INTRODUCTION
The Minister as a leader of God’s people must know how to continue to remain a Minister that God’s people can look to. Ministry is a stem from spiritual calling you received. To be able to be a minister worth your sort you must maintain your spiritual potency and power, remain fresh in spite of all the challenges and odds against you.
What is ‘Spiritual Freshness?’
• ‘Spiritual Freshness’ is the cry of the Psalmist heart in Psalm 63 –
Ps 63:1-8 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. 7 ¶ Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. 8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
• ‘Spiritual Freshness’ is the picture Isaiah the prophet gives in 58:11 – depicting the people of God as a beautiful garden in the midst of a dry desert.
Isa 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
• ‘Spiritual Freshness’ is the promise of the Lord Jesus to everyone who believes upon Him –
Joh 7:37 -38 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
• It is a life filled with joy and confidence
• It is a life experiencing a new stirring within us from God, each new day giving us a reason for rejoicing and expectation
• Bathing our souls daily in His life and newness
• It is experiencing His grace that forgave us, sustaining us each day
• It is dependency upon God in which we are learning to let God lead us.
• It is a daily restoration into a whole, complete being who longs to love God and worship Him.
1) CAUSES OF SPIRITUAL DRYNESS
Hosea 7:8-9 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
The scripture above describes a condition or a state of deterioration in life; a spiritual degeneration that can happen to any minister if care is not taken.
- ROOT CAUSES
i) Sin –through the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.)
ii) Neglect of essential spiritual exercise as prayer, reading and regularly studying God’s word for personal benefit and nourishment
Job 22:21-25 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. 22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. 23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. 24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. 25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. 26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.
Josh1:8 This book of the law …..
iii) Not walking in daily obedience to God’s voice and His word
De 28:1 ¶ And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
iv) Not depending on the leading and power of the Holy Spirit daily.
Ro 8:13-14 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
v) Allowing worldly standards to control you and mixing yourself with worldly people in their worldly pursuits.
Hosea 7:8-9 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned. 9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.
In such a state or condition, sermons and messages become dry, leaving only letters, without the backing of the Holy Spirit. The minister struggles to do things without joy and enthusiasm. It leaves you dry and empty.
2) THE CURE
Ho 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
Isa 40:28-31 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
God’s word has always made provision for energizing the backslidden state of every believer based on (Ecc 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.)
1) Returning to the Lord in repentance
2Ch 7:13-14 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2) Seeking forgiveness where necessary
Mt 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
3) Praying for personal revival
Ps 51:10-13 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
4) Setting aside times of fasting and prayer
Lu 4:1-2 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
5) Listening to messages preached by other ministers for edification
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
6) Reading Christian books especially ones needed to wake the minister up to His/her state.
2Ti 2:15-16 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
7) Attend meeting and conference elsewhere to sharpen your skills
Pr 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
8) Talking to a senior minister you know who will help you.
Re 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
CONCLUSION
Every minister needs a refreshing because of the challenges and the odds that confronts us in ministry. Make it a regular practice to freshen up yourself for constant impact.
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