Oh, What They Did!

Genesis 33:3 - Then he [Jacob] crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

Oh, the forgiveness and grace of our Lord. Oh, the humility.

Jacob and his brother Esau were at odds with each other as young men. Jacob fled for fear of losing his life to his brother's hand, even though Jacob had initially deceived Esau. But now many years later, after Jacob had been deceived (what goes around comes around?) by his father in law, God told him it was time to go back home, to his land and his brother; He would deal well with him when he did. 

So, despite trepidation and some precautions, Jacob did return. Despite God's words, His promise that all would be well, Jacob had some fear of the unknown. And when the time came he bowed in total humility before his brother. And his brother was no longer angry.

Isaac, the brothers' father, had unknowingly blessed Jacob, the second son with the inheritance Esau should have had as the first son. Part of that blessing was that Jacob's brother Esau would be a servant to him. So, in this case of deception, older would serve younger. 

I think about Jesus and how He came, the King of kings and Lord of lords, to serve us through His humiliation, mocking and death on the cross...for those who would call on His name to be saved. He came not to be served but to serve. This is our Lord. Once we have gotten to that place of understanding Him as our Lord and bowing before Him, then it is our duty to serve Him and let His story be told. When we bow in total humility before Him, His forgiveness envelopes us. 

It's all about Him, serving and obeying and trusting in Him. We can do nothing in this life on our own, but in Him we can do all things. Later in Genesis we will see how God uses Jacob, whose name by now has been changed by God to Israel. Israel...God's land and His people. 

Matthew 20:26-28 - Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

I CAN'T DO IT!

Luke 10:39 - And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.

I was out walking the other morning. The thought crossed my mind, Gosh, I wish I was better at doing some things. There are times when you just can't do two things at once. For instance, I have tried on numerous occasions to listen to a sermon while I was doing something else like making supper, baking something or working on a project of some sort, even walking.

I got to thinking there are times, just like in the story of Mary and Martha, where devoting oneself to one thing was the best. Martha fussed over the fact that she was serving Jesus by herself as He visited them while her sister Mary sat at His feet, engrossed in what He spoke. She groused about her circumstance to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

Jesus told her Mary did the right thing. It reminded me of another scripture: In His own words Jesus said, "...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) Just like He did not come to redeem us because we think we have been "good" people or have done much serving to gain His approval. He came to serve us...He came and gave His life for us. That's a servant! 

Martha was all about the serving. Nothing wrong with that but in this circumstance He wasn't concerned with being served. He came to spend time with them. He wanted to serve them with His words. He has said it's not about the food which perishes...it's about the bread of life which saves. Physical vs. spiritual. He has shown us which is most important. He wants to serve us with His words. 

So, He has come that He might bring us life. Mary and Martha had a chance to take in some of His life-giving words. Mary was receiving while Martha was fussing! In order to receive that life we also must sit at His feet and receive the words of life He has to offer. No distractions, just Him, just His Word, words. We sit at His feet and partake in those words of life. He has much to tell us if we just sit and "listen."

I must be in total concentration to what I am reading or what is being preached or I just won't get it! That means stopping what I do...completely. Just an aside here, we must be careful who we listen to; this preacher had better be a solid man of God whose messages are right out of the Word, expressing His truth out of the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and spend time with Him, listening to him, learning from just being with Him. Martha didn't take the time to learn At this moment. I presume this was a lesson for her. It should be a lesson for us all.

When we are in relationship with Christ do we find ourselves too distracted to listen to Him? Let's take the time to sit at His feet and learn, take in life-giving, eternal words...preferably from His Word! 

John 6:27 - Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” 

The Choice is Yours

Joshua 24:15 - ...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...

Serving. We all serve in some manner or another on a day to day basis. At least we should be. It isn't all about us. It's not about that's not in my job description. It's about lending a hand when you recognize someone else is in need of assistance...no matter who it is. 

The serving mentioned above is of a deeper nature. It's referring to serving God. The first part of the scripture says this: And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD... I'm sure there are those who can't imagine this level of service. I'm not certain that even I fit all the requirements. This scripture is stating unequivocally we must set our devotion and allegiance to the one true God.

This is a difficult concept sometimes. Is anything we tend to consume ourselves with over God? Can we not find time for Him? Is He not that important? Is He someone we will look to if some awful thing comes upon us, but not build up our strength before that happens?

We must exercise our faith. That means looking to the Lord before we encounter difficulties. It takes time to realize our faith. We practice other things in life that we might be better at them. This is what God would have us do with Him that our faith would be strong. We must give up some of the things we enjoy to serve Him. How else will He strengthen us? How else will He give us understanding? He asks us to seek Him each day. He asks us to serve Him in everything we do.

Oswald Chambers made this comment in today's My Utmost for His Highest, When God gives us a vision of truth it is never a question of what He will do, but of what we will do.

Chambers reminds us that when we are faced with some struggle or some important decision and we are taken aback by it to look back at a time when He had already worked out a problem...remember what you did when you were touched by God before--the time when you were saved, or first saw Jesus, or realized some truth.

Recall those moments when facing the next big thing. Know that He is greater than any problem we have. Know that He knows our wants and desires...and He knows which ones are worthy of wanting and which need to go on the back burner or thrown out! Oh, His answers may not always be what we would like, but that's because He has some other greater plan...and all we can do is trust Him.

We have the freedom to make up our own minds...to make right or wrong choices. It's which choice is the right choice? I know people who hang on for a long time waiting for the right job, the one they know God would like them to take. Others wait until the right person comes along to marry. Others have to make the choice to trust God with their children and their children's goals for life...especially if their serving the Lord might take them into battle or the mission field.

We also have the freedom to be victims or victors. I've known people who could not (would not?) shake their life's circumstances because they were comfortable in receiving "whatever" from others. They lived as a victim instead of walking away from that mindset and into the victorious mind of Christ.

Oh, don't get me wrong. We all slip sometimes but the Holy Spirit will guide us back when He sees us struggling. This is God's love in action. He will never leave us nor forsake us. His Spirit stands along side us, as close to us as our shadow...if we know Jesus.

Time and again I have had to remind myself of the promises God has given me specifically. He has shown me by His Spirit what I am to hold close to my heart. I'm thankful for these specific promises. They ARE what I hold dear to my heart. They ARE my hope. His words to us are truth and they are, as 2Corinthians 1:20 shows us: For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

Do we serve the world and it's ideas of what is right or wrong? I see a lot of that happening. Look at the news. There is a world out there serving only themselves. There are people who are determined to annihilate those they deem unnecessary...and we as a country are among those people. These people may seem, some day, that they are winning the battle, but let me tell you, I know Who wins the final battle. And I'm thankful I follow the Victorious One.

Serving isn't as dreadful as it sounds. We all like to think we're self-made persons. I can remember a time when I bicycled...a lot. Sometimes I would bike for weeks at a time. And I would pride in myself that I traveled from Point A to Point B under my own power. That was before I knew Jesus. Today I would be thanking Him for giving me the strength to do this, for allowing me to see the world from a bicycle, for not letting the scenery zoom by without really seeing it, but living in the midst of it for hours at a time.

So...serving...following. We all should follow someone's lead. But that someone should be Someone. This Master is not like worldly masters. This is the master Master. He knows what we need before we ask. His ways are greater than ours. His plans for us are good. Everyone wants to be successful. Success comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ and serving Him.

We are told in Revelation 7:15: Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. Those who choose to serve God today will get through all the things life has laid before us, even in death. The reward above, to serve God day and night, may be contrary to what some think heaven will be like...and some might think if all I'm going to do in heaven is serve God...(various answers could be given here). We have no idea what serving God will be like. Psalm 84:10 says this: For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. A relationship with Jesus helps to understand this!

Taking the step to be in relationship daily with Jesus Christ gives us the truth. Our understanding comes when we begin to live in relationship with Him. Who can understand these things? Begin to serve Him and we will be given this assurance: Hebrews 9:14 - How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? He is our living God. He is the one Person worth serving, with the promises of greater things eternally. Who will you serve today?

Psalm 100:2-3 - Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.

Greatness

Matthew 20:28 - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others...

The thought has gone through my head since last Wednesday night, "what do I do?" What is that one thing God wants me to devote myself to? What am I programmed to do for Him? So having felt like that as I entered church Sunday morning we were confronted with this message: Living to the Fullest Degree.

We completed our Wednesday night Truth Project series but tomorrow night we are going to continue by again asking ourselves what we can do.

In the sermon Sunday morning Pastor Paul basically stated we all have a quest for greatness. Where does it come from? God puts it in us. How we choose to achieve this greatness is up to us. We can desire greatness to pat ourselves on our own backs or we can desire to do it to please the One who gave it to us.

So just how do we gain this greatness? We serve. Hmmmm, I think I mentioned that before....Jesus came to serve not to be served and if this is how He lived His life it should be ours too.  "Serving is the way to live to the fullest degree," Pastor Paul shared with us. "If you wish to become, you must serve."

Proverbs 11:24 - There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. We have to give in order to receive.  The more we give the more we receive. If we hold back what talent God has given us we cannot receive what He wants to give us...joy, the feeling of satisfaction, great rewards in heaven, those eternal rewards.

However, we must serve out of love for God, not for self. He will reward generously when we do and only He knows the motives in our hearts. Romans 14:10 tells us we will each give an account of himself to God.

So all through service I asked over and over "what is the one thing, God, that I'm good at?" How can I serve? I've served in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Russia on mission trips. You can't help being blessed serving others even if seems a small thing. I remember someone telling us that God would bless our socks off. And He did. I can remember coming home and not being able to get my head around life back home...unfortunately it doesn't last...unless you continue to serve in some manner.

I recall the faces of the Guatemalan and Nicaraguan children when they received little gifts ... and the faces of the congregation in Nicaragua when we put up the bulk of a church they so badly needed and the pastor's gratitude at the school we constructed in Guatemala. I especially remember the little girl who did not leave my side as we walked through "the dump"  in Guatemala where the homeless families live and root through trash to make a very meager living. I wanted to take her home... I recall the sober faces of the Russian church ladies we ministered to one night. They truly do not offer much in the way of emotion. But that evening they wept when we went around the room and hugged each one of them. 

That type of compassion that rises up can only come from the Lord. It happens in me so easily. That's the heart of Christ He wants us all to have, all the time. We don't need to go too far to find similar people in our own world. Those around us with their own troubles... How I would love to wrap my arms around one person this week to tell them how much Jesus cares for their hurting heart. The doors need to be opened.

On the outside this is not my character. You would not guess I feel like this. So has my question been answered? Not entirely. I know God has programmed me with something. I just need to tap into that. I don't know that it will be another mission trip out of the country. 

God does knows my heart. When I've been faced with other questions I truly needed answers to, He showed me answers or opened doors. I believe I will be stepping out in faith and realizing my need to trust God in what He wants me to do. Where will I start?

What I do know is when I do this, I will be "living to the fullest degree." I certainly don't think this always means great "greatness." It can be simple greatness. It may be simple to us but if we have done it, it is great greatness to God because we have done it.

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.