Armorbearers International

How would you like your reputation in the ministry of serving to follow you the rest of your life? It could happen. In fact, that is exactly what happened to Elisha. He had developed faithfulness, loyalty, integrity, and strength of character through the ministry of serving Elijah.

       After Elijah had gone to heaven, three kings in a desperate situation needed to hear the word of the Lord in a hurry. A servant of the king of Israel recommended a man for the job, "Elisha is available. Use him; you know the one who served Elijah." King of Judah, Jehosphaphat said, "Yes, he's the one we want! He has the word of the Lord."

      Elisha did come and prophesy a word of victory to the three kings. But his reputation as a servant of the man of God, Elijah, identified and qualified him for this greater service.

     Think about it. Would your reputation in the ministry of serving (right now) identify you for greater service in God? Or would it point a finger at you as a gossiper, a criticizer, a talebearer or someone your leader couldn't depend on?

      If your service points to you as faithful, then great! Keep your faithful services going. But if you've fallen short of some of those standards, don't give up. Now is the perfect opportunity to change what you're building. I recognize your desire to build a legacy of faithfulness, loyalty and integrity. Don't take sides with our enemy the devil and use his tools.

     I encourage you to stay committed to help, to stay loyal and continue serving with integrity. There are ways to fortify your reputation and ministry of serving. To build a good legacy through your ministry of serving, guard against these top tools of the enemy: criticism, offense and persecution.

 Just Say No to Criticism of Your Leaders. One of the most accurate darts of the enemy to harm our leaders is the arrow of criticism, many times fashioned by our (the Church) own lips. In the desert, the whole community criticized Moses and Aaron…Moses also said, "Who are we? You are not criticizing us, but the Lord." Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.'" Exodus 16:2; 86:9 Remember, badmouthing your leader will put you in sin and open the door for the enemy's attacks against you.

 Guard Against Offense. Offenses are the bait of Satan. He will try to trap you in unforgiveness toward a person. He will give you all the justifiable reasons you should stay mad, continue not speaking or just plain harbor unforgiveness. He can be sneaky with this one, so stay alert. We have a choice; we can stay offended or forgive. Forgiveness is always the right choice.

 Don't Give Up. Don't abandon your post. Know there will be persecutions. Our enemy, the devil, knows the importance of people fulfilling their call to help and support God's leaders. Therefore, he stirs up trouble against God's faithful servants.  In Paul's charge to Timothy, he said, "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Jesus encouraged us to not give up in his story of the sower. Remember, the 2nd category of people who received the Word of God with gladness but had no root. They did fine but when trouble (persecutions) came because of the Word - they gave up. (Matt. 13:20,21)

     Varn and I were surprised with some of the things, we would get persecuted over. We would say, "We're just 'Carrying a Cup.' Why are we persecuted over that? Now we know; it was because of the unseen times of prayer and seed. It was because of our obedience to the Word of God to serve. God knew and perhaps our enemy knew that our obedience would cause multiplied others to hear the call to serve their leaders like never before.

     In the same manner, I encourage you to keep blessing your leaders.  Be quick to forgive and never give up. Do this and you will be sure to build a legacy of service that you won't mind following you for the rest of your life.