March 5th — IS HE REALLY LORD?
March 5th.IS HE REALLY LORD?
". . . so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus." Acts 20:24
Joy means the perfect fulfilment of that for which I was created and regenerated, not the successful doing of a thing. The joy Our Lord had lay in doing what the Father sent Him to do, and He says - "As My Father hath sent Me, even so am I sending you." Have I received a ministry from the Lord? If so, I have to be loyal to it, to count my life precious only for the fulfil ing of that ministry. Think of the satisfaction it wil be to hear Jesus say - "Wel done, good and faithful servant"; to know that you have done what He sent you to do. We have al to find our niche in life, and spiritual y we find it when we receive our ministry from the Lord. In order to do this we must have companied with Jesus; we must know Him as more than a personal Saviour. "I wil show him how great things he must suffer for My sake."
"Lovest thou Me?" Then - "Feed My sheep." There is no choice of service, only absolute loyalty to Our Lord's commission; loyalty to what you discern when you are in closest contact with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you wil know that the need is never the cal : the need is the opportunity. The cal is loyalty to the ministry you received when you were in real touch with Him. This does not imply that there is a campaign of service marked out for you, but it does mean that you wil have to ignore the demands for service along other lines.