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The End of the Beginning What kind of title is that? What is that supposed to mean? Those are just a couple of questions it seemed might be asked after reading such a title. I believe that to be a very prophetic title, at least for our fellowship. We serve a God of transition. However, the transition is very quick. Through His long-suffering nature, He does spend a great deal of time letting us know that things will be different. Many times, He spends months and even years letting us know that He is bringing us to a new place. The sad thing is that when God brings change or transition many people are doing what they have always done. They sit for a time in the newness of what God has promised would be on the horizon, and once it comes, many miss it. God has made it clear that we are in an atmosphere of acceleration. This will challenge some because they are doing what they have always done. The first people affected by this acceleration are the leadership. We need to know that when God says He is accelerating things, what He is really accelerating is us. Our hearts, minds, and spirits walk through accelerated change. You must take inventory of who your leadership is. They may say, think, and be one way today, but in acceleration, tomorrow is a new day. We will never be sensitive to someone else’s change until we become sensitive to ours. The fault is when we relate to others based on what they were and not who they are. This next scripture says it best. Mark 2:22 (KJV) “And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.” Keeping it simple, nothing old can survive the new that God is bringing or else it will destroy the individual. The heartache is that people who refuse to grow cannot make it in such an atmosphere. Please hear me when I say that now is the time to set your roots deep. I fear there are those who have not been able to depart from their beginnings in Christ. It is not even because they do not desire to, but because through pride the enemy has stripped them of their authority in Christ Jesus. We must hear this by the Spirit of the Lord and know what He is saying to us individually. It is a time to depart from our beginning places in Christ and find a deeper place with Him. It is easy to know if we are still in our beginnings with Christ, for if we are, our minds are still on us. If we want to know that we have moved on, it will be in that we have made ourselves servants to those around us. That is a great determining factor. Let us not be foolish my dear brothers and sister in Christ. I speak not of our actions in serving. Let us acknowledge that the truest servanthood is manifested in the heart of the servant. Remember this scripture… Mat 5:28 (KJV) “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” For complete clarity, focus on the principle and not the sin being exposed. Jesus established that what we think on inwardly, that is what we are. If you and I are desiring and discerning how we can serve others, our hearts are motivated by servanthood, but remember: The goal is to have a heart bent toward the Lord first, and from there our servanthood flows to others. If we want a challenge, we will see our servanthood extend past the four walls of our church and homes, into the streets. Yes, the end of our selfish beginnings is upon us. -John Frost December Newsletter 2003 | To Be Humbled | The Most Wonderful Time of the Year | I Give You Me Pastor's Journal December 2002 | The End of the Beginning | A People Plundered part 3 of 3 |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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