ABOUT FOLLOWING JESUS
Never make the mistake of looking at the results of a person’s ministry as being indicative of the closeness of their walk with God or the measure of integrity in their life. A person can be cold in their heart towards God, but the people around them cannot see that person’s heart. All that they see are the crowds in the meetings, the souls at the altar, the miracles, and the finances of the ministry. They can then begin to believe all the great things that people say about the person, and once they do that, they are deceived.
I’ll be honest with you. I have seen huge crowds in our Crusades and have seen some amazing miracles in our ministry, even dead people come to life. But then I am also reminded of the words of our Lord Jesus, in Matthew 7:22-23:
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity!”
You see, the miracles in our ministry say nothing about me, but they speak of how wonderful our Lord Jesus is, and that the Word of God is true. What speaks of me and my character are visible only in how much of Jesus Christ people see in my life when I am off the platform: Do they see Kindness? Humility? Love?
I always say, “Miracles authenticate the message, but Christlikeness authenticates the messenger.”
Remember that qualities such as one’s walk with the Lord and one’s godliness and integrity, can never be measured by the power of God visible in one’s life. They can only be seen the character and the nature of Jesus Christ that are visible in one’s life.
We live in a corrupt world whose rot and corruption have even entered the church. Some of our “greatest” preachers have been corrupted by the love of money and by pride. The humility and the love of Jesus are far from their lives. Many people ask me, “How can God use such people?” The answer is,“God loves sinners, the sick, the weak and the needy so much that he will even use a flawed vessel to touch them, if that is all that He has available at that moment.”
The real danger here is if the flawed vessel being used by God begins to believe that he/she is far greater than he/she really is. THAT is the real tragedy in all this.
I am personally afraid of being around such people because I know how easy it is to be impressed by them and their possessions, and be sucked in by the money, the glitz and the glamour around them. We are frail people who walk in His power only because of His grace, and we should be careful lest we fall.
We should draw our own boundaries, and I draw away from such because I do not want to be close to them lest I stumble and fall. This earthly life is a struggle of the spirit against the flesh, and we must always be watchful to keep our perspectives straight so that our lives always reflect the nature of Christ and that we live in a way that brings both pleasure and glory to our Father.
So let us walk with the pure, the humble, those who walk a pure walk with our Lord.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7
Always remember that without the grace of God we are nothing!
The greatest man of God who I have ever had the privilege of being close to personally, in my entire life, was Dad Hagin, and there were two things about him that touched and impressed me the most:
1. I have never met a man who walked so close to the face of God like he did.
2. I have never met a man who was so small in his own eyes as he was.
So, my friends, as we grow in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus. As we grow in His Word and His grace. As we contend for Pentecostal power in our lives and ministries. Let us remember to always cling to the cross. Let us stay close to our Lord Jesus and strive to be like Him in all things, in love, in faith, in humility. Let us follow Jesus and make it our goal to be like Him.
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Originally posted on Facebook by Pastor Christopher Alam