Watching Over The Priorities Of Life And Ministry

Corinthians 16:13-15.

“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)” (1 Corinthians 16:13-15). There are priorities in life and ministry, and you always watch over what you count as a priority. In our normal life, we watch over our Wealth, Achievements, Treasures, Calling, and Homes. While we watch over the essentials in our normal physical lives, as ministers who have something the Lord has given us from heaven, we have a responsibility to watch over the priorities in our life and ministry.

        1.   THE SUPREME ESSENTIALS OF HIS MAJESTY

1 Chronicles 29:11-12.

As we talk about our God, Creator, and Redeemer who placed us here and gives us something to do, and to whom we will give account of what we have done with the life and ministry He has given us, He has many attributes but the essentials of His Majesty that we must watch over. Watch over the:

• W – Words of His Mouth – Psalm 19:14; Job 23:12. If you are going to run errands for the Lord and go the way of His calling, you must watch over the words of His mouth. His word is greater than the words of all men. The word of God is so essential that it is identified with the eternal God Himself. Heaven and earth shall pass away but His word will not pass away, and God tells us not to add to or subtract from His word. Everything is created by the word of God, and it is by the same word that we are going to be judged on the final day.

• A – Acts of Our Maker – 1 Samuel 12:7; Psalms 145:11-12. Everything God does is essential, and we must watch over His actions. The acts of our Maker are so important that a whole book of the Bible is called the Acts of the Apostles which are the Acts of the Almighty that He did through the ambassadors that He has chosen. His word will produce actions in your life. Has the Lord done any special acts in your life? You must remember those acts, meditate on them, protect, and preserve them, and watch over them.

• T – Thought of His Mind – Isaiah 55:8-11; Jeremiah 29:11-13. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8). When the thoughts of everyone in the world are put together, the thoughts of God are higher than them all as far as the heavens are higher than the earth. The thoughts of God are preserved for us in the Bible. Whenever your thought conflicts with the thoughts of God, you drop your thoughts and pick His thoughts because His thoughts are higher than yours. His word is imperishable because it contains the thoughts of the Almighty God.

• C – Calling by the Master – 2 Timothy 1:7,9; Philippians 3:13-14. There are different kinds of calls. There are calls from the world, from professions, and from many voices on earth, but in the midst of all these voices that call, God our Maker and Master also calls us. All the people that God called in the scriptures watched over the call, and they did not allow anything to conflict with, muddle up, or modify that call. Do you understand your calling? Have you accepted your calling? Are you living in line with your calling? Do you protect that calling? Are you preserving that calling? Are you concentrating all your efforts, treasures, talents, and everything you have on that calling?

• H – Holiness of His Majesty – Psalms 29:2,4; Isaiah 6:1-8. God has many attributes like love, power, justice and more, but all of them are gathered under the attribute of the holiness of the Almighty. In the vision of Isaiah, when the angels saw the glory of God, they shouted, “Holy, holy, holy.” All the attributes of the Almighty God are under the supervision and protection of the attribute of holiness.

        2. THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES OF HIS MEMBERS: Ephesians 5:25-32.

Each person must watch over their Wealth, Achievements and Accomplishments, Treasure and Triumph, Comfort, happiness and joy, and Health. All the members of the body of Christ have a personal responsibility to watch over the:

• W – Words from your Mouth – Psalms 141:3; Matthew 12:36-37. The self-talk you have can either ruin you or raise you. The words you speak to your spouse can either unite or disunite your family. The words you speak to your neighbours can either destroy you or develop you. We will be judged or condemned by our words on the final day.

• A – Actions of Every Moment – 1 Samuel 2:3; Jeremiah 17:9-10. There is no life without action. If we go through life without watching over our actions, it will be a life of mediocrity. The people that think and evaluate before they act are the people that make a success of life. “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3). All our actions—private, public, proud, persistent actions—are weighed before the Lord.

• T – Thoughts of Your Mind – Proverbs 23:7; 24:9. Our lives start from the inner man, and what the inner man plans can lead to either abundant life or perpetual death. It is the thoughts of the heart that corrupt a person, exalt a person, discourage a person to the point of suicide, make a rich person dissatisfied with all his wealth, and make a poor person happy and satisfied with the little he has. Watch over your thoughts because those thoughts can either destroy you or delight you and make life what it ought to be for you.

• C – Conscience in Man – Romans 2:15-16; 1 Timothy 4:1-2. You will not see as far as your conscience can see. Your conscience can advise you, accuse you, or approve your actions. The conscience can also desert you and stop warning you if you stop listening to it. You must watch over your conscience.

• H – Heart of the Ministry – Acts 6:2-4; 20:24. No matter what you know, what you have, what you can do, if your heart is diseased and you do not have a healthy heart, you are on the way to your grave. You must watch over your heart and by all means protect it, because out of it are the issues of life.

        3.   THE STEADFAST EXPECTATION OF THE MASTER

Mark 13:10, 34-37.

When God sent us to earth, He had expectations of us, and if you are mindful of the almighty God, you must ask yourself why God created you. God has an expectation of the people who are saved, the people He calls to service, and the people He empowers. The expectation of the Lord is what will make you go in the right direction and use what He has given. We must watch over what the Lord has given us. Watch over the:

• W – Weapon for the Watchman – Ezekiel 3:17-21; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. The word of God that He has given us is a weapon. The Lord has given us the weapon of the complete Bible in our local language, and we must watch over how we use it.

• A – Anointing of His Ambassadors – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; 1 John 2:27-29. While man may not have given David the anointing, God, who watches and monitors everything from heaven, chose David and anointed him as His ambassador. David eventually understood that the purpose of His training, talents and trials was to equip Him to become a deliverer of the nation.

• T – Truth for our Translation – Proverbs 23:23; Hebrews 11:5-6. God separates you from a lying and deceptive society and fills you with the truth that transforms, transports, and translates you. The truth of salvation, sanctification, and God’s power will eventually translate to you when Jesus returns, and you will get to heaven.

• C – Consecration of the Commissioned – 2 Samuel 15:15; 24:24-25,15. Peter, James, John, and Andrew left all and followed Christ. Paul consecrated the things that were gain to him for the Lord. We are also to consecrate everything we have to the Lord. “And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.” (2 Samuel 15:15). Our consecration means that when God commissions us, we say yes to every demand and command from Him.

• H – Heritage of the Harvesters – Jeremiah 5:24; John 4:34-38, 42. The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few. People around us are hungry for the gospel. The Lord has sent us to the field of the world to harvest, call, and bring souls into His kingdom. History says that although Thomas started with his doubts, He eventually believed, held on to his faith, and took it to India to plant the gospel. The work is still there to be done, and we are to consecrate everything at the feet of Christ and go wherever the Lord sends us.