Dave’s Monday Blast – June 26, 2017

Jesus was/is a Master Teacher. Throughout his ministry he INTENTIONALLY modeled Biblical living. Without question Jesus was the greatest leader that ever lived; however, his leadership style was unorthodox to say the least. Above all, he showed us that the essence of leadership is service (Matthew 20:26-27; Philippians 2:7, John 12:26, John 13:14-15). Charles Stanley says, “When in the power of the Holy Spirit, we meet the temporal and spiritual needs of those around us, we are serving Christ.” And I would add, in those moments we are never more like Christ.

There are four important truths that qualify our service. Two this week and two next:

1. Serving is not what we do for God, but what He does through us. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He left His followers here to carry out His work. In fact, He said that we’d do greater works than He did…not in quality but in volume (John 14:12). Jesus’ ministry was limited to one geographic location, but He commissioned His disciples to take the gospel into the uttermost parts of the earth. And today, we have global access as never before through the internet, broadcasts, and publications.

2. God is the one who determines how we are to serve Him. Servants do not pick and choose what to do for their master; they simply follow his instructions. When we decide how we’re going to serve Christ, we’ve usurped His role as Master. God says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand” for us to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10). Our responsibility is to discover how He wants us to serve Him and then get busy doing those specific tasks. He’s given us spiritual gifts that enable us to do exactly what He’s planned for each of us (1 Corinthians 12:7).

We must not grow weary in serving my friends. I know that it is tempting to want to quit because we often cannot see the good we are accomplishing. I encourage myself with this verse from 1 Corinthians 15:58),  “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”