The leader of the Joshua Worship Group，Pastor Chou Xunguang recently preached the worship courses in Shenzhen with particular reference to a common problem met by servers: Are you lamp-stand or candlesticks?
Pastor Chou was sensitive to this topic because he personally experienced his father (Taiwan famous pastor Chou Shenzhu) as priest of God burn themselves out, at the expense of health and time to spend with his children and family. So he hopes there are more shepherds than candles who might be in "self combustion" mode.
Some English versions of the Bible translate golden lamp-stands into a golden candlestick. Pastor Chou points out that this is incorrect because the lamp-stands are not designed to hold the candle, but to hold the oil. If they are serving as golden candlestick，they will transfer the wrong message on serving because of the burning candle depletes itself. Candles always consumed of their own until they melt and are replaced. God never wants us to use our power keep serving until we exhaust ourselves, only to bereplaced by others at last.
God will never let us burn ourselves out. A lot of people say I can burn myself our for God to give light to others, which is can lead to some misunderstanding of God. God never wants you to serve Him in that way. God said you are golden lamp-stand, not golden candlesticks. Many pastors burn themselves out, and end up ignoring their health, their wife, and children.
Chou said that he had grown up in a family of priests and saw how his father had sacrificed himself. He had too little time for his family and children. This resulted in his father's health turning very bad. They will not take good care of themselves, and will not take care of their wife and children. That is the style of the candle.
God is a good Father who loves us, and he don't want us to burn myself out to give light to others. He doesn't want us to use our own power to do things, but it is not to say that we do not need to pay the price. But the Lord will make people prosperous without worry.
Many times, we serve God with worry and tirednessand you think that God has asked you to do that,but in fact you are just thinking that God has asked you to do this. You have no rest, so you can not lead your family to enter rest as well. You work hard for God, burning themselves out, making others feel that God seems to be a slave driver or a tyrant. We are not His employees and God is the Heavenly Father who loves us. He wants to see the happiness of your family, your marriage, and your parentage.
But why do we have Burn Out？Pastor Chou explains that the reason is because I have done more than I can do and I have not used the strength of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the rest of the day.
There are many preachers coming back from the place they serve and they cannot serve God any more. They are unable to walk any farther because their health, marriage and family are lost. They need to reflect on their own ministries because our God is not such a God. God wants you to be prosperous in all things, to have a healthy body, and to have a prosperous soul. He doesn't want you to use your own power. If you can't work this one, you can always work in another one.
Pastor Chou urgently tells us that we are not hired, but for the sake of love. We must know how to balance, how to have the wisdom and how to serve on the road to go for a long time. God does not want us to serve him for a few years but for a lifetime.
If we do not pay attention to the health of the soul, we can only hold up to 5 years, or 10 years, but we will not last long. God wants to see your healthy body, your happy family, and the prosperous church and that everyone will be envious of you.
God does not need you to change the nation's revival with your marriage and health because this is the way of the world. God does not want us to do so, and the success of the world often comes in exchange for family, marriage, health. This is a unhealthy service model which leads to many who priests consume themselves to meet the needs of the community.
The pastor said that we need to use the power of God to work to meet the needs of people rather than to use our own power. The children of God can not become wasted or abandoned, but as long as their beings are depleted, they are lost.
God wants us to serve like the lamp-stands and let His power constantly water and fill us. What we need is the Holy Spirit's anointing oil. Why are some ministers exhausted or very tired that makes them unable to go on? That is because they are the shew-bread first, the lamp-stand second. They advance to be intimacy with God, get the strength from God and then serve out. This is the error of our thoughts on the sequence. A lot of servers become ultra enthusiastic or even crazy for God after they receive the power of God, but when God's power and anointing oil becomes exhausted, they will feel like they are being bled dry or too tired to be discouraged.
"I did not understand that before and felt that serving God was making me so tired. Every big preaching consumed a group of co-workers and even some people won't come to the church because of that. Many people will wonder why believing Jesus makes them more and more tired. It is because they are using their own way to serve God." Pastor Chou feels heart-broken about that.
He said that that serve model has two results：one is rushing so fast, and the other is stuck in the hole without climbing up. This is not God's design or pattern. The right model should consecrate bread and be like golden lamp-stands simultaneously. It means tha tyou serve with the ability of the Holy Spirit and the love of God. So you are not relying on consuming your own strength.
This is the law of nature that intimate relationships can bear fruit and power. And our close relationship with God can allow us to bear much fruit.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John15: 4-5).
Pastor Chou shares with us that worship is often in Jesus Christ so that we can live out of Jesus's nature, life and ability. Intimacy will bring revelation and revelation will deepen intimacy; intimacy will bring out ability and the service ability will make us more intimate with God. That cycle mode is right and you won't burn out, won't be consumed, and won't be tired to do it any more.
However, he also noted another point that we can not hold spiritual gifts and abilities higher than to hold Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit does not live in the church where people love spiritual gifts more than Christ.
