 Psalms 62:1,2 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" "I plan on living forever, so far, so good" Steven Wright I once read this saying and wondered where he was placing his faith. He should have been relying on the One Who has given His life so that we might live with Him for all eternity. He, Jesus, has from the beginning set for us a foundation that we can build on. This foundation is solid and never changes or shifts with the winds of time or the changing currents of trends, fads or liberal lifestyles. Our lives are secure in Christ as our redeemer and savior. He, Jesus, has given us a house built on the solid rock. That Rock stands strong as the crashing waves of adversity try to crush us. When we stand in the surging river of pain and loss, we can stand on the Rock of our salvation and know with all assurance, that our Rock will never move. We will all face the storms of life. Anyone who does not believe this has never read the history of those who chose to follow the Lord. Most of the prophets and disciples were killed for loving and serving the Lord. He tells us in John 16:33 that while we are in this world we will have tribulation. But the great promise to us is that He has overcome the world. In John 17:15, Jesus was praying for His disciples that His Father would not take them out of the world, but that the Father would protect them from the evil one. We never want to face difficulties but Jesus knows we will be stronger and wiser and closer to Him when we are willing to challenge our faith and exercise our spiritual muscles. Jesus is our rock and our salvation. He helps us to stand strong when it is easier to be weak and quit. He gives us a solid foundation. He gives us deep roots that help us to stand in tough times. His love is settled deep within us. Just as He is in us and we are in Him and He is in the Father, we are one. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and offers us a shoulder to lean on when we need to lean. He is our guide when our feet want to stray from our Rock. The Spirit is a gift from our heavenly Father. But Jesus is our Rock. We can hide in a cleft in the Rock when we are afraid. We can drink from the Living Water that flows from our Rock when we thirst. We can build on the Rock. We can trust our Rock with our present and our future. He won't move. He won't change. He is eternal.
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 Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
1Peter 5:2-4 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. The first step in serving the Lord is deciding why you want to serve. If you want the accolades of the people around you, you will receive your reward here and now. If you want to serve to pay for your salvation, you have not understood the grace of the Lord. You can't pay for your salvation. The Lord has already paid the price for our sins, we could never pay that price on our own efforts. If you want to serve the Lord as an act of worship and gratitude, you are on the right path. The Lord wants a willing heart and an open mind. He desires us to serve Him with joy and humility. Our attitude as we serve indicates to those around us the truth of why we serve. If we complain that our duties are beneath us, we are setting ourselves above our Lord Who did not count it beneath Him to wash the dirty feet of His disciples. He considered it an honor to serve His Father even to a death on the cross. How can we, His children and His friends, be any less willing to serve others as He has served us. Even now He intercedes for us to His Father, honoring us with His love and compassion.  Matt 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
We are to serve the Lord by our works and our lives. We are to serve Him where He has placed us. Sometimes we are at the head and sometimes we are the ones chosen to clean up after the parade has passed. The crowds are gone and the accolades have gone to someone else and the mess is left for us to remove. Have you ever noticed the mess after a parade has gone by? The wrappers from the candy, the flags that were waved are left behind and the banners have fallen to the ground. The floats have shed some of their confetti and we are the ones to restore order. It can be frustrating to have to be the one to remove the leftovers but it also gives us the opportunity to serve in a unique way. Brother Lawrence wrote a book named "Practicing the Presence of God". His main theme was that no matter whether scrubbing the floor or doing the dishes or weeding the garden, what we do does make a difference to the world around us. How we do the job speaks loudly to those who follow us. How we clean the church or do the bulletin or sing in the choir may not seem that important but think about if these jobs don't get done or get done poorly. We will notice quickly if the church pews are dusty or cluttered. We will sing the wrong songs if the bulletin is incorrect. We will show up for meetings the wrong day if the bulletin lists incorrect information. No matter where we serve or what we do, do it as unto the Lord. He is, after all is said and done, our Boss. He is the one making the assignments and we will have an evaluation. I prefer to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant", even if all I did was clean up the table after supper.  Exodus 20:5,6 You shall not bow down to them (idols) or
worship them; for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep my commandments. We sometimes wonder if what we do will make a difference in the lives of those who come after us. We try to live a life honoring the Lord. We offer tithes of time, money and worship to our Creator and Redeemer. We don't necessarily see any changes or fruit for our efforts. The Lord has made a promise that what we do does make a difference even if we don't see it in the lives of those around us. He has written in His love letter to us, the Bible, that He honors our efforts and our witness to the next generations by blessing them. Don't let the lack of evidence stop you from being a disciple to the world. Jesus wants us to be salt and light to the world. He wants us to be His hands and feet and comforting arms to a hurting world. Whether it is our children, our neighbors or co-workers, we can be a blessing. Our children will rise up and call us blessed. The willingness to serve the Lord even in the midst of feeling ineffective will be blessed by the Lord. He has made a promise to show love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and He does not default on His promises. If we continue to live the life of a child of the most High God, our children will be blessed even if we don't see it.  Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend.
John 15:13-15 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. In church, one of the songs we sing is "What a friend we have in Jesus". We sing to the Lord of our relationship with Him and our love for Him. Do we, however, really listen to the words we are singing? The words are a sweet promise of comfort and support in times of difficulty. The song is a reminder that we are no longer servants but friends to the One who created the universe and us. The words should remind of us that we don't take advantage of the privilege of running to our Friend when we want to cry or celebrate or just have an ear to listen. The masters or bosses of this day and age don't usually have time to hear our heart's cry or to really help us to deal with day by day issues and needs. Our bosses are not always the best advisers about issues unrelated to our jobs. They don't always have a Christian point of view and tend to lean toward a world view of getting ahead despite who we have to step on to get where they want us to be. Our friend Jesus is the One Who is always there. His voice mail is never full or turned off. His advise column is always available to address the current issues. His words of wisdom are the ones that lean toward an eternal solution for our current problems. We don't need to worry that our Friend is on vacation or out to lunch. He chose us, we did not first choose Him. He has seen in us something that makes Him run to us with joy. He offers us wisdom and does not get impatient with us when we are slow to catch on to what He is telling us. He keeps us updated in current events that were foretold many centuries ago. He warns us of perilous times that are coming and gives us directions on how to ride out the times. We are truly blessed to have a friend such as Jesus. There is none like Him. He has been and always will be there for us. We can not ask for a closer or more committed friend than the One Who died for us. A foreshadow of a true friendship was David and Jonathan. Their love for each other is just a shadow of how Jesus feels about us. We are His and He is ours. He has given the ultimate sacrifice of His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, He died for us. He knows our failures and our victories. He loves us just as we are and has such a wonderful plan for our future. Celebrate friendship and offer to your best Friend a gift of love and worship. He is waiting for a time of communion and private conversation with His friends, you and me. |
AuthorPlease join us as we grow in Christ through our weekly devotions, written by Catherine Donaldson 
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