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Search - God's Armorbearer Devotional: Developing a Spirit of Excellence in Serving God's Leaders

God's Armorbearer Devotional Developing a Spirit of Excellence in Serving God's Leaders
Author: Terry Nance

One evening back in 1983, I felt a prompting to get alone with the Lord. I went into our living room and began to pray, when suddenly I was quickened in my spirit to read the story of David and Saul. I knew the Lord was ready to reveal something to me. As I began to read, I came to 1 Samuel 16:21: And David came to Saul, and stood before him... more »: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. Suddenly the Lord quickened the word "armorbearer" to me. He said, I have called you to be your pastor’s "armorbearer." He was referring to Pastor Happy Caldwell of Agape Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, whom I served as an armorbearer for twenty-three years. What does an armorbearer do? In Old Testament days, he had the awesome responsibility of carrying his master’s shield into battle and keeping him safe. Today, God’s armorbearers are God-called ministers, chosen and sent by the Spirit of God to assist leadership with the vision He has placed within them. These ministers may include those who are part of the paid staff of churches and ministries as well as those believers who volunteer in the ministry of helps for their local church. These armorbearers take the load off the leadership and help to impart the leader’s vision to the people. They are intensely loyal, faithful, and service-motivated people whose duties may include serving as bodyguard, friend, companion, confidant, and spiritual warrior, as well as an interminable list of other services. The position of the armorbearer is one that requires great love, honor, tolerance, and watchfulness. But being an armorbearer is not just an office, but is also the attitude and the heart of a servant. The greatest in God’s Kingdom will be the servant of all. The True Spirit of an Armorbearer At the time in my life when God gave me the revelation of being an armorbearer, He was helping me to get my priorities in order. It is my prayer that as you study these devotions each day, He will do the same for you. We live in a world that seems to know very little about laying down one’s life for another. Instead of offering ourselves to wait on others, we in the Church often expect spiritual leaders to wait on us. A full understanding of this concept of servant-hood is vital to the Christian, however, especially if he knows he has been called into the ministry. One of the most profound relationships of an armorbearer serving the man of God is that of Elisha serving Elijah. It is clear that you and I will never flow in the anointing of Elisha until we have learned to serve an Elijah. Jesus put it this way: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). It is not difficult to claim that we are submitted to Jesus, but the question is: are we submitted to another human being? That is a different story. A Note To Qualify the Point Because of abuses of power and the mistakes of some misguided leaders, submission has often gotten a bad rap. This doesn’t, however, negate the biblical principle or the need for a godly chain of command. Under no circumstances would God call you to submit to a leader who would manipulate you, control you, or abuse you in any way. The leader must be someone who can be trusted. His manner of life and track record in ministry must have produced good fruit. His character must be solid. On the other hand, the amorbearer must be sure that he has heard from the Holy Spirit and that God is indeed calling him to serve this particular leader. That being said, this devotional is written with the assumption that the leader you serve is not abusing his power, but is operating within the principles set forth in the Bible. If the line has become blurred for you and you are concerned that your relationship with your leader has become unhealthy, perhaps it would be a good idea to seek outside godly counsel. Abuse of power happens, but so does the God-ordained working relationship between leader and armorbearer. We don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water, so to speak. In fact, I believe God has prepared an armorbearer for every leader called to the five-fold ministry. And that is the purpose of this book, to assist you in developing your full potential as a God-appointed armorbearer. The Need for Armorbearers There are many reasons why armorbearers are needed, but one is that I see so many great ministries that are built around one person. What will happen when the leader is out of town? It is of no credit to a pastor, or any man of God, to know that unless he is present physically the sheep cannot function. The sheep should have their eyes fixed on Jesus, not the leader. And there should be capable men to run the ministry while the leader is absent. Where would we be today if Jesus had not put a portion of Himself into the twelve disciples? What would have happened if, on the day He ascended to the Father, there had been no one there to see Him go and then to take up His ministry on earth? I ask every pastor and spiritual leader this vital question: if you were taken off the scene today, where would your ministry be tomorrow? Most would have to admit that it would suffer. Jesus’ ministry increased and multiplied. That’s because there were armorbearers standing with Him. Armorbearer Defined The word armorbearer is listed eighteen times in Strong’s concordance, all references being found in the Old Testament. Each is referenced by two numbers, indicating that the word was originally translated from two Hebrew words. The term’s original meaning must be firmly established if the true idea is to be fully understood. As noted, the King James word "armorbearer" was translated from two Hebrew words. The first is nasa or nacah (naw-saw’). This is a primary word meaning "to lift."1 It has a great variety of applications, both figuratively and literally. Some of the more interesting applications are to: accept, advance, bear, bear up, carry away, cast, desire, furnish, further, give, help, hold up, lift, pardon, raise, regard, respect, stir up, yield. The second Hebrew word is keliy (kel-ee’), which comes from the root word kalah (kaw-law’), meaning "to end." Some of the applications of this root word are to: complete, consume, destroy utterly, be done, finish, fulfill, long, bring to pass, wholly reap, make clean riddance. We can see that the duty of the armorbearer was to stand beside his leader to assist him, to lift him up, and to protect him against any enemy that might attack him. The same is true today. The New Testament armorbearer is called to stand beside his leader to assist him, advance him, bear him up, help him, lift him, regard and respect him, stir him up, yield to him, and protect him. It is an awesome privilege and responsibility indeed.

ISBN-13: 9781577946397
ISBN-10: 1577946391
Publication Date: 11/30/2004
Pages: 199
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4 stars, based on 1 rating

Publisher: Harrison House
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
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Search - God's Armorbearer Devotional: Developing a Spirit of Excellence in Serving God's Leaders

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