A pastor once said that you can't minister from the dregs. Now, you may be wondering, "What on earth does that mean?"Let me put it in simpler terms. But before I get into that, let me remind you that this is not just a message for pastors, teachers, evangelists, worship leaders, etc. Every person who is born again is called to be a minister of the gospel. So this applies to each of us. That being said, let me break this down.

Imagine a friend calls you up and tells you they've run out of gas and they want you to bring them some. And suppose you think, "I have some gas in the can that's in my car, I'll take that to her." So you take it to her and when you get there she expresses gratitude. That is, until she goes to pour the gas in her car and finds that the can is nearly empty. There is only a small amount, not enough to do much good. This is what it's like when we attempt to minister to someone from the dregs. We haven't spent time in the word, in prayer, in worship, and in the presence of God. We haven't filled the tank.We're running on the fumes of yesterday's intake. Oh, we have some knowledge of the word. We know all the so called right things to say. But something is lacking. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel, and that takes a huge toll on us and makes us less effective as ministers.

When you go to the gas station to fill up your car there are usually signs that say not to top it off. But as believers we need to not only top it off, but to be filled to overflowing. It is then that we can minister from that overflow without feeling drained ourselves.

Over the years I have had seasons where I wasn't as "overflowing" as I should have been. So when someone came to me in need of something, I had very little to offer. It made me feel bad because I want to help others. But I realize that, in and of myself, I am not much use to anyone. My flesh likes to advise based on what the world would do. But it's not my flesh that needs to be ministering to others. It's the Spirit of God living on the inside of me. And this is why it is vitally important to spend that intimate time with God. In order to know His heart, we must study the word. We must spend time in prayer, not just asking for things, but listening to the voice of God and His leading.

As always, when I write something it is generally what God is speaking to me. It doesn't mean I've always mastered it. I still have times where I allow busyness to rob me of time with God. But that needs to change. I don't want to look back over my life and think that I missed out on helping others because I didn't take the time to first help myself. It kind of reminds me of being on a plane when something goes wrong and you need to put on the oxygen mask. In order to do any good for anyone else, you must first put on your own oxygen mask. What good would it do to attempt to help them, but then pass out from lack of oxygen? You'd be of no help at all.

~jan~