overwhelmed by grace.

thanks to all who have been praying for my ministry. The Lord has been manifesting the faith prayers for his help in financial crisis. He is truly a God who answers to his promises in his word. Last night 100 dollar bill, a vaccume cleaner, a new poulan chainsaw, groceries , wife check for 2,000, truck in shop money is there to pay for it. and most of all the precious comfort of the Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 9:8 God is able to make all grace abound toward me and that I have the sufficiency of all things. God bless to you faith walkers the same.

what a blessing a reply from someone blessed by my testimony.----it has continued. yesterday the Lord sent a brother from 33 miles from my house. he came after church. He bought my motorcycle jacket. This was a small thing compared to the opportunity to share about Jesus. I wanted to draw him into fellowship before leaving. after it was over he had joy all over his face and we had magnified Jesus tremendously. Ps.31:19 oh how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. :-)

brodav9 wrote:
thanks to all who have been praying for my ministry. The Lord has been manifesting the faith prayers for his help in financial crisis.

Brother, I ask this with a sincere heart, because I have a buddy struggling right now, he said the Lord called him into his ministry and he left a 6 digit figure job and now he can't hardly feed his family.
My question is if the Lord "really" called any of us into a Ministry why doesn't he provide all our needs to were we won't have to worry about struggling and we can focus on God and our Ministry? I have always wondered this, maybe this would have been better, if I would have asked this in a new dedicated thread to this question.
God Bless
Mr. Bill

My question is if the Lord "really" called any of us into a Ministry why doesn't he provide all our needs to were we won't have to worry about struggling and we can focus on God and our Ministry?

I hope you forgive my stepping in...
As one who has both been one who has been provided for by the Lord, and an occasional answer to anothers provision, I felt compelled to just give a couple of thoughts on the issue.

I could not find my book about the man who had the orphanages in England, very great man of faith, George Mueller, But there was hardly ever a man alive who's calling was so obvious; yet very often he did not have the food to provide for the children he had in his care; and he and the staff would gather and pray and miraculously at just the right moment someone would come and bring food or money for food. He was both a great man of faith, and a very faithful minister.

It seems that the provision relationship is two-fold; one it takes someone to be obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit! I was always so amazed by this brother- George's testimonies; as often those who would respond were not even Christians.

Yet, I also know that God is faithful, and learning to trust Him for our needs is a powerful and sometimes difficult lesson. Yet, time after time; testimony upon testimony, God has proven to those who trust Him, that He is trustworthy.

One thing else I would add, sometimes when we know of a struggle within someone elses life it is we who should make every effort to be the answer, if possible, to that issue.

I pray and ask that the Lord would lay this man and his entire household on the hearts of those that have ears to hear, and that there would be a response that would inspire every member of his household and those connected to him; and that all would be built up in the faith, and in awe at the tender, compassionate care of the Father of mercies.

In Christ

Lor_E wrote:
I hope you forgive my stepping in...

One thing else I would add, sometimes when we know of a struggle within someone elses life it is we who should make every effort to be the answer, if possible, to that issue.
In Christ

Your forgiven! but your were not stepping in out of line I was welcoming all responses, and to your statement above, this guy I am personally speaking of has struggled for years how long should we continue to support him or be the answer?

If we always have the attitude that we should help everyone that says "God" told them to start up a Ministry and maybe this is not true, are we just being enablers? or should we just continue to support this person no matter what?

I know we should all go to God for the answer to our giving, but what if we "think" God has told us to give and we are struggling and we were wrong and did not hear God right, now were hungry? I have witnessed family's fighting and almost divorce because the man or woman was giving to a fresh new Ministry, this is really a hard thing to deal with, I wished these Ministries did not place such a burden on themselves or others but I guess there is really no answer, or does the Bible have a solid answer on this?
Mr. Bill

how long should we continue to support him or be the answer?

I took time to consider, pray, and search the scripture regarding these kinds of questions, as they are not easy, and I am certainly NO expert.

"Support" has many different avenues, certainly one is financial; but it is by no means the only one. Prayer, wisdom, concern, fellowship, prayer, gifts from the garden, or some other blessing with which we have been blessed with; all of these things are important types of support.

I'm sure in this day and age that there are "ministries" that are not necessarily "ordained" by God; not under the authority, direction and help of an "over-seer"; and that are self guided. But that's for God to decide, I believe He will lead us in the correct handling of these issues, who to give to or not give to. Yet, I can't help but think that we should be 'enablers' of the gospel.

(Having said that, should we enable a fleshly ministry? Of course we must be careful in seeking to determine motives, since we are not God; but if we see someone struggling in certain areas, like financial responsibility, then wisdom and love would desire to give aid in those areas, if possible, in humility, grace and in love. We all have many things to learn, and being "an answer" can be that person who has the gift of "helps", not just "giving")

.

I know we should all go to God for the answer to our giving, but what if we "think" God has told us to give and we are struggling and we were wrong and did not hear God right, now were hungry?

(Personally, I would think that we would then learn how to tell God's voice from our own thoughts rather quickly then.....)

I love the verses in 2 Corinthians 8:15 "..he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack" the "burden" of care for any member of the body, seems to me, to be the responsibility of the body... not just the hand.

We have often struggled financially and still given, and never gone hungry! We may not have always given $$, many times a friend would give us extras from their garden and I would make soup, rolls and pies and share them with those that I knew did not have enough food, but all involved were blessed.

One time that was the absolute most heart rending times was once when a single father we knew, was struggling financially, physically, spiritually- the church he had attended decided they could not give him money, and we had no extra to spare. He had called and said he would be kicked out of his place if he didn't get his apt. ready for inspection, and no one there would, or could help. We drove 80 miles to clean his house, his carpets, his walls, the childrens rooms- he had stayed up late the night before cleaning the other parts of the house, so we let him sleep while we cleaned. The next morning after we could not get an answer from him, and sent the pastor to check on him, he had died; never awoke. After his sister said she walked into his house with his children, they wept because the house was clean. They thought it a great gift, that things were not in dissarray, for both them and their father's sake. (I never thought the last gift we would give to our friend would be to clean his house.)

Abigail brought David and his men food, though her husband did not want to support him; she recognized that her household was in danger due to her husband's response. Though, I do not think that she took from her household those things that were not under her authority, as a wife, to give. The food was hers to prepare, and the household was hers to be concerned with, and she brought not only food to David, but wisdom concerning his next steps.

I have witnessed family's fighting and almost divorce because the man or woman was giving to a fresh new Ministry,

How sad!! I would think, personally, that someone was out of order. Women, outside of the Abigail issue, should not take funds away from their household without their husbands agreement.

But without knowing the situations, just as it sits I have wonder:
Is there a body around the "ministry"?
Is there a headship issue?
Is there a financial wisdom issue?
Is there financial accountability?
Is there too high of a standard of living issue?
Is the gospel being honored and not the person?
Are there those who are not stepping up to the plate with their various gifts?
Is there something that "minister" needs to learn that he is unable or unwilling to learn regarding His walk with the Lord?
Is his family in order?
Is there much prayer, from the "minister", the body, the friends of the ministry?

Though there is nothing wrong in struggling, there is something amiss when one feels a "burden" is placed on them from any ministry- unless that "burden" comes from the Lord.

Hopefully I didn't just muddy the waters more.

In Christ

I appreciate your comment we should be led of the Spirit in all we do. The reason I am out of work is because of persecution. The testimonies are to encourage others who go through persecutions to trust God. I am receiving so much comfort from the Lord that tears roll down my eyes every day. I almost feel at times that this trial was the best thing that happened to me. The Holy Spirit is called the comforter. I have chosen to forgive my enemies and not retaliate which is the position of choice I have. Matt. 5:11 blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. many christians in America do not have these trouibles. They will not stand for Jesus in their beliefs if it costs trouble. I have lost many jobs in the past. one was because I was required to pass out beer invitations to all the tenants in a apt complex which I was a porter at. He said if I don't I can leave. He was angry because if I didn't he would have to take the slack. He was the boss. My ministry is one in which I pay the money out of pocket and mostly on weekends. It is strictly a charity. I only rely on the Lord and as a consequence he is faithfully supplying. All the things that have happened unto me are for the furtherance of the gospel. Phil. 1:12 This ministry of loving brethren through the internet came shortly after being home and seeking ways to serve Jesus. In the area I live there are no Spirit filled christians that I know of. I keep sharing and praying because God is faithful to direct our steps. haleluia. like David in Psalms 37:25 I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. I have learned 2 new things to help me pray more in tongues. that is extending to a long period of time. 1. to strum apretty piece of music not many chords and sing in tongues. also 2. to walk in the isles of a large department store and praying quietly in tongues. the sight of the objects are not important but the change of scenery creates a relaxing effect instead of just sit and look at same thing. hope readers understand this. praying a long time is a blessing but can weary if long time saying what you don't understand. again no focus on things just moving scenery. God bless you long time tongue talkers, and keep up the good work. uhoh made devil mad again.

I belong to a temporary service now. I was able to work a job for 10 hours. God gave me a lot of grace working there. I worked a robot and made some carparts. The place is a kaos but now God is preparing me for another blessing of grace. for those who are interested in a good bible study organiser plan see my input on general topics called operation Noah's ark. as soon as I entered that blessing to The forum 10 minutes later the phone rang and I got blessed with the temporary job.