Service: September 13, 2011

SEPTEMBER 13 2011. TODAYS WORD FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2011.

SERVICE

DEFINITION:

An act of helpful activity; meeting the needs of and subjecting one’s will to that of another; the serving of God by obedience.

SCRIPTURE:

“Make the most of every opportunity.” Colossians 4:5.

“I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1.

“– doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” Ephesians 6:7

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to buy our redemption at a great price. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins so that we do not have to pay that penalty. Is it not reasonable then that in return for what He did for us that we owe the Lord our God our loyal and faithful service (Romans 12:1) out of gratitude for what He did for us? To serve the Lord we must willingly give ourselves to Him, putting aside our selfish desires and in obedience submit ourselves to the Lord’s guidance for our life.

God has given each of us natural abilities that He expects us to use for His glory. He also has given believer’s spiritual gifts for the purpose of doing His work here on earth. He has given believers the responsibility of spreading the good news of the gospel message to all the world. It is very important to recognize that God does not use the unwilling. He will not force us to serve Him but His desire is for us to be totally committed to do His will. He will equip us (Ephesians 4:11-13) and will empower and prepare us for service. Our part is to be faithful, obedient and available.

God gives us opportunities everyday to serve. The problem is that we seem to find ways not to respond to these opportunities of service. How easy it is to avoid serving the Lord using that wonderful excuse: “I am so busy.” We urge you to look for opportunities that come your way and then act on them. Paul tells us to “make the most of every opportunity.”

Be faithful in your desire to serve God and leave the results to Him. The more we serve Christ, the less we will serve ourselves. God uses ordinary people like you and us to do extra ordinary work. When you think of serving God, start with something you can do; but do not stop because you cannot do it. Pray and ask God to enable you and then God will take over.

We are witnessing this truth with these FREE FAMILY DEVOTIONALS that we send out each week day by E mail. Just recently a new friend who found our devotionals while searching the web, asked if he could link these devotionals to his ministry link? Of course we agreed and now because of this dedicated evangelist in Pakistan many hundreds of new Christians who can read English are reading these devotionals in far away places where we cannot go. We started with something we could do and then God took over and expanded what we are doing.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Matthew 5:13.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

PRAYER:

Give us a heart, dear Lord that will be committed to serve You every moment of this day. Help us to be willing to serve our God, our family, our neighbors and our friends. Draw us close today to people that need You and then may our words and actions glorify Your name.