Welcome to another interesting episode of Forms and Patterns. How has your week been? I hope it has been great. We bless God for that. In this episode, we want to continue on what we have started some weeks ago looking at the dynamics of ministry. And so, in this episode, we want to learn a crucial lesson from the book of Psalms chapter one, and we will read the verses from verse one to verse six, looking at the dynamics of ministry part 6. Now, see what the Bible says.
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.4 The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
May the Lord bless the reading of His Word in our hearts in Jesus’ name. Now, I'm sure this is a familiar Scripture for many of us. We are preachers, we have preached from this same chapter quite a number of times, but I believe the wisdom of God will be gleaned from the same chapter and the Lord, we help us as ministers for our personal lives. Now, beginning from verse one, the Bible introduced us to something that is very important that we must not miss out of, we mustn't be so quick to jump to verses, I'm sure many of us could be quick to jump to verse two or verse three because of how fantastic the words therein are.
However, it's important we understand everything that the Lord intends to communicate. See how verse one began: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” Now, we are introduced to a particular man who is blessed by God, and God does not leave us in confusion or in ignorance about what had led to the blessing. The Bible says: “Blessed is the man…” The question is: why is he blessed? He does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. So, God does not want a man to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Now, if a man will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, there is something that must encourage that, there is something that is required. There is something that a man needs for him not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. It doesn't stop with that. The Bible says, “nor stand in the path of sinners, nor seat in the seat of the scornful…”
So, number one, the man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, he doesn't stand in the path of sinners, he doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful. These are the things he does not do, and this man, because he doesn't do these three things, the Bible says, is a blessed man. I want us at this moment, looking at the dynamics of ministry; to replace the man with a minister. “Blessed is the minister. Blessed is the servant of God, who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” So, what do we think would happen to a man of God, a woman of God, a minister of the gospel, who actually walks in the counsel of the ungodly? Such a person will not be blessed. If a man in ministry desires the blessing of God to rest upon him, if a woman desires the blessing of God to rest upon her in the ministry, the man must therefore learn from this revelation that the word of the Lord reveals to us.
There is something this man must not do. He must not work in the counsel of the ungodly. He must not stand in their paths; he must not seat in the seat of the scornful. Now, what must he do? And what he must do, actually, we must realize is the reason why he doesn't do certain things. You see, it has been said quite a number of times by many people that nature forbids vacuum. If you must do something, it is because there are certain things you are not doing. It is because you are not doing some things that you are able, that you have the time, the resources, and the energy to do other things. So, for everything that you and I do on a daily basis, there are quite a number of things that we don't do. And so, if we want to do certain things, we must stop doing certain other things. And so, if this man will not work in the counsel of the ungodly, if this minister will not stand in the path of sinners, if this man of God will not sit in the seat of the scornful, there are certain things he must do. And the Bible says, he has to delight in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night.
When he is in the day, he is meditating on the law of the Lord, when he is in the night, he is meditating on the law of the Lord. So, his mind is full of God, he is mindful of God. And because he is mindful of God, he understands the counsel of God for his life, he does not therefore walk in the counsel of those who are not of God. Being ungodly is just to show that there is no relationship between the people that produce the counsel and God, there is no connectivity, there is no connection between them and God. And so, even though they are giving great ideas, they are telling a man how to live his life, how to pattern his ministry, or how to build his home, how to build his finance, how to pursue the agenda that God has given to him, the advice is coming from people who don't really have relationship with God. And so, if a man of God will not follow such advises, if a man of God will not pattern his life, after the things that he sees other people doing on a daily basis around him, that man must be mindful of God, his mind must daily be full of God. And see again, he meditates, number one, he delights in the Lord. That's the secret. He has so much love for the law of the Lord.
Every time he finds a law of God, he doesn't murmur, he doesn't grumble, he doesn't say God, why are you telling me again what I mustn't do? He delights in it. And because he does that, the Bible says, he shall be, the man of God, the woman of God shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, he brings forth or she brings forth her fruits in season. So, there is no fruitlessness, there is fruitfulness in the ministry of the man of God, in the life of the man of God, in the marriage of the man of God. Every time people consider the life, the marriage, the ministry of this man, this woman, who delight in the law of God on a daily basis, both in the day and in the night, who is not preoccupied with fictional stories, and movies, who is not carried about by news, who is not going about in the in the realm of entertainment and sport, indulging himself or herself on a daily basis on news and gossips and gist all around online, both on Instagram and Facebook, who delight in the law of God. The Bible says such a man such a woman, he will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. The man will never lack supply. The man will have abundance of revelation, abundance of confidence, abundance of faith. The man will know the will of God for his life, he will just be like the 200 of the sons of Issachar that understood times and seasons and knew what Israel ought to do. The Bible says his leaf shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper
So, God has not given us any room for competition, any room for striving, any room for envy in the body of Christ. What God expect of us is that each one of us, we should desist from walking in the counsel of the ungodly, we should not stand in the path, in the ways of sinners, and we should not seat among the scornful. And if that will be easy for us. It must be because we have a mind that is daily preoccupied with God, our minds must be full of God, we must be mindful of God, we must set our minds on the things that are above not on the things that are around us, not on the things that distract us, we must set our priorities right. And if we can do that, we will become like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water, we will always have a result to show for our efforts. When we labor, we will have something to show for it, we will not be laboring in vain, we will not be drawing continuously list of unanswered prayers, whatever we ask of God, the Lord will grant unto us, if only we do these things.
So, ministry is such a dynamic arrangement. If you are going to fulfill your ministry, if you and I will fulfill our ministry, there are things we must not do. If you are a man of God, why shouldn’t your mind actually be full of God? If your mind will be full of God, then your mind will be empty, will be lacking in the things of this world. Your mind cannot at the same time, be full of God, and also be full of the worldly things. You remember, do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. So, if your mind is full of the counsel of the ungodly, if your mind is full of the plans, of the designs of the will of the ungodly, of the activities of the ungodly, of the schemes, of the adventures and the ventures of the ungodly, if your mind is filled with creativity of the ungodly, of the ideas of the ungodly, then your mind cannot be full of God. And if your mind is no full of God, you will not be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that has its leaf evergreen, that brings forth fruit in seasons. And the Bible says whatever you do, whatever you lay your hands upon, it prospers.
So, there is no need to doubt God, there is no need to say, “is God not aware of my ministry, has God abandoned me?” The question you should be asking is, are you not walking in the counsel of the ungodly? Are you not walking in the path of sinners, are you not sitting with the scornful?
If you are not doing that, then you must be able to see the result in your life, in your marriage, in your ministry. You will not struggle; God has not ordained us for struggle. Ministry is actually an opportunity that God gives to us for us to fulfill our destinies. If you are in the ministry, and you're not fulfilling your destiny, you are not fulfilled in your heart, then you could be working in the counsel of the ungodly, you could be standing on the paths, on the ways of sinners, and you could be sitting with the scornful.
I pray that even as we review ourselves, our lives, we review the mannerism and the manner of our ministries, we review our companies, we review our relationships, our networking, our associations, our groups, as individuals in the body of Christ; and we check ourselves the manner of thinking that we engage in. You remember what apostle Paul said in Philippians 4 downward when he said whatever things are pure, whatever things are of good report, he said whatever things that are good, whatever things that are of good virtue, he said, meditate on these things. It's important we preoccupy ourselves with good thoughts if we will not entertain bad thoughts. You know, whatever you think about the Bible says, you would become. So, if you think bad thoughts, you think evil thoughts, you are evil, you are bad. It is a matter of time.
What you do, whether good or bad, is only dependent on the thoughts of your heart. So, meditate on good things, meditate on virtuous things and you would be indeed a minister that is planted by the rivers of water. Thank you for the gift of your time. My name is Gboyega Adedeji, and it's been a great pleasure connecting with us today on Forms and Patterns. Remember, we have considered today The Dynamics of Ministry Part 6. It is important that you know the things you shouldn't do if you want to know the things you should do. Apostle Paul said to Jesus: “what would you have me do?” That already connotes that there are certain things you must never do. If you must be able to do the will of God, you must stay away from what is not the will of God for your life.
What do you do away from, is a background, a foundation for the things you would do with? If you are going to be doing certain things right; if you are going to be committed to doing certain things, then you must stop doing certain things and as you do this, the Lord be glorified in your life. The Lord will be glorified in your ministry, and you will experience peace and progress in everything you commit yourself to in Jesus’ name.
God bless you.
