I will seek to fulfill the ministry that I have received from the Lord

From: October 23 – 29, 2007

Pastor: Edith Cruz

Study: # 515

TOPIC: “I will seek to fulfill the ministry that I have received from the Lord” Colossians 4:17 Look out. When we don't want to see or understand, we don't look. We should look at all the things so that we will not fall and will be able to see clearly. We should pay attention to the ministry that we have received from the Lord. The more we see the better we will walk. We must see to it that we carry out the portion of the service that we have been given by the Lord. All of us have received a portion to serve in the House of God. God has entrusted us and it is of great joy that the portion God has given us results in a good harvest. A good harvest is the result of what we have worked well. It is not in vain to do well to others and complete the ministry. But, commitment sometimes causes us fear and we try to escape from it. If we as believers understand this verse, we will understand the commitment that God has given us and we will complete it. Paul advised Archippus to carry out the portion of the service that had been given to him by the Lord. People are very forgetful because they don't put their hearts in what they do, because they don't love. We all have the capacity to do well to others. But we need to love. We must seek to do well the part that corresponds to each one of us. We shouldn’t do things just to fulfill an obligation. By no means should we stop to do our service to God for it is Him who has entrusted us and not mankind. We will be accountable to God who gave it to us. God trusts us and has given us work to do, yet we don’t have any great qualities to do it. He knows what He is going to do in our lives and has entrusted us to serve because He believes that we can do it well, but some of us doubt. He trusted us, for this reason in our weakness He becomes strong in us and makes us strong. If we are not doing the portion that we have been given, perhaps it is because we have forgotten the commitment and for this reason we should be vigilant. Be careful, we must seek carefully, because we can be looking there in what God has given us and not really see what we must see. There are things that we can be doing that may seem characteristic of the religion and are not what has been given to us to do. God’s people are fed by the power of the Word of God that advises us, that wakes us up to the truth and clarity of God’s will. Many things seem beautiful but they are not the essence of the gospel of the Lord. Mathew 6:1 We must guard ourselves from trying to demonstrate to others how good we are, to be seen by them. Whatever we do- let us not be seen by others. We must not do things to impress others but rather because we love. We must do things so that God can see us. Sometimes things that are worthy are done for false reasons. The world plays like this, but in the House of God it is not this way, let us be careful because there are many false motives. Jesus knew what was in the heart of the Jewish people. They were seeking recognition, to be applauded. All that is done here in this world and is seen by men to be applauded will have their reward here. So those who say, "I did this or that…" will not have a reward in Heaven or in eternity because they have already received it from men here on earth. Mathew 18:10 In the church there are people who think that they are great and they look at others as the little ones. We must be careful not to reject the little ones because they have angels that are

looking over them. Let us open our heart to love all equally. God takes every precaution to send an angel to those who seem simple to take care of them. That same angel informs God of everything about the one He cares for at all times. Mathew 24:4 See that no one deceives us and makes us fall. The world is full of deceivers. We must carefully look out not to be ruined by the deceits of others. Deceit arrives at the heart and destroys it; it ruins our life. Don't allow anyone to deceive you. We must sustain ourselves strongly and conquer deceit by staying near to God. We must pay attention to everything we hear. In many moments of our life the power of the Word of God will come out for good on our behalf. Let us listen to everything that is spoken to us because if we listen to the commandments and we put them into practice we will obey them. When we hear we act and we obey. Luke 11: 35 We must be careful that our light will not turn into darkness. Our heart is known by us and by God only. Jesus told the Pharisees that the light that supposedly was in them in fact was darkness. We must be careful to not get confused, we must seek for the truth. The fruits will show what is light and what is darkness. Luke 12:15 We must be careful not to become greedy because it is the enemy of the cross. Greed will come against you. Jesus taught that it was evil from the heart. Because we want to have in excess, we continue monopolizing and we don't give to others. Let us learn from our brothers and sisters in Colombia that have a custom to give their food to one another first. We cannot know the God who supplies if we don't practice giving to others. Jehovah is our supplier. I Corinthian 3:10 Each one of us must look how we edify on the foundation. God gives us a portion so that we can edify. We cannot build as we please because there are already rules to do it correctly by God. It is necessary to edify over what has already been established. The more we accumulate for ourselves the less we give to God. Let us be careful how we build. As the church we have to know how we edify. We are not insignificant. There should be a concern in us on how we are building in this gospel of God. Teaching is something solemn and beautiful. We must seek to teach what Paul taught, with the grace that was given to him as an apostle. There cannot be another teaching. I Corinthians 10:12 For those who are ready to stand firm, be careful that you do not fall. Those that are self trusted are those that believe that they can gratify their desires and not be affected by it. We must be careful not to fall after we have gone so far. To get up is difficult and then how hard it is to fight to maintain ourselves. It is not easy to see those falls. In order to not fall we depend on our prayer. A fall is not good for anyone. I Timothy 4: 16 We must be careful of ourselves and of the doctrine. If one doesn't love or pray, then our lives have already been destroyed. Let us be careful of ourselves, we must examine ourselves, and the best way to do this is through prayer. If we don't take care of ourselves we will not be able to teach the healthy doctrine. We must seek to have God’s life remain in us. When we stop praying it is because the life of God is no longer active in us and then we will want to walk away from God, then the work of God in us cannot prosper. For this reason, I will seek to complete the ministry that I have received from God. For this reason I will take care of myself and of the doctrine. I will fulfill the portion that God has commended me with in order to have a good harvest. Amen.