Rev. Dr. Delesslyn A. Kennebrew, J.D., M.Div.
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Visionary Strategist Faithful Innovator Inspirational Essayist
Visionary Strategist Faithful Innovator Inspirational Essayist
Salvation and Stilettos Blog
Salvation and Stilettos Blog
Blog
Masquerade or Ministry: A Reminder to Lift Up Jesus! - John 12:32
| Posted on March 23, 2012 at 9:27 AM |
 Masquerade or Ministry: A Reminder to Lift Up Jesus! John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself. Click Logo to LISTEN NOW!  Greetings! BlogFam, And I, WHEN I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to
myself. Jesus is making a prophetic declaration about his
pending death specifically and at the same time, this is a statement regarding the
church’s evangelistic responsibility. At
the forefront of all of the programs, projects, and events that the church
initiates, should be the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The question we must ask ourselves as
individuals and as a collective is this: How is THIS working to lift up the
name of the Lord in the earth? Will the
execution of THIS draw people to the Lord?
Friends, as well intentioned as our efforts might be in our
brainstorming and planning, if the ultimate goal is not to lift up the name of
Jesus Christ, then we have already missed the mark and come short of giving Him
all of the glory in exchange for self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, and
self-glorification. There is a fine line because there are so many good,
even great and unique things we want to do or see happen in our lives and in
the body of Christ, but if at the very core, our motivation is not to lift
Christ so that by His power men and women, boys and girls are drawn to Him,
well we might as well stop calling whatever we are doing ministry. We are really putting on a masquerade ball
with all of the costumes, bells and whistles, sights and sounds of ministry. And the truth is that many will NEVER even know
the difference. Those that do recognize
the difference between the masquerade and ministry are often silent or silenced
and are overpowered by the glamour and popularity of what appears to be the
right thing to do because it looks good, it works, and people are happy. This not only happens in the larger church but in our
individual lives as well. We, as
individuals can disguise our motives in the cloak of ministry when the truth
is that we are just waiting for our name to be called, waiting for our name to
be put n a plaque, waiting for our name to be exalted above other names. Help us Lord! BlogFam, we must focus our lives on the raising of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the name above all names for when we lift Him up, He will
draw others, but He will also draw US to Himself. And I do not know about you, but I NEED Him
to draw me as close to Himself as He can.
It is so easy to get caught up in the lifting up of ourselves. There exists a fine line between masquerading
in the mask of ministry and actually doing true ministry with pure motives and
we must be ever so careful to take the time to check ourselves. At the same time, we must also be cautious
against those who would try to impose their well-intentioned, sometimes
solicited and unsolicited advice that will cause you to second guess the way(s)
in which our God has called for you to exalt the Lord in the earth. Sistas and brothas, we must stay so focused
and keep the main thing the main thing for when we do, He PROMISES that And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw
all people to myself. At the end of the day, individually and collectively,
the question is always – in what ways have you exalted Christ today? How have you promoted the Gospel of Jesus Christ
in the things you have said or done on today?
Did you take advantage of every opportunity you had on today to
aggrandize the Kingdom of God? In what
ways did you seize the day to glorify the name of Jesus? Friends, I am a witness that people will not understand
your focus on the call of God on your life to lift up the name of the Holy One
in whatever ways that God has instructed for you to do so. But I am also a witness that when you focus
on lifting up the name of the Lord in the earth, the Lord will draw you closer
to Himself and those that will be drawn to your life and ministry will see your
good works and will quickly know that it is to God that you give all the glory. BlogFam, there is no shame in lifting up the name of
Jesus in the earth. Of all the things we
can promote, why not promote the Good News that Jesus loves everybody and when
we believe, we will inherit eternal life? Today, let us recommit our lives to the promotion of
Jesus Christ. Let us stay so focused that when alternative options
are presented to us that would divert our attention away from who or what the
Lord has called us to do, we would readily, intentionally, and un-apologetically
re-emphasize that our mission is to lift up the name of Christ in THIS way. Let us, by faith and with great courage, reject any
assignments that are not in line with how the Lord would have us to use our
time, talent, treasure, temple to bring Him glory – no matter how “good” they
might seem. Let us boldly declare the truth about the masquerade
balls happening in our churches and call for the pulling off of masks,
costumes, silencing the bells and whistles, blocking the sights and sounds that
are not executed with the primary intention of lifting up the name of Jesus in
the earth. Let us heed the Lords drawing of our hearts closer to
Him and let us never falter when it comes to giving the Lord our God ALL the
honor and ALL the glory – forever and ever…  God Loves You and I do too!Delesslyn Twitter - @AudraSunshine or @SpiritedConcept Email - [email protected] ***MY FIRST BOOK*** Step Out of the Boat: An Invitation to Walk on Water Click on Picture of Cover to Purchase TODAY!!!  THANK YOU for your support!!! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE on the left to get email updates,SHARE it with three people, COMMENT below, and click here to GIVE a donation of $5.00 or your best gift to keep it going! I WRITE by Faith and NOT by Sight... |
Categories: 40 Days of Fasting
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2 Comments
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Wesley
5:31 PM on March 23, 2012
What a true statement! Like Pastor Shirley Caesar once said, you have a lot of adults who still resort to playing church and playing with GOD! Thanks for the reminder to now be fooled!
Reply
Delesslyn
9:33 AM on March 24, 2012
Wesley says...
What a true statement! Like Pastor Shirley Caesar once said, you have a lot of adults who still resort to playing church and playing with GOD! Thanks for the reminder to now be fooled!
Greetings! THANKS for reading Wesley! I think it is always good for each of us to take a moment to check ourselves and hopefully we will find that we are NOT playing church but that we are truly living out our purpose as God intended! #RealTalk
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