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Serving In The Spirit
Serving the Lord is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is a reflection of the love and the gratitude we feel toward Jesus. And it is also an act of obedience to God's will. We must serve our Lord and Master.
It is very exciting for a new Christian to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. But the excitement does not end there! When he turns his will over to God and lets God mold him, he discovers what God has in mind for his life. That is when the real excitement begins!
Christians experience the Holy Spirit as a glimpse of God's personality. A new Christian experiences the Holy Spirit in a comparatively limited fashion. He experiences God's personality in relation to himself only.
But as we grow and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us closer to God's will, we experience the Holy Spirit on a much grander scale. We experience God's personality in relation to all Christians: the entire body of Christ!
Read Ephesians 4:1-16. It is sometimes a perplexing process trying to find a place of service in the body of Christ. Some people will do, in general, whatever they are asked to do (like people who have the gift of helping, or serving). But some people have to be given tasks that very specifically match some intention that God has for them. And they may not know how to recognize (or what to do with) the gift(s) the Holy Spirit has given them.
If Christians were more open to the Holy Spirit and expressing Christ's love, people would find it easier to serve the Lord. We would not worry if we might make a mistake and be criticized. People would support each other with their love and prayers, and with their advice and training. We would make fewer mistakes. And when we did make mistakes, we would simply learn from them and go on.
This is pretty traditional thinking. We are used to the idea that a few people may support us. But we are not used to the idea that the congregation, as a whole, is available for support (other than, perhaps, for prayer requests).
Through Christ, the whole body "grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." People with different gifts must cooperate with each other, so the body can be "joined and held together by every supporting ligament." People with similar gifts must cooperate with each other, to train and encourage each other.
As our congregation becomes more loving and more unified, many things will happen. Those who are unsure of their place in the body of Christ will see other people's faith in action. They will see the examples that they need. They will get a better picture of how all the functions of the body of Christ fit and work together. Those who are unsure will be attracted (through the Holy Spirit) to the people who can give them the advice, training, and/or support that they need. And our community will see the love we Christians have for each other and will be attracted to our fellowship by that love. (Acts 2:42-47)
A person walking a tight rope will often extend both arms to balance himself. He almost looks like he is reaching out into the air for a hand to support him. During our icy winter, I have seen people crossing parking lots in unison. Two or three people may join hands to balance and support each other. That sounds like Christians praying together, to get support from their Heavenly Father and balance from the other members of the body of Christ. (Matthew 18:19-20)
Our path to unity, peace, faith, and maturity does not have to be icy and treacherous. We must look to the Bible and to prayer for balance and support.
I quote Ephesians 3:14-21.
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
Jeff Nape
Read the above article, Serving In The Spirit
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Advice From Grandpa
Why do you have that worried expression on your face, dear grandchild? Are you troubled and confused? What's that? You say you just don't know what to believe or where to turn, anymore? Well, pull up a chair and listen closely.
Do you remember when you were a young child? Remember when you were playing and skinned your knees? You came running in the house crying and climbed up into my lap. I held you in my arms in this old rocking chair. I comforted you and then you went back to your play. And remember the time you came home crying because the kids at school had picked on you? Again, you climbed up into my lap. You felt protected and were ready to face the world again.
But as you grew older, you became more independent. You thought you knew everything. You thought you didn't need anyone's help. And you thought you were too big to fit in Grandpa's lap, anymore. Have you now discovered that you need some help? OK, I will try to give you some advice.
Even at my ripe, old age, I still get scared. The world will tell us anything in an attempt to destroy our faith. It really scares me when I hear about all the lies that the world wants us to believe. How does modern man deal with life? He meditates on it. He reasons it out. If he can find peace and understanding on his own, then why does he need God? There appears to be no room for faith in our modern world. Some people have become dependent on reasoning to explain the mysteries of life, instead of turning to God, the one who created all life, for the answers.
If man cannot understand some concepts or events, he denies the existence of and the validity of those concepts and events in his life. Do you believe the Bible is the inerrant (infallible) word of God? Do you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus? Do you believe that Jesus performed miracles and is God in the flesh, and not just a very good man? Do you believe that Christ arose from the dead? I pray that you do. By attacking these beliefs, Satan hopes to destroy our acceptance of the basic principles that are the foundations of our faith. These truths are so much a part of God's plan for salvation that, without them, no salvation would be possible.
Some people don't have enough faith in God to rely on His help when witnessing to the unsaved or when reaching out to the hurting. So they rely on their own reasoning. They think they have to understand why someone does the "wrong" things before they can convince him to do the "right" things.
When Christians become obsessed with figuring out why people sin, their focus turns to sin instead of salvation. In effect, sin becomes their god because they spend their time analyzing unholy living, instead of themselves providing examples of holy living to others. Their minds become trapped by the darkness of what they are trying to understand, when their minds should be set free by the truths found in the Bible and by the light of Christ's love.
And some Christians don't have much faith in each other. When they offer to help someone in Christian love, they worry if the person will think, "What are they buttering me up for?" If they show affection to the "wrong" people, they worry if someone may think they have sided with the enemy. If they provide discipline where it is needed, they worry if people may think they are abusive or power hungry.
So, dear grandchild, I can see why you are troubled and confused. I have been telling you about some of the things that scare me. I can see that these things scare you, too. You probably never knew that I get scared. But I do. What do I do when I get scared? I get out my Bible and arm myself for battle against this world. (Read Ephesians 6:10-20)
When I search the Word of God for the truth, I can see through the lies of this world. And I pray to God for strength, comfort, and protection. That's right. When I pray to my Father in Heaven, God lifts me up into His lap. There I find the peace and the understanding that cannot be found by listening to this world's reasoning.
Maybe you think that you are too big to fit in Grandpa's lap. Or maybe his arms of comfort and protection are out of reach for you. But do remember this. In times of trouble and confusion, read the Bible for the truth and go to God in prayer. You are never too big to fit in God's lap. And you are never too far away from God that His arms of comfort and protection cannot reach you.
Jeff Nape
Read the above article, Advice From Grandpa
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