Matthew 20:28 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve
others and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Serving through sacrifice: When I choose to place my flesh, my
desires, and my laziness above my spiritual calling as a servant of
Christ, there is no question who is on the throne of my life.  The
pressing needs of my world often veil my eyes and harden my heart to
the needs of others. Far too often my heart becomes hardened to the
needs and cries of others in pain or need. As a disciple of Christ it
is “not I who lives, but Christ who now lives in me.” To let him do
his work in me and in his creation, I must regularly ask for help to
deny my fleshly desires to see and serve  people through his eyes of
compassion. Selfishness nurtures a hard heart…..as his child, I have
been called to a higher standard. He exchanged my heart for his heart
of love expressed in care for others. A lovely character is not what
is required to be a disciple of the King. A heart that feels and
serves as His does, is what helps transform me into his disciple. It
will transform this world. The act of sacrificial service actually
develops a much deeper ability to live in  selfless service. “It is
one thing to say we believe; it’s another to show compassion to
others, to inconvenience ourselves because we believe.” Without His
character we cannot comprehend how to “love one another as I have
loved you.”

Carolyn 

“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” -Matt 25:21- (NLT)

Sometimes, serving the Master can be difficult.  There are days when our service to the Lord goes completely unnoticed.  Or worse, is mocked or ridiculed.  There are even times when our service is noticed and we are told it isn’t good enough.  I have a small word of encouragement for you this morning: be faithful!  Be faithful in whatever God entrusts to you.  Large or small, something very grand or seemingly insignificant, your call is to be a faithful servant.  In God’s economy, value is not placed on the size of the task but the faithfulness of the servant performing it.  And when you have one of those days when your service seems to go unnoticed, remember the final sentence from this passage and be encouraged.  For even if no one ever notices what you do for the Kingdom, a day is coming when you will hear the Master say “Lets Celebrate Together!”

Jeremy 

TODAY’S READING: Isaiah 43:7, Philippians 2:1-7
 
Devotional Thought:
 
Have you ever wondered why you were created?  Isaiah 43:7 reads: “Everyone who is called by my name, WHOM I CREATED FOR MY GLORY, whom I formed and made.”  
Did you see it?
Your purpose? You were for His glory – NOT YOUR GLORY.
 
Now imagine for a moment what your life would be like if it were free of self-glorification. Would it be filled with more joy?  Would more of your days be spent serving others?
 
It has been said that “God is glorified in anyone through whom He is allowed to show Himself great or mighty.”  How do we show Him to be great and mighty?  Take a look at Philippians 2:3-5:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, TAKING THE VERY NATURE OF A SERVANT….”
 
Would you join with me in praying that the Lord’s “name and renown are the desires of our hearts” (Is. 26:8) that we would allow Him to show himself to those around us as we imitate Christ and take on the nature of a servant?
 
In His Majesty’s Service,
Donnis Pallaoro 

Defined By His Majesty’s Secret Service

Have you noticed that when people are asked about themselves they often explain their occupation? “Oh, I’m a nurse”, “housewife”, “banker”, etc.. Why? What is a job, anyway? We may think of our work as a means of providing for our families but it goes much deeper than that. At its core your occupation is based on some sort of service to others. They have a need, you provide for that need, i.e. service.
 
At this time of increasing unemployment or anytime for that matter: why is it that when we lose our jobs we generally feel anxious?
 
Sure we are concerned with how we are going to pay the bills but there is more: our jobs provide a sense of accomplishment and an underlying need to do something productive with our lives. In essence we are hardwired for service. As I discussed last time, we are made in the image of the Servant God: therefore all people have a deep-seated need to serve. This applies to unbelievers as well. If we neglect this basic need for purpose (keeping in mind, service is the mechanics of love) we cannot experience true happiness and contentment. Consequently, we succumb to meaninglessness and despair.
 
A job is not the same as service to God but it can be and it may be as close as some may ever get to the inner workings of heaven. I’ll hash that out next week. For now, be about the business of God, serving one another as you were created to do. Remember that your acts of service are based on your spiritual gifts and your personal observations of God through Bible study, prayer, devotions, worship, etc.. You do what you see God doing. Your spiritual acts of service are a reflection of God’s glory!
 
“Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” John 5:19, NASB.
““I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” John 5:30, NASB.
““For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. ““And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”” John 12:49, 50, NASB.

Ed Herford

Colossians 3:22-24 (NKJV)
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

For whom would you rather work, your present boss, or Jesus? If your answer is your present employer, then just keep doing what you’re doing. If you would rather work for Jesus then our reading in Colossians gives us His requirements:

1. Unfeigned obedience
2. Sincere, “give-it-your-best” service
3. Willingness to delay your rewards until “The Real Boss” returns.

Whether you realize it or not, The Holy Spirit will be inspecting your work today. Are there any changes you need to make in your work ethic, the quality or quantity you produce, or your attitude toward your supervisor or fellow workers, or customers? Are you just working for a paycheck, or are you seeking honor for the Lord Jesus by your service? If you and I will be obedient to this passage of Scripture, we will be known by our employers as “the best worker I’ve ever had!” And that brings honor to Christ. 

Mike

John 13:34… “Love one another deeply. Just as I have loved you, you

should love one another. Your love for one another will prove to the

world that you are my disciples.”

Serving through love:  When I think of a servant, my mind immediately

runs to my Lord Jesus. He  chose to serve me by offering me the gift

of salvation, of unconditional love and forgiveness and countless

other treasures for my soul. To think that Christ would endure all

that He did simply because he loves me and wants to bless me with true

life, not just existence, simply amazes me. Because He encompasses

perfect, pure love, and because he chooses to make his home in me, I

too, am offered the opportunity to serve others by loving them as

Christ loves me. How often do I serve my Lord that way? How often have

I denied his power in me to serve and bless others. Sadly, I often

choose selfishness over the service of love.  I need only remember his

last prayer (John 17), his last breath (Luke 23:34) to bring my heart

to a place where the only option is to live my life in thanks to my

Lord and to make him known. I want His love to compel me to live a

life of service to my King, that He alone would be glorified.

Carolyn

Good Morning!

This morning I want to share a thought with you from the Treasury of Bible Illustrations . . .

Jesus was the greatest servant who ever lived. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Christ came to serve and to give, and God desires the same for us. “And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister” (Matt. 20:27, 28).
The finest model of serving, except Christ Himself, was the Apostle Paul. Almost without exception he begins every one of his epistles with words to this effect: “Paul, a servant. . . .” or “Paul, a bond slave. . . .” He was indeed an apostle, but he conducted himself as a servant.
Very few of us want to be known exclusively as a servant. We want to be known as a servant and a great preacher, or a famous missionary, or an outstanding elder, or a well-known business man. What we fail to realize is that true servanthood does not have hidden aspirations to be great in the eyes of men.
When we think of our relationship to Christ, can it be said of us that we want only to serve Him?
Although his religious philosophy was questionable, Albert Schweitzer was a man willing to abandon a great career in order to serve his fellow man. In 1913, he sailed for Africa, having turned his back on fame, money and prestige. His first hospital was an old abandoned hen house and his first operating table an old campboard.
On a trip to the United States, a reporter asked, “Dr. Schweitzer, have you found happiness in Africa?”
 
“I have found a place of service,” he replied, “And that is enough for anyone.”
This does not represent the feelings of many of us who are members of the church. It is not sufficient to simply have a place of service. Many of us want a place of recognition and a road to fame.
All of us need to do some serious thinking and praying about this matter of being a servant.
We need to make this prayer ours: “O God, help me to be the master of myself, that I may be a servant of others.”

Just a thought . . .

Jeremy 

Colossians 1:13-22 

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16, 17, NASB.

Why has God called us to service? Does He need our service? Or, is service an integral part of God’s character transferred to us in creation? After all, He made us in His image, did He not? (Genesis 1:27)

As you meditate on these creative and redemptive acts of God think of these things as the greatest acts of service specifically for you! God created a place containing and sustaining the necessities of life: air, food, water, love: within a hostile universe where life would not be possible otherwise. This is all for you. He has no need for such things. God serves because it is the nature of His being. Our service is simply a reflection of God’s character in this world.

Not only does God create and sustain life but also as you can see from today’s scriptures, He reconciled us to Himself. Not because we are cute and adorable, in fact, in our sins, the only time we need reconciliation, we are quite the opposite. This is purely His act of service on our behalf. We have nothing to do with it. Our only duty is to receive it and reflect it. 

Ed Herford

Good Morning!

Today’s Reading:  2 Timothy 2:20-21

“In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”  2 Timothy 2:20-21

The verses from 2 Timothy tell us that even a common bucket or clay pot become useful when purged and made holy.

Joni Eareckson Tada once told a story about one of her art coaches. During one of their art sessions her coach Jim brought in some of his own brushes. She was startled by their condition. The paint on the handles was worn and chipped. The brushes themselves were discolored and bristly, having obviously seen incredible wear and tear. In fact Joni expressed that if she hadn’t known better she would have thought them to be useless…not fit for painting anything of real beauty or value. But then she had the chance to watch Jim at work with those very brushes.

Suddenly, in his hands, the brushes became not only useful but priceless. As she watched him swirl and sweep the paint on the canvas she marveled at how each brush had its own purpose, one brush for a certain kind of line, another for a special stroke.

The artist knew how to use each one of his brushes. He knew what each could do in his hands. Even the ugliest brush- stiff and with ragged bristles – was reserved for a special duty as Jim continued to paint. He knew his tools well.

Someone once said that a tool unto itself is of little importance.  But placed in the proper hands it can create a masterpiece.

In a similar way, perhaps, you may find yourself thinking you are unfit for service in the kingdom of God. Your potential, you tell yourself, is small ; maybe you feel it is non-existent.  You feel you’ve gone through too much, wandered too far, or seen to much wear and tear for God to use you.

Ah, but that is the problem if you focus on the tool. No tool, in and of itself, has any great use. But placed in the proper hands it can create a masterpiece.

Will you be encouraged with the knowledge that God has created and reserved you for a special task in His great Masterpiece?

In His hands you are not only useful…but priceless!

A tool in the Master’s hand,

Donnis Pallaoro