Serving Him

8-27-09

Donna Braman

This Is The Day The Lord Has Made And I Will Rejoice In It!

THE PASSION TO SERVE HIM

Read: 2 Corinthians 11:22-28

Paul's message to the Corinthians regarding his suffering is remarkable in two ways. First of all, he had obviously faced considerable torment for his faith. Second, he refused to whine or seek pity, if this was the price for passionately serving Christ. Paul was willing to pay. In our own faith walk, we can learn from the apostle's commitment.

We serve according to God's will, not our own. In Acts 9:6, God told Paul on the road to Damacus, "It will be told you what you must do." We are to seek the Lord's direction and timing instead of choosing the ministry that seems best to us. Committing to do whatever He asks requires courage, but anything less is putting limitations on our obedience.

We serve according to our gifts, not our talents. A spiritual gift is the special endowment God gives us to serve where He calls. Talents may be useful in His work, but His gifts equip us for success. Natural skill wasn't what made Paul a powerful preacher. In fact, he spoke of the uselessness of his abilities and pedigree in comparison to knowing and serving Christ, (Philipians 3:4-9)

We serve focused on God, not on the work. Paul excelled at remaining Christ-centered, but this is where many people fall apart. We get caught up in scheduling, responsibility, and duties which can make us lose sight of the true purpose, reaching the needy and the lost.

SEED WORD: Doing church work can stroke the ego but drain the body. If we keep focused and serve out of our gifts, service will be satisfying, even when it is hard or painful. A lot of Christians confuse talent and natural gifts with the Holy Spirit gifts. The Holy Spirit empowers you to do a spiritual work in the body to bring it into one accord by gifting you with wisdom, knowledge, faith, gift of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. A lot of confusion besets the church when talented people think they are the blessing and anointed, and unintentionally strip the church from real power that develops Christians and brings in the lost and all you have is a bunch of noice and the only thing that is in one accord is the leadership. Without anointing it to soon has its own troubles. When we operate in the spiritual realm instead of in the natural realm, manifestation occurs in the church and in its members lives and a real work of Christ is evidenced. So don't think you have an anointed church just because you have the gift of tongues in someone, for a member on its own is powerless to move the church into God's will and power of the Holy Spirit, it needs legs, and arms and a head and feet to go with it. A lot of the churches have lost it's Christ centeredness and is operating in the natural. Pray ye for one another for these ends times is calling for a different spirit in the body of Christ.