Not By Might, Nor By Power, But By God's Holy Spirit

Zechariah 4:1-6, “And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,  And said unto me, What seest thou?  And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be?  And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”

One of the greatest truths I have ever learned is from Zechariah 4:6—THE TRUTH that the Christian ministry is not about me, nor what I can accomplish in my own human strength; nor is it about my cunning articulation of words, nor any wisdom of my own accord—It is all about the power of the Holy Spirit. John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” We can accomplish NOTHING for the Kingdom of God in our own human strength. This important truth from Zechariah 4:6 has permeated my website ministry since I began by God's grace in 2002, and by His grace I will continue for many years to come. I fully realize that I cannot help my web visitors without God's Holy Spirit working in people's souls. That is my main prayer consistently—that as my words speak to your ears dear reader, that God's blessed Holy Spirit will speak to your heart. WITHOUT JESUS I CAN DO NOTHING!!! 

We grow in grace, not in strength. Jesus Christ adds His strength to our weakness! God's goal is not to strengthen us, but to strengthen our union with Christ. I like something that Pastor Reuben Torrey (1856-1928) said:

“We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversions; much machinery but few results.” —Pastor R.A. Torrey (1856-1928)

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) preached a Spirit-filled sermon titled: THE SPIRIT'S ABIDING, in which he says: All is in vain unless the Holy Spirit comes down! Yes, that is so true! Jesus said without Him, we can do NOTHING!!! Psalms 127:1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” I don't want to labor in vain. So if you want to make sure that the Lord is building your ministry, then do these things:

1. Only use the inspired King James Bible - Satan's fingerprints are all over the modern Alexandrian Bible revisions, which are as crooked as a dog's hind leg. God will not bless a ministry that is built upon CORRUPTIBLE SEED!
2. Preach the Gospel accurately - I am appalled at how many Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches today get the Gospel wrong! How can the Lord build a ministry if you're complicating God's plan of salvation for man? Here is a helpful sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles called: “Yea, Yea, And Nay, Nay.”
3. Realize that it is God's ministry, not yours! - I realized a long time ago that I am an ambassador for the Lord here on earth. An “ambassador” represents someone else. Literally, you are the only “Jesus” that someone knows. 2nd Corinthians 5:20, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” My ministry websites all belong to God, because I have been bought with a price (Jesus' precious blood) and I belong to Him!
4. Bath your ministry in prayer - I cannot explain why God wants us to labor in fervent prayer. Could we not make better use of that time by going soulwinning? Absolutely not! Prayer is not preparation for the greater work, PRAYER IS THE GREATER WORK! God will not use a proud man or woman. Humility is paramount! In prayer, we are depending upon God's power. A lot of believers struggle with sin and the world. James 4:6b, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
5. Ask God for wisdom continually - I feel so helpless, incompetent and worthless on my own. Oh how I desperately need God in every area of my life, in each breath I inhale, and each step I take, in all that I do! 
6. Be aggressive about winning souls - A ministry that doesn't diligently try to win lost souls to Jesus Christ is NOT A MINISTRY! How can it be? The ministry is synonymous with carrying out THE GREAT COMMISSION (Matthew 28:19-20). Any work that facilitates and helps the soulwinning cause of Jesus Christ can legitimately be called “a ministry.”
7. Genuinely love and care about people - At some point in America our churches became businesses, and the individual person didn't matter anymore. Oh sure, nearly every offending ministry will superficially claim to care about people, but their WALK talks much louder than their TALK talks. One of the worst churches I ever attended is the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, who woeful lack God's love for people, which I can testify to firsthand—that I was abused at their church and horribly shunned away as a result. I love them unconditionally with God's love, but they don't love me at all, and that shows their dire spiritual condition. God is not building Harvest, ungodly men are. 

Whatever has ever been accomplished so far for the Kingdom of God, or ever will be accomplished through my humble labors online, will ONLY be by the power of God's Holy Spirit. The seven principles that I just gave you are the foundation of all my work! To God alone be the glory, great things He is doing!!!