Do you know them?

1 Thessalonians 5:12 - And we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.

Message:  Do you know them?

It is the Spirit of the Lord that encourages you to be well acquainted with them who have spiritual authority over you in the Lord.  Know them.  Know your spiritual leader.  How can you know a person.  I have learned throughout the years in my walk in Christ that to know a person is to examine their fruit.  This is the only way that you are going to know a person.  We know one another by our deeds.  This is why the scripture admonishes us to KNOW them that are over you in the Lord.  In other words watch their life.  Watch their walk.  Watch their decision making.  Observe their love and admiration for the Lord by the diligent work that they do in His name.  Know them.

The spiritual leader is a special person in your life.  They were placed in your life to keep you encouraged, to be there for you, to assist you in your walk with Christ.  

No, such a one is not perfect.  Do not expect for your leader to be 100% without fault.    1 John 1:10 - If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and His word is not in us. The leader will not always be without fault, but if you love your leader you will keep such a one lifted up in prayer so that God will strengthen and encourage them to  be all that He will have them to be and that they will continue to be available to encourage you, to love you, to listen to you and to continue to feed you words of life, words of healing, words of strength as the Lord anoints his leaders to give you what you need and when you need it. 

Know them that God has place in your life as a source of healing, as a source of encouragement, as a source of blessings through He who has the power to empower his people to be a light in a dark world.

You shall know them by their works.  Stop condemning and comparing ministers one to the other.  Look at the work.  Look at the ministry.   Is the ministry bringing fruit that can bless the lives of others?  Know them.

Think about the time when you were at your lowest point.  Was the leader there for you.  Did such a one even care about your dilemma? 

How about when you heard the preached Word of the Lord and you opened up your heart and came to Jesus, which was the best thing that you could have ever done.  Do you understand the time that was spent for your leader to prepare that particular message that brought chills up your spine, and caused you to look  to the Lord with sincerity and hope. Do you remember that message that angered you.  Do you remember that message that traveled into your most secret areas of life, and there your sins were clearly revealed to you.  You felt thunder rumbling through your mind because you saw so many things that should not be attached to your personality or being.  You were so disgusted because the truth found you.  Although you tried to fight the truth, but you could not do so.  You found yourself speaking evil words against your spiritual leader because in reality he or she was the one that the Lord used to bring so much conviction to your head.  You wanted to run and hide but you found no place to hide. 

Do you remember the times that you were angry with the Lord because a message that was preached made you see the beast on the inside of you.  It was that message and The Spirit of the Lord that was troubling your mind and made you go to the altar, made you rend at your heart, made you see yourself as you were, and it made you cry out to God to come in and save your sin sick soul.  Know them. 

Understand that the work of the ministry is a tremendous assignment.  Someone must be committed.  Someone must be dedicated!  Do you know them.  Do you know that they are or were the instrument that God used to resurrect you from a spiritually dead relation that you once had with the Lord.   Because your spiritual leader was on their knees and meditating upon words of Life on such and such a day and time, God was able to revive you.  The Lord was able to whisper words in your ears that enabled you to know that He alone is God.

Do you know your spiritual leader?  If so, encourage such a one for the great work that they do. If you know them, you will pray for them, and you will never go against them.  To go against your leader is to go against the Lord.  Acts 9:4- He fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul why persecutes thou me?  5-And he said, who art thou, Lord?  And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Saul thought that he was doing God a favour by persecuting the Christian people.  In reality, the Lord let him know that because he was engaged in troubling members of the Body of Christ, in reality, he was going against Christ!  When you seek to hurt the spiritual leaders that God has anointed and appointed to do a specific work in His name, you are hurting yourself - because you greatly offend God! 

Know them and be grateful that God has certain ordained people, men and women that he has chosen to be representatives of His Word on Earth.  He has given them to you as a gift to cherish as long as you have them.  They will not always be there for you, but while they are, receive what it is that God will breathe through them specifically for your spiritual benefit.