Here is a brief devotion from Lead Like Jesus. 

Often times, we serve to gain the respect of others.  This devotion reminds us that we serve an audience of One!If you constantly base your self-worth on your performance or the opinions of others, you’re always going to be chasing an elusive, frustrating fantasy. All the world is a stage and God is the audience of One.  

Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord—you serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

Prayer: Lord, I give you my heart, I give You my all, and I live for You alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake, I live for You alone. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Blessings,

Jeremy 

Galatians 5:13 “For you  have been called to freedom. But don’t use
your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead use your freedom
to serve one another in love.”

Phil 3:10 “That I may know Him….being conformed to His death.” This is
true servanthood. “If you really want to understand a man, don’t just
listen to what he says, but watch what he does.” Is my life  a
reflection of the character of Christ? Am I so consumed with my own
needs that my life is a reflection of what I am made of or who my Lord
is? Do my relationships reflect more about my needs and what  I can
gain from others or are they more about reflecting the One who gives
me life, sustains and redeems me?In order to truly serve as Christ
does, I must learn  how to see this world through the cross of Christ.
That the “love of Christ would compel me.” “Christians who demonstrate
compassion because they are passionately in love with God will thus
speak  prophetically to a selfish culture and at times, a selfish
church.” Do I leave the fragrance of Christ where I have been and draw
others into new life? The greatest gift I can give someone is the
reflection I bear of Christ.

Carolyn 

Matthew 6:1-4 (NKJV)
1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

Our theme this month is “On His Majesty’s Secret Service” This verse tells why “secret” service is so important. Please understand that not all serving can or should be secret—but at least sometimes it is the best way to serve. The passage here is primarily speaking of the service of giving to financial needs, but it can be applied to other acts of service.

Why “serve in secret?”

1. It reconfirms the highest motive for service—the glory of God.
2. It reveals our heart’s true condition. I can tell if my heart is right in this area by whether or not I feel hurt if I do something and no one notices. If I do it for the glory of God then I feel the reward of His pleasure. If I serve for any other reason than the glory of God then I want to be noticed and thanked or paid back in some way.
   

My challenge to you today is to do at least one act of service each day that no one but God will know about. And if you really want to grow (and glorify God) do it for someone that you might in some way consider an enemy (or at least not deserving of any kindness from you). There is no greater joy than to “feel God’s pleasure!”

Let’s grow Up together!
Mike 

Matthew 22:2-13

Have you ever heard the following reason for rejecting the gospel?
“A good god wouldn’t condemn people to a bad place like hell.”
 
I believe the opposite is true; God as a testimony of His love for all created hell. That’s right, God loves us so much that He has even given the option of going to a place that has a complete absence of His influence to those who reject Him, those who want nothing to do with Him, those who idolize self declaring no need for Him and those, such as the man in the parable, who reject the only possible way into heaven, which is, being clothed in the garment of Christ’s righteousness through faith.
 
Sorry, there is no room service in hell because there are no servants, only arrogant prideful masters of their own dark isolated dominion of self. No wonder there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, God’s realm is relational, and hell is anti-relational.
 
In contrast, the inner workings of heaven are based on relational service and celebration. After all, we must make preparations for a great wedding feast! All are invited, but sadly, not all accept. Reserve your room today with the Chief Concierge, the Master Servant, who is Jesus. He will personally prepare a place for you. You have His Word on it.
 
““Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6, NIV.

Ed Herford

Today’s Reading: Galatians 5:13-14 NKJ
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, BUT THROUGH LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
 
In Sunday’s sermon “Coach” Mike mentioned we often have a distorted view of what it means to serve. That got me to thinking about the reasons we serve. Are there right reasons for serving as well as wrong reasons for serving?
 
The passage from Galatians tells us the right reason for serving. The way Paul structured the passage gives us insight into the right reason for serving. HE SAID LOVE, THEN SERVE!
Service is simply the outward expression of love.
 THE RIGHT REASON FOR SERVICE IS LOVE.
 
What would be some wrong reasons for service?
* To win approval from God or acceptance from others.   Many people serve as a way to get God to love them more. The truth is that we can do nothing to increase or decrease God’s love for us. He can’t love us any more than he already does.  Through Christ he loves us and accepts us completely. To enter into service to get God’s approval is to live under the bondage of performance based salvation that says, “If I just do more, I will be accepted more, loved more, approved of more”.   
 
This is a recipe for disaster. What happens when due to circumstances or health problems, you can no longer perform the acts of service you’ve been doing?  Will you struggle with God’s love for you and feel less approved of by others?
 
* Sometimes we serve out of guilt or to make up for past wrongs. By serving we cannot atone for things in the past. Jesus Christ alone can atone for our past wrongs. At the cross he atoned for all our sins – past, present and future.
 
THE WRONG REASONS FOR SERVICE ARE TO WIN APPROVAL FROM GOD AND OTHERS AND TO MAKE UP FOR PAST WRONGS. Maybe you can think of more reasons.
 
Will you let love be the motive behind your behavior? If you will, service will be the natural expression of that love.
 
In His Love,
Donnis Pallaoro 

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