For a CLEAR Gospel Message click on THE GOOD NEWS link belowServing Who?
John 12:26a “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me…”
Are you a ministry-minded Christian? Watch out!! This may be very well a trick question, but are you? Do you have a heart for ministry? For those of us who are involved in ministry, we must never forget that ministry is service. Only servants can perform a service. So then, let me ask you this question, who do you, serve? Are you serving your ministry, or are you serving Christ? You need to think about this one, so I’m going to ask it again. Are you serving ministry, or are you serving Christ? Let me help you out a little bit. Is your ministry a burden to you? Is your ministry getting pushed down the chain of priorities in your life? Do you find yourself putting off ministry for something else? If so, then you are serving a thing (ministry) and not a person (Jesus Christ). When we serve Christ, ministry is never a burden! Matt 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." When we serve Christ, He becomes the number one priority! Col 1:18 “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” When we serve Christ, ministry doesn’t take a back seat to anything, because we do it for His glory and not our own. 2 Tim 2:4 “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” If your ministry is has become a burden, a chore, or a task on your time, your schedule, your energy, and your life; then maybe you should consider what or who it is you are serving. Have you become a “servant of service”? Or are you a servant of Christ?
Who are you following? Are you following your pastor? Youth pastor? A buddy who is on fire for the Lord? Or are you following Christ? Of course the book answer is Jesus, but is that really true in your life? Do you serve in ministry out of obligation to a person that you follow? Or are you obligated to serve Jesus Christ through ministry? These are tough questions that deserve the kind of honest answers that only we can give ourselves. It is answers to questions like these that can produce change.
Jesus says in this verse, “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me”!!! Ministries come and go, but Jesus Christ is eternal. People may lead you down the wrong path, but Jesus will continually guide you in the right direction. Isa 58:11 “And the LORD will continually guide you,” I guess the point that I am trying to make is that if our service is truly to the Lord, then to just be a "part" of "His" ministry should be a great privilege and joy, not a task or chore. If we truly follow Him and not man, then we should be focused on His will and not our will, nor the will of someone else. When we serve ministry and follow man, Christ is not glorified, but when we serve Christ and follow Him in "His" ministry, He is always glorified. Who do you serve? Who do you follow?
Rom 15:5-6 5 “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Are you a ministry-minded Christian? Watch out!! This may be very well a trick question, but are you? Do you have a heart for ministry? For those of us who are involved in ministry, we must never forget that ministry is service. Only servants can perform a service. So then, let me ask you this question, who do you, serve? Are you serving your ministry, or are you serving Christ? You need to think about this one, so I’m going to ask it again. Are you serving ministry, or are you serving Christ? Let me help you out a little bit. Is your ministry a burden to you? Is your ministry getting pushed down the chain of priorities in your life? Do you find yourself putting off ministry for something else? If so, then you are serving a thing (ministry) and not a person (Jesus Christ). When we serve Christ, ministry is never a burden! Matt 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." When we serve Christ, He becomes the number one priority! Col 1:18 “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” When we serve Christ, ministry doesn’t take a back seat to anything, because we do it for His glory and not our own. 2 Tim 2:4 “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” If your ministry is has become a burden, a chore, or a task on your time, your schedule, your energy, and your life; then maybe you should consider what or who it is you are serving. Have you become a “servant of service”? Or are you a servant of Christ?
Who are you following? Are you following your pastor? Youth pastor? A buddy who is on fire for the Lord? Or are you following Christ? Of course the book answer is Jesus, but is that really true in your life? Do you serve in ministry out of obligation to a person that you follow? Or are you obligated to serve Jesus Christ through ministry? These are tough questions that deserve the kind of honest answers that only we can give ourselves. It is answers to questions like these that can produce change.
Jesus says in this verse, “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me”!!! Ministries come and go, but Jesus Christ is eternal. People may lead you down the wrong path, but Jesus will continually guide you in the right direction. Isa 58:11 “And the LORD will continually guide you,” I guess the point that I am trying to make is that if our service is truly to the Lord, then to just be a "part" of "His" ministry should be a great privilege and joy, not a task or chore. If we truly follow Him and not man, then we should be focused on His will and not our will, nor the will of someone else. When we serve ministry and follow man, Christ is not glorified, but when we serve Christ and follow Him in "His" ministry, He is always glorified. Who do you serve? Who do you follow?
Rom 15:5-6 5 “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Labels: BH
posted by Buck at 11:01 PM 
3 Comments:
Good thought! Opposition will always be in the face of those ministries we are called to. Remembering not to let those discourage us to the point of not wanting to do "ministry" is the key. We need to use that to remeber that of who it is we serve!
This is so important Buck. It's something a lot of Christians do: they serve the service rather than the Master. And for those who do serve service, or the ministry, they become like a "noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" without the love of Christ that should drive them.
AMEN sista!!!!!
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