FOR MY GRANDSON JACOB, I'm so proud of your decision to answer God's calling to be God's prophet, as a youth pastor. You are following the path created for you, and spoken over you, before you were even born. I've been in ministry for close to 40 years and I can say, without a doubt, it is the highest and most fulfilling calling you could ever accept. Like Luke Skywalker and the military officers you have studied, you will find that your assignment is a constant fight for the highest good. It won't often be easy, but it will always be exciting. I wrote this for you.
What do you do when rejected? How do you handle disappointments? What circumstances throw you off course? What troubles cause you to give up and quit? Who are what are you most afraid of? Sickness, rejection, or loss of a loved one?
Do you know your assignment on this earth? Do you know the work God created you to accomplish here? For you are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God ordained in advance of your birth, that you should walk in. He even set a path for you and made this assignment ready for you. (Eph 2:10). What causes you to abandon your post or question your calling? My friend Alita Allen said, "Discipline your disappointments". Stick with your troubles longer! Stop quitting or losing heart over various trials that certainly will come. Pray for more faith and do something that will move you back toward your goals and dreams GOD placed within your heart. NEVER entertain the thought to doubt in the dark what God gave you in the light. He hasn't changed his mind about the dream he put there--but your fears might one day try to.
Yeshua, at the end of only 3 short years of an incredible ministry assignment, was able to confidently say to His Father, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do". More than any other living soul, Christ felt rejection! More than once he was sought after to be stoned or killed because His assignment was to speak Truth and reveal Himself as God in the flesh and to show what the Father was truly like. Our LORD stood for the truth and they didn't love the truth but preferred to embrace the lies instead. If you go back and read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and take note of every time Christ stood for truth and was rejected for it, you might be amazed.
Being a minister of the Gospel is not fun or easy or even comfortable. In fact, if your goal is to feel accepted and comfortable and for life to be easy and fun, you just might not be on the right path. Nothing worth eternal value comes without a measure of struggle and pain. But the joy to come far exceeds the temporary afflictions we endure here. One day, the accuser of the brethren will be cast down and we will triumph over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony, as we do not love our lives so much as to shrink from death.
The Lord saved a man named Saul on the road to Damascus, and said, "This man is My chosen instrument to proclaim My name to the gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel and I am going to show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake" (Acts 9:15-16). Saul became Paul and indeed he suffered for the name of the LORD. This is the truth. Ministry was never intended to be easy or fun. It is an assignment and it is unto death. Paul was imprisoned for his assignment of truth, he was flogged severely, exposed to death again and again. He received 40 lashes minus one FIVE TIMES, he was beaten with rods 3 times, once he was pelted with stones, 3 times he was shipwrecked and a day and a night in the open sea. He traveled on many long journeys. He was in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his fellow Jews, in danger from the Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers. He labored more than any other minister and toiled and went often without sleep. He knew hunger and thirst and often went without food. He experienced cold and being naked and besides all of this, he faced the daily pressure of his concern for all the churches. Paul knew what it meant to suffer for Christ and yet, at the very end of his life on earth, he was able to say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith". What is easy or fun about a fight or race like that? But the JOY Paul experienced in all his hardships was worth more than any life of ease or luxury he could have attained as a worldly man. Just read Philippians to see where true joy comes from!
Here's the challenge: 1) Know your assignment(s), 2) Stay the course, fight the good fight like a good soldier, 3) Discipline your disappointments, 4) Stick with your troubles longer; don't quit, 5) Pray for more faith, 6) Set your face like flint and keep your eyes on the prize, 7) Be about your Father's business, pleasing Him, not men.
8) Build your hope on the firm foundation of Christ, 9) Remember only treasure in heaven remains, the rest will turn to dust and decay, 10) Make it your life's goal to KNOW THE LORD, truly.
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