thoughts on leaders' retreat
Several things came up through prayer over the past few months/weeks and I thought I would like to sum what I shared during the leaders' retreat here:
1. The Lord has given the leadership anointing. However, when there is disunity amongst us, we forfeit that anointing. Many of us judge each other, cannot forgive one another and push for our own agenda during meetings. We need to repent and reconcile with one another so that we will receive that anointing. The Lord convicted my heart that even I myself am responsible for some of this disunity. We need to seek the Lord in prayer as a leadership for His direction.
2. During prayer meeting on the friday before the retreat, the Lord showed me that my life was not totally surrendered to Him, and that the leaders' lives must be totally surrendered to Him. Sin in our lives will hinder God's work in our ministry and will obscure His glory.
3. We were asked to read the letters to the seven churches in Revelations and seek the Lord with regard to two questions: 1. What is the spiritual state of our ministry? (i.e. which description fits our ministry most?) 2. What do You want us to do about it? The first question aroused unspeakable grief which i believe the Holy Spirit put in my heart, which was also shared by Wai Lup. I did not have a definite passage from the seven letters, but with regard to the second question, the words "repent" and "obey" keep coming up (Rev 3:3)
At least two other leaders shared and confirmed Rev 3:1b-2 "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God."
========================================
We need to repent of our sins and obey the Word of God. Talking about unity does not amount to anything until we obey the Word of God. That is where we need to surrender, because the path to obedience is a straight and narrow road that few walk in it. Even when leaders have different views about various issues, but when we obey God, we still have that spiritual unity because Christ is our Head, and by His grace He will enable us to move together as a ministry.
Have you ever seen an uncoordinated person? How many times have you burst out into laughter when your friends looked silly? When we talk about the body of Christ--the church--and we imagine that all of us are different parts of the body, and if some of us are doing our own thing--Christ is not in control of your actions--then wouldn't that Body look uncoordinated? What if some parts are faithfully doing their best, but a few are not? Then how? Do these renegade parts look silly? Well, the more important thing is that they make ALL THE REST look silly. As I was praying and thinking about it I wanted to laugh but I hesitated because it is something serious and it could well be how we look like now. Many of our brothers and sisters may be doing a good work but because of one or two unyielded parts their work is negated or detracted from.
Obedience to the Holy Spirit.
We also need to repent of our sins. What is the gospel about? Jesus Christ died for our sins. In Luke24:46-48, Jesus says "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things..."
We need to know the power of repentance and forgiveness in our lives before we can preach the gospel. For what kind of gospel are we preaching if we ourselves are not 'witnesses of these things'? It will just be a fuzzy idea of what we think it's supposed to be like, but we don't know. And how will other people get a good account of the gospel if those who tell them don't know?
We need to love one another and forgive one another in the ministry. The Lord places a huge importance on forgiving one another. He tells us in Matt 5:23-25 that if our brother 'has something against you', to 'leave our gift at the altar and reconcile with our brother' before coming back to offer the gift to Him. He tells us through the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt18:21-35) that if we do not forgive our brothers, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us.
Up till the retreat, i had been been very irritated with a co-worker in Christ. The Lord revealed that to my hardened heart and I struggled very hard to go up to the person and apologise. It was not easy, but God's grace is enough.
We need to live out God's Word in our ministry. When we choose to obey God, when just even living out one command which seems absurd by the standards of this world, which perhaps leaves us trembling from fear and loss of pride, there is spiritual power. Because God is in charge and it is no longer us who is in charge.
Repentance...and forgiveness
jiemin
1. The Lord has given the leadership anointing. However, when there is disunity amongst us, we forfeit that anointing. Many of us judge each other, cannot forgive one another and push for our own agenda during meetings. We need to repent and reconcile with one another so that we will receive that anointing. The Lord convicted my heart that even I myself am responsible for some of this disunity. We need to seek the Lord in prayer as a leadership for His direction.
2. During prayer meeting on the friday before the retreat, the Lord showed me that my life was not totally surrendered to Him, and that the leaders' lives must be totally surrendered to Him. Sin in our lives will hinder God's work in our ministry and will obscure His glory.
3. We were asked to read the letters to the seven churches in Revelations and seek the Lord with regard to two questions: 1. What is the spiritual state of our ministry? (i.e. which description fits our ministry most?) 2. What do You want us to do about it? The first question aroused unspeakable grief which i believe the Holy Spirit put in my heart, which was also shared by Wai Lup. I did not have a definite passage from the seven letters, but with regard to the second question, the words "repent" and "obey" keep coming up (Rev 3:3)
At least two other leaders shared and confirmed Rev 3:1b-2 "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God."
========================================
We need to repent of our sins and obey the Word of God. Talking about unity does not amount to anything until we obey the Word of God. That is where we need to surrender, because the path to obedience is a straight and narrow road that few walk in it. Even when leaders have different views about various issues, but when we obey God, we still have that spiritual unity because Christ is our Head, and by His grace He will enable us to move together as a ministry.
Have you ever seen an uncoordinated person? How many times have you burst out into laughter when your friends looked silly? When we talk about the body of Christ--the church--and we imagine that all of us are different parts of the body, and if some of us are doing our own thing--Christ is not in control of your actions--then wouldn't that Body look uncoordinated? What if some parts are faithfully doing their best, but a few are not? Then how? Do these renegade parts look silly? Well, the more important thing is that they make ALL THE REST look silly. As I was praying and thinking about it I wanted to laugh but I hesitated because it is something serious and it could well be how we look like now. Many of our brothers and sisters may be doing a good work but because of one or two unyielded parts their work is negated or detracted from.
Obedience to the Holy Spirit.
We also need to repent of our sins. What is the gospel about? Jesus Christ died for our sins. In Luke24:46-48, Jesus says "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things..."
We need to know the power of repentance and forgiveness in our lives before we can preach the gospel. For what kind of gospel are we preaching if we ourselves are not 'witnesses of these things'? It will just be a fuzzy idea of what we think it's supposed to be like, but we don't know. And how will other people get a good account of the gospel if those who tell them don't know?
We need to love one another and forgive one another in the ministry. The Lord places a huge importance on forgiving one another. He tells us in Matt 5:23-25 that if our brother 'has something against you', to 'leave our gift at the altar and reconcile with our brother' before coming back to offer the gift to Him. He tells us through the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt18:21-35) that if we do not forgive our brothers, our Heavenly Father will not forgive us.
Up till the retreat, i had been been very irritated with a co-worker in Christ. The Lord revealed that to my hardened heart and I struggled very hard to go up to the person and apologise. It was not easy, but God's grace is enough.
We need to live out God's Word in our ministry. When we choose to obey God, when just even living out one command which seems absurd by the standards of this world, which perhaps leaves us trembling from fear and loss of pride, there is spiritual power. Because God is in charge and it is no longer us who is in charge.
Repentance...and forgiveness
jiemin
This prayer blog is started to help us in Wesley Youth Ministry have a collective journal of God's dealings with each and every one of us. In time to come this blog will be a testimony to God's faithfulness to YM, as we look back through the months and the years and see in hindsight how the Lord has been working in and through us.
If you feel that you have anything to contribute to the blog, to give thanks to God for answered prayer, to encourage the body of Christ, or share what God has been speaking to you through prayer and QT, please email your entry to jiemin11@singnet.com.sg and include your name as you would like it to appear on the blog.
God bless you!
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