is so heavy the government takes charge of the cost of their houses, transport etc. The minister might have a driving licence, but he will never drive, he has a chauffeur so that all his thoughts can be focused on the country’s wellbeing. If they drove with such a busy mind, they might cause an accident.
The Christians’ head is the Spirit in us. This Spirit in us must work, must think of our future and prepare God’s plan in our lives; God has already provided for us a chauffeur, a house etc (spiritually).
When the applicant minister agrees with the President of the Republic to become minister, he must remember he is the boss of the department: a little mistake means destroying the reputation of a whole country. That is exactly what we are called to do now. God has helped us since the beginning to be equipped and get to that level.
3. FIRST THINGS FIRST: THE LIGHT
The very first thing God gives us is in Proverbs 20:27
Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah,
Searching all his innermost parts.
So, the Spirit of God is given to enlighten man, and the Spirit of God never enlightens the physical man but the spiritual man. Someone prophesying hasn’t been enlightened by God in their physical being but in their inner being. What is able to be enlightened in man, his spirit, must in turn enlighten the world.
The Bible recalls how some people served God and could dialogue with Him. God was very close to them. I was wandering how this could happen, how every 2 or 15 minutes, they say, ‘God said this and that’ until I discovered that God enlightens their spirit all the time. And there is only one way to be enlightened by God; it is to obey the Word of God, to be flexible before His Word and answer His call. Most people today don’t read the Word that’s why they don’t have the Spirit of God in them. Their spirit is darkened because they don’t obey it, and although they always cry out to God,
- God, we want to see, we want your light
God answers
- If a child refuses to study, nobody will force them.
Their parents might try everything to push them, if the child refuses, nothing else can be done.
4. GOD GAVE US A BODY BUT ASKS US TO REGARD IT AS DEAD
And the same thing is true between God and us. God always offers to enlighten our spirit, but we refuse it because we are disobedient and don’t want to be humiliated by the world or by the Word of God and we don’t want to be flexible in our decisions and our actions.
My Mum told me one day,
- Have you ever seen a corpse refusing to be put in a coffin?
- Never.
We must be corpses regarding the Will of God and may God treat us Christians how it pleases Him. If He decides that eagles will eat the corpse meat, let us accept it. If He decides that the corpse will be buried somewhere, let it be so. In that way, the Spirit of God will enlighten us. And Paul said, ‘I treated my body harshly’, so if you don’t treat your body harshly you can’t benefit from the gifts of the Spirit of God: you might have a minimum of them but you will never have what you actually want.
God sent Paul in the desert for 3 years, and he suffered greatly, but it was for God’s glory. What about you and me, have we ever suffered for the glory of God in our lives? Have we accepted to put what we have been taught into practice yet?
1 Corinthians 9:27
but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means,
after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
Paul declares he must buffet his body in order not to be rejected in the end.
Why did he say that? He knew that among all what was in him, the Spirit had the greatest value. If we are not careful with our body, we might fail in the end.
This is the first problem with the Christians today:
we might know the Word of God but we refuse to buffet our bodies.
GOD GAVE US EYES, BUT ASKED US TO BE BLIND
When I see someone doing something I don’t like, I feel in my heart I hate them but if I didn’t have eyes I couldn’t hate that person but because my eyes belong to my body, they push me to hate. Therefore, I must buffet my body and tell my eyes, ‘My eyes, calm down. If you saw a mistake, it is not your problem; your only concern is the spirit in you’
You have learnt something from someone,
- You know… Ange drank beer yesterday
- I knew it. I knew she will do it one day.
- Why do you judge Ange that way? says the Spirit in you.
So, if you didn’t have ears to listen to that person, you couldn’t hate Ange. So, we must buffet our body, and close our ears. Everyone has two eyes, but we must treat them harshly so that we might be blind, let’s lock our mouth and become mute and the Word of God will teach us freely how the Spirit works in us.
When I was young, I had a little sister who one day went to a neighbour’s house. This person was disabled and would always hit my younger sister with his false leg. One day my sister found the false leg and she took the leg saying, ‘Follow me if you are a man’. The person couldn’t walk because something was missing.
Similarly, if we combine false and natural members and the false thing is stolen, we will become disabled. The false prosthetic members is our body, the one we have on earth and if we use it to do the spiritual work, we can be sure that one day, Satan will steal the prosthetic thing and everybody will see who we really are.
Friday, May 21, 2010
GIFTS AND MINISTRIES (Part I)
By Odon Bulamba (Friday 29th September 2000)
Let’s thank the Lord one more time because He is always good. He gave us everything that is necessary, so we must thank him. God still gives us His grace to know who He is, despite our little mistakes we still make. Many people on earth want to serve God one way or another, but God didn’t choose them. Some are wealthy and could give their fortune for God’s work, in order to help other servants. Those who do it don’t always realise they are supporting God’s work because according to human thoughts, a man knows he serves God when he preaches the Word of God. We must realise that God’s work is multidimensional.
You might wonder why I said that many people want to serve God when God hasn’t chosen them; this is to help you understand you must keep what you have been given. Several people need God’s Word in their lives today: they are spiritually dead and they might be looking for God’s Word with a torch and can’t find it while we have been given this Word and we often neglect it. It sometimes hurts God’s heart. So let’s watch out that God will not regret choosing us as He regretted creating man in Genesis 6:6.
1. WHAT IS A ‘MINISTER’?
Today we are going to talk about the ministries of God. I learnt today at school that New Zealand elects its ministers. In New Zealand ministers are very important people who are to be respected and they always have a good reputation and are highly educated. They must be members of the parliament before becoming ministers. The prime minister must also be a member of the parliament as well as the leader of their political party. These are stages.
We see a pattern for Christians in all of this. If today you want to become a member of the parliament (MP), will your behaviour make people vote for you or not? Is your level of education high enough so that people will vote for you or not? Is what you say good enough to become a MP? If people vote for you today, will they regret it tomorrow? To choose their ministers, the Prime Minister will interview some MPs. In countries that have a president, they will also call and interview those who have applied for the position of ministers. During the interview the applicants are given a job description, the standards and agreements are signed.
- Peter, if you want to be the minister of justice, do you know the law?
- No, I don’t.
- So, Peter, you can’t be a minister.
- Michelle, you want to be the health minister?
- Do you know anything about health or medicine?
- Yes, I know medicine.
- So you can work for me.
-
And this is how God sorts us out and gives to everyone according to His will. First, God looks at what is inside us, what He has given us and He sees how much we have worked with it before giving us greater things. It’s like a parent paying the school fees for his son to learn at school. The parents have planned something for the future of their child, thinking that after completing their studies they will be someone in this world.
One day I was here in this house and there was a discussion about Nathanael’s future. Sylvie wanted him to study music (the piano) and his Dad wanted him to study law, and Nathanael said he wanted to be a missionary. So as early as possible the child is prepared to be someone in the future and if Nathanael decides to stop his studies after 5 years, he will be the loser. If the child doesn’t do their homework and doesn’t revise their exams, they will fail and this will damage their future.
Let’s thank the Lord one more time because He is always good. He gave us everything that is necessary, so we must thank him. God still gives us His grace to know who He is, despite our little mistakes we still make. Many people on earth want to serve God one way or another, but God didn’t choose them. Some are wealthy and could give their fortune for God’s work, in order to help other servants. Those who do it don’t always realise they are supporting God’s work because according to human thoughts, a man knows he serves God when he preaches the Word of God. We must realise that God’s work is multidimensional.
You might wonder why I said that many people want to serve God when God hasn’t chosen them; this is to help you understand you must keep what you have been given. Several people need God’s Word in their lives today: they are spiritually dead and they might be looking for God’s Word with a torch and can’t find it while we have been given this Word and we often neglect it. It sometimes hurts God’s heart. So let’s watch out that God will not regret choosing us as He regretted creating man in Genesis 6:6.
1. WHAT IS A ‘MINISTER’?
Today we are going to talk about the ministries of God. I learnt today at school that New Zealand elects its ministers. In New Zealand ministers are very important people who are to be respected and they always have a good reputation and are highly educated. They must be members of the parliament before becoming ministers. The prime minister must also be a member of the parliament as well as the leader of their political party. These are stages.
We see a pattern for Christians in all of this. If today you want to become a member of the parliament (MP), will your behaviour make people vote for you or not? Is your level of education high enough so that people will vote for you or not? Is what you say good enough to become a MP? If people vote for you today, will they regret it tomorrow? To choose their ministers, the Prime Minister will interview some MPs. In countries that have a president, they will also call and interview those who have applied for the position of ministers. During the interview the applicants are given a job description, the standards and agreements are signed.
- Peter, if you want to be the minister of justice, do you know the law?
- No, I don’t.
- So, Peter, you can’t be a minister.
- Michelle, you want to be the health minister?
- Do you know anything about health or medicine?
- Yes, I know medicine.
- So you can work for me.
-
And this is how God sorts us out and gives to everyone according to His will. First, God looks at what is inside us, what He has given us and He sees how much we have worked with it before giving us greater things. It’s like a parent paying the school fees for his son to learn at school. The parents have planned something for the future of their child, thinking that after completing their studies they will be someone in this world.
One day I was here in this house and there was a discussion about Nathanael’s future. Sylvie wanted him to study music (the piano) and his Dad wanted him to study law, and Nathanael said he wanted to be a missionary. So as early as possible the child is prepared to be someone in the future and if Nathanael decides to stop his studies after 5 years, he will be the loser. If the child doesn’t do their homework and doesn’t revise their exams, they will fail and this will damage their future.
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