Hello Lovely World!
I have not blogged in a hot minute. Sorry!
This blog will touch on some personal things that I have faced within the last year of my life. Will I get real personal? Of course not. I do not know half of you guys reading this. Lol. However, I will give surface to some things that I believe will help others gain insight to purpose. It will be a series of blogs.... meaning, THERE WILL BE OTHERS THAT FOLLOW. I will reveal the post date of my next blog at the end of this reading.
Real quick, I want to expose some light to the audience of my blog. Thank you to those who follow my blog on blogger and to those who follow and expound with comments on facebook and/or twitter. I would like to thank those of you that have taken the time to read my posts who are not followers of mine on any social network. Thanks and love to those who stop by and partake in my thoughts from around the world. As of now, this blog has had over 10,000 + views and has touched over 5 countries. Russia, France, United Kingdom, and many more. So, this is a quick shout out of gratitude to my readers and loyal followers. Now, to the blog -->
Often we live our lives trying to please people by bringing some form of satisfaction that would suffice their needs. It is seen in marriages, friendships, ministry, and other life relationships. This my friend is what I call servanthood. We serve our friends, husbands, wives, pastors, bosses, etc. because we understand that they need us in certain areas of their lives. Rather it be to run a business, church, marriage, or etc., people need people to help serve them. As we serve others, we have the ability to put our minds, hands, and feet in places that they may not be able to. This is an awesome thing, but it poses a threat. Sometimes, we can be so caught up in trying to suffice the needs of people that we become blinded to the necessity of cultivating our own needs. In addition, those whom you serve can cause you to slip into bondage because they will not release you. They may exploit your servanthood by keeping you around for selfish ambitions. I want to talk about the servanthood aspect of life more than anything. The reason why :: it is what I have been learning about the most within this last year.
As Christians, we are taught that servanthood is the greatest of all things. Well, ....outside of love. This is true. However, not often are we taught the appropriate balance for such a position. Some individuals live their lives in bondage to ministers and ministries because they do not understand "the call of release". Some will never fulfill vision and purpose because they walk in subservience and not submission. As men and women of God, we are trained that our service or obligation to ministers, positions, and ministries determines how teachable, faithful, and mature we are. This holds true, but wisdom must be exercised in all things. There are times when your season of serving for a particular ministry or minister will expire. This does not say that you lack faithfulness in servanthood or that you are immature and unteachable. It simply says that I have accomplished what God has called me to do in regards to the ministry, the position, or the individual.
Take the release when God calls it. Do not let the mentality of "I must stay because I was called here or I grew up here" trip you up. Do not let the history of a thing (how long/short you have been serving at that ministry) determine your next season. God can call you to serve for weeks, months, or years. Whatever the time window is, serve and move on when He releases you from that obligation. When you do not take the release God calls, you put yourself in bondage. Release frees you to do other duties or take on other obligations. You cannot fulfill the next phase of your life when you are still in a place that God has called you out of, There is nothing left for Him to do there. That is why many of us do not grow or experience the "Glory to Glory" aspect of the Christian walk. Be careful not to get caught up on the people you serve, do not let your relationships bring you into subservience. Serve wisely in ALL relationships.
NOW_ do not get me wrong. I am not saying that everyone who leaves ministries and callings are in right standing. I am NOT justifying people leaving without God's release. There are people who have left ministries, callings, servanthood, etc. without God's permission. I do not justify that. I do not judge it either because I did it and I was not in right standing at that time. No matter how hard I "tried" to justify my rights for leaving (never got justified), it was not a God given release. It was wrong. But thank God for grace and mercy that allowed me to get back in position and serve until the GOD ORDAINED release came.
Anyways, back to my topic: This is about to get sticky. I think I may mess up some Super Saints psyche with this one.
Often. we neglect the ministry God calls us to because we are too busy serving others. We can get so caught up in serving others that we forget to fulfill OUR purpose as we serve. I will use myself as an example. I know that God has called me for such a time as this. I know what I am called to do, I know who I am called to, and I know where I am called to. I am still learning the depth of each because dimensions, seasons, and destinations change - so, I do not have the exclusive on it. But, from what I have learned.... I can tell you that I was at a place that hindered the advancement of my purpose and my vision. I was more faithful in being someone else's vision than being faithful in being my vision. My pastor said something that became a nugget for me. She said, "Don't let anybody write you into their vision"... .
Because of the mentality I had about servanthood, or shall I say the improper balance, I was not fulfilling my call. I was more faithful to exercise the knowledge I learned about servanthood than to exercise the call of purpose. Basically, I was a faithful servant that was ignorantly unfaithful to serving my call. As a result, I began to think that I was waiting on God. Wow!, How many people are stuck in this mindset? (rhetorical). Reread that because that is crucial. I'll just retype it :: Basically, I was a faithful servant ...... that was "ignorantly" unfaithful to serving MY call. As a result, I began to think that I was waiting on God.
I did not understand that I had to cause some things to come forth; I did not understand the intensity of labor I had to exercise to bring my purpose forth. I had to focus on my call sometimes and that would cause me to release certain obligations I established at my church. For example: attending or participating in every church event on the church calendar. In fulfilling my purpose, I had to nurture and birth certain things. That alone required me to be more attentive to my call. So, there were certain things that I obligated myself to in servanthood that I had to release. I did not say I released servanthood, but some things God released me from. There was an improper balance. Especially, as I began to mature and walk in the call. Do you get my point? I hope so... if not, ummmm... yeah.
I began to believe that I was waiting on God because I was taught that your leaders will call your gifts out, confirm your call, ordain you when the time was right, etc. This is not incorrect teaching, but its not complete teaching either. I am not saying my pastors taught me this, but the actions of "the church" did. I did not began to walk in what I know God was calling me to do outside of the ministry because I felt that He would have told my leaders when it was time. So, I assumed I was waiting on God for activation when He had already activated me. Now, that does NOT mean that I can just go do me without a proper covering or pop off in ministry without the proper release of my leadership. But it does mean that there are times when God will call me to do something that will not require permission from my leaders. For example: feeding the homeless, interceding outside of the church, ministering at work, etc. Are we so caught up in serving our own ministries/ministers that we forget to serve outside of the four walls? Or is that, we feel like we cannot proceed in ministry because our pastors have not given us the okay to minister to people outside of the ministry? Think about it. I am not saying go hold conferences, but everyday ministry to nonbelievers and believers should be going on outside of a church. Are we in subservience to servanthood or submission to servanthood?
NOW__ There are those pastors/leaders that will see the call in you, activate you, and then release you. Sometimes it happens like that, but what about the times when it does not? What about the times that leaders do not care about shepherding, but care for the paycheck? What about the times when leaders refuse to pray or hear God for direction? How will they know when God is ready to activate you? Yes, God can speak to them for your sake... but I'm just throwing out some serious questions. What about the leaders that activate anybody and put people in callings that they are not called to? Who's to say that ... you are in the right ministry? Maybe your Elijah is in another state Elisha. (Someone just got confirmation). Just maybe... God has called you to serve at another ministry.
What I am saying is: You have to make sure you are in sync with God because we all are human; we can all miss the will of God. Your activation may be in your release. We cannot be so caught up in the faithfulness of serving man that we miss the call of faithfully serving God in or own purpose. As I always say, DO NOT GET ME TWISTED... servanthood is needed and should not be underestimated. It is imperative that we serve, but it is imperative that we fulfill purpose as well. Serve in your ministries until God releases you, serve the man and woman of God, & serve your leaders. The greatest among you shall be the servant. Just know the balance.
Jesus shows us a proper balance in doing both, serving while fulfilling purpose. I will expound on this in my next blog post. The 2 examples that I will speak of are: Jesus' First Miracle (Water into Wine) and the Garden of Gethsemane.
To end for now:
Wisely decipher subservience vs. servanthood. Know when to render service unto man and when to relinquish service. Some things are not your obligation. Some things are and you may not know it yet.
If you do not understand the call for release, how does purpose become emancipated?
That is a question that God is still giving me knowledge, wisdom, and understanding on. It is definitely something you should ponder! My next blog post will explore this --> (Mid August).
The plan of salvation is available (always) if you want to be saved; it is at the top of this page. If you want Jesus to be THE Lord of your life, pray it with sincerity and allow God to change your life and build your morals in Truth. Prayer request are always welcome! We are here to set the captive free through His grace. God Bless You All and please respond. Fellowship is awesome, not debating.
