How To Be Empowered As Jesus Was In His Ministries

How to Be Empowered As Jesus was in His Ministries (Luke 4:14-19)

Few people seem to be living fully empowered lives today. By living with the power of Christ we are assured that we can do everything God asks us to do with the help of Christ who gives us the strength and power. (Phil. 4:13)

Illustration: There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.

Billy Sunday in a sermon, "Wonderful," quoted in The Real Billy Sunday.

The following are nineteen guidelines for being empowered in your ministry as Jesus.

1. Only the Holy Spirit enables us to successfully do ministry. The Spirit of God is the one wh empowers, enlightenes and directs us to the kinds of tasks that are specially designed for our gifts and abilities. Let us trust the Spirit of God to empower us in the same kind of ministries that Jesus engaged in. Only through the Spirit of the living God can we be under full power and authority to accomplish what He calls us to do. Anything less would mean operating under the energy of the flesh and that is a recipe for disaster. Jesus once said,

" The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me (The Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity). To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord (the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound)." (Luke 4:18,19)

2. Only the Spirit of God can help us fulfill what God intends for each person. Only the omniscient Spirit of God knows what is best for every person in each moment for every situation. Only the Spirit of God has the omnipotence to be able to give the strength, courage and authority to overcome the opposition to God’s righteous ministries.

3. Only the Spirit of God be able to tread boldly ahead in areas that are yet to be navigated. The Lord Jesus knows the way when there seems to be no way. He sent His Holy Spirit to be our navigator through all of the troubles and stormy seas of life.

4. Only the Spirit of God is able to help us envision what kind of ministries are of greatest priority to God. He helps us avoid majoring on the minors. The Spirit of God gives us the confidence that we will be able to face the judgment seat of Christ with the confidence that we have accomplished the work He gave us to do with the help of Christ who gave us the strength and power.

5. Only the Spirit of God gives a full account of Christ’s undertaking, and the work he came into the world to do. The Spirit qualifies us to do what we could otherwise not have the credentials, abilities or faculties to handle difficult ministry assignments.

6. Only the Spirit of God is able to hand out the right gifts, abilities and talents to the people who are most fit for each particular ministry. Every gift and grace we have for the ministry is provided by the Spirit of God. He gives the Spirit without measure or limit. Praise God for the all sufficient grace that equips us to do the work He wants us to accomplish. We can be confident that the Spirit of God is able to keep evangelists still ministering amidst persecution, hardship or adversity.

7. Only the Spirit of God has the right to confer upon each individual the gifts that are most suited to their personality. The Spirit of God knows what gifts are needed for each temperament. The Holy Spirit has the wisdom to know the best gifts for every circumstance so as to not cause one to be overly tempted to be puffed up with pride.

8. Only the Spirit of God commissions us to do His ministries. The Holy Spirit of God equips, supplies and makes it official that we are in the ministries that God ordains for us. He anoints and sends us to where He wants us to be. When He anoints us He fits us for any undertaking that He believes we will be able to handle. He alone reserves the right to appoint people to the place and situation that is most strategic for the greater purposes of God’s kingdom and righteousness.

Application: I praise God that He knew best when to shut the door for my ministry in Africa and at the same time opened up a door for ministry in the USA. I honor and worship and thank God for His perfect timing, anointing and sending me to Trinity College where He is using me for His greater glory and purposes in ways that only He could orchestrate.