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ប្រតិចារិក
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starting in verse 30 and ending in verse 33. starting here in verse 30. And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. and they departed into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and out went them, and came together unto him." Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, as we gather here, Lord, to open Your Word, to glean from Your Word, we pray that You prepare our hearts to receive it, Lord. We pray that this morning that You'll pour Your Spirit upon us, Lord, that we'll set aside all the affairs of this life as we look around and see so many here this morning missing, Lord. You know, Lord, we pray that Your work, whether they're providentially hindered or whether they're struggling or whatever it may be, Lord, We pray that You do a mighty work. We give thanks to You for this morning, Lord. We praise You for this opportunity to preach Your Word. Lord, be with us in this time. May we be free of distractions. Lord, bind Satan. In Jesus' name, Amen. There's this. portion of Scripture here that's in between the feeding of the 5,000 and where we left off last week with the murder of John the Baptist. These few verses cause us to bring about this moment of comparison. It brings about a thought process of personal responsibility. Maybe even personal accountability as we live this Christian life. When I was a kid, my dad used to buy and sell cars on the side. He would go down to the auction, the police auction, and buy vehicles and bring them home. And our job as his kids was to clean the vehicles out. Well, it may not sound very exciting, but the deal was whatever we found in the vehicle, we got to keep. So I'll never forget, I was probably 10 or 11 years old, and my dad brought home a Chrysler 600. And as I was cleaning out this Chrysler 600, I found a ring. I was so excited. And it helped out that the neighbor actually told me that the ring was platinum. I didn't even know what platinum was, but I was excited because he was excited about it, and I just knew that I was the first 11-year-old to strike it rich off of a ring found in the back of a Chrysler 600. When they took me to the jeweler, I whipped that ring out to show the jeweler, like, look at me, I have arrived. I just knew that the jeweler was going to throw all the money in the register to me to buy this ring off of me. Well, that day, I received really bad news. The ring was a fake. It wasn't even real at all. And he, in trying to help me understand that I found a fake, he showed me another platinum ring. And when I seen what a platinum ring was supposed to look like, I realized how much mine was a fake. That day I walked out of the store not really caring too much about that ring. I don't even know what happened from that moment forward. It was just a joke. It was all a fake. See, what happened was when the ring was compared to the real thing, I then understood why my ring was so insufficient. I often think that in our lives, in our Christian ministries, we often inflate ourselves. We have higher views of our Christian ministries because we've spent too much time comparing ourselves to the wrong people. We've spent our time comparing ourselves to each other. When we look at other people's faults, we look at other people's failures and we say, I don't have that issue at all. When we look at other people's mistakes and say, that's not me. And we use other people's faults, we use other people's failures as a stepping stone to inflate our own ministry. That's a very terrible decision. Here we see in these few short verses the reality of personal accountability. When we arrived here in chapter 6, we've already seen that the disciples were called. We've already seen that the disciples were sent out to do ministry. We've seen that they were sent out. How long were they sent out? We're not exactly sure how long they were sent out. Was it just a few short weeks? Was it a few months? We do not know. But this is the one thing that we do know, because we've seen it last week, that all that the ministry that these disciples had been doing, all that the Lord had been doing, had traveled all the way to Herod's table. The news had spread abroad. It had spread abroad about the ministry that they were involved in. Listen, this was not the age of social media, and this isn't the age where they posted on Twitter, Jesus is coming to town. All of this was spread by mouth. This was the age there was no vehicles, yet they traveled far and abroad, and they counted it worthy. And they found themselves willing because of who Jesus was. And they viewed who Jesus was and said, I'm willing to give my all. I'm willing to leave this town. I'm willing to be uncomfortable. I'm willing to experience losses. I'm willing to do it all for the cause of Christ so that others may know about my Jesus. Verse 30 reminds us of something that matters. Verse 30 reminds us of something that applies to each and every one of us who are saved. And that is, one day, all of this ministry that we do here in this life, one day, all the labor that we have done in this life, one day, each and every one of us will give a personal account to Jesus for the ministry that we've conducted in this life. for the things that we've been involved in this life. Not only the things that we've done, but the things that we've also taught. One day we will stand and give an account before the Lord. We look forward to the Lord's coming. We long for the day when we are gone out of this place, when we're raptured out of here. Well, we don't have to experience the woes of this life no more. We read Titus 2.13 and we say, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We're excited about the day that we are gone and we say even now, ever now, so Lord come quickly. But one day, though, after we're all raptured out of here, one day after all of this is over, one day we will find ourselves standing before Jesus Christ, giving account what we've done day in and day out since the day He called us. You see, the disciples were called to call, and then they were sent, and then they accounted for that which they did after they were sent. This is what this verse reminds us here. We find ourselves that we too will be in a position where we will stand in front of the one who's called us out of darkness into marvelous light. We find ourselves positioned in front of the one who called us into ministry. We find ourselves positioned in the front of the one who sent us out by means of the Great Commission. We are going to stand before Jesus and give account for not only our works, but for the motive of our works. You see, it's one thing to stand up here and maybe preach for the next 40 years. But if my motives is wrong, then when I stand and give an account, it will all be in vain. If I stand up here for 40 years and preach the gospel and preach the word of God and explain the Bible to you, but my motive is selfish. My motive is monetary. My motive is popularity. My motive is that I want everybody to know who I am. That motive will be made known when I stand before Jesus. The motive of our ministry matters. The reason that we do the things in this life, the reason that we serve the Lord, the reason that we do things in the church, the motive behind those things is really important. And it matters to the Lord. Listen, in this life, we are all longing for the same thing, right? We all long that when we're taken out of here, that when we stand before Jesus, we're going to hear what? Well done. Well done. Well done, my good and faithful servant. And this is what we all want to hear. But I think many of us at times find ourselves like the 10-year-old me. I got it. I got it. I'm on fire. Look, I'm rich. Look at what I have and no one else does. Look what I do and look what I've got and no one else has. If only people could be just like me. This is the mindset that we find ourselves. We get so caught up on looking down at others that we find ourselves exalted to a place of false security, false hope, and a false position of where we stand with the Lord. A wise reminder says that God does not reward that which he does not call you to. And God does not reward you for operating outside of His Word. I don't care what ministry you've designed up. I don't care what ministry you've drawn up. If it's outside of God's Word, it will be standing before the Lord. It will be outside of His Word. There will be no rewards for that. Woe to a generation that thinks that they can do what they want. Woe to a generation that thinks that God is honored by doing what He condemns. Woe to a generation who believes that they can take principles of God's Word and manipulate it to whatever They won. You want to be deeply rewarded in your ministry? You want to be deeply rewarded in your Christian life? You want to hear, well done, thy good and faithful servant? Then do not manipulate the principles of God's Word to try to make it fit your opinion. to make it fit your desires. You will not hear, well done. Well, Lord, I've gave my all. Well, Lord, I've labored hard. But in the end, it was outside of the word. When the disciples stood before Jesus on this day, they told Him all things. They told him all things that they had taught. They told him all things that they had done. There was nothing exempt from what they had done, and neither will it be in our lives. When we stand before the Lord, there will be nothing exempt. There will be nothing hid. There will be nothing covered up that we taught or did in this Christian life. Notice here, both what they had done and what they had taught. that we would recognize, oh, that we would recognize that for those who are saved, one day, all the days that we spent maybe roasting someone in the church, all the days that we spent slandering someone, all the days we spent time sowing discord, all the times, all the days we spent in time and service to ourselves are recorded in the books of heaven. And those five comments that we dished out may have really felt good to the flesh. And we may have said, well, we got our pound of flesh, and I feel good now. And you know what? We may say things about each other in this Christian life, and they may go unchecked in this life. But one day, when we stand before God, they will not go unchecked. They will not be hidden. They'll not be covered up. They may last, be covered for now, but not forever. There are two things that you need to know about this time in which we were sent out. This time in which the disciples were sent out was not just this easy, breezy time. Matter of fact, when we get on to the next verse, we're going to see how exhausted they were. how fatigued they were. And this was not just some lay-me-down in time of ministry. And this was not just this easy time. They were fulfilling the Great Commission. I think if we was to all sit back and say, in our lives, maybe, even, you know, in our generation, that there probably has not been a more wicked time in the world than today. There may have not been a more darker time in the world today. But as we said before, is it a problem that the world is behaving worldly? Is it a problem that sinners keep sinning? Is it a problem that the dark keeps getting darker? No, no, no. That is what we expect of the world. That's what we expect of the wicked. The problem is the Christians are getting too used to the dark. And they forgot that there's supposed to be a light. You know, I seen this morning on a 9-11 tribute on the internet. It was a memoir of heroes in dark times. Heroes that stood up and faced terrorism. Heroes that was willing to give it all and how it changed. The nation. You know what? The truth be told, if we truly believe that this world is under attack, if we really believe that Christians are under attack of the wiles of the devil, if we really believe that basically in this season that the Satan is going about seeking whom he may devour, then we too should be a light. I had a co-worker who I used to work with. He told me that he took a guide one time down into Mammoth Cave. And as he got down into Mammoth Cave, they all cuddled together, huddled together around this tour guide. And then he shut the lights off. And one of the guides there took a match and struck the match. And he was amazed how one little match could be so bright in such a dark cave. You know, the truth is, brothers and sisters, In this age of darkness, in this age of severe darkness, you would be surprised how much light one little Christian could be if they would just burn for God. You would be surprised how much light one Christian could be if they would just burn for God. In this dark age, I think that oftentimes we discredit ourselves, we discredit the power of the Word, we discredit ourselves from what God has called us to do, because we say, who am I? I can't make a difference, and on the contrary, in this age that we are in, one light, can make a difference. He gave these disciples, now here in this text called apostles, the power over disease, the power over the devils. They were out doing ministry for the Lord. And we'll see here a second thing that we need to realize. Satan is doing everything he can to distract you from this race. Satan is doing everything he can. This is what even for the disciples, everything he could to distract them from ministry. I know that as we think about this one day of giving an account to the Lord of all that we've done in this life and how we've served them in this life, we face the reality of struggles. We face the reality of how easy we find ourselves distracted. We recognize the pull. We recognize the lack of ability of staying focused at times. We realize how weak we are, how fearful we are. I once heard a story of a kid who was walking home. Week after week, he walked home and whenever he heard the foot pedal, foot patter on the steps, he took off running because he knew what was following after that was a dog barking. Soon as he heard the feet running, he never looked back. He just ran, ran, ran until he got home. Well, after several months of, on his journey home, running from the foot patter, running from the barking, one day he decided, you know what, I'm not going to run no more. You know, I'm going to get this here rock, and you know what, as soon as I hear the foot patter, as soon as I hear the dog barking, I'm going to turn around and I'm going to give this dog a one-two. And as he's walking down the same street as always, there it is. He hears the foot patter. He hears the dog running. And he hears the barking. And as soon as he hears the dog get right up behind him, he turns around, he lifts the rock to his surprise. And this was not a big dog at all. And this was not a ferocious dog at all. And this was not a scary dog at all. It was a tiny, old, gray-beard Yorkie that had no teeth. And this whole time he was on the run from something that could actually do him no harm. In this whole time, he was filled with fear that there was something that actually couldn't even take him out. Yet, the noise alone made him run in fear. Oftentimes, it is the same in our own Christian lives. We allow things to cause us to run in fear that cannot do us no harm. We allow things to cause us to panic that can't take us out. We allow things to make us be distracted from what we are supposed to be doing. And we run, run, run all the way home trying to seclude ourselves from a world that needs us now more than ever. He didn't call the disciples to seclusion in the age of darkness. He sent them out. Now, there's another principle that comes in verse 31 that he teaches them that it's good to hide away, it's good to tuck away, but this is not a long-term position, but we all need rest. Rest is important. Rest is pertinent in ministry. Listen, as we live this Christian life, sorry, as we live this Christian life, it is good not to develop a mentality about ministry that this is the pastor's job. It's a bad mentality. It's a bad mentality to say, this is the trustee's job. It's a bad mentality to say, this is the lady's leader's position. She should handle that. It's a bad thought process to say that, you know what, he's in charge of finances. It's his responsibility to figure it out. This is a bad place to be in ministry. And by the way, this is the place that Satan wants us in our Christian life. He wants us in a place that when we hear of work, when we hear of responsibility, when we hear of jobs, we automatically dish it to someone else and say, that's their position. That's the pastor's position. I mean, come on. He gets paid for it. And we become satisfied at distributing work and protecting our own view of ourself. This is where Satan wants you. Satisfied in your Christian life. He wants you to be satisfied with your Bible study. He wants you to be satisfied with your prayer life. He wants you to be satisfied that there's nothing else more you can do for the Lord. I mean, come on, what does the Lord want you to do? Get uncomfortable? I mean, do you realize how that would cost you? Do you realize that you may have to cut back in areas if you tried to actually live for the Lord like the apostles did? If you actually tried to sell out for the Lord, do you realize how uncomfortable that would make you? Yes! That is exactly what the disciples did. They sold out on the Great Commission. You know why we don't see such great success in churches today? People are not sold out on the Great Commission. They've become distracted. The devil has offered the great pacifier. You're doing enough already. Believe me, when in your mind you cross this thought process, that there's nothing more that you can do for the Lord. When you cross this thought process in your mind, that there's nothing more for the Lord for you to do. Maybe you're older. Maybe the fact that, you know what, I've gotten too old, there's nothing else that I can do. That's the devil's pacifier. When you find yourself in a Christian life and you say, you know what? I'm doing enough things already. There's nothing more that I can do. That's the devil's pacifier. When you find yourself in a position where you are satisfied, I feel like satisfied is a substitute for stagnant. You can always do more for the Lord. Well, where does it stop? Where does the stop of giving, giving, giving? It does not stop. Yet, in the same breath, we see that the Lord does pull his disciples away and say, rest. But while in the ministry, while engaged, while laboring, it is good to give all and not heed any word from the devil. Listen, ministry is spiritually exhausting. Ministry is physically exhausting. Ministry is emotionally exhausting. The Lord is telling them here in verse 31. And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. This is what He wants you to do. The Lord is telling them it's time to come apart. It's time to rest. It's time to get away. It's time to be alone. The demands of ministry can break you. The demands of ministry can run you into exhaustion. But if you do not take the time to come apart from the world, you will come apart in this world. Listen, this is not a message only for preachers. This is not a message only for deacons. It's not a message only for teachers. It's not a message just for the apostles. It is a message to all those who are enlisted in this battle. It is a message to all those who are laboring for the Lord. There is a time to give your all, and there is a time to find rest. They were empty. My fear is this. that many of us have no understanding of what it means to be depleted for the Lord. We have no idea what it means to be tired from ministry. We have no idea what it means to be exhausted. We have no idea what it means to lay awake at night worried about our brothers and sisters who are in trouble, who are engaging the enemy, who are experiencing personal struggles, who are experiencing woes, we have no clue what it means at times to be exhausted, because we understand where our brothers and sisters are, and we understand who's responsible for getting them there, and we understand who is responsible for bringing them aid. Meaning, we see what the devil's up to, and we know that the Lord can help them, and we petition the throne room of heaven on their behalf. There's an age, the disciples in this age gave their all. And even in this day and age, we should give our all. You know, we are in an age that has never had grander opportunities. We are in an age of limitless resources. And we are also in an age of limited resources. We have the power of media. We have the internet. We can search scriptures and seek understandings. But it seems that even with all that power at your fingertips, we have people less driven to learn it. We're not comfortable no more, or we're too comfortable, so to say. We're living in the age of every step. You know what? I'm hot, turn on the air. You're cold, turn on the heat. I'm hungry, go to Kroger's. We don't understand what it means to go without for ministry. Rarely do we know what it means to be uncomfortable. Rarely do we know what it means to be exhausted. But these disciples right here were exhausted from ministry. And this was harder than any day they had ever experienced. And this was harder than any time that they had ever experienced in their entire life. Matthew never had a day of tax collecting like this. The disciples never had a day of fishing like this. The freedom fighter, Simon the Zealot, he never had a day of labor like this. Ministry has its own wares on each and every one of us that are beyond our normal comparison. I get tired from my job at work, but it is not like the tired from laboring for the Lord. But also, listen, there's nothing more rewarding than laboring for the Lord. and the rewards that I experienced in this life serving him far surpassed any check from any company, no matter how large, no matter how big than I've ever received in my life. And he said unto them, come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while for there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat. They had not only went out this time where they had sent, but now they had found themselves back with the Lord. And you know what? Now that they had come back to meet up with the Lord, the demands of ministry had not stopped. The people were still coming, the people were still having needs, and there was no end to ministry in sight. By the way, it is the same for us. And there's a time to pull away. There's times to step back. There's times to find ourselves with the Lord. If we said to ourselves, listen, the ministry is never going to stop. It's true. Until we're out of this world, ministry will always be in front of us. There will always be someone who needs help. There will always be someone who needs the gospel. There will always be someone who could use us in this life. But here, the teaching is that there is also an end of ourselves. And there's a point that we even reach in ministry, no matter what your ministry is, even if it ain't delivering the Word, where you need to get away, where you need to step back, where you need to find yourself to gather together with your family, gather together with the Lord in your place being restored, finding restoration, finding rest. You know, I thought back as I was thinking about People who labored hard, people who gave their all, and I couldn't help but think back to this building here. When there was no pews here, when there was no carpet, when there was no drywall, when there was no drywalls on the ceiling, no fans hung, when it was just the beams. I can remember stopping here late at night, satisfied with a full belly to find men and women in here laboring. after all day being at work, after all day laboring for the world, they were here 10 and 11 o'clock at night, and even one night specifically that brought to my mind here is one of the brothers said that he needed to get home because he hadn't eaten all day. Why? How could you even do that? I mean, my mind was hard to understand because when I got off work, all I wanted to do was eat. That was my focus. But yet, here, there was people who was giving their all. We are enjoying this building as a benefit of people who sacrifice time with their family, who sacrificed the opportunity to go home and eat a warm meal with their family, who sacrificed of their giving, who sacrificed of their time, who cleaned up in the building, women who cooked for this, women who cleaned here, women who worked there. It was everybody who was given their all. We enjoy this building so much because people gave their all. When people put their mind to serving the Lord, when people put their mind focused on giving to the Lord, not only of their time but of their talents, when people give their all to this, we get to enjoy things like this. But this place is in danger of bringing about a place of stagnant in our own hearts. Like we survived one, we can never do this. We survived that, you know what, I gave my all to this and we've enjoyed that. That's a dangerous place to be too. We can't be there. We can't rest there. There is always another labor to give ourselves to. I recognize that as we get older, there are things that we did in our youth that we can't do when we're older. I realize there are things that happen in our life that we can no longer give ourselves to like we once did. But it does not give us an excuse that we cannot give at all. These disciples here, they gave their all to ministry and they were burned out. I mean, they still loved the Lord, they were still ministering, but the Lord called them away. Even here, they were serving with all their heart. and they was doing all that the Lord had sent them to do, and they was doing all that the Lord had called them to do. I ask you this morning, when you arrived here this morning, and you viewed your own personal Christian life when you got up this morning, when you arrived here, you recognized that if you're here and you're saved, that you have a personal relationship with the Lord. Where did you view your ministry when you woke up this morning? How did you view your spiritual life? How did you view where you're moving forward with the Lord? If you, when you think about your own personal Christian life, and when you think about your own personal ministry, if someone else that you personally know comes to mind, you've made a mistake. If something else that someone else has done comes to your mind, you've made a huge mistake. We all may have the idea about ministry that the Lord has called us to, but the Lord has called us all to ministry. And that's what we're all called for. And the Great Commission doesn't apply to deacons, pastors, and preachers. It doesn't apply to the trustees and the treasurers. It applies to all. Sharing the gospel to the highways and byways is a ministry at all. It's not a slot that you fill in once a week. It is like we heard this morning. Prayer is a lifestyle and so is sharing the gospel. It is a lifestyle that everywhere we go we are spreading the good news. We see here and we're faced here with a comparison that we must check our own personal lives up to. When we view our own personal Christian life, when we view our ministry, how do we measure up compared to these 12 who gave their all? When we measure up our Christian life, how does it measure up when we view ourselves against the Lord? How does it measure up in our desire? Is our desire to give all like they did? Or is our desire to give all that we want to give? Is our desire to win all, or is our desire to win those who are easily secluded off all by themselves, so no one else will hear me share Christ? If it's not our desire to share Christ with all, then our desire is not to be like Christ. And that's just the reality of where it is. I pray that we all look at the disciples and say, that's it. That's how I want to see myself. That's the crowd that I want to be with. I want them to say that when I die, He gave His all. He didn't give His all for Himself. When the disciples went to the highways and byways, when they traveled around all of the cities, when they came back to the Lord, they told the Lord all that they taught about themselves. No, all that they taught about doctrine, all that they taught about Scripture, when they shared all that they had done, they shared all that they had done in the power of His name. When they arrived back to the Lord, they were sharing all that had happened in their ministry, and they did it with excitement. I'm sure it was great joy. Lord, Lord, over here, this soul was changed because of this message. Lord, this person who was demon-possessed came upon us, but in the power of your name, a mighty miracle was wrought. Oh, Lord, all that you have done is far beyond. I think that we lack excitement sometimes because we lack the enthusiasm to preach the word. We want the world to be changed and get the power of the word to the world. We want the world. We say, well, maybe not that person. No. every soul, to every creature. God has done the mightiest works through the power of his word. If we would just turn to him. He says, come ye apart into a desert place and rest a while. Notice, rest is not laziness. Rest is not a lifelong condition. Rest is not a great commission plan. I'm just going to take it easy and rest and let the Lord do His work in saving. I mean, He did say He was going to save some. Right? Why does He need me? This is not the rest. That you are resting. We are to rest in the Lord. We are resting in His Word. We are resting because this is His design. Rest is not for those who are laboring for themselves. Rest is for those who are laboring for Him. Rest is something that is needed for those that are laboring for him. The Lord told them in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28. Come unto me all ye that... What? Are resting? No. Come unto me all ye that are laboring. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Psalms 103, 14 lets us know that the Lord knows our frame. He's letting us know that He knows that we're nothing but dust. He knows exactly what we're made up of. And this is also to say that here in this text, that they were so sold out for Jesus, sold out, but sold out does not mean that once you're saved, that you open up full blast and run, run, run, run, run, run until you burn out. God has never taught this. Rest is valuable. Even in creation, He created for six days, and on the seventh, He rested. This isn't because God was exhausted. This isn't because He was experiencing fatigue. This isn't because He was running low on power from creating all that He created. It was a principle that He was laying out for those whom He loved. It was a design to say that those whom I created You will take time and rest. You take time and labor, and you labor, and you're going to labor hard. But in these moments, you need to find rest. Calm yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. The invitation was to come. Come with Him. Find rest with Him. You, yourselves, come apart and be with Him. We labor for our Lord, but we must never forget that our Lord's desire is a relationship with his children. He wants that sweet fellowship. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is in secret. There is a time in ministry where we are, we're just preaching the gospel everywhere we turn. And there's another time in ministry where the Lord is calling his children, come apart. Be with me. You, yourself. You, come. Be with me. Separate yourself. Find yourself in this desert place. You, come here. Find rest in me. Find rest with me. I think sometimes, though, we have the wrong equation of how ministry should be balanced. We just have this thought process that the more things that we do, the more that we give ourselves to, that's how more effective we are in ministry. There's a risk in this thought process that if we become such a thought process that we want to do, do, do, that we want to work, work, work, and we don't come apart and rest, we actually forget who we're laboring for. We actually forget where the power comes from. We actually forget and who is going to give us a rest from all of this work. There was a young girl who loved her father very much. And the father loved his daughter very much. They were so close. Day by day, they would walk with each other. And day by day, they would talk to each other. And people would say it was the most unique relationship, how much this father and daughter loved each other. One day though, the father realized that the daughter was becoming distant. And he was realizing that the daughter was becoming estranged. The father could not get her company. He couldn't get her to walk with her. He couldn't get her to hang out with him. He couldn't get her to talk with her. She seemed to shun every time he invited her. It grieved the father deeply. But after some time had passed, the father's birthday had now come. And when he woke up in the morning, he found his daughter standing in the doorway of the door, excited, smiling with a loving smile and a gift in her hand. She approached his bedside and handed him a gift, and he opened the gift and found slippers. And the father said to his daughter, Oh, it was very nice of you to buy me such lovely slippers. The daughter quickly responded, No, dad, I didn't buy you these slippers. I made them for you. Looking at his daughter, he said, My daughter, I think I understand now what has been long a mystery to me. It is that you've been working on these slippers for some three months." She said, yes, Father. How did you know that I've been working on these slippers for three months? I've been working so hard. He said, because for three months I have missed your company. For three months I have missed your love. I wanted to have you with me, but you have been too busy. These are beautiful slippers, honey, but next time buy your present. You know, the truth is, brothers and sisters, is that the Lord desires fellowship with his children. Works, yes, we're supposed to work. Yes, we're supposed to labor for the Lord. Yes, we're supposed to give all. But don't get so busy working that you neglect the relationship that you have with your heavenly Father. Don't get so busy giving your all that you forget who you're giving your all for. Don't get so busy giving your all that you're forgetting who gives you the power to even give your all. You know why? Because when you do that, you run a high risk of burning out. That's not the Lord's desire. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all the cities, and out went them, and came together unto him. They was just trying to slip away privately. It is on the coast of the shore of Galilee that this probably took place, that cutting across by ship would have been four miles, but coming around by foot would have been eight miles. when they seen Jesus and his disciples and they departed, the people seen it. And by the time that Jesus and the apostles made it to the other side, we find the people waiting for them, thronging them again. Why? Because the needs of ministry never stopped. And even 2,000 years later, the needs of ministry have never stopped. People are still thronging. The people are still looking. People are still wondering where will hope come from. And it's going to come from God's Word. And who's going to be the messenger? We are. We're going to be the ones to deliver. But listen, it's often good, as we come to a close here, when you compare your Christian life, don't compare it to someone here. Compare it to God's Word. Compare it to the people who God called, compare it to our Lord. And it's also good that as we live this Christian life, that we don't get so caught up in works that we think if we stop for a minute and take time away, or if we take time and rest, or if we turn to the Lord and pull back for a time, that we've done something wrong. This is the design of ministry. Everything has margin. Everything has boundaries, even our own flesh. And this is what we think about when we dream about vacations. We miss people here all summer long, but we recognize that there is a need to pull back from the world. We recognize that there's a need to pull back from ministry, that there's a time to rest, that there's a time to take a break. This rest is not permanent. This rest is not forever, but when we pull back in this time, it's not only to see God's beautiful creation, but it's to find time to meet with the one who created the creation and ask him to restore our souls. This is the beauty of ministry. These same people that ran those eight miles by foot on the other side and were waiting for the Lord and the disciples when they got there. These are the same people who the Lord's getting ready to do this miracle, this feeding of the 5,000 with. They're getting ready to see the power of the Lord manifested again. Their needs will be met. But in between there, and the murder of John the Baptist, in between there and being sent out, there was a time of rest. Be sure that when we take this time of rest, that we're resting in the right place, that we're resting in the right person, and that we can come again charged, ready to labor for the Lord, because the Father who sent us The one who called us is the one who filled us to continue and move forward in ministry. Let's pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, Lord, Lord, we thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for your word. Lord, for the wisdom that's in it, even in our own lives, Lord, that sometimes we become so discouraged in ministry, that we become so worn in ministry, that we keep saying, I'm just going to push along. I'm just going to push along. But your word teaches, Lord, it's so good to get alone with you. To find rest in you, to separate ourselves from the things that aware us in this life. There will always be a need for ministry. And Lord, may we always have the desire to meet the needs in ministry.
Accountability In Ministry
ស៊េរី Mark
លេខសម្គាល់សេចក្ដីអធិប្បាយ | 912211818427682 |
រយៈពេល | 44:25 |
កាលបរិច្ឆេទ | |
ប្រភេទ | ព្រឹកថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ |
អត្ថបទព្រះគម្ពីរ | ម៉ាកុស 6; ម៉ាកុស 6:30-33 |
ភាសា | អង់គ្លេស |
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