Wednesday, November 09, 2005

QOTD

Today's QOTD is from the first chapter in Dwayne's upcoming book, One Thing.

"Many of us, including myself, have thought that doing some kind of Christian work or ministering in a particular way somehow equals having a life in God. We have believed that actions and doing, doing, doing would somehow satisfy the deep longing for the Divine that our Heavenly Father placed inside us. But becoming a pastor is not the end-all … or becoming a missionary … or an apostle, a prophet, a church-planter, soccer coach, retail employee, engineer, or whatever else you want to end this sentence with. Ministry is not the primary purpose of our life in God; God is our purpose for our life in God. Now, don’t hear me saying that the Great Commission is anything less than it really is; remember, I am an evangelist at heart and my desire is for multitudes to come into the Kingdom. All I’m saying is that day in Budapest I quit because my spirit was famished and no amount of ministry fed me.

Everyone reaches a fork in the road, a deciding point. Will you be content with the little you are experiencing with God, or will you press in for more? He gives the little because of His grace, but the deeper things are given as the reward of your diligent pursuit. Everyone gets to this point, but few treat it with the level of significance it demands. Everyone has a calling from heaven. It might be as a lawyer, nurse, or construction worker. But that is not your end; you were not created to do, you were created to be. You were created to be His.

I had gone round and round, trying to figure out which model to use in ministry. Only later would I discover that programs don’t hold the answers for a dead heart. God was starting me over at square one: my heart needed to be alive again and only He could make that happen. At this point of feeling quite bewildered and somewhat empty, the Lord allowed me to see a part of Him I would never have guessed existed: delight in me."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Josh and Amy - Love it!! What a fun way to keep in touch! As if being in the same city wasn't good enough :-) I am adding you to my links!!

Randy Bohlender said...

Josh - glad you're blogging. :)

Randy