I meet with this three young pastors and ministry leaders. There is nothing more important to me than this, and there are few things that I enjoy more.
These leaders are my heroes. They have answered the call to live in the trenches of spiritual warfare, shepherding the body of Christ and dealing with the full range of joys and hardships that are inevitable in ministry.
I love walking with pastors and leaders through the twisted roads, the hills and valleys, and the sunny days and stormy nights of ministry. But it can be exhausting and discouraging.
Where does a ministry leader turn for hope, motivation, and courage? Time and time again, I have run to the words of my Savior in The Great Commission :
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Matthew 28:16–20)
This two-part promise is why church leaders can get of bed each morning and face another ministry burden.
There is no situation, location, or relationship outside of God’s authority and sovereign rule. Everything in heaven and on earth is under his command.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
I don’t know if you’ve ever considered this, but the faithfulness of God’s promises to us is only as reliable as the extent of his sovereignty. God can only guarantee the sure delivery of his promises in the places over which he has control.
(I can guarantee what I promise to you in my house because I have some authority there, but I cannot make the same promises for my neighbor’s house, over which I have no control.)
“As you minister, you can bank on everything I have promised you because I rule every place where you will need those promises to be fulfilled.”
God’s promises are concrete because his sovereignty is complete!
“Behold, I am with you always.”
This promise is much deeper than Jesus saying, “I’ll be there for you.” Jesus is taking one of the names of God: “I Am.”
He declares, “Know that wherever you go, the I Am will be with you, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one on whom all the covenant promises rest, the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the one who is Alpha and Omega.”
Today you can have hope, confidence, and courage. Why? Because of the completeness of Christ’s authority, the inescapability of his presence, and the surety of his promises!
Christ is confident in his ministry leaders not because of what is in them and what they will do, but because he knows what is in himself and what he will do.
Jerry Ignacio
God bless..
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