Serve in Humility, Tears, & Trials

In Acts 20 we find Paul addressing the Ephesian Elders. He speaks to them and tells them from the first day that he came to Asia, he served the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials.

This really grabbed a hold of me when I read it. How are we to serve? The explanation is clearly stated. We are to serve with humility, tears, and to endure trials. There is a trap we fall into so easily when serving in ministry. It is so easy to let pride come in and focus on getting attention for ourselves. To expect something in return. If you encourage someone you want encouragement back, if you provide for someone's need you want a return for that, if you speak or share a talent you want applause, etc. To truly serve is to give and not expect anything in return. Not even to expect a thank you. You are serving! How many times has Jesus given us something and we didn't even say thanks..
We serve in humility, we exteem others higher then ourselves. We give all credit and praise to the Lord. True service is giving of your time, your talents, and your finances and being happy to do it all without any gain for yourself. To serve in tears, to have so much compassion for others that you mourn and grieve over their pain. Your heart breaks for them. To care about your neighbor's problems more then your own. That is the heart of a true servant. And trials...to endure. To not give up on anyone just because it causes you discomfort or pain. To truly see their need above your own.

• HUMILITY: Be utterly yielded to the Lord. Be submissive to his absolute rights to control your life. Be willing clay in the Potter's hands. And be a debtor to all people. Don't dwell on what people owe you. Think about how the grace of God makes you a debtor to all.
• TEARS: If you are shedding them, be comforted. You are in good company with Paul. And if you are not, perhaps you should look for someone who needs you. Or perhaps pray that God would help you see what is at stake in the battle for faith and hope and holiness.
• TRIALS: If you are being tried, then hear the word of James: "Count it all joy, brothers, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Make me a servant. Humble and meek

Lord let me lift up those that are weak

And may the prayer of my heart always be

Make me a servant, make me a servant, make me a servant today

Let us remember the one we serve. We serve Almighty God who created the heavens and the eath. The Alpha & Omega! God..who thought it nothing to give us His very best. His Son! We serve, Jesus! Who lowered Himself to leave His throne and become a baby born in a manger, and grew up in the poorest of places. Jesus, who humbled Himself to wash the disciples feet (a job not even done by the servants but the lowest of the low!) and Jesus, who put us first by taking our sin, shame, guilt, and penalty upon Himself. God in human flesh who was rejected, beaten, spit on, mocked, died a horrific death and did it all in our place.

He exteemed us better then Himself. He served us in humility. He served us in tears as He wept over us, and He served us in trials.

How can we do any less?

A Garden of Variety

A story is told of a king who went to his garden one morning, only to find everything withered and dying. He asked the oak tree that stood near the gate what the trouble was. The oak said it was tired of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine tree. The pine was troubled because it could not bear grapes like the grapevine. The grapevine was determined to throw his life away because it could not stand erect and produce fruit as large as peaches. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac.
And so it went throughout the garden. Yet coming to a violet, the king found it's face as bright and happy as ever and said, "Well, violet, I'm glad to find one brave little flower in the midst of this discouragement. You don't seem to be the least disheartened." The violet responded, "No, I'm not. I know I'm small, yet I thought if you wanted an oak or a pine tree or a peach tree or even a lilac; you would have planted one. Since I knew you wanted a vilolet, I am determined to be the best little violet I can be." - L.B. Cowman

This little story really blew me away! For someone who has spent most of her life in the trap of comparison it brought much healing and blew the doors off all the lies! I read this little devotional back in January and ever since then it's been on my heart to share it. Now, everyday I wake up and say, "Lord, I am determined to be the best Charity I can be." For if God wanted me to be like anyone else He would have created me that way!

Hollywood and the world is constantly shoving down our throats what our "image" should be. Basically they are trying to make everyone think they all need to be a rose when we were all created different. We were not all created to be tall, thin, and tan. Some of us are short, some tall, some lanky, some stout. Some of us have red hair, some blonde, some brown. God created each one of us with a unique look. AND, He created each one of us with a unique combination of talents and gifts. While some of us may have similiar gifts not one of us has the same combination. He created us with different temperments, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. He created a garden of variety!

Have you ever received a present beautifully decorated? While the wrapping may be beautiful to look at it's really what is inside the package that counts. Say you receive a present wrapped in brown paper. Not so pretty to look at. But inside is a laptop!! You receive another present beautifully wrapped, wonderful colors, pretty bows but inside is a pair of socks. (Not that I don't like a good pair of socks..hehe...but you get the idea)
THE VALUE LIES WITHIN!!!!

So, let us all just focus on who we were created to be and stop trying to be someone or something else. Let us be the best garden our king could ask for ☺

We are all special, unique, and beautiful!

Be a Reflection of Christ

 One day the bathroom mirror went to vist the shrink. "Come relax in this recliner," the phychiatrist said to the mirror, "Now tell me what seems to be the problem?" "I feel so yucky about myself," the bathroom mirror moaned.
"Oh really? Now why would you feel like that?" "Well, nobody appreciates me for who I am," the mirror began. "Everybody just uses me. When they come into the bathroom, people don't even notice me. All they do is gape at themselves. And when they run the shower I get all steamed up. Then their hair sticks to me. They get their grubby fingerprints on me. And when they brush their teeth it spatters all over me." "I think I see your problem," the phychiatrist interrupted. "Your problem is, you have a poor self-image."
Stop. I'm interrupting this illustration. Would you agree that this is a ludicrous illustration? It's obvious why. It's because a mirror wasn't made to have a self-image. A mirror was made to reflect the image of another.
from "In His Face" by Bob Sorge

This was a very powerful illustration to me. We as believers are not to get wrapped up in self-image. We are to be a reflection of Christ. We need to stop focusing on who we are in Christ and instead focus on who Christ is in us!
It's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking we deserve to be treated better, or thinking I should be appreciated or validated. The truth is we don't deserve anything! Only by God's grace and mercy are we saved. We didn't do anything to earn it nor could we even try.
To be a reflection of Christ we must give up or self-image for Christ's image. I love this illustration of the mirror because I see the example of Jesus. He wasn't appreciated, people were not noticing Him for who He was. They were only looking at themselves and their needs. I would say Jesus could have felt used. Then the soldiers put their grubby hands all over him, he was spit on, beaten, and then crucified. The difference is - Jesus never complained. He was simply a reflection of the Father's love. Jesus didn't have a self-image problem because He wasn't focused on himself or his needs. He was focused on the Father. He was focused on us! His compassion for us!
Truthfully, there have been many times I myself have fallen into this trap of complaining, feeling unappreciated, unnoticed, and used. This can be a great trap the enemy uses to make us feel defeated. But we must  remember that we are not to focus on ourself but to instead be a mirror. We are the reflection of Christ. And in Christ we can do all things! We are to reflect His love, His joy, His peace, His patience, His kindness, His goodness, His meekness, His gentleness, His self control, and yes...his long suffering! We are to reflect His glory!

And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more. -
2 Cor. 3:18

Barnabas the Encourager

 One of the best examples of an encourager is found in the book of Acts.
Barnabas' given name was Joses, or Joseph, but the apostles gave him the name Barnabas, which means "Son of Encouragement" or "Son of Exhortation" (Acts 4:36).

Barnabas was on of those people who was always looking to lift others up, to bless them, look out for their needs. It was Barnabas who stood up for Saul (Acts 9:26-30)

 Many in Jerusalem were afraid to see Paul, remembering hoe he had been the one behind many Christians who had been murdered. The death of Stephen and James may have been especially on their minds. Many may have faced his wrath or had family and friends who had suffered from his prior actions, but Barnabas spoke to the apostles and verified Paul's story of his conversion.
Barnabas also supported Paul by explaining how strongly he had preached in Damascus. Eventually, Paul was accepted within the Church. But would he have been accepted in Antioch and Jerusalem had he not been "vouched for" by someone with such a solid reputation as Barnabas?
By the time of Acts 11:22-24 we find Barnabas still active in the Jerusalem congregation and trusted by the leadership to go to Antioch to begin working with (giving encouragement and direction to) people who were responding to God's Word.
Here again, we see Barnabas living up to his name of Encourager. He understood what God was doing in bringing gentiles (non-Israelites) into the Church and probably spent the rest of his life serving God to this end.

Barnabas mentored Paul as he began working alongside the other teachers in Antioch. Barnabas took Paul and a young disciple, John Mark (Mark who later became author of the Gospel bearing his name), on a trip through Asia Minor. By this time Barnabas and Paul are both referred to as apostles (Acts 14:14).
After some time had passed, Paul proposed that he and Barnabas retrace the steps of their original journey and strengthen the churches that had been established (Acts 15:36).
Sadly, a serious disagreement came between Barnabas and Paul over whether young John Mark would accompany them on this trip. Paul was so upset with John Mark returning home in the middle of their first journey that he didn't want him to come on this trip. Barnabas insisted that they should take Mark. With this matter standing between them, they went separate ways (Acts 15:39-41).
This disagreement was not permanent, however, as Paul and Barnabas later worked together in serving the church in Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 9:6). We have no record of Barnabas being angry with Paul, and he continued to encourage (teach) young John Mark in his ministry. And later we see, Paul acknowledged that Barnabas had been right not to give up on John Mark because he had become a good minister—he was "useful" to Paul for ministry (2 Timothy 4:11).
God used Barnabas in a very influential way in the development of the early New Testament Church. His nickname of Encourager flowed from living God's way of life. How many people came to the knowledge of God's way of life, not only through Barnabas' preaching, but also (and maybe even more importantly) through his example and encouragement?

How amazing! When no one wanted anything to do with the former murderer, Saul, we see Barnabas stood by him. And when Saul then known as Paul gave up on John Mark it was Barnabas again who believed in him.

Let us live by this beautiful example set by Barnabas. Let us always see the best in our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. For ALL of us fall short of the glory of God and it's only by His mercy & grace that we are saved. Let us not judge but instead always seek out the potential in others. It's amazing what people can do and accomplish when they recieve a little encouragement and someone to believe in them.

Let us all be a Barnabas to someone today. ☺

The Power of Words

So, another lesson I learned from the story of Balaam is the power of Words. King Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites. For it was known whoever he blessed was blessed and whoever he cursed was cursed.
This really stood out to me. There is POWER in words! I mean really, think about it....so what if Balaam cursed the Israelites? It's just words.. right? But it was a great concern to God. So much so he had an angel ready to strike Balaam down if he continued down that path. So, much so that he made a donkey speak to get Balaam's attention to not do it. There is power in words!
We must be so careful what we say. That is why the Bible is always telling us to speak life! That there is life and death in what we say. Proverbs 18:21 says - "Death and life are in the power of the tounge. And those who love it will eat it's fruit." In other words what you say will happen. What you speak is what you believe.You are either blessing yourself or cursing yourself.
Do not ever think lightly of it. Speak blessings and not curses.

SPEAK LIFE!

Balaam's Heart

Well, even though I am in Exodus right now I am jumping ahead to Numbers 22. I recently had to share on the story of Balaam with the children I work with at church. So, this message is burning in my heart.

This morning as I spent time before the Lord I felt very convicted. I realized I too had a heart like Balaam. I have been making excuses to do what I want to do and worse...then resting on God's grace! That is so dangerous!!!

Aside from the Word I also have been reading a book called "In His Face" by Bob Sorge. In his chapter titled, In Hollywood's Face he writes, "You watch TV instead of praying because you enjoy food offered up to idols." The world practices and portrays it's idolatry on TV. You would never do the things they do on TV, because you don't serve their idols. But when you watch them do it, you are eating the food they offer to their idols.

It is very clear in the Bible that we can NOT have both the world and God. Either we choose the world or we choose God. It's very cut and dry.
The cross before me, the world behind me...no turning back! No turning back!

I realized I was so guilty of this. Not guilty of watching TV but guilty of wanting to watch a show or spend time on the computer more then I wanted to read God's Word. More then I wanted to spend time with Him!! Then I cry and wonder why my heart is hard!

So, back to Balaam... I realized the Holy Spirit kept telling me ever so quietly. Nudging me softy to shut the TV or computer off and go read the Word. Go spend time in God's face, in His presence. But like Balaam I tried to manipulate the situation to get my own way. I am blessed to still be here and not dead!!! Seriously...
I realize if I keep heading down that path death is waiting!

Thank the Lord He got my attention!

Whatever idol is in your life you must destroy it. The only way to soften our hearts is by His Word, prayer, and fasting. Whatever things of the world that are keeping you from that..it is an idol. Whatever you choose over God is an idol.

I know this is a difficult and sobering word. But we can not continue to believe that we can coast through our Christian walk, do whatever we want, and assume we are kingdom bound.
Bob Sorge wrote: Our problem is we have a convoluted concept of grace. We have come to define grace as "the tolerance of God that allows us to live with one foot in the church and one foot in the world." That's not grace, that's foolishness. Such a person is neither hot nor cold, and Jesus said "I will vomit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16).
Grace is the kindness of God toward mankind, evidenced by sending His Son to die for us and redeem us to Himself, that we might be lifted from the filth of this world and live in the glory of His righteousness. God forbid that we should exploit His grace in order to return to the fiflth from which we have been redeemed.

It amazes me that even in the church most conversations I hear are about what's on TV, computer games, movies, sports, politics, ect.
We are Christians, which means we are set apart! Not of the world, redeemed from the world, from sin. But I feel like there is such a lie out there saying it's ok to be part of the world. Well, it's not! We are to be in the world but not of it.

I praise God that He has yet again given me another chance to turn from darkness. Jesus said the path is narrow and not many will find it. I praise God He has forgiven me but I also know that true repentance isn't just saying I am sorry but it is not doing that sin anymore.

In this moment of discovering His grace I started singing praise for a new day. The song, This is the day that the Lord has made came to my mind. I thought, the person who wrote this song must have fully grasped how exciting it is to have a new day. A new day to start over. His mercy is renewed every day. This is the day that the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.

God Knows Our Heart ♥ ☺

This morning as I was praying and communing with the Lord He gave me a poem. ☺ I always love it when He gives me a poem, the words come so easily and then when it's finished He says - it's done. Oh how I love Him!!!

OH, distracted heart. Stop with your wandering eyes.
Stop focusing on what the world can give and focus on the prize.
For their is hidden treasure! If only you could see
the world and all it's pleasure can not compare to me!

OH, heart that mourns and cries out in the night
Be comforted and know, you are precious in my sight
I hold you in my arms and long for you to see
that there is no man who could love you more then me

OH, heart that is ashamed and regrets all things you've done
Know and understand that's why I sent my Son
for He has washed away all your guilt and sin
He stand outside and knocks. Now, will you let Him in?

Faith through Circumstances

As I was reading in Exodus yesterday a thought crossed my mind and it took a day to formulate. I knew the spirit was showing me something so I had to go back and read it again and meditate on it. When I woke up this morning it came to me. So here we have Moses in the hot seat. He and Aaron have told the people that God would deliver them and they worship. Then they set out to go before Pharaoh. However, things get worse for Israel. Instead of being delivered they are told to make their own straw increasing their workload. They are now being beaten and treated worse for not making their daily quota of bricks. So now Israel is like, thanks a lot Moses! You made everything worse!
I kept thinking about that yesterday. Can you imagine how Moses felt? The very thing he feared seemed to be happening. Here is Moses crying out to God and saying, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why have you sent me?" I can imagine being Moses and having a meltdown, too. I would be thinking - I knew this would happen! You sent the wrong person!

But looking back at the burning bush God told him this would happen

But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. - Exodus 3:19-20

God told Moses that Pharaoh would not let them go easily. In fact he told Moses later he would harden Pharaoh's heart. God told Moses he wanted to show ALL His wonders towards the Egyptians and AFTER that he would let them go.

Now Moses didn't have a clue what God's wonders would be but really God was saying it was going to take a while and wouldn't be easy.

When I woke up this morning meditating on this the first thing that came to mind was faith through circumstances. It's easy to believe and trust when things are going well. But God wants us to have faith and trust in the midst of the storm.Things became worse for Israel before they got better. When God makes a promise we must endure and not focus on our circumstances. Just because our situation seems to get worse for the moment does not mean that God has left us. He is always right there beside us working all things for good even when they appear to be worse.

It is so easy to get caught up in the moment of our situation and lose faith. Let us instead choose to focus on the promise and on God's mighty hand to save.

He is mighty to save!

Excuses why we don't serve God

I can't believe it's been a little over 2 weeks since I have written anything. But I have to admit I have been struggling. However, I started Exodus this week and when I read the encounter Moses had with the Lord I started thinking about the excuses we give ourselves not to serve. When presented with the task of going to Pharoah on the Lord's behalf  Moses listed 5 excuses

Excuses regarding himself

Excuses regarding education

Excuses regarding people’s reaction

Excuses regarding spiritual gifts

Excuses regarding comfort

Moses most likely reflected on the his past failure. After all he killed a man and fled. He spent 40 years taking care of sheep. That was considered to be the lowest of low jobs. His self esteem of himself was probably not very high. I can relate to that. Well, who couldn't? We have all failed and made mistakes. Even in ministry. Even when we are doing what God called us to do. It is important to always keep in mind that there are no great men of God but only men of a great God! We are all weak and unworthy. That's why it's so amazing! God's glory can shine and be seen when it's done through our frailty.

Then we see Moses speak on not really knowing who God is. Who shall I say has sent me? Moses was educated for 40 years in Egypt. He had the best teaching and education. But yet he questions who God really is. I love that God simply says - I am who I am! I will be who you need me to be. Has this been an excuse? We don't serve because we think we need more education in the Word, more time in prayer, more Christian education. I get trapped in this a lot. It makes me fall into traps of comparison. While it is very important we spend time with the Lord and in His Word. We can not excuse ourselves from serving just because we think someone else knows more. God told Moses He would give him the right words to say. When God calls us to do something we must also trust He will provide us with the right words.

Moses was afraid of what others would say about him. Again, thinking back to what the Hebrew men said to him, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us?" (Exodus 2:14)

Moses was probably thinking he would again get the same reaction and nobody would believe that God met with him. And then he looked at his weakness in speech. God had an answer for every excuse that Moses could think of. He gave him all the tools he needed and even provided him Aaron to help out.

It's so easy to be like Moses. To find excuses not to serve. To look at all our weakness, faults, past failures, and lack of ability. But none of that matters. Because it's NOT us doing it. It's God doing it through us. We only need to possess one thing. A willing heart. A heart that says - yes!

I have also been reading Gideon's story in Judges and one thing that stood out to me was how easy the people wanted to worship Gideon after the great victory. The Israelites wanted to worship Moses. We must always remember that God receives ALL the glory!!! Again, NO great men of God only men of a great God! All glory goes to Him! Let us always say yes to God, serve Him with all our heart, and point others to Him to receive all the glory.

And, no more excuses!!!!

The Book of Judges & the Cycle of Sin

Today I was crying out to the Lord and asking why is it so easy to fall away? How is it that one week I can be so strong, walking in faith, loving my intimate time with Him, praying, seeking and how is it the next week I can be struggling, feeling far from Him, really having to force myself to read and pray.

Well, the answer came almost immediately! The amazing thing is I am in the book of Judges right now and what this problem I am facing is the cycle of sin!

All through the book of Judges this happens over and over again.

In other words there was a repeated cycle throughout the entire book – a cycle of sin, bondage, repentance, devotion, followed by sin and bondage again. When there was a leader Israel would follow the Lord but when there was no one there to remind them they fell back into their old ways and sometimes worse then before. They started worshipping false gods and doing all kinds of evil. Then God would allow them to be captured by their enemy and only through that bondage would Israel turn back and cry out to God for help. Then God would raise up another leader for them to follow and the cycle would begin again.

You may think...yeah but that was before redemption through Jesus.

But we all fall into this trap, even today! I know I have one area of of weakness that constantly drags me down and back into bondage. When I compromise or give into that temptation I find myself falling back into old habits. Then I feel like my Christian walk goes up and down like a yoyo. But the cycle of sin can be broken! After all, Jesus died on the cross so it would be broken.

Judges is a book that teaches us both how they became captive to the enemy, and also how they got out of that bondage. And in doing so, it then teaches us how to break the cycle of sin. Looking over your past as a Christian, have you seen this in your own life? Has your Christian walk been a cycle of victory and defeat? Do you see the cycle occurring in your life? If we are honest, the message of Judges is a wake up call for each of us. It is a warning of what can happen once we become comfortable and begin to compromise with the enemy. It is guardrail, and a danger signal of the traps that can lie ahead in our Christian lives.

Now, when we fall into this cycle of sin God doesn't raise up a judge these days. But, He does send us amazing Christian leaders, pastors, and other Christian friends who help point the way and help us draw back to Him. And sometimes He needs to allow us to be in a time of desperation so that we will call out and realize we need Him. God doesn't want us dependent on other people. He only wants us dependent on Him!

The key is to only depend on God, pray, stay close to His Word, flee from sin and NEVER compromise!

No wonder Paul warned us to pray without ceasing. What He meant was never break your communication with God.

We are no different then Israel was. We have the same weakness. So, we must stay on track. Stay rooted and grounded in His Word. That and prayer are the most powerful weapons we have been given.

Don't let your guard down!