Christ Is Coming Back For His Faithful Servant

Being Faithful Expresses Testimony

“But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you” (1 Samuel 12:24 NIV). Again, we read “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people” (Ephesians 6:7 NIV).

Initially, the word faithful has a very deep and wide meaning, and if we apply this virtue in the biblical context, then it takes on a serious meaning. What I mean is this, faithfulness should be an attitude that constantly flows from a Christ-fearing person’s character (Isaiah 11:5). Thus, the content of a Christian’s character is measured by his faithfulness. Therefore, this all-encompassing quality covers every sphere of a Christian’s character. It measures the content of our speech, faith, fear of God, our conduct and character. Additionally, we are measured by the unsaved, unfaithful and mockers through our faithful conduct. Thus, our Christianity is evident if we display the fruit of faithfulness (Ephesians 5:22). From our experiences, we have observed that a faithful Christian displays a gentle, patient and kind spirit towards everyone and this is truly a hallmark of maturity. Additionally, it is a Godly fact, our Lord Jesus Christ is coming back for His faithful servants who will be ready (Matthew 25:1-13).

Being a witness of the Lord’s rebukes to countless Christians both here and around the world, I am confidently testifying to you that the Lord was greatly displeased by the unfaithfulness of some Christian brothers and sisters. Responding with love to them, the Lord had frequently rebuked the brethren about their shallow relationship with Him, their careless attitude towards others, and their lukewarm approach towards His will. We cannot emphasize enough that laziness has a destructive effect on our relationship with the Lord and sadly personal needs and circumstances are always favored above the Lord’s will (Colossians 3:23).

Perseverance of a Faithful Spirit

Additionally, we often hear that certain ministers have given up on their ministry commitments to serve under other ministers citing lack of experience as an excuse. While this might be an expression of humility, several years or months of ministry is held together by prayer and faithful commitment (2 Thessalonians 1:11). Also, if the work of ministry continued for such a good period why the need to discontinue it? Would we attribute the decision to discontinue in ministry service to God or the minister? Knowing that God’s gifts are unchangeable (Romans 11:29) we may safely conclude that the minister was responsible for discontinuing work in God’s service. During this past week, the Lord revealed to me that His calling of ministers into ministry work is meant for the duration of their earthly lives. In other words, once anointed and ordained, ministers have a generational ministry commitment (John 4:34; Acts 20:24). Furthermore, I was personally warned by the Lord that there would be consequences if I fail to complete the course of my ministry work, and this warning applies to all those who committed but failed to continue in the work the Lord called us to (1 Timothy 4:14).

Throughout the Bible, we may have read how faithful and committed Daniel, David, Jeremiah, Paul, Esther, Ruth and a host of others were to their faith and commitment to God (Daniel 6:10; 1 Kings 15:5; Jeremiah 1:7-9; 1Corinthians 9:16; Esther 2:20; Ruth 3:11). These men and women including our Lord Jesus Christ despised their will, the abusive insults of others and sacrificed their lives of pleasure to obey and follow the LORD faithfully each day. Now, this may sound foolish, but if we were to compare today’s Christians with the saints of old, we are found to be lacking in faithfulness. Being in ministry, I regularly meet with many Christians and ministers, and disappointingly, the quality of faithfulness lacks in most of them. What I further noticed is that these gentle souls are highly literate scripturally and eloquent, and some of them simply just show off their ‘talent’ to impress others. The Bible says, ‘show us’ (James 2:18). 

Also, some Christians are more concerned about their lives then the things about God, in fact, the only thing most ‘Christians’ concerns themselves with is to reserve just one day a week for God. Is this not a questionable commitment because materially it lacks true faithfulness. A truly faithful Christian never looks back (Luke 9:62), or regrets the course of action in Christ he or she undertook either to witness, pray, give and support the work of God. We do not intend overloading you here with a long message, but do you know that your conscience as a witness will testify against you when the Lord demands of you the output of your labor? (Romans 2:15; Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). And at the end of your Christian journey don’t you want to hear Lord saying to you, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'(Matthew 25:21 NIV).

Do We Measure Up Faithfully?

Finally, please examine yourself based on these few questions. Are you always in a hurry to finish your prayers because you have to attend to some other matters? Surely, this is not true faithfulness! Do you make commitments to others and don’t keep them? Are you not being faithful? Are you skipping days or weeks not reading your bible? You are disobedient and dishonor the Lord and your salvation. Do you ‘bunk’ church activities like prayer meetings, witnessing events, tithing, or contributing because your needs must come (Luke 21:3) first? You have put your hand to the plow, but you are looking back, the Lord says this exercise is fruitless (Luke 9:26). Do you like lying and excuses? I can assure you, you are very close to the devil, the Lord rebuked and warned countless brethren for this, and they were shown the source of their behavior. Do you always want to be right? People with such an attitude like to dominate others I can assure you this is very displeasing to the Lord for talking down to your fellow brother or sister in Christ. Is this not a questionable faithfulness? Are you always more concerned about other’s opinions about you and causing you to hide your Christianity because you are ashamed of your faith? You are not faithful to the Lord; it seems your feelings matter more than your faith which should be publically known (Luke 9:26; Matthew 5:15).

In conclusion, brethren lets get serious with God and stop pretending for our commitment to God requires some serious and sober commitment.

Don't miss this opportunity, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.

Blessed Regards
Brother Glenn

Praise and Worship Sessions Allows For The Outpouring Of The Holy Spirit

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs (Psalm 100:1-2).

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name (Psalm 100:4).

Our Expression of Gratefulness to God

We have re-worked the article on praise and worship and the Lord wanted us to re-emphasize the importance of praise and worship. Now, in this article, we will not treat praise and worship as two separate forms of adoration. We need to note that in reality, praise and worship are almost interchangeable words. For all practical purposes, we would omit to add the various praise and worship expressions used in the original Hebrew language.

Praise and worship are no new topics; in fact it is foundational to the Christian experience. The purpose of us being created and called into service is to have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father (1 John 1:3). This fellowship is expressed through prayer, praise, thanksgiving, worship, obedience and service to others in honour of God (Psalm 63:3-4; Nehemiah 9:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Praise and worship is an expression of homage, adoration and thanksgiving to God either in prayer or in song and accompanied by various expressions of joy (Exodus 15:1-2, 20-21; Psalm 35:18; 63:5; 150:1-6; Hebrews 11:21). Believers praise and worship to God because of who He is and what He has done. The Bible commands all living things to praise and worship the Lord, both individually and collectively (Ezra 3:10-11; Psalm 34:1-3; Psalm 117:1-2; 135:1-2; Acts 16:25; Psalm 69:34; Psalm 96:11-12).

Forms of Praise and Worship

Singing: We must sing to Him, sing praise to him; tell of all His wonderful acts (1 Chronicles 16:9, 23, Psalms 68:4; 9:2; 13:6). Scripture exhorts us to sing and God is our audience; this is an eternal act of worship (Psalm 89:1).

Dancing: “Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.” (2 Samuel 6:14 NKJV).

Playing Instruments: “Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals! (Psalms 150:3-5 NKJV).

Clapping our Hands: When we clap hands we show appreciation to someone for something they achieved or accomplished, The Lord deserves our applause for He has accomplished everything for us. “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy” (Psalm 47:1 NIV).

Lifting up our Hands: Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord (Psalm 134:2-3; Psalm 141:2). As it is, lifted hands were used when taking an oath before the Lord (Genesis 14:22).

Shout to the Lord: We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God (Psalms 20:5; 66:1; 81:1).

These are but a few expressions of worship to the Lord.

The Benefits of Praise and Worship to the Believer

Personally, I experienced first-hand how praise and worship lifted me up from the brink of despair and discouragement to joy and celebration in the Lord. I have seen how my attitude changed from sadness to excitement, from heaviness of heart to light-heartedness.

In recalling a few Biblical examples, Paul and Silas were delivered and set free from their chains and prison because they praised and worshipped God (Acts 16:25-29). Another example: King Jehoshaphat received a great and decisive victory against the Moabites and Ammonites as they went out to war praising the Lord (2 Chronicles 20:13-30). In addition, the prophet Elisha called for a harpist and as he was playing the hand of the Lord came on Elisha and He prophesied God’s message to the Kings of Israel and Judah promising great victory and deliverance (2 Kings 3:15-27).

How Praise and Worship Changed Our Lives Individually and Ministry

As a ministry, the Lord has commanded us to set one day aside per week to worship Him and what a blessed time of relaxation, peace and comfort to enjoy in the Presence of the Lord. With praise or worship music playing on the background we simply give expression to our love for God. The Bible says, the Lord inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3) and this is very true even of worship and praise music when we join in that spirit. The Lord told us that praise and worship music invites His Presence.  There is no need to have a live band to express your adoration to the Lord. The experience and spirit should be the same even if we worship from recorded music. In worship, God is looking at the content of our hearts and our attitudes. Now, we might not know all the words of the various songs, our heart's attitudes and words of love to God gives powerful and voluminous expression.

Through our weekly worship sessions, many of us have personally experienced deliverance, healing and blessings which was an answer to our prayers. Brethren, it is very important to dedicate a church service just to praise and worship for this is the Lord's meeting for the needy, sick and demonically oppressed. We have had many people both saved and unsaved experiencing deliverance and healing during our worship services. We can truthfully, testify that some people would convulse, scream and violently shake as a result of the Lord freeing them from demonic oppressions during worship services. During these deliverance times, each one of us minds his own business with God as He deals with each one of us individually. At times, we had to continue worshipping for more than 5 hours as some brethren would still be experiencing deliverance.

Additionally, as we praise and worship the Lord, He promises to deliver us and to minister to our needs (Acts 16:25-34). The Lord has revealed to us that when we are faithful and sincere, He will prune us and give us spiritual gifts and fruit of the Spirit (John 15:2-8). Therefore our praise and worship must be focused on God and not just on the songs that make us feel good. The Church my family and I attended before we were called into the ministry, had a live band. As in many churches and modern Christian concerts, I noticed that many of the people reacted to the beat of the music and the changing tune or vocals of the lead singer. In awe and excitement of the music, people would unfortunately sort of worship the singer and instead of worshipping the Lord God.It is true, some churches attract membership through their live bands, fleshly beats, and the spirit of entertainment, which is what some people are after. However, the Presence of the Lord is hardly evident in such places. This kind of fellowship is a feast for the Sunday Christian - a feel good experience. We should ask, was God pleased with your worship experience or did you just feel good about the content and beat of the music? Praise and worship must exalt God, not people or the devil.

Let me tell you, we had a sister in our fellowship who would get so excited by the beat of some song that she would get up and dance. This the Lord revealed that her excitement was to the song and not to the Lord; the Lord also revealed that during our worship sessions some people 'dose off' in their minds and start thinking about their fleshly lusts and problems. He rebuked some of them for their lack of energy and sleepy attitude. Naturally, we might feel tired and exhausted if praising and worshipping for more than an hour; it is advisable to sit for a few minutes and to stand up during worship. This prevents the body from becoming too relaxed while we are giving free expression to the appetite of our souls of worshipping the Lord. In our worship sessions, it has always been a soulful experience when we close our eyes. This exercise removes distractions and gives greater focus on our worship experience and the result of God's Presence is often overwhelming. As we worship, the experience is fuelled by an increasing joy, this is worship in its true sense - spirit and in truth.

Do we recommend our church format for praising and worshipping God to you? Yes! If the Lord delights in us and blesses us with His Presence, it should benefit you as well. As an individual member of the body of Christ, strive to live a life of personal praise and worship, and victory and deliverance would be certain!

In the beginning of our online ministry, many believers were blessed, excited and touched by our articles. The Lord has showed us that many of them have become lukewarm with a fading endurance and they have become selective of what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). If that is YOU, WAKE UP!

So, have you become lukewarm and are you been selectively reading what only appeals to your flesh? Do you not delight yourself in the Lord? Have you not been praising and worshiping God in joyful adoration? Here is a Prayer of Sincere of Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

Your Brother in Christ,

Brother Glenn.