Called to the Ministry?

Are you called to the ministry of Messiah Yeshua? Are you zealous to fulfill the calling that the Almighty has upon your life? If you answer is “Yes”, then I would like to share a few practical lessons for moving forward in that calling.

The following practical lessons will start out with a negative statement, then proceed to supporting Scriptural examples, and then finish with at least one practical application. Ready? Let’s get started.

Practical Lesson #1

Do not be so zealous to be established in your ministry that you attempt to make it happen your own way – when you want it to happen rather than seeking to know Elohim’s way and when He wants it to happen.

Elohim has a purpose for your ministry in His kingdom. His ministry purpose in you is linked to His appointed times, as it is written:

“To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecc 3:1).

The word “season” in the above verse is used by the KJV translators to translate the Hebrew word: זְמָן ‘ze-Man’, which means: an appointed time. Therefore, that part of the verse could read: “To everything there is an appointed time…” Your ministry has an appointed time. Don’t miss the appointment. Anticipate it and be ready for it (II Tim. 2:4).

Always be in the process of personal preparation through fellowship with Elohim (Rev. 3:20; II Tim. 2:15) and be directed by His Spirit towards the next appointed time when He will bring forth His gift in you to accomplish His purpose; even if that purpose is to bring the life of Messiah Yeshua to only one person whose life He has caused to intersected with yours.

Practical Lesson #2

Be careful not to seize an apparent opportunity or accept an offer without prayerfully discerning your own desires, the true agenda behind the offer, and what is the will of Elohim.

Satan offered Messiah Yeshua the opportunity to rule over all the kingdoms of this world; but, there was a hidden agenda behind the offer. The hidden agenda was that Yeshua would have had to become subservient to Satan. Yeshua knew that it was written of Him in the Psalms:

“I will declare the decree: Yehovah hath said unto Me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (Psa 2:7-8)

Well, guess who else knew that? Yes, Satan. Although Yeshua knew that the kingdoms of this world were His by inheritance, He did not seize the opportunity offered to Him by Satan. Yeshua did not accept the rational that says, “God promised it to me, but He’s using Satan to give it to me.” That rational is a deadly trap. You must be aware of and not accept it. That wisdom does not descend from above (James 3:15).

Yeshua was not blinded by the lust the for power, position, and possession that had blind many and has caused many to go astray (I Pet. 2:15; Jude 1:11). He was able to quickly sniff out the hidden wicked agenda of Satan (Isa. 11:3). Satan’s agenda was to make Yeshua defect from His Father’s kingdom and to bring Yeshua, along with the Holy Spirit that was upon Him, into becoming subservient to him in his kingdom of darkness. So, what was Yeshua’s response to that wicked offer?

Then Yeshua said to him, Go, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Yehovah your Elohim, and Him only you shall serve.” (Mat 4:10; Deut. 6:13)

In other words, Yeshua was affirming His loyalty to His Father, El-Elyon – the Most High God – possessor of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19). Yeshua would only receive the kingdoms of this world from the hand of His Father through the prescribed method, as it is also written:

“Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psa 2:9)

Be loyal the Yehovah your Elohim and serve Him only. Receive nothing that Yehovah has promised you from the hand of the enemies of Yeshua Messiah. Receive from Elohim only and by His prescribed means and ways, as Yeshua said:

“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. ” (Rev 2:26-27)

Practical Lesson #3

Do not allow personal prophecy to be used either by yourself or by others, especially from those around you who want you to succeed, to produce in you a false sense of justification or a license for you to fulfill the word of Elohim the wrong way or in the wrong spirit.

I Samuel 24 tells how king Saul had taken 3000 chosen men to search for David who was reported to be located at Engedi. When Saul and his men had arrived there they began to search for David upon the rocks of the wild goats while Saul entered into a cave near the sheepcotes to cover his feet. Meanwhile, David and his men were hidden in the recesses of the cave. David’s men reminded him of the word of the Lord promising to deliver David’s enemies into his hand and how he would do to them as he pleased. Seeming to have been encouraged by this prophecy, David proceeded to secretly cut off the boarder of Saul’s robe and afterwards David’s heart smote him for doing so, and thus resulted in a real change of heart regarding Saul.

David’s rebuttal to his men was: “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” David’s words to his men prevented them from rising up against the king.

Sometimes those who are for you can become a snare to you if motivated by the wrong spirit. We see an example of this in Yeshua’s ministry when He rebuked Peter for an untrue word that was offered with good intentions. In the Gospel of Matthew 16:20-23, Yeshua said to Peter:

“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Mat 16:19-23)

Sometimes, you have to rebuke those well intended people who you love – who unknowingly speak into your life instructions or directions that are not from Yehovah; they actually go against the Spirit of Elohim.

Well, that’s all for now. This too is a work in progress. Please feel free to comment below. Shalom!

Charles J. Shields
Now Arise Ministries