Dear pastor,
Are you reading God’s Word daily and listening daily for his voice?
How up to date is your relationship with God? How fresh is your faith?
Are you consecrating your life daily and availing yourself to Him?
There are two reasons I ask these questions.
The first is for the sake of your own soul. All this you know but let’s remind ourselves that salvation is all about a relationship with God. He is a real being and He desires a real relationship with us. Our walk with Him is not just about a one time transaction to procure a ticket to heaven. This is a living relationship of love, faith and fidelity. The fullness of the blessing that God has prepared and availed to us is only known in daily abiding and I hope and pray that you are resting in Jesus so that your soul does not grow lean but also so that you do not drift and God forbid turn your back upon the One True God and the only Way, Truth and Life that there is.
The second reason I ask the questions about how current your walk with God is, is because of what happens to your message/ministry if there is not a never-ending infusion of the anointing and presence of God
Recognize this:
- If your journey with God is not up-to-date (day by day, moment by moment) then what you say and do in your role as pastor will be at best empty words and hollow actions and at worst will be outright defiance against God
- I know you think there is no way that your words and actions could defy God if you’ve already settled once for all that your life and ministry are about Him, but I want to remind you that even Christians can sin and accordingly even pastors who have been saved and accepted God’s call can still say and do things that are antithetical, antagonistic and defiant towards God and His gospel
- You and I may not even notice the transition that slowly happens as we neglect God. We may think we are being faithful and yet find that our words don’t come with as much conviction, or as the saying goes: “our heart is not in it”
- Furthermore I want to remind you that if you and I preach or teach something that seems to be true to us but it is neither led by or anointed by the Holy Spirit nor flowing out of a fresh and up-to-date relationship with and experience with the Lord then our words will in fact be either legalistic (I’m saved by all the hard work I do) on the one hand or antinomian (I’m saved forever so I don’t ever have to do anything for God) on the other.
- Finally I want to remind us both that without a fresh encounter with God and hearing present revelation from Him our words will either depict God as an angry and hateful God who only wants to destroy or a laissez-faire God who doesn’t care about sin only about love, happiness and blessings. Neither of these ‘gods’ are the God of the Bible
So how is your soul? What is God saying to you these days? Can you hear His voice? Are you loving His Word? Are you hiding His Word in your heart? Is your life and ministry sourced by God or something else?
Please, pastor, go meet with God. Rest before Him and rest in Him. Confess and lay down everything sinful and broken. Present yourself as a living sacrifice to Him. Let God fill you for your own salvation, holiness and joy. Let God fill you and use you for the sake of the world and the sake of His great name!
If you need a prayer partner, a listening ear or some sharpening conversation with a fellow pastor, please send me a private message or email me here.
Pastor Encouragement 