1 Corinthians 3:18-23
A man may find his heart distracted. A guy may become lost and trapped in the accolades of men. Sometimes it is out of the sincerity of the heart of people to honor the man of God, but as a minister of God, you must be careful not to become caught up in obtaining the glory. When you are privileged to be used by God and to do certain things either in the church or the kingdom, don’t let men put the accolades on you. Let no man glory in men no matter how much God uses them. There is no height a man can get to that he’ll be worshipable. You don’t belong to any man; your loyalty is to Christ. If your loyalty is above Christ, then something is wrong.
1 Corinthians 3:3-11
In this text, Apollos and Paul are simply ministers, earthen vessels. It is a deception of the heart to believe that your man of God is superior to another. People take sides with men of God online and use nasty words against one another. You already have a fraction in your heart, and if you are not careful, you will eventually leave Christ out of the picture. What you see in any ministry or life is the work of God, not man. The Bible did not say that planting or watering caused the rise; rather, God did.
Even with our best efforts, we may not succeed. It has nothing to do with you; it is God giving increase. The focus will be on God rather than Apollos or Paul. He that waters and he that plants are one, which means they are placed on the same pedestal. None of them is superior to the others. Several factors can give one a sense of superiority, including pride of grace, space, speed, size, resources, class, and numbers. When you have some resources available to you, you can see the true state of your heart. Sometimes a man is unaware that pride has crept in. Every man shall receive according to his own labor.
Colossians 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily (KJV).
When we see a man with a burden, we know that the Lord is working inside that individual. Behind the labor there is something working in them. The labor is driven by someone working. The work is mighty. His work is revealed mightily. When we see anything called a great manifestation, we must see that it is by God. It is about the one that is working but we don’t see. His efforts have a significant impact on us. He works inside us both to do and work in us mightily.
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen (KJV).
Paul says, “Now unto Him that is able to do.” If caution is not exercised men will assume. We must be aware of the one that is working. We may preach and prepare by taking notes, but we must not be conditioned to limit God’s power and demonstration. The Lord will demonstrate Himself by the utterance of the preacher and not about the study but the workings through men.
How many times did Paul ask the people to pray for him? His focus is on scripture. This is why we don’t study to preach. We must not be discovered relying on our preaching notes. The Holy Spirit exists far beyond it. We are not saying one should not prepare and compile notes, but we must recognize that the Lord gives the utterance. It is not necessary or required that we finish our notes. We must not be found hurrying through sermons. There is a limit to what the audience can accept, especially when suspense has set in. It’s not about the house, we are preaching to Christ’s people, not our own. We do not determine a man’s menu. He is the owner.
The preacher may come there on a regular basis, but there is someone that gives an increase. The Lord gives the increase. That I have prepared many things and have a better comprehension of the soul; He understands their hearts. He can have their hearts. The fact that you are a singer who prepares songs for a service—what about the Holy Spirit working, breathing on us, and taking charge of that moment? There is nothing greater than the Lord taking the stage. Can we realize that it isn’t about us? We must recognize that we have a single audience. Regardless of the number of attendees, there is only one audience. The audience is God. We may feel fantastic because we are singing.
We must recognize that when we come forward to minister to the Lord through song, we should be aware that the individual is leading the entire audience to minister to the LordIt is not about the singer or responses to the songs. These should not be our determinants. The singer leading does not set the standard of worship. It should not be determined because we are experiencing goosebumps. Worship has nothing to do with how fast or slow the beats or songs are. Praise and worship have nothing to do with the beat. We are in too much of a hurry to end the worship session before allowing the Holy Spirit to work.
During meetings, ministers often prioritize their own agenda over God’s. He is already fixed in his mind. Prayer is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Go to the place of prayer with a burden; if that is your concern, you will not be short on prayer points. God is capable of doing. He is working on you. No one is too small for God to complete his purpose.
miraculous
There are times in your life when you discern God’s will, which is completely different from ministering to the sick. Many people suffer from the same condition that God used them to heal. It’s mainly about him working through us. The heart of the man whom God will use must see that he is an earthen vessel containing the treasure.
It is our recognition, trust, and reliance on him that allows the miraculous to unfold.
There has never been a moment when the operation of the supernatural was dependent on your prayers. It is of him. The balance is that we pray and trust in his power at work, not in our own activities. Being a believer does not imply that affliction or sickness will disappear. Simply understand that you are a vessel, and the worker is working tirelessly through you. The only difference between a believer with results and one without is that the worker is working tirelessly through him. Consciousness of God’s power is essential for relying on Him. We are constantly aware of the power at work in us, and we recognize that we are earthen vessels.
Our responsibility is to acknowledge the power that is working in us, and there is no need for special preparation for the supernatural. Spiritual practices such as fasting do not make this possible. He is constantly active. Fasting must be done with understanding. The power of God is not dependent on us.