Tag Archives: service

Shining

Posted on by

DSC_3521

 

Last night I was enjoying the full moon and decided to take some photos of it.  Only me would get photobomed by an airplane.  Did you notice that?  This set me off thinking.  This is uncharted territory…

We are called to be the light of the world.  Look at Matthew 5:14, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”  Light is important.  The great thing about light is that when light is present darkness flees.  They cannot coexist.  Did you get that?  Light and dark cannot be in the same place at the same time.

My point here is that too many so-called Christians are trying to live their lives in such a way as to please themselves by doing what they think is pleasurable and keep just enough of their foot in the door of the Church to (in their own mind) please God or do Him some kind of service.  This cannot be.  You are either pleasing God or you are not.  You are either obeying Him or you are disobeying Him.  There is no middle ground here.

Today as you go to Church I challenge you to worship Him wholeheartedly with all of your being.  Do not just sit, soak and sour another week in the services.  Be engaged in the worship service and be engaged in the preaching service especially.  It might be that something you hear will help you shine in the life of someone else and chase the darkness away for them.

So, how are you doing?

Attitude Is Everything

Posted on by

Recently in the past my wife and I took two suits that I received for Christmas to be altered.  The men’s store where they were purchased was extremely busy.  It was so busy that the tailor that asked us if he could help us did not really want to help us.  One of the suit coats would not come together.  His counsel to me was to buy a wider tie and go ahead and wear it.  When I persisted that this was unacceptable he pushed me off on someone else who he said could help me.  After waiting an inordinate amount of time we left angry.

The other day I took the suits back to the same store in hopes that the previous tailor was sitting at the rest home where he needed to be committed.  We scored pay dirt.  I went in and asked for a refund.  I was politely told I had to see the manager.  I was glad because I wanted to talk to him too.  When he introduced himself I remembered he had been fitting another guy for a pair of pants the previous time we were there.  I was surprised.  When I finished enlightening him on what took place only three feet from him that day he was physically shaking as he gave me a refund receipt and told me they could not refund the money; but, would send a check through the mail.  Before I left he nearly begged me to come back and allow him to do something nice for me to make it up.

The tailor in this situation lifted himself up.  The manager abased himself and was humbly sorry for the actions of someone who worked under him.  What is your attitude?  If you think you are the next best thing to hot and cold running water.  I have news for you.  We are all dirty, rotten sinners and deserve hell.  The good news is that Jesus loves each on us supremely and gave His own life to ensure our eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Look at an example from the Old Testament in I Kings 1:5, “Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.”  To give you the conclusion of this matter, Solomon became king.  Pride struck again.

So, how are you doing?

Fired Up

Posted on by

The account of Gideon is one of my favorite in all of the Scriptures.  The Veggie Tales version is pretty good too; but, the Bible is always best.  I thought about Gideon.  He came from the smallest tribe and the smallest family in the tribe.  For all intent and propose he had all strikes against him.  Does he sound familiar to you?  He sure does to me.

Excuses came from Gideon like it was me being written about.  Yet, when Gideon got on the right track things began to happen.  Look at Judges 6:21, “Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.”  I don’t know about you; but, I have not been visited by an angel of the LORD that I know of (well, maybe once).

Gideon’s response is great.  He finally gets the message and he responds by giving an offering.  This offering was received because when the angel touched it with his staff the fire consumed it.

Friend, what is there in your life that needs to be offered on the altar of self-sacrifice so that God can use you?  It is high time to get purified and start serving the LORD like He wants you to.  He will equip you with everything you need.  It will not all come at once; but, it will come just in time.  He is never early.  He is never late.  He is always right on time!

It is time for us to get on fire for God and burn up the things that are holding us back and go out and serve God wholeheartedly.

So, how are you doing?

Hope

Posted on by

Dr. Paul Chappell shared the following in his “Daily in the Word” daily e-mail devotional on Sunday March 16th:

“I read something interesting about African impalas. These large animals have powerful legs—so powerful that they can leap to a height of over ten feet and cover more than thirty feet in a single bound. Because of this amazing leaping ability, you would think that a very large enclosure would be necessary when they are kept in a zoo. Yet in fact a fence only a few feet high will keep them safely contained—as long as they cannot see what is on the other side of the fence. The impala will not jump if he cannot see where he will land.”

As I was reading this from Dr. Chappell my mind began to race to a thousand different things.  I think the impala resemble today’s Christian far too much.  We sit in our “curches” and look out the stained glass windows at life around us.  Yet, we never seem to move past this.  When we loose hope we are the most miserable people or person on earth.  Hope is what drives us.  I believe that one reason that God’s Church is not flourishing is because we feel hopeless.  We feel hopeless because we have been trying to do things in our own power and do them our own way.

It is high time we get back to the fundamentals of the faith like fervent prayer, fasting, reading the Bible, faithfully attending Church services.  This list could go on for quite a long time if the truth be told.  When we loose hope the first thing we need to do is the first thing.  If you look around you and you feel hopeless then get back to the basics of your Christian life.  If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour then run to Him for salvation and start there.  You will never regret it.  I promise.

So, how are you doing?

 

Serve

Posted on by

For twenty years I served in public service.  I don’t regret it much.  The only regret I have is that I did not leave public service sooner to go full-time in the ministry.

The other day I saw a video on a social networking site that was a four year old boy who called 911.  This caught my attention because of my background as a former child and a former dispatcher, etc…  Watch the video here.  

This dispatcher could have had a bad day or several “tough calls” in a row; but, he still showed professionalism in handling this young heart.  My hat is off to him for this.  We make choices in how we respond to everything.  When the enemy of our soul tempts us we make a decision whether we are going to give in or resist.  Resistance here is the best option.  It is not a sin to be tempted.  Sin come in when we yield to the solicitation to do wrong.

God’s very people struggled with who they yielded to quite often.  Remember what Joshua told them?  Here it is in Joshua 24:14-15, “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”  Today you will choose who you will serve.  Who will it be?

So, how are you doing?

Christmas 31

Posted on by

Today is the last day of the year 2013.  I must say that I am glad to see the year gone.  The year 2013 started out with trials in high gear for my family and I.  Needless to say, we are glad to see it gone.  Yet, as we look back we can see God’s hand working and carrying us through it all.  Praise His Holy Name!

As we reflect over the year 2013 how would we describe the year.  Was it a year that we were growing in the grace of God and doing what He has called us to do?  I sure hope so.  Maybe it was a year of great accomplishments.  On the other hand maybe it was a year of great tragedy and loss.  Yet, we know even if that was the kind of year that you or I experienced that God knew about it before it ever came to you and I.

I ask these thought provoking questions because we are entering a new year tomorrow.  We need to be on track with our Father.  He has a plan for our lives and we need to get busy executing that plan.  Notice Matthew 1:24, “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:”  Joseph received commands from God in a dream and he took it to heart.  He followed what God had told him to do.

How about you and I?  Do you know what the Father wants you to do?  Have you been faithful to do it?  If you have let the Father down by disobedience now is the time to ask Him to forgive you and get started doing what He has asked you to do.

So, how are you doing?

The Hand of the LORD

Posted on by

The other night I had the pleasure of hearing a fantastic sermon on “The Arm of the LORD”.  It got me to thinking.  At the end of that arm is a hand.  From there I began to run many thoughts through my mind about these hands.

The hand of the LORD will save.  Look at Acts 11:21, “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.”  This is deliverance.  Jesus in His finished work on the cross delivered all who will believe from sin.

The hand of the LORD was scarred.  Look at Psalm 22:16, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.”  There is only one man-made thing in Heaven and that is the nail prints in His hands and feet.  Think about that for a moment.

The hand of the LORD is serving.  Look at John 13:5, “After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”  Jesus stooped down and washed the nasty feet of all the disciples, even Judas who would betray Him.

The hand of the LORD is stretched out.  Look at  Psalm 136:12, “With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.”  I think you can ask the Apostle Peter about this one during a sea walking incident.  Maybe you know personally about His stretched out hand.

II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

There are many other adjectives that will describe the hands of the LORD like strong, stable, special and the list could go on and on.  The main thing is that you know Christ as your Saviour.  If you do not, please trust Him today.

So, how are you doing?

Go With God 2

Posted on by

Genesis 24:58, “And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.”

As we go about our lives we need to be followers of Christ.  As we continue the thought of “Go With God” my thought is about our service.  We need to Go with God in service.  There are far too many people who name Christ as Saviour; but, you never see them doing anything for Him or in His name.  This should bother us.

Jesus warned us that we are powerless to do works for Him unless we are doing them with Him working through us.  Look at what He says in 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.”  Are you attempting great things for God?  I would urge you to do just that.  We need to attempt great things for God with Him helping.  This way these things will be accomplished.

What if we never attempt anything?  Look at Luke 9:62, “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  this is talking about our service and not our salvation.  Nonetheless, we need to be attempting great things for God and with His help we will accomplish them.

So, how are you doing?

Greater Love

Posted on by

The other day my wife was playing our Nintendo Wii.  Our son likes to sit on the couch and watch.  If you do not play when he wants you to play he will dangle a controller by the strap in front of you until you play.  It is really funny.

The controller batteries were low and almost out of power.  My wife explained to our son that she needed to get new batteries.  He promptly took the batteries out of his TV remote  and gave them to her and took her batteries and put them back in his remote.  This was a huge display of love for her and we shed a few tears over it.  Wow!

Take a look at John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  When was the last time you lay down your life for someone  else?  Sometimes it is the simple things that show love.  It could be a word of encouragement.  Maybe just smiling at someone will change their whole day.  It is usually the simple things in life that make the biggest impact on others.

So, how are you doing?

Stinking Feet

Posted on by

In John chapter 12 Jesus identifies Himself to His disciples again as God the Son.  He has walked with them, talked with them and loved them supremely.  Sadly, one would still betray Him.  We know by the eye of faith that Jesus is the Sinless Son of God.  There is no disputing that fact.

Then in John 13 Jesus suddenly gets up from dinner and does what nobody in the room expects.  Jesus, the Son of God, puts on a towel and begins to wash the disciples feet.  I don’t know about you; but, I do not like feet.  They are dirty, nasty and smelly.  Yet, God in the flesh took a towel and a basin of water and began to wash all of the disciples feet.  Yes, even Judas who would soon betray Him.

This really struck home for me today.  Maybe for you it means nothing.  It means a lot to me.  Jesus was the epitome of being a servant.  He showed these men by example how to serve one another.

What does this mean to me?  Look at John 13:12, “So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?”  It shows me that humble service is possible.  It does not discriminate; but, simply goes on to serve.  God forgive me and help me to be the servant leader You have called me to be.

So, how are you doing?