(2 Cor. 5:10)
It is an awesome thing to think that I will stand before Jesus and give an account of what I did with the gifts God has given me and the calling on my life. My pastor will not be able to stand up for me and say that I was a good associate. My wife will not be able to testify that I was a good husband. Only I can answer the Lord.
He will say, “Terry, what did you do with what I gave you? Did you fulfill your assignment?”
For twenty-three years my assignment was to serve my pastor as the senior associate and executive director of Agape Missionary Alliance. The Lord told me to take the same vision, anointing, and integrity of that church and reproduce it in the world. In order to do that, my assignment today is to be the president of Focus On The Harvest Ministries and to conduct the Armorbearer Leadership Schools releasing the Body of Christ into the harvest.
To you who are reading this book, I say by the Spirit of God: as surely as you are reading this, you, too, will stand before Him and answer the same questions.
That is why our callings are so important and why we must endure hardships when they come. We must be determined to accomplish God’s will in our lives no matter the cost. Hebrews 5:7 says, “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.”
Jesus went through strong crying and tears to fulfill God’s will. Yet many church and ministry staff personnel run from anything that is hard, saying that if it were the will of God, it would be easy! Well, welcome to the real world. It takes strong crying and tears sometimes to stay where God plants you and to refuse to move no matter the conditions. But the payoff will come when you stand before Him and hear those words every armorbearer longs to hear: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
- If you were to stand before the judgment seat of Christ today, what would He say to you?
- Does it differ from what you want to hear Him say? Is so, what can you do in order to change that?
- Meditate on these verses to strengthen your resolve:
“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:1,3).“But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5).
“As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11 NIV).
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Cor. 4:8–10).
Heavenly Father, when it comes right down to it, the only thing that really matters to me is to hear You say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” when I stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Help me to fulfill Your call on my life and to put the gifts You’ve given me to their best use. You always cause me to triumph in Christ, so I will endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ for Your glory. Amen.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Terry has served as senior associate minister of a thriving congregation for over 23 years with over 40 years of experience in local church ministry. He is currently the senior pastor of Impact Church in Sherwood, Arkansas. Terry has authored four books. On the bestselling list, these books have motivated thousands of Christians to stand with their leaders in faithful service, helping them to fulfill God's purpose for their lives.
Terry is the Founder and President of Focus on the Harvest, Inc. He's traveled extensively, awakening believers to this strategic generation. Through his God-given passion, believers are ignited to discover their gifts and callings, commit to the vision of their local church, and focus on the harvest of souls throughout their city, state, nation, and world.
Terry holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southwestern University, where he met his wife, Kim. They've been married for over 40 years and have three children; McCall, Alex, and McKenna.
In May 2008, Terry and Kim began Impact Church, a dynamic and growing, multicultural body of believers in Sherwood, AR. We believe that Christianity is not a religion; it's a relationship. God loves each person individually. He desires everyone to know him personally.