A designation is a description, name, or title that is given to someone or something.
All true mentors would never place the emphasis on character before gifts, simply because God is not inclined that way. He works life and gifting together. He produces character out of our anointing as he works character into our gifting. Ministry supplies us with lots of opportunities to develop our personal disposition and cultivate honor, integrity, and holiness. God does not develop character in a vacuum. He does not take us out of his plan and purpose and calling so that he can deal with us unless it is an absolute last resort with no other possibility of redemption.
He kept faith with Abraham even when he lied about Sarah being his sister because he was afraid for his own life (Genesis 12). He appeared to lying, cheating, swindling Jacob who later became Israel (Genesis 27: 36). When Samson was blind, humiliated, and beaten in the camp of the enemy because of his own sinfulness, God answered his final prayer and fulfilled his calling (Judges 16: 28-30). When David committed adultery and murdered the woman’s husband, God did not take him out of being king for a season (2 Samuel 11). He dealt with him in the continuance of his role and calling as king. Similarly, with the apostle Peter, who was guilty of racism and hypocrisy against the Greek believers (Galatians 2: 11-14). Judas remained as a team member and a friend even when looking for opportunity to betray Jesus (Matthew 2: 14-16, 48-50). In their arrogance, immaturity and abuse of authority James and John wanted to bring judgment and to call down fire from heaven. Jesus rebuked them by saying, you do not know what kind of spirit you are of (Luke 9: 51-55.) He did not terminate them from the Apostolic team.
For the most part, the father seems content to handle our growth issues in the course of life. All of life is spiritual. We do not have a ministry separate from life, but one that is wholly integrated with how God sees us and who we are becoming. Eli the priest remained in his position despite the fact that his sons were a disgrace (1 Samuel 2: 12), that he himself could not discern the word of the Lord (1 Samuel 3: 1) and that he misunderstood the purposes of God (1 Samuel 1: 12-16). Yet God remained faithful to him and would not cut him off from the altar (1 Samuel 2: 33).
What makes Christianity so compelling in the earth is the fact that it is the story of God’s journey with people in the course of life with all its ups and downs, majesty and stupidity, mercy and truth, grace and sin, greed and glory. Through it all, God stands supreme in his loving kindness, compassion, and goodness. Slow to anger, full of patience and wonderfully faithful. Yes, eventually people would either reap what they sowed and become transformed or harvest their own bad fruit and fall away. Yet, the father is always leaning toward repentance, redemption, restoration, renewal, sanctification, reconciliation, atonement, rehabilitation, absolution, freedom, and favor. He does not compartmentalize our lives.
Many times, I’ve received revelation into a pressing need in my own life while ministering the word of God. Out of my own mouth has come the answer that I need. We are in Christ all the time, even when we are being foolish. The father will not take us out of our position in Christ because he is our freedom.
I’ve lost count of the times that God has spoken to me as I have been speaking to others about him. I am profoundly grateful that God is not like the church, and so the Holy Spirit has the final say in all matters of development.
There is no finer place to be than in a church that really understands the nature of God and is committed to cultivating a spiritual environment that is like heaven on earth. They develop people across the whole of their life, not just a part of it.
I enjoy mentoring people. I love talking about life and personal distinctives (characteristics) and practicing designations (description, name, or title) of ministry. Both together make up our truest identity. I have several areas that I’d like to write about regarding ministry designation or characteristic.
The first is devotion. Our first ministry is always to the Lord. We ought to spend the greater part of our anointing in adoration of Jesus. Sitting quietly in his presence, attending, listening, and exploring in dialogue form with the Lord, the things that are in the heart of the father.
It is good to spend 10% of our day in prayer and worship. I love reading scripture aloud to my father. Never underestimate the desire for relationship in the heart of the Lord. Do not miscalculate the genius of the Holy Spirit in making those relational times both interesting and rewarding.
Always approach a devotional time from the heart of God. Many people make the mistake of trying to get somewhere with God. You are already there! But of him, you are in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1: 30). We do not, by our own strength, move towards God devotionally. We are already in Christ, so we relax at the point of acceptance. We are the beloved (Ephesians 1: 3-8). We are blessed, chosen, and are God’s children by birth by God’s kind intention. In him we are forgiven, redeemed, and seen as holy and blameless because of the astonishing riches of his grace.
God is always present/future with us, He sees the end from the beginning and has already perfected us in Christ (future) as we go through the sanctifying process (present) (Hebrews 10;14).
Without grace we are always looking at the downside, preoccupied by a negative. In grace, we are lavished with wisdom and insight regarding our true place of identity in Christ. Our chief Role in devotion is to allow ourselves to be loved. We must receive from God so that we can give to him. Thanksgiving is wonderful because we can think in anticipation of his grace being poured out on us today.
Everything originates in God and comes to us from God. We can only return to God what he gives us in the first place. Read and devotionally study these scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit for revelation so that you can delight in this truth:( John 3: 27; Romans 11: 35-36; James 1: 17; 1 John 4: 19).
We are in Christ in God. It is an authentic, cast-iron, bottom-line fact which must be established in us by experience. We are starting from a place of truth and working back to a point of need. We are not starting from a point of need, attempting to establish a point of truth.
1 Corinthians 1: 30 But by his doing you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that just as it is written: Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Passionate devotional experiences arise simply out of a heartfelt encounter from within our position in Christ. A mentor loves to explore and upgrade the devotional relationship of a disciple to his/her creator.
Another ministry designation is inspiration. We inspire people both consciously and unconsciously. It is true that many people do not read their bibles, but they do read their Christians. We are being watched.
We do not want to manifest frustration or negative anger. No one makes us angry. If anger rises up big time, then the seed of it is already still in our heart and we are only bringing to the surface what was already present. No one makes us angry. They either expose our disposition, or we choose to allow it to come up. Positive anger is righteous indignation usually on behalf of another. It is useful only at certain times and must not lead us to sin.
Negative anger emanates from our own internal disposition and often makes its presence felt when we are under threat or frustrated in some way.
When someone is manifesting unrighteous anger, we try to speak some appreciation into their life. Esteem is vital to us all.
A lifestyle approach to spirituality is more powerful than a situational attitude. When we are focused on being rather than doing, then our life is being established rather than just our attitude. The image that we erect can be undermined in less controlled situations. When the fruits of the Spirit become established in our life, they form the basis of our deep-rooted behavior.
If you’re not walking in the Spirit but in the flesh, we can disillusion people. I have disillusioned people in the past. In our walk with God, we need to come to the place where we unconsciously manifest the Lord Jesus Christ, where it has become our nature.
When we are partaking of the divine nature we can move into the arena of consciously and deliberately wanting to inspire other people. For if what we think about God is the single most important thing in the world, then how we think of others is also of huge significance. How we actually express that in word and deed is the very essence of the good news! A good mindset must be continually practiced and expressed. When your mind is set on the Spirit it brings life and peace (Romans 8:6). When we allow ourselves to be renewed in the spirit of our mind (Ephesians 4: 23), then it is other people who catch the overflow of what has wonderfully changed in us.
To deliberately inspire other people is a joy that makes Christ more real to us in the interaction. The art of ministry is encouragement. The purpose is edification. The process is elevation in their relationship with the Lord. When we inspire, we provide another human being with the desire or the ability to feel or do something that they would perhaps not undertake without our encouragement. We literally breathe life into them. There is a principle of respiration involved. We provide an atmosphere for people to reconnect with God in their true self. A person of deliberate inspiration sets the pervading tone for an upgrade in persona and personality. We make life more pleasurable, interesting, and exciting. We want to encourage and stimulate people to experience being in love with Jesus at a deeper level.
We carry an anointing to quicken, arouse and awaken people to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything we say and do should reveal God’s true nature and inspire people to believe. We carry an anointing to reassure people of the love of God. We inspire faith in God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. We do not crucify or hang people with a negative. We cut them free.
When we elevate a negative above a positive, we discourage and demoralize. We beat down people’s self-perception and dampen their faith. Then people focus on sin rather than righteousness. What we focus on, we become. Inspiration never prevents; but sets people free to discover the radiant nature of God and be transformed.
It is important that we check ourselves out in terms of the quality of our inspirational output. A good mentor provides lessons in the art of upgrading. It is time for us to think clearly about the people around us, both those we like and those who represent a struggle to our heart.
Ask the father to show his perception of them. Fine tune your appreciation and add value to someone’s life. Create a good habit of communicating what you see in the Spirit about them, either by speaking or writing. The lies of the enemy and the disapproving comments of others will stick less and less to us as we practice being an inspiration. Give and it will be given to you (Luke 6: 38). That works both ways, positively and negatively.
Our third ministry designation is influence. Who are we influencing? What does our influence look like? How is it affecting the individual and corporate life of people around us?
Influence is the capacity to have an effect upon the character or behavior of someone. In the world it is power arising out of status. In the Kingdom it is power emanating from Presence. Influence in spiritual terms is connected to the flow of the Holy Spirit.
If we think of a brick wall and focus on one brick in particular, we know that it has a particular relationship with each brick in its vicinity. Firstly, it is resting on two bricks, which denotes a mentoring relationship with people who undergird and support. We all need people to depend upon for advice, input, and accountability. Such people empower us to connect our future with our present.
They are concerned with destiny; where we are now and where we are going. They make sure that we are built up in regard to life itself in Jesus, in the body of Christ, in the world, and in the Kingdom. They provide a valuable impute on our identity and calling. They are significant in our development.
Secondly, that particular brick is in line with other bricks on the same level. This speaks of working relationships and peer level friendships that operate around our lives.
We should all make efforts to know, relate, and commune with fellow sojourners on this journey. I’m very intentional about supporting, edifying, and encouraging people who are on a similar journey and have the same type of warfare and pressure that I’m learning to joyfully endure. It is important that we stand with people irrespective of how well or badly they are doing. If we only give support when people are doing well, then we are not much of a friend. Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren (Hebrews 2: 11) whether we are doing well or not so well.
It is a privilege to be attacked in defense of a friend or fellow minister who is failing, struggling, and making poor decisions. We must not shoot our wounded. Everyone has the right of restoration and redemption. It is a joy to watch the Holy Spirit turn someone’s mess into a message and better their life and glorify Jesus.
I’m very happy with the hits I have taken from well-meaning Christians because I choose to stand with someone who was making big mistakes. I felt the kiss of God, who understands commitment and faithfulness. It is possible to separate the person from the message they are sending on those occasions so that we uphold the person while overlooking the message. Doctors say that a broken bone, when healed, can become much stronger. When people are restored and have changed in the process, they often carry a greater threat to the enemy.
The finally that brick supports others which are indicative of our need to discipline someone else. It is right for us to take responsibility to pass on what we have received in Christ. Iron sharpens iron. Often those I have been discipling have been the people that have pushed me further into the realm of the Spirit.