to ANYONE involved in the work of the Lord -- the work of the Lord is NOT the most important thing!
a CRUCIAL reminder to anyone involved in "the work of the Lord"!

THE LORD OF THE WORK -- by Chip Brogden



"Separate unto Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have
called them" (Acts 13:2b).

There is a pressing need in the Body of Christ to distinguish and
discern the difference between the Lord of the Work and the work of
the Lord. How easy it is to confuse these two things and treat them
as one and the same. Yet the difference before God is quite vast.

This difference was revealed to me several years ago. I was
conducting some meetings in Texas and attended a ministerial luncheon
consisting of local pastors. My presence as a visitor was
acknowledged and I was invited to stand and "share a few words". What
would I say to these pastors?

The Lord had already prepared my heart with a special word just for
them. I said, "Brothers, I came all the way from North Carolina to
remind you of one thing: the work of the Lord is NOT the most
important thing."

I allowed my words to sink into their hearing for a moment and the
silence was deafening. I understand now what Jesus experienced when
the Bible says that "He knew within Himself" that the people
questioned and doubted in their hearts. I could sense this as these
pastors silently wondered what could possibly be more important than
the work of the Lord.

"Brothers, the Lord of the Work is more important than the work of
the Lord," I said. And I sat down.

In my experience, fewer than one person out of one thousand really
understands this, even when they nod and say amen. I am still growing
in this revelation. I am constantly being reminded by the Lord,
"Chip, I am more important that your ministry. I am your priority.
This is My work, not yours. I reserve the right to separate you for
service or place you on the shelf. I reserve the right to send you
forth or keep you at home. The Lord of the Work is more important
than the work of the Lord. You keep saying this, but you do not
always practice it."

According to the Scriptures, the Kingdom of God exists wherever
Christ has the preeminence. To seek first the Kingdom of God is to
seek the preeminence of Jesus over all things. For many years I
assumed that seeking first the Kingdom of God meant to seek first the
work of the Lord - putting the ministry before everything else, even
before the needs of my family.

While my intentions were good, the Scripture does not say, "Seek
first the ministry." It says to seek first the Kingdom of God. How
does this apply to ministry? It means simply this: I must be governed
by the Lord of the Work, not the work of the Lord.

The "work of the Lord" tends to take on a life of its own if we are
not careful. We begin in the Spirit but then we use fleshly means to
perpetuate the ministry. I can say this because I have been guilty of
it. The thought and the intention may be good, but before we realize
it, the work of the Lord becomes preeminent over the Lord of the
Work. In fact, the minister, the pastor, the teacher, the apostle, or
the prophet assumes the position of the Lord of the Work. How quickly
the flesh comes in!

If God's Eternal Purpose is for Jesus to have the preeminence over
all things then this certainly includes the work. The Lord of the
Work does not change, but the work of the Lord is constantly
changing. The Lord of the Work governs the time, the place, the
people, the provision, and the assignment. All these things may
change as the Lord of the Work sees fit. He sets one up and brings
another down. He opens doors and closes them. He leads us to speak or
bids us to remain silent.

In the Book of Acts no one initiates anything. They are wholly
governed by the Holy Spirit. He sets people apart, He sends them
forth, He tells them where to go - forbidding them from going to
certain places, only to send them later, when the time is right. We
do not find apostles or prophets or pastors "working their gift" and
going about willy-nilly, just doing whatever they feel like doing.

Watchman Nee observed that God often puts His greatest ambassadors in
chains. Brother Nee himself spent the last twenty years of his life
in the seclusion of a Communist prison. Is this not a waste? It
sometimes appears that the Lord of the Work is not doing things
correctly. We want to go out and the Lord tells us to stay home. We
want to stay home and the Lord tells us to go. He is the Lord of the
Work. I cannot explain everything He does, nor can I understand. In
humility we must bow down and say, "You are the Lord of the Work, and
I am only a worker. You are the Master, and I am the servant. You
know what You want and what You need far more than I do. I only see a
portion, but you see all things. So I submit myself and my work to
you!"

Brothers and sisters, this is the only safe way. Can we submit
ourselves to the Lord of the Work? Can we offer Him our gifts, our
talents, and our abilities on the altar and let Him direct things? I
believe that almost every apostle, prophet, or pastor that has gotten
off track has done so because of this very thing - making the work of
the Lord preeminent over the Lord of the Work. God gives them a gift,
or a calling, or a ministry, and they begin working at it until they
no longer need to be governed by the Holy Spirit. They have to
constantly put out and perform. Really, they are too gifted. We need
a little less giftedness and a lot more brokenness.

When I go back and take inventory of the places I have traveled and
ministered in over the last few years I find a pattern. They were
doing just fine until I arrived and proclaimed to them the
preeminence of Jesus Christ and His sovereignty as the Lord of the
Work. This word created a crisis in their fellowship although most of
them did not realize it at the time. Sometimes it takes years for
that crisis to fully develop, but nearly every church or group I have
visited has since fallen by the wayside, voluntarily closed their
doors, or gone into a deep, dark deception. As you can imagine, I do
not get invited much anymore, and I am less and less inclined to go.

This is a painful thing - realizing that you have labored in the
flesh, labored for religion, built a house of straw on some
foundation other than Christ. But if we are so good at our ministry
that we don't need to hear from God and be governed by His Spirit on
a daily basis then we are far gone. We have left our first love and
made the work of the Lord more important than the Lord of the Work.
We need to repent.

I need a ministry that is so impossible to perform that apart from
the miraculous, divine intervention of God it will be absolutely
nothing! God delights in the impossible because we are forced to rely
upon Him - anything less and we begin to imagine we can do it. I need
a gift from God that requires me to be on my face before Him in order
for it to operate. If I can get up in the morning and just "work it"
without Him and apart from Him then it is a dead thing. There is no
life apart from abiding, and outside of that abiding I cannot draw
upon the Life.

This is the only way the Lord will use something: if He can have the
preeminence. He must retain the first and the final place. He must be
the Head. The Lord of the Work is more important than the work of the
Lord. I pray we will grasp this truth and make the necessary
adjustments before it is too late and we suffer loss. May this word
convict our hearts. Amen.

Chip Brogden www.TheSchoolOfChrist.Org

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(c)2006 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org. Permission is granted for
non-commercial (free) distribution provided this notice appears.

any comments?

balance me out or I might just drink in wht this guy says ;)

His slave, Able u_u
keep living to love Him SUPREMELY!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
how's your heart for Jesus?
if you don't love Jesus more today
than you did yesterday,
you're in danger of not loving Jesusat all :(
-- pastor mun seet
As you go through your highs and lows
in life,
never forget or doubt God's control
in your life.
Live each day to honour God
and show others your faith :)
-- alice chow
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