Baroda Bible Club

Today's Scripture: 15 th July 2005: 1 Chr 19:12, “Joab said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to rescue me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you.”

Dear brothers and sisters,

Loving Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today let us see about the importance of learning to do a partnership ministry. In the last days unless we learn to work together in partnership the kingdom of God can never advance in a fast pace before the coming of the lord. Since the area of our action, the battlefield is very huge we cannot cover it all by ourselves single handedly. So, we must be ready to apply the techniques of this partnership ministry as Joab did. Here, Joab understood this fact as in Lev 26:8, “And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” So, with a positive mind, he is calling them to work together as in 1 Chr. 19:13, “Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight." It is true that we must keep our faith on God to resist the devil. Wherever we may be, surely the lord will do the battle for us but at the same time, we must develop a concern for one another who are also laboring for the kingdom of God . Because, the need of this hour is the victory of the children of God over Satan so that the kingdom of God can advance rapidly.

The bible says one can chase thousand and two can chase ten thousand through our Lord. (Deu 32:30) So, by joining our hands in partnership with others, we can do our ministry more effectively for the kingdom of God . We are increasing our effectiveness as we learn to work with others in agreement. Our lord Jesus Christ when he sent his twelve disciples in to the harvest field, He sent them in teams not alone to give them the practical training in doing this type of two by two partnership ministry. Later, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place to do the preparatory work before going there.

Let us understand this truth, since it will be more profitable for us as well as to the kingdom of God . The reason why we must venture into it is because during these last days the Devil is going to deceive many even the called servants of God and the very elect. (Mat 24:24) He will work more vigorously than before, as he understands the shortage of time. When he is doing such an effective work of destruction, we the church of Christ must also learn to do our best to resist the devil and to do an effective ministry, to increase the fruits for the kingdom of God by developing Partnerships.

To work with another person is not going to be as easy as we think, since each one will have his or her own likings and tastes. But if we can have humility, patience and love we can learn to work with others. To do the partnership ministry we need real oneness of mind and unity. This Unity to do the partnership ministry is possible to all the disciples of Jesus through him, since the bible says if we walk with Jesus we can have fellowship with one another . (1 John 1:7)

We should not have the attitude of Cain by saying “Am I my brother's keeper” but we should say I have responsibility to pray and take care of my brothers and sisters in Christ as in Eph 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ told us in John 4:36 & 37, “Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.

Apostle Paul always did a ministry in partnership with others. He advised others not to think highly of them and have divisions among the servants of God since we are all basically working for the same master as in 1 Cor 3:4 to 9 , “For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollo's" are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. I strongly feel, unless and until we join our hands in the last days and learn to work in partnerships for the kingdom of God we cannot have a great growth as we expect.

May the Lord help each one of us to help each other to live in unity and have a concern for one another's ministry and join hands in the last days to yield fruits for the kingdom of God . Amen.

Devotional Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to learn to work with others in true fellowship. As I follow you, help me to keep the spiritual unity among the brothers. I give my self totally to promote it at the interest of the kingdom of God that we may do more ministries as a result of it for the Lord. In Jesus name I ask this. Amen.

What can we learn from this story?

We are living in the last days and Satan our enemy is also working very hard nowadays. If we really want to do an effective ministry for the lord we must develop partnership ministries so that we can be very effectively do the ministry.

Yours in the kingdom of God’s service,
Rev. Dr. T. Marcus Devasahayam.