"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor is not in
vain in the Lord."
(1 Corinthians 15:58)
Last
night, I attended the midweek service at our church which was called
out mainly for all the workers and volunteers of the church. I'm so
blessed!
Our pastor is still young in shepherding our
congregation after he'd taken over caring for the flock when our senior
pastor (his brother) came to be with the Lord about 2yrs ago, but he and
his wife is (yes,"is"! go figure ^_^) doing a great job of leading us
to where God intends us to be.
We've always been taught
and reminded of the basic steps to becoming a fruitful, progressive
disciple of Christ...to FOLLOW..to SERVE..to GO..
In
"FOLLOWing", we learn about God's ways, revering Him, studying &
obeying His Word, imitating His likeness to take on the full persona of a
"saved" individual. Of course, just like any other "living sacrifice",
we squirm, move about and fall from the altar at times, bruising
ourselves or taking on dirt here and there. Yet, our loving heavenly
Father picks us up, cleanses us and heals us, seeing us only with eyes
full of love and deals with us with abounding grace because of the
righteousness of Jesus enveloping our being...we take only the best
possible care we can get when we truly rest in Him and abide in His
words. This relationship depicts the vertical direction of the
cross..God to man, man to God.
"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him." (Lamentations 3:25)
"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Then
the next step is when we feel it deep down in our spirits that all the
love we have for God must show itself in more ways than mere sitting and
listening during teachings, conferences and bible studies..we now are
called to "SERVE".
Since we now have a great deal of
awareness of our strengths, talents, potentials and spiritual gifts
(probably affirmed by our co-followers of Christ or other God-sent
people), we explore church ministries to serve others through our
presence, time, skills or money. At this time, we still learn about
obedience and submission and practice it through following our leaders
and all God-appointed human authority over us. We learn to work and
serve harmoniously with other people (people who used to be like you,
still on the "FOLLOW" stage, and people who are now like you, serving).
This relationship depics the horizontal direction of the cross..man to
man.
"Be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility." (1 Peter 5:5)
"Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:18)
The
Scripture above in 1 Corinthians 15:58 encourages all followers and
workers to be fruitful in the service, occupied in the issues and needs
of the Kingdom. We are not mainly serving people for the sake of service
but we are serving a great big God, and because we love Him, we serve
Him..and because we know His heart, we love what He loves--people. May
love be our primary reason for service. If that is, all other perks just
come along with it. Such as what? you may ask..such as an extended
family. A place where you belong, people who share the same passion as
you, a sense of fulfillment, and the wonderful experience of "one
anothering". But just like any other family, differences may pose as a
problem only if we tend to see it that way. May our differences be
sharpening tools to keep us on our toes and remind us that God is still
ever at work in our lives. Cut the other person some slack! You'll never
know, maybe another person is cutting you a great deal of slack as
well.
"No one has seen God at any time. If we love one
another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us." (1
John 4:12)
"Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing." (Psalm 100:2)
As
time passes by in the "SERVE" stage, there will be a greater churning
in our spirits that is calling out for more..much more significance. We
are now called to "GO". This may lead us outside of our comfort
zones..outside of the confines of the church building..outside our own
worlds. We are ushered to a whole new world of greater differences,
animosity or indifference. Be of good cheer! God does not lead us to
where He hasn't set foot first. He has overcome the world, what are we
to be afraid of?
"You are the salt and light of the earth..You are the light that gives light to the world.." (Matthew 5:13-14)
"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)
SHALOM! SHALOM! (greater double portion of God's overwhelming blessings for you and me!) ^_^
