Servias Ministries Blog

1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

An idol is an image of worship, a false god.  Flesh was offered to idols and the leftovers were sold to the poor.  Once again, Paul speaks of the importance of Love and knowing Our Heavenly Father.  We are to set aside anything that might cause us to place our focus in the form of worship.  Additionally, we should not present sacrifices to an idol.

When a person exalts another person, place, or thing above Our Heavenly Father, his or her focus and resources are expended on that idol.  The resources to enable us to serve mankind begin to be depleted.  I have seen men in the past attempt to align themselves with the wealthy.  In order to “hang out” with the wealthy, they must travel in the same circles, drive similar cars, and eat at the same restaurants.  The only thing that happens is they deplete their resources, go into debt, and have no true relationship with the people they are trying to impress.  The wealthy are not moved by those who want to align themselves with them.  Instead, they will often exploit them and utilize them for their own agendas.  The final result is emptiness and debt.

The ego wants to be exalted.  Gaining knowledge can be used as a means to exalt oneself over others.  Those who continue to seek higher education with no true return on time and money invested have a need to feed the ego to exalt themselves over others.  Obtaining a doctorate in a particular field that provides no additional benefit in your vocation is simply an attempt to appear superior to others.  This is being puffed up.

Love builds other people up rather than belittling them by presenting yourself as superior.  Love’s intent is to strengthen the weak and the weary.  Love does not promote misbehavior by the weak but instead instructs the weak to move on past those things that prevent the weak from maturing.

Each of us should assess our focus.  We must be careful and avoid exalting someone above Our Heavenly Father.  Just because someone has exceptional knowledge of a subject or discipline, they are no important to Our Heavenly Father than the man or woman struggling to make ends meet.  Knowledge without Love is worth nothing in the long run.  In the end, it is all about Love.  If you walk in Love and focus on ministering in Love, you will be known by HIM.  As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:

2  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

2 Kings 19:20  Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’

Every now and then we must revisit the basics to refresh ourselves in our pursuit of the deeper Spiritual truths.  A prophet is one who “forth tells”, not “foretells”.  His job is to speak “The Word of the LORD”, he is a mouthpiece.  False prophets foretell and often are found to be wrong.  Anyone can predict a winner of a basketball game and get it right roughly 50% of the time.  However in Spiritual circles, predicting events is foretelling unless you have been given the The Word of THE LORD.  Hence a prophet’s job is to hear, then speak.  It is up to each of us to observe the fruit of the various ministries we follow.  If a man or woman is called to the office of a prophet, the fruitfulness should result and be observable once the anointing arrives.

I was told by Our Heavenly Father to proclaim my calling as “treasurer”.  What does a treasurer do?  He oversees the wealth for future distribution.  Riches come in and riches go out.  All is properly accounted for.  Has the fullness of the anointing for me to operate in the office arrived?  Not to my knowledge.  I have gone through years of preparation to oversee some type of wealth but I have not received the fullness of the anointing yet.

Luke 24:49  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

This is what I am waiting for- to be endued with power from on high.  I see myself in an extended training program that actually began in 1987 with the vision I was given.  There have been many blessings throughout the training program but I will know when the fullness of the power arrives.  I received a taste of the power in March of 1993 when I went to Romania on a missionary trip.  Three weeks of sustained anointing provided me with a perspective of the “power”.  On my return to the U.S., the anointing ceased.

From my perspective, there has been a “dearth” in the land.  The major ministries operating in the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit have subsided.  Those men who were mightily anointed have come and gone.  In the meantime, a remnant continues to prepare for the next major move of Our Heavenly Father.  I believe it is those who embrace all three feasts from a perspective of Love that will be given the appropriate mantle to operate from.  These are the ones who will be endued with power from on high.

Luke 16:.10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

Are you being a faithful steward?  In the above parable, Jesus talks about being a good steward over money and others’ possessions.  If you are found to be a good steward, you will be given the “true riches” to steward.  What are the true riches?  They are the mysteries reserved for the initiated.  I am more than willing to steward over Kingdom riches rather than the unrighteous mammon where so many have placed their focus.  The true riches are not corrupted.  The Truth will outlast any temporary wealth men seek after.   I am more interested in the everlasting than the temporary.  How about you?

Over the years, Our Heavenly Father has provided me with substantial training in money.  HE literally started me out in banking.  HE specifically directed me to a job at the largest bank in Oklahoma while I was still in college.  Banking was not even in my sights at the time.  This path gave me a first hand view of how people react with money.  Generally, wealthy people try to define themselves by their wealth.  Many project their wealth by external means- houses, cars, watches, clothes, and attitude.  Very few handle wealth properly.  John Kirkpatrick was a wealthy oilman and a director of our bank and perhaps the largest stockholder.  I knew him but he didn’t know me.  I once was on a flight from Dallas to Oklahoma City and by chance sat next to him… in coach class.  He appeared to all as a normal “grandfatherly” type and unassuming.  We carried on a casual conversation and I never let on that I knew of him.  He did not wear his wealth for all to see.  His fruit continues on to this day.  Wealth did not define him.  By all accounts, he used money properly.

I have also been around the greedy who can best be described by the term “avarice”.  They would use people and relationships to achieve their goal of more money.  They always had an ulterior motive in every action they took.  I worked for a man like that.  He would go through employees like water through a sieve.  He was looking for employees that he could exploit and get the most out of them to achieve his goal of more money.  Job security was non-existent.  The moment you failed to work excessive hours, you had a bulls eye painted on your back.  Shortly, you would be gone.  How much money did he need?  More than he had.  After money came the quest for power.  The quest was insatiable.  The man had no peace.

The love of money is also an issue for those without.  Their focus is always on methods of extracting money from others.  They envy those with money.  They believe that they deserve money and will attempt to align themselves with those who have money, thinking that somehow the other person will simply give them some of their wealth… or the power to get wealth will rub off on them.

Yet others look for the “get rich quick” schemes hoping to receive a windfall of money.  They are sucked in to the subtleness of greed.  Their focus is switched from their calling to the scheme.  The scheme typically keeps the person on the edge of their seat.  The payday is always “soon” or “imminent”.  Just before the payday, there will be an unexpected but plausible delay.  The greed resident in the depths of the person’s ego will justify and rationalize out the delay in order to keep the belief alive.  The end result is a delay in the person fulfilling his or her calling.  If you can take the focus off of the calling, no fruit for the Kingdom will be produced.  That is the goal of the adversary.  Scam artists exploit this subtle form of greed to extract money from the unsuspecting people.

The Law established right and wrong behavior.  It is a standard by which judgment can be properly administered.  The Law in itself did not address “intent” but addressed behavior.  In Jesus’ ministry, intent was clearly dealt with.  Each of us knows our intent behind our actions.  This is where the battle rages.  As we seek to hear Our Heavenly Father’s Voice, we will align our intent with HIS Will, Plan, and Purpose.  We will no longer be moved by the love of money.  The church fathers such as Polycarp wrote often about the issue of the “love of money” and avarice in the church.  The problem was notable in 130 AD just as it is today.  The best way to deal with the love of money is to die to self.  I suspect that the love of money will be one of the last things to actually go before that death is complete.  Why?  Because it is so subtle.

PS: Once you overcome the love of money and place your priority on your individual calling, Our Heavenly Father will insure you have sufficient resources to carry out your calling.