Intellectual Ministry

When it comes to spiritual matters, something happens in my mind quite often that I easily overlook. I use my intellect to determine where I should be and how I should get there with spiritual maturity.

For someone like myself who has been ambitious in the business world and as a human in general, when I hear the Lord's speaking in my life in matters toward His Kingdom, I immediately use my own worldly planning skills.

Then I begin to rationalize pathways to “analyze" to His calling. That then puts me on a decision tree where I calculate the best learning and knowledge I could absorb to arrive faster.

I then set out to self-educate, I use the world's tools like YouTube, the Internet, Barnes & Noble, you know, the typical research. In a lot or cases, once I have gained an adequate amount of knowledge, I start comparing my own knowledge vs others. This leads me to feel I have to work really hard at this, then that, then I have to speak better, read better, go there, do that.

As warriors, we know we need sharpening by our Master throughout life. We know God is perfecting us and certainly did not create our soul to be passive - we must be sharpened.

But… As part of our training, we can never forget our Mighty Warrior and the way He teaches, not the way I have become accustomed to learn in the world.

God teaches in Spirit to our spirit in a spiritual way. No matter how hard we try to intellectually understand, represent and express God, He is unsearchable. Although God designed us to somewhat comprehend Him, He is incomprehensible. Our mind can simply not reach His level.

Our spirit can. That’s why He communicates to us our spirit. So, when I become ambitious toward God’s calling in my spirit, my mind immediately gets to work, because my mind trusts my intuition in my spirit. But my intellecg takes over, which has been trained by the world. Next thing I know, i’m well down the road with my own ways and plans.

This leaves me over complicating God's way of growing in me. It's by spirit. And we know that our spirit works in a very simple way, by being one in spirit with Him.

The way to be one in spirit wirh God by simply spending time with Him. We spend time with Him by eating and drinking Him, by becoming nourished. We eat and drink Him by very simple means, like the way we eat and drink physical food every day, we simply consume the Word, pray, fellowship, etc.

It takes time to become one with Him, but at the same time we already are. We know we are when we eat and drink. It's absolutely clear in spirit when we are connected with Him in oneness.

That's what God wants. Oneness with us. How can we understand what God’s will in us is if we are not in oneness with Him in spirit? I am not short in God’s purpose when I am one with Him. I am I am not confused, conflicted or passive when I am in oneness with Him. I am certainly not discouraged, jealous, nervous or full of expectations when I am in oneness with Him.

All I need is oneness with God to be in ministry. Intellectual ministry is not in oneness in spirit with God. I forget this way too often and there is only one thing that happens with intellectually ministry: too much wasted time.

I waste time preparing, pausing, perfecting, waiting, hoping, wishing, deciding, contemplating, avoiding, and most detrimentally, learning.

This time wasted is not oneness with Him. There is no time to waste in oneness with Him.

He just wants to be in us as the one New Man.

Amen.