God's plan for building ministry teams

God's plan for building ministry teams

S - John 17:6...21

  ⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; ⁸ for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. ⁹ I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

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¹¹ I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.

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¹³ But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For their sakes Isanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

   ²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

 O -  What rich scripture as we read of Jesus prayer to the Father, regarding His disciples.  He was truly preparing for His new role and their new role in the salvation of the entire world.   Jesus came, and became an example of how to have relationship.   Relationship with God the Father, those that would follow Him, and even to those who do not yet believe, but need to receive Him as Lord and Savior to be reconciled with God the Father. I see so much in the ministry model Jesus' was revealing.  First off that God had given Jesus out of the world the disciples, hand selected by God the Father himself, and revealed to Jesus after a long night of solitude prayer.  He then spent years teaching them about His relationship with the Father, and how to go about effectively ministering to people.  In preparation for the last phase of His earthly relationship with the disciples, He prayed for them, asking God to protect them, and sanctify them in the ministry in the World.   Lastly He prays for unity in the body with one another, and with himself, and finally with God the Father.

A -  The application for me is a firm affirmation of true discipleship in Christ.   It comes out of a relationship with God, in which I am simply genuinely seeking His will and provision for the ministry I am called to.   Prayer and discernment of the "who" is critical, because God has an excellent plan that may not be as obvious by worldly standards.   When we trust who he has given us, by pouring into them the things of the kingdom, the how's of Godly relationships, and ministry lead by the spirit of God we begin to see His building blocks for ministry.  Like Jesus, we are called to edify and equip the saints for God's work.  When we have done that all we have left to do is intercede for them in prayer with God, and watch what He can do through them.

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for today's lesson, may it be sealed to my heart.   I pray Lord that you would continue to disciple me through your word.    Help me to remember today's lesson, and apply it to myself, and help others understand and apply for themselves your design for kingdom building ministry habits we are to have.  I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.