TODAY’S SERVING JESUS IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” Jude 20-22 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” Galatians 6:1 Today, I had the privilege, honor, and, uh, honestly, the big scary task of being used by the Lord to deliver both a warning and message to one of His children. I went against my flesh and submitted to Christ. I obeyed, picked up the phone, and in His love by His grace in His mercy and strength did what He asked me to do. This time around, unlike so many other times, I wasn’t met with hatred and rejection. I was met with love and an open, humble heart. So very many times over the years, the response I received was bad. Even awful. But I learned something vital along the way. We need to fear the Lord. We need to not fear the people. We need to obey the Lord. We need to not obey our flesh. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord God almighty, seek Him, be filled with His Spirit, be led by His Spirit, and speak the messages and words He gives us. Two people I loved dearly hated me for speaking the truth in love to them so much so they turned away from me before they died. Yes, you read that right. They didn’t want to hear what the Lord gave me to tell them. They wanted to be loved and patted on the back and comforted and encouraged – but they didn’t want the truth along with it. When we serve Jesus in our everyday lives, we may well have times the Lord desires to use us to confront people with the truth in His love. Their responses may be painful, hurtful, even devastating. But at the end of the day, when our lives are over, and we stand before the Lord and have to give an account, we will be held responsible for the times we obeyed Him and delivered the messages He gave us – and responsible for the times we did not. Let’s take responsibility now. Let’s be faithful when we calls us to deliver messages in love to people. Let’s remember whom we serve. The Lord! The Lord who deserves praise, honor, glory, worship, service – and OBEDIENCE. Yes, let’s obey the Lord in all things! |