Beginning and the End
And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” (John 6:65) The ministry we have (if it is authentic ministry) is from heaven, and it is not our own. Its value is not found in what we can do for God, but what He can do through us once we give up our own ideas and present ourselves to Him a living sacrifice. Activity is not life, and work may well be the sign that we have no intimate connection with the Father at all. Our methods, degrees, organizations, committees, and gatherings may well betray an independence from God and a leaning toward our own understanding. Intimacy with the Lord will always be the sign of God's servants and anointed ministry. Above all things, we must draw near to Him! The Holy Spirit is the only true Teacher and Minister in the New Testament Church. He is the One who fills and empowers us to serve God acceptably, and any efforts to minister the Gospel without Him are futil...