When I made a consecration as a single man to leave the comforts of America to be a missionary in the impoverished nations of West Africa many years ago I vowed to trust the Lord with all my needs. I had read how the late John G. Lake did this, and it inspired me to do the same, albeit in heart, not in form. The devil has tested that consecration in various seasons of my life, but I keep going back to it and putting the Lord in remembrance that it is He who called me and chose me for a work. He alone is my portion and I’m gladly employed by Him.
Basically, and in a word, I made a consecration as a minister, similar to what a Levite of the Old Covenant did to make the Lord their inheritance and their portion.
“The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His portion. Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them” (Dt. 18:1-2).
I thank God that he’s kept me from a desire to chase money or the pleasures of this world all these years. I’ve seen how this desire has caused many Levites (ministers) to stray from the faith and pierced them through with many sorrows. The perfect will of God has evaded them for most of their lives and kept them at minimum effectiveness. The deceitfulness of riches and love of other things has robbed many of them of their primary inheritance and portion, who is the Lord.
Here are some other Scriptures that verify the Lord being the inheritance or the portion of the Levites (Nu. 18:20; Ez. 44:28; Dt. 10:8-9). Translating this consecration into New Covenant language we see it in the life and ministry of Jesus as His priority to prayer and communing with the Father was the oxygen of all He said and did (Jn. 5). “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (Jn. 4:32), He said. We see it in the selection Jesus made for His apostles to first of all be with Him and then to be sent out to preach and minister (Mk. 3:13-15). We see it again in the devotion the early apostles made to the Word and prayer (Acts 6:4), and to minister to the Lord (Acts 13:1-3). They made the Lord their inheritance and portion. This means they depended on Him for everything they needed.
In those early days of ministry my wife and I opted out of government benefits such as social security and Medicare, made no provision for any of it nor retirement funds, medical insurance, and such. We are not opposed to any of those provisions, but this was our conviction as Levites that we would trust the Lord for everything. Please do not do this unless you are a minister and are led this way.
Since that day more than 30 years ago God has met our needs, occasionally by His miraculous Divine intervention and frequently through His Church and His people.
To encourage myself through the years I’ve meditated on scriptures such as those found below in the book of Deuteronomy and the service and the “holding fast to the Lord” that should be the biggest part of our lives.
“You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Dt. 13:4).
Dt. 10:20 and 30:19-20 are others:
“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast…”
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
If the Lord is indeed our portion we must cleave to Him. This means to stick to Him like glue.
LOW VISIBILITY, HIGH IMPACT
Because we write for Charisma magazine, have published many books, and have been on popular Christian television programs (Sid Roth and Christ For The Nations), or now have an Arabic program of our own, many of our readers and followers think we are a large well-funded ministry. But that is simply not the case. The way we like to refer to our ministry in a spiritual sense is one of low visibility and high impact.
Oh yes, financially, compared to most of the world, we do live comfortably and within our means, but it’s week to week and month to month. Without an extensive travel itinerary we would not have a sustainable ministry income. After all, this is our work, and we do it joyfully as unto the Lord, and we’ve never lacked. To God be the glory.
God has provided for us every step of the way, and recently after my daddy’s home going we were even left with an inheritance, which we did invest toward our latter years. Praise the Lord for that provision derived from my parents’ extremely hard work ethic and life. Aside from this provision, we do not have one church, one organization, or a denominational backing of any kind that pays our salary or has committed to care for us in our latter years, if we so need it. There are no annuities or pensions to collect, no full coverage insurance for medical bills, no paid vacations, or other fringe benefits that some pastors and ministers with a fixed income receive and enjoy. I’m a firm believer that true ministers of the Lord should be well taken care of, but I’ve mainly witnessed this on a pastoral level in larger churches and ministries. Missionaries and itinerant ministers as well as the small church pastor often do without in their latter years when their strength to minister has abated them.
Thank God that we have our life, our health, and our strength. Our faith and consecration is that we will minister the holy things of the Lord until we die. When we are of no more use in this way, we’ve asked the Lord to simply take us home.
It is in this regard that we’d like to let everyone know that we not only depend on God for our provision and ministry needs, but also upon those He moves upon to support and sustain our life and work. Your partnership and gifts to this ministry are much appreciated and new partnerships and contributions are always welcome, for there are many things the Lord has laid on our hearts yet to do.
“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Phil: 4:10-20).
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Thank you, and may God’s richest and best be yours.
The Flaming Herald 