Reaching Together

To go along with the idea of serving....an awesome study by Tim Chaddick and Reality LA

Click HERE to listen and watch!

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L O V E

In my Bible reading this morning I read 1 Corinthians 13. To me it sort of seemed to be a continuation of the theme for my post from yesterday. So now that we know that the first and most important thing is our relationship to God, to worshiping Him and to being holy, what is next? Well a response to a right relationship to Christ is naturally service. So, how do we serve?

Do we serve out of duty, do we serve just to "do" something? I'm going to let scripture answer this one for me. God's word always speaks better than I do. :)

This isn't JUST about service but life in general, and I know that many of us know this chapter, but it is always nice to be reminded and refreshed by the Word of God.

1 Corinthians 13:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

Which Comes First?

Having done a lot of work in the ministry through the years and having worked in various fields and areas with Christians, I find this question to be a place where lines seem to become blurred. Which comes first? Worship? Service? Holiness? Work?

We know that when Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and Martha was rushing around "serving" and "working" that when she asked Jesus to tell Mary to help her, Jesus made it very clear that Mary was the one doing the right thing by sitting at the feet of Jesus, by being in a place of worship. We are also told in 1 Samuel 15:22,

"So Samuel said: 'Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.'"

God wants our obedience, our worship, He wants us to be Holy as He is Holy.

Somehow along the way, it seems that service and "doing" things for people has risen to become the most important thing in the eyes of many churches and Christians. I'm not trying to sound like I'm judging, I'm honestly just making an observation. Much importance is put on saving the orphan and feeding the needy, all of which is good and talked about in scripture. But where is the spiritual aspect? Why are we not placing an even greater importance on our hearts and the hearts of those who we are serving? If we feed them and clothe them and save them from worldly troubles but don't feed their souls our point them to Jesus, or lead them to salvation, are we really doing anything for them other than providing a more comfortable road to hell? Service should be an overflow of our relationship to the Lord. It is important, but it is not the most important thing.

Our world is greatly helped and blessed by Christians and Christian organizations....but how much more of an impact would be made on our world, if we as Christians and as churches were MORE concerned with the spiritual lives of our fellow Christians and those we are helping and with being Holy and worshiping God. If those were our main concerns, I really believe that the there would be an even greater outpouring of service in this world.

So where is this all coming from? Well I encountered a lot of service seeming to be greater than worship and holiness through the years and so this theme has been something that is really strong on my heart...and then this morning I read the devotion below by Tozer. It once again reminded me that yes, it is good and great to serve, but we NEED to be worshiping God and we NEED to be Holy FIRST, because these things are the most important. We were created to WORSHIP God! Serving those in the world is secondary to worship and holiness.

Below is the awesome devotional by Tozer.

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Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Spirit,...that having been justified by His grace we should
become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
-Titus 3:5-7

"To teach that the filling with the Holy Spirit is given to the
Christian to provide "power for service" is to teach truth, but not
the whole truth. Power for service is but one effect of the
experience, and I do not hesitate to say that it is the least of
several effects. It is least for the very reason that it touches
service, presumably service to mankind; and contrary to the popular
belief, "to serve this present age" is not the Christian's first
duty nor the chief end of man....

The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to
intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration....
God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable
workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is
inconceivable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up
for workers that He would press into service anyone who had been
empowered regardless of his moral qualifications. The very stones
would praise Him if the need arose and a thousand legions of angels
would leap to do His will.

Gifts and power for service the Spirit surely desires to impart;
but holiness and spiritual worship come first."

Satisfied

If you know anything about me, you know that I am a "foodie". I very much enjoy food and trying new things and going to new places all over the world and sampling the local cuisine. And if you are a foodie as well, you know how fun it is to do this, you also know what I mean when I say that when you try something new, and it is REALLY good, it just makes you happy, and sort of gives you that "wow, this is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G" feeling. Sometimes the food is so good that there is no need for anything sweet afterward.

Well, tonight, I just had one of those moments, but not with food...I had it during my devo time. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 15:16,

"Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts."

I love this verse because I relate to it so much. One, because I'm a foodie and so the analogy naturally works in my mind, and two, because I truly do feel this way about the Bible and the Word of God. And not just about the Bible, but about spiritual truths.

I had barely started my devotional time tonight, when I was hit with one of those truths. I know this quote almost by heart now as I have read this devotional for so many years. Once again this quote has nailed me in the heart, reminding both of how much the Lord loves me, and how I am to serve HIM, and not focus my eyes on the people around me.

Matthew 20:28a says,

"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister"

and Mr. Oswald Chambers had this to say,

"If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men . . . When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake."

I hope I didn't take so long to lead into this great piece of truth that is was lost on you. How huge is this?!?! So often we take our eyes off of Jesus and serving HIM alone, and we put them on those around us, we begin to serve man, our boss, our co-workers, people at church, our family....all of which is totally and completely good, providing that while we are serving them, our EYES and our FOCUS and our HEART remains gazing on Christ. We can get so down, and depressed and frustrated when we are doing things for 'man' because we are expecting them to 'notice' us and to give us some sort of acknowledgment for what we are doing. Then when the acknowledgment doesn't come our way, we are angry! "How dare they not notice how much I am serving them!" That right there should show us where our hearts are...where our focus is.

As Paul tells us, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men.

When our hearts and minds and eyes are focused on the Lord, we have absolutely no reason to not always do our best no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what the situation is, big or small....and no matter who it is we are serving. Because those things are secondary to the ONE we are ultimately serving...and that should be Jesus Christ. We can never do more than He did for us, and if our hearts are focused on Him, and we find that not one single person says "thank you" to us, it won't even matter, because we aren't looking for a thank you from them anymore...we are awaiting the day when we will see our Savior face to face and hear HIM say, "well done good and faithful servant".

I don't know about you, but that was some heavy stuff for me tonight.....good stuff. The kind of wonderful truth that leaves me satisfied, full and not needing much else.

We have a great God and King and Savior and Redeemer!!!

Grace and peace on your hearts.

Search My Heart

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

"I believe we should profit immensely were we to declare a
period of silence and self-examination during which each one of us
searched his own heart and sought to meet every condition for a real
baptism of power from on high. ."
AW Tozer

Seeking Approval

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
-2 Timothy 4:2

"I cannot believe in the spirituality of any Christian man who keeps
an eye open for the approval of others, whoever they may be. The
man after God's own heart must be dead to the opinion of his
friends as well as his enemies. He must be as willing to cross
important persons as obscure ones. He must be ready to rebuke his
superior as quickly as those who may be beneath him on the
ecclesiastical ladder. To reprove one man in order to gain the
favor of another is no evidence of moral courage. It is done in
the world all the time.

We'll never be where we should be in our spiritual lives until we
are so devoted to Christ that we ask no other approbation than His
smile. When we are wholly lost in Him the frantic effort to please
men will come to an end. The circle of persons we struggle to
please will be narrowed to One. Then we will know true freedom,
but not a moment before."

AW Tozer
The Price of Neglect, 141.

Tozer Devo for Today

The Lord lives! Blessed by my Rock! Let God be exalted, the Rock of my
salvation!
--2 Samuel 22:47

O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth's
treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my
life. Be Thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that Thou
shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the
midst of the earth. Be Thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean
the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall
keep my vow made this day before Thee. Be Thou exalted over my
reputation. Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I
must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise,
O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my
likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life
itself. Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase; let me sink that
Thou mayest rise above. Ride forth upon me as Thou didst ride into
Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of
an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, "Hosanna in the
highest."

-AW Tozer

Retire From the World...

This devotional from Tozer is crazy. In a good way. In a "new year's resolution" kinda way. I never do New Year's Resolutions, but if I did I would hope they would look something like this. This devo is full of so much wisdom, in so few words. Hope you are blessed and challenged like I am!
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My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will
direct it to You, and I will look up.
--Psalm 5:3

"Retire from the world each day to some private spot, even if it be
only the bedroom (for a while I retreated to the furnace room for
want of a better place). Stay in the secret place till the
surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart and a sense of
God's presence envelops you. Deliberately tune out the unpleasant
sounds and come out of your closet determined not to hear them.
Listen for the inward Voice till you learn to recognize it. Stop
trying to compete with others. Give yourself to God and then be
what and who you are without regard to what others think. Reduce
your interests to a few. Don't try to know what will be of no
service to you. Avoid the digest type of mind--short bits of
unrelated facts, cute stories and bright sayings. Learn to pray
inwardly every moment. After a while you can do this even while you
work. Practice candor, childlike honesty, humility. Pray for a
single eye. Read less, but read more of what is important to your
inner life. Never let your mind remain scattered for very long.
Call home your roving thoughts. Gaze on Christ with the eyes of
your soul. Practice spiritual concentration."

Of God and Men
AW Tozer

Let All That You Do...

"Watch, stand fast in the faith,
be brave, be strong. Let all that you do
be done with love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

The Lord is Good To Those Who Wait On Him

“The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.”
Lamentations 3:25

The first week of the New Year has already come and gone, and with it, my first week back at work at Casa Teresa. The Lord has been so good and so faithful to provide for me. If 2008 and 2009 were years that the Lord used to really teach me about trust, then 2010 was the year that He used to teach me even more about patience and waiting on Him. 2010 began with my knowing that the Lord was calling me back home to California from Romania. The timing though was up in the air. So through my waiting on the Lord and seeing how He was going to orchestrate things, He opened the door for me to move back to California in June and to have a job waiting for me 4 days after I returned home. I was in a lot of transition during the first 6 months of the year. Spending some time in California before the decision was made to move home, and then spending time all over Romania, sleeping on floors and in trains as I traveled around to say my goodbyes to the dear friends the Lord had given me during my 2.5 years there. Living out of a suitcase was all I knew during my first 6 months of 2010.

The last 6 months of the year were not much different, I have been sleeping on a blow up mattress on the floor with all my belongings packed away still or in a Rubbermaid set of drawers. After returning home to California I began working at Casa Teresa right away. I knew when I accepted the job there that it was being paid for by a grant that was to run out at the end of September. I also knew that Casa was trying to get another grant so that my position would be able to continue on even after September. So I waited in a way until the end of September to see what was going to happen. Working as unto the Lord as best as I could in the meantime and seeing what would be provided when the time came. Well September came and the money ran out and there were no other grants, so I finished my last day at Casa on September 30^th. I was told that they would continue to work on getting the funding to hire me back. I applied for a position at another agency and with all the financial cuts going on in that agency, the position I had applied for plus another position the HR girl wanted me to take over, were no longer available for me either. I remember having SO much peace that if the Lord had closed the door to 2 jobs that He had something else for me and that I just needed to wait.

So I took a much needed month off in October, having had no break between when I moved back from Romania and started working at Casa. The time of rest was refreshing. Then when the end of October came and Casa still had not been able to get the funding needed, I reached out to my temp agency lady and asked her to find me some short term temp jobs, working in offices. I have done temp work in the past and don’t totally mind it. But there were not a lot of temp jobs out there over the November and December holiday months. This is sort of normal and I expected it and had saved money for this situation. All the while though, I kept thinking, that maybe I should just apply for another job, maybe I should just go and work at Target, maybe I’m not doing enough…you know those thoughts in the back of your mind. BUT I truly kept feeling that the Lord was saying WAIT. There would be nights when I would just be crying before the Lord, feeling that my lack of action was effecting other people and that I couldn’t keep “JUST WAITING”. But then He would reveal to me through His Word that He did indeed have for me to continue waiting, and that He knew my needs and that He would supply all that I needed if I waited on Him.

Please don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying that if you don’t have a job that you should just sit around and do nothing. I don’t think that God works the same way every time and I do believe that if He is telling you to wait on anything, He doesn’t mean just doing nothing. But to be seeking Him continually through prayer and the Word and maybe even fasting. To wait on Him while communing with Him, not by doing nothing. For me, waiting meant communing with Him and doing temp jobs when they came up, but not applying for a full time job. I kept an eye out at jobs on Monster just in case the Lord wanted to bring something across my path, but felt through all of that He was saying to WAIT.

So, I waited and waited, the grants Casa had applied for were being given to others and then the end of December came around and Casa was finding out about another grant they had applied for. Hopes were up at Casa and then they got the news that they did NOT receive the grant. When I heard about this, I decided that 3 months was long enough to wait. That I would let my temp lady know I was ready for a full time permanent or long term temp job. So I called her on a Friday evening and let her know. I have to say that I don’t know if that was totally just ME deciding that 3 months was long enough. I guess I had made the decision honestly without consulting the Lord on His timeframe. I guess I felt I had waited long enough and that was that. Silly me. The weekend came and went and Monday rolled around and guess who called me….why it was Casa Teresa offering me my old job back and at a better pay rate than I had been making 3 months prior.

WOW! So it turns out that God totally blessed Casa by having someone contact them to give them a grant instead of Casa out looking for a grant. Someone actually called and basically said they want to give Casa this grant if they will apply for it. So they applied for it and got it and well….here I am now!

It’s so interesting to me, how the Lord works. How when we think that maybe we have learned all there is to learn about trust and patience and waiting on the Lord that He takes us through something else to deepen our understanding of who He is. Of how faithful He is to us. Of how He provides for our needs and how He knows the path that He has laid out before us and that we need to be faithful and obedient to Him. Seeking Him, spending time with Him and in His Word in order to be close to His heart and to His will.

I am so blessed that the Lord does not just take care of “missionaries” in foreign countries, like He took care of me when I was in Romania….but that He takes care of single girls just trying to serve Him right where they are in Southern California. He knows our needs, He can provide for those needs, whether they be great or small or anything in between.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
Matthew 6:31-32

We serve an awesome God who is GREAT, and MIGHTY, and POWERFUL. He is full of mercy and love and grace and compassion. He knows our needs and He promises to provide for them. I am so blessed to be His daughter.

The Lord TRULY is good to those who WAIT on Him!