Happy Thursday…WORKERS!
Sounds like an odd thing to be called, doesn’t it? In today’s Church, we’ve certainly met Pastor so and so, Apostle so and so, Prophet so and so and Evangelist so and so (not that I like using those title’s anyway), but when have we ever been introduced to someone as “Worker?” Probably never.
This past Sunday, I shared a message about this at House Chapel. In Matthew 10, as Jesus was preparing to send out His followers, He gives them 3 distinct titles, each one representing a promotion.
First, He calls them His “disciples” in verse 1.
“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.“
The word “disciple” means someone who has committed themselves to 1) learning the ways of their Master and 2) following those ways. Jesus knows that their heart and their actions are in line with these requirements, so He rightly calls them His disciples.
Next, He introduces us to a brand-new title, never mentioned before in the scripture- “Apostle”
“Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.“
Now, although we’ve all been conditioned to think that only certain people are qualified to be His apostles, I would argue that ALL OF US who are disciples are also called to be Apostles. Why? Because Apostle simply means someone who is sent out on a mission, with a message and a mandate.
Does that apply to all of us?
Well, Matthew 28, and Mark 16 give us all clear instructions to 1) Go into all the world (we are sent on a mission) 2) Preach the Gospel to all creation (a message) 3) Disciple nations and teach people to obey all that Jesus commanded (a mandate)
Next, Jesus gives His disciples/apostles specific instructions on how to conduct their ministry, and then He tells them what title they will earn as they do what He commanded
“Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, 10 or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.“
This is actually the second time Jesus uses this title of “worker”, the first being a few verses earlier in Matthew 9:
“Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
So, Jesus begins this entire message by saying that there aren’t many workers, and then He gives them a clear path to becoming one of those workers. Then, throughout the rest of the New Testament we have many commands to focus on this work
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:58
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction…. be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
2 Timothy 3:12, 14
We’re also told that these works are a MAJOR part of our purpose:
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
We’re told multiple times that our faith is dead or useless without pursuing the life of a worker
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James 2
We’re also told that our eternal reward will be determined by whether our works were in line with God’s agenda (represented by the silver, gold and precious stones) or whether they were simply what we wanted to do (wood, hay and straw). Interestingly this entire message is framed within the context of evangelizing and discipling others, which I would argue is THE most important work we can give ourselves to:
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3:4-15
And of course, this eternal reward is also Jesus’ reward, and He wants as much as possible. Because of that, I do not want to be ashamed on judgement day because I failed to be the diligent workman He wanted me to be…so HE could get more of a reward for His suffering through my life.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15
Hope those Kingdom realities stir you up as much as they stir me up!
On that note, the work was very fruitful this past weekend.
There were many Divine appointments, lots of tracts and books given out, and a good number of people that prayed to receive the Lord both at Riverwalk and at Siesta (maybe 10+ total). This moment stands out to me the most though:
We met and ministered to these 3 kids at Riverwalk last spring, and they all got touched by the Lord.
Thier family comes down from Michigan a few times a year and the mom said that when they arrived again last week, they BEGGED her to take them to the park to see us on Saturday.
They waited 3 hours for us to arrive, and when we got there, they were SO excited to see us.
They told me all about how they were studying their Bibles and the God’s Promises book that I gave them, and two of them told me they had already been baptized. The other one said he was so bummed because he was still waiting to be baptized. LOL!
The parents have gotten way stronger in thier faith since then too, and both of them also got baptized.
After talking with them awhile, I gave the kids a little teaching on eternal treasures, and then asked if they wanted to go get some. They said yes.
I then armed them with a bunch of scripture booklets (for kids and adults) and gave them some training on how to give them to people.
They walked around the park for about 25 minutes, and when they came back…they had given out almost all of them! I let them keep the rest so they could give them to people they meet at other places, and they were excited to keep passing them out.
So cool!
In other Kingdom news…
There have been two big youth crusades this past week where hundreds of kids came to Christ.
One was at Utah Valley University, the same place where Charlie Kirk was murdered, read about that here: Massive Outreach: Greg Laurie Brings the Gospel to UVU in Bold Response to Charlie Kirk Killing | CBN News
The other was at Clemson University: 6,000 Students ‘Fully Surrender Their Lives to Jesus’ At UniteUS Clemson University: ‘It’s Revival’ | CBN News
Also this past week, the Son Shine State officially became the first state in America to put every public school under the Conservative Christian Educational model outlined by The Heritage Foundation. A HUGE win for the next generation in our great state: Florida Becomes the First State in the Nation to Adopt the Phoenix Declaration
Also, this speech that Ron Desantis gave at his alma mater Yale this past week, was super encouraging too. He described in detail the incredible Kingdom transformation that has occurred in Florida in the past 8 years, and talks about how nothing like it has ever happened to any other state in modern American history:
Another praise report from this past week, was the miraculous recovery I had from a CRAZY foot injury I sustained last Thursday.
That afternoon, as I was out running on my usual route, I all of sudden stepped right on something that twisted my foot up badly. I immediately stopped to see what it was and realized that the city had taken down a street sign but left the post in the ground:
Totally something I could sue over if I were so inclined.
I hobbled back home, and by that evening, my foot was in so much pain that I couldn’t put any weight on it at all. It even throbbed while lying in bed and I was legitimately worried that I had torn things in there. Thankfully I have crutches in my closet, so I pulled those out and hoped and prayed for the best.
The next morning, I was still unable to put weight on it, so I cancelled all my appointments at work. But, Praise God, by 6pm I was healed enough to be able to go to the outreach with NO CRUTCHES and by the end of the weekend I was back to taking long walks again. Truly a miracle!
What was interesting about this was that it happened literally just hours after I had put the enemy on notice by sending information I had discovered about the voodoo origins of the drum circle to various people in the area so they could pray about it. I genuinely felt like it was a demonic attempt to intimidate me, but God was like “nothing to worry about, My power is WAY greater.”
Also interesting was that the post was in front of 2595 10th Street:
When I saw this, I felt led to look up the 2595th word in the Hebrew Bible Lexicon, and I discovered that it is the word “spear”. This word is used multiple times in the story of David and Goliath:
After I saw this on Monday morning, it got me even more excited to do battle against the demonic principalities in New Orleans. That afternoon, I booked my flight to go out there on Sunday December 7th, and that evening, I got a powerful prophetic confirmation at the Front.
A little backstory on this: In November of 2021, I received a prophetic word from an intercessory leader named Keena Cowsert. She had been praying with several intercessory leaders in the region and God had told them:
“There are demonic portals being opened all over our state by the multitude of drum circles along our beaches. When these portals close, the greater Glory will come upon the land.”
She then encouraged me to switch from ministering on Saturdays at Siesta to ministering on Sunday’s. I had already felt like I should make that switch before I received this word, so it was confirmation.
For the past 4 years we’ve been contending with those spirits, and we’ve have DEFINITELY seen much breakthrough, but I knew there was more that God wanted to do.
(Read more about the WILD journey we had out there once we made the initial shift- 2022 Prophetic Recap – Awaken Florida )
I booked the flight to New Orleans on Monday afternoon, and Monday evening a prophetic word was released (from a trusted prophet who has prophesied accurately over me many times) that a greater measure of Glory was about to be released over the region:
I knew this was a God confirmation that what we were about to do in New Orleans would help bring forth the fulfillment of the prophetic Word from 2021.
After that, I reached out to a few friends about the trip, and now God is building a team to go along with me. I encourage you to please commit yourself to prayer about this over the next few weeks, and please reach out to intercessors you know to have them join you. I’ll keep you posted as the plans continue to unfold.
In closing, let me also encourage you to make a fresh commitment to the work of the Lord. We have 12 or more outreaches a month, so if you can’t commit to 1-2 per week, can you commit to at least 1 or 2 a month? If so, I would encourage you to schedule yourself a month ahead of time and plan around it, so it doesn’t fall by the wayside. People are hungry, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are still far too few.
Hope to see you on the harvest field soon!
Love and blessings!
C, S & N