Called and Equipped to Serve

1 Kings 17:16

The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah, in accordance with God's directive, went to the widow in Zarephath and requested that she make him some bread to eat.  She told Elijah that she could not feed him because she only had enough flour and oil to feed her and her son one more meal.  She then told Elijah they would die because their food supply would be exhausted.  Elijah told the woman if she made his meal first that her supply would never be exhausted.  And so it was by the word of the Lord.

When we feel the call of the Lord to fulfill a service or a charity, we should never concern ourselves with what is in our cupboard.  The Lord will always supply what we need to fulfill His work.  And when the work is done, our cupboard will overflow just as the widow's did.

It is God's way and it is to His glory to make use of and put honor upon the weak and foolish things of the world.  It makes perfect sense that He would want to use us to do His good work.  We certainly fit the bill of the weak and foolish.  May we stand ready to proclaim His glory through the work that we do for Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to be of service to Your kingdom.  We rejoice in knowing that You will equip us to do whatever You call us to do.  We exalt You as You bless us, knowing we will be a blessing to others.  We pray that we will never question our ability or our resources as You raise us up as instruments of Your good work.  We pray that all that we do will be praise and glory to You, to Your Son Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who calls us to Himself, Jesus Christ.

Living in the Secret Place of the Most High God

Psalm 91:1

He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

In this world, to live in someone's shadow is generally thought to be an undesirable place.  It is regarded as a place where you cannot live up to the standards of the one who preceded you.  In the kingdom of God, quite the opposite is true.  Living in the shadow of Almighty God frees us to be more than we could believe to be possible.

Loving faith in Almighty God on our part will always be met by faithful love, protection and provision on God's part.  His covering of us is much greater than we can imagine.  If we are abiding in Him, there is no limit to His shadow that is over us.  He protects us at all times from natural and supernatural enemies.  He makes our homes secure.  He is our refuge in every storm.  Yet He invites us to enjoy so much more.

There is a special nuance in this passage.  The blessings spoken of here in this passage can be greater for those believers who live in close fellowship with God.  Every believer may look toward the inner sanctuary and the mercy-seat, yet all do not dwell in the most holy place.  All believers surely run to the mercy seat in time of need and may enjoy occasional moments of communion with the Father, but the fullness of these most high blessings are for those who habitually abide in the shadow of Almighty God. Those who stand in continuous communion with God set themselves up to become possessors of rare and special benefits.  Let us seek the grace to be constant refugees in the fortress of Almighty God so that we cannot miss the fullness of His shadow.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the shadow of protection and provision that You place over us when we surrender our lives to You.  We bless the name of Jesus who has made it possible for us to come to Your mercy seat.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will guide us and strengthen us as we seek to abide under Your shadow.  May our hearts be prepared to seek that secret place of constant communion where we can access the fullness of Your most high blessings.  We ask all these things in the name of the One whose mercies never end, Jesus Christ.

He is Ready to Supply Our Every Need

John 16:31

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?

The apostles spent three years with Jesus.  Yet when He was ready to leave them, He had to take a lengthy amount of time explaining to them who He was.  When He completed His explanation, He posed a question to them, "Do you now believe?"

Are we not just like the apostles?  Even though we have spent years in prayer, years in the reading of  the Word, years in worship and years in serving God, we manage to lose our sense of who Almighty God really is and the certainty of all the promises that He has given us through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Sadly, as if Jesus Christ left the earth and left us to our own wiles, we turn toward the world for answers.  We somehow find ourselves overlooking that our all-sufficient Lord provided us with a Wonderful Counselor who stands ready to supply our every need.

Let us be reminded that Jesus promised that His Holy Spirit would be with us and would comfort and guide us.  To believe otherwise is to have a complete lack of faith.  To believe otherwise is to deny what Jesus said He came to earth to do.  "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Do you now believe?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the comfort and guidance that You provide through Your Holy Spirit.  We bless the name of Jesus who came to earth so that we may have peace and we may overcome the tribulations of the world.  We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will help us to dig deep into our relationship with You.  May we dig so deep that we never again turn to the world for counsel without having gone to You first.  Help us, Lord, to believe for more than we believe is possible through our own efforts.  Teach us how to wait on You for Your good and perfect timing in all things.  We ask these things in the name of the One that is with us until the end of the age, Jesus Christ.

Leaving Our Fears and Our Frustrations Behind

Psalm 56:11

In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

It is amazing how often we struggle, wondering how our particular situation is going to get resolved.  How little faith we have in Almighty God through whom all things are possible.  But what may be even more amazing is how we have no faith that Almighty God is interested in the smallest needs in our lives when His Word proclaims that He knows the count of every hair on our heads.

Through the continuous and sometimes onerous trials that we have passed through in life, we should have learned to be silent and patient when our trials are light.  Yet we seem to become frustrated by the small stuff and lose patience.  More importantly we lose confidence in Almighty God who bottles all of our tears and observes them with tender love and concern.

May we all come full circle just as Paul did.  May we be in constant recognition of the fact that the Lord is our helper.  May we move forward fearing no man, for man has no power but what God has given him.  Through our trials, may we all praise God knowing that He is faithful to meet our every need. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithful promises to meet our every need.  We praise You for giving us sufficient grace to get through every trial.  We pray, Lord, that You will grant us the faith to trust in You for everything in our lives.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit teach us to come to You boldly with what seems impossible and also come to You confidently with the smallest things that are troubling us.  May Your grace and power in our lives never be diminished because of our lack of understanding.  We ask all these things in the name of the Son seated at the right hand of power, Jesus Christ.

Becoming Fountainheads of God's Grace

Ezekiel 34:26

And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.

Everything on earth, whether man, beast or plant, is under the hand of Almighty God.  Our all-sufficient Lord sends out everything required for sustenance and growth.  And when the timing is right, He sends showers.  When God is ready to spread His grace, be certain that you will not receive drops or droplets.  You will receive showers, not a shower, but plentiful showers.

He will cause the showers to come down in season.  His showers will fall upon us according to His divine will and timing for our lives.  His showers will refresh us, revive us and make us fruitful unto His own purpose for our lives.  And it will all be a part of His abundant grace which provides peace, rest, pardon, righteousness and eternal life for each of us.

And through His blessings on each of us in the Body of Christ, the world will receive showers of grace.  But first, we must prepare ourselves to be worthy vessels and we must be alert to the onset of our seasons of grace.  When our seasons arrive, we must be obedient to His calling on our lives.  If we have made ourselves ready, we will become fountainheads for the showers that He has prepared for all men.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we humbly come before You and thank You for Your abundant nature.  We seek the wisdom to learn to wait on Your provision.  We pray for the Holy Spirit to sharpen our awareness of the showers of grace that You pour upon us.  We ask, Father, that You help us to prepare our ground so that we will bear much fruit when the showers arrive.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in becoming eager conduits of Your grace.  We ask all these things in the name of Our All-Sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

His Servanthood Was Perfectly Complete

Matthew 20:28

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus Christ, The Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords came to earth as the Son of Man.  He gave up all of His royal rights to become a servant of every man.  His servanthood was so complete that He gave up His own life and He separated Himself from the Father in order to take on all of our sins so that we might have life with the Father.

Once we claim our eternal inheritance as children of God, we accept that which we do not deserve and could not possibly earn except through the grace and mercy of Our Savior.  When we recognize that Jesus Christ served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness and our sin, we should exhaust ourselves serving all men for His sake.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, should we not follow the model of Our Master?  We should be in constant communion with the Father, just as Jesus was, so that we can determine the will and plan that Our Heavenly Father has for our lives.  We should then be servants to all men in accordance to the will and plan that the Father reveals to us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to be bond servants in Your kingdom.  We praise the name of Jesus who came as Son of Man to show us the model for living in accordance with Your will.  We come before You to proclaim how unworthy we are of all that You have set aside for us to do in service to Your kingdom.  We bless the name of Jesus who has made us worthy servants through the shedding of His blood.  We pray, Father, that You fill us with the power of Your Holy Spirit so that we may pour ourselves out to all men.  May the hearts of those around us be prepared to receive what we have to offer in the name of Our Savior.  We pray all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Trusting In God's Timing

Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Almighty God is omnipotent.  He is able to deliver us from the most extreme trials.  Almighty God is omniscient.  He knows every little detail about us and our troubles.  Almighty God is unchangeable, forever faithful to His promises.  He makes all things work together for those that abide in Him.  So why is it that we are so impatient when it comes to waiting on God?

Is there anything that we have learned to hate more than waiting?  What is it about traffic lights, grocery lines, internet downloads, etc. that create such an angst?  Has patience disappeared completely in our lives?  Is there anything that frustrates us more than lack of success in whatever we are doing?  Or perhaps more frequently, we are frustrated that things are just taking too long.  Even when we know we are doing everything right and in the right way, the results become more important to us than the process.  When did we lose sight of the fact that God is in control of everything?  

The pain of waiting for anything and the pain of waiting on success both stem from the same issue.  We are focusing on self gratification and not focusing on the plans that God has for our lives and His perfect will for our lives.  So we rush ahead of God in our efforts to make things happen on our timetable.  Let us reach out to the Holy Spirit for guidance and instruction when we are so anxious to move before God moves.  Our trust in God's timing will prove to be a reward beyond our imagination.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good plan for our lives that You promise us in Your Holy Word.  We praise You for Your Holy Spirit who guides us and strengthens us so that we can overcome the desires of our flesh that are not in accordance with Your plans.  We pray, Father, that You renew our minds so that we will know Your will for our lives.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us to learn to be still and wait on the all sufficient grace and provision that You promise us.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

The Outpouring of Our Adoration

Mark 14:6

But Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?

When Jesus was dining with a group at Simon's home, a woman with an alabaster jar full of very expensive perfume came up to Jesus, broke the jar open and poured it's costly contents on Him.  She was criticized by the group at the table for such an extravagant gesture.  Jesus quickly scolded the group for not seeing the value of what she was doing.

When we become broken vessels and pour out everything we have to glorify Our Savior, we can be assured that the world will demean us for our efforts.  We can find comfort in knowing that Our Lord is greatly pleased and glorified by our expressions of love.  He will honor us and commend us for our efforts just as He did for the woman.

We should pour out unto Him all the best of our adorations.  We should love Him with all our heart, never fearful of how our zeal and affection will be misunderstood.  After all, Jesus poured out all that He had for us.  Is there anything too precious for us to give to Him?  Surely there is not.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Son who poured out all that He had for us.  We exalt the name of Jesus for spilling His blood on our behalf.  We come before You to bring all of our love, our praises and our blessings to bestow them upon Your Son, Jesus.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pour out all that we are, all that we will ever be, all that we have and all that we will ever have in joyous thanksgiving for all that Our Savior has done for us.  May we never hold back a single thing in expressing our love for Jesus.  We pray all these things in the name of our precious Deliverer, Jesus Christ.

Come, Let's Be Going

John 14:31

But I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let's be going.

What an exquisite invitation that Jesus offered to His disciples, "Come let's be going."   He offers us the same invitation to join Him in doing the work of the Father.  With the offer, He promises a gift of peace of mind and heart, even in the face of the trials of our lives. 

We cannot possibly find a better model for life, nor a better partner for our work, than the only man who lived without sin.  And what was it that this man without sin did?  He loved His Father and He did what His Father asked of Him.  Then He asked others to join Him in His work.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are asked to be obedient to the Father as He was.  We are asked to preach the Gospel as He did.  We are asked to suffer for the sake of the kingdom as He did.  We are asked to fully surrender to the will of the Father as He did.  We are asked to find others who will join in the work of the kingdom, just as the Son of Man did.  In doing so, we join Jesus in doing His work with the comfort of knowing that all will be done with peace of mind and heart.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us so that we could show the world how much we love You.  We bless the name of Jesus for surrendering His life to You so that we can surrender to You.  We thank You, Father, for the privilege of joining Your Son, Jesus, in His work.  We pray, Lord, that You will raise us up as instruments of Your good work.   We ask that You use us as vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We seek the wisdom, grace and the strength to be able to gather others to unite with us in union with Our Savior.  We ask all these things in the holy name of One who invites us to join Him, Jesus Christ.

Using Service to Overcome Despair

1 Kings 19:5

Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.  All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”

Elijah was on the run from his troubles.  He was so depressed that he asked God to take his life.  Then he fell asleep.  God sent an angel to pull him out of his despair.

It is very common for all of us to want to go into a shell when troubles seem overwhelming.  We do not always have the faith that we need when things are not going our way.  At times, we may feel like we should just give up.  This, however, is the messaging that we are receiving from our enemy. 

God knows everything about us.  He designed us.  He knows our daily work and he knows our daily trials.  He has promised that if we have faith in Him, His grace will be sufficient for us to overcome the attacks of the enemy. 

It is amazing how simple acts of love or service can lift us out of the darkness of depression or despair that we may be experiencing.  The angel instructed Elijah to get up and eat.  Through his simple act of obedience, Elijah was quickly on his road to recovery.  He was back to a place where he once again trusted in the care that God promises all of us. 

When we are feeling down, a quick look around to find others who are in need may be our way out from the darkness to the light.  A simple gesture of kindness to the person in need could be all that we need to get us going again.  We should consider being angels of mercy to those around us.  In the process, we will minister to ourselves.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Holy Spirit is always with us to lift us up in our times of struggle.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will urge us to inquire how we can serve You when we feel so needy.  Inspire us, Lord, to do the simple acts of obedience that You set before us.  May we learn to comfort the world around us with the comfort that You provide us in our times of trouble.  We ask that You use us as your angels of mercy in times of overwhelming trouble for those who are in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Angel of Mercy, Jesus Christ.