Serve

S - Submission. When we choose to serve we are submitting to the authority of someone higher than ourselves. Who we choose to serve is our choice. When we submit, we are making a statement about what is important to us. God tells us that we are to respect those in authority who are placed over us. Often we get caught in the trap of Satan, by serving based on how we feel about a person or situation.

- Rom 13:1 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.
- Heb 12:9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!
- James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

E - Eager. When we choose to serve, how we do it makes all the difference. There is always a reason for why we serve (compassion, desire, income, love, commitment, pride). God will always provide all the resources we need to serve effectively, but we must rely on Him and not ourselves. You will find great joy, if you eagerly serve as if to God, and not for yourself (upside down from the world's thinking).
Jos 22:5 But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

- 1 Cor 14:12 And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.
- Tit 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

R - Rejoice. There is an underlining joy that runs deep within us (placed by the Holy Spirit) that can greatly affect our serving. It comes down to choice again. Do we serve in bitterness and anger, or do we serve with gladness and purpose as representatives of the risen savior Jesus? Paul is a favorite of mine that drives this point home. Who continues to serve and sing after being beaten and imprisoned? It should be US! People are watching how we act and what we say. Our response affects not only ourselves, but our friends, co-workers, and family around us.

- Hab 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
- Rom 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
- Dt 12:7 There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you.

V - Voice. I believe that our service speaks volumes not only about ourselves, but our God. We have the ability to speak life or death into any situation, based on the authority of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. God created the world by speaking it into existence. As sons and daughters of the living God, we too have that creative spirit. This is why getting God's word into us daily is so important.

- Jer 21:8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.
- Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, consider their threats & enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

E - Encourage. Service is a great opportunity to encourage those around us on a daily basis. Our lives are full of worldly peaks and valleys that often define who we are or become. But God has a different plan for His sons and daughters. The Lord commands us to lift one another up in both the good times and bad. To act and live based on who He is and what His love can accomplish. This again is where we so desperately need the Holy Spirit. Our thinking is flawed and our hearts evil. To become an effective encourager, we must stop and listen for the gentle whisper from the Father. His Word and promises are true! If we are willing, He will fill us with His wisdom and hope for the dying world around us.

- 1 Thes 4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
- Heb 10:25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
- 2 Thes 2:16-17 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Temple Building

I was reading Jeremiah the other day. Seeing how unwelcome the words that
God had gave this prophet were to the people. He was imprisoned, beaten,
throw into a cistern, and yet I don't remember him doing a lot of
complaining. Even when the people promised to listen to God's word, they
didn't because of selfishness and fear. Fear of captivity and fear of the
Babylonians. I have found myself complaining a lot, while having a warm
place to stay, more food than I can eat, and a job, simply because of
separation from my wife/church/friends in Central Pa. God is teaching me
what it means to be faithful to Him simply for His name's sake. Because He
is my Father, there is a peace and contentment in just knowing Him. If I
have nothing, having Him will be more than enough, regardless of what comes
my way and will set the stage for leadings of the Holy Spirit. I think what
an honor it is to be called His and to know that He loves us. Ancient
Israel always seemed not to be content with God and His blessings and want
more. I am at a place now where Jesus is my contentment and my prized
possession. He is my identity and the only thing that I must have.

Then yesterday, Justin form Pittsburgh City Outreach spoke at the church in
Braddock. His message concerned Zerubbabel. A man given a mission to
rebuild the temple. A man that had been separated from the line of God
because of the wickedness of his ancestors. Things seemed good at first and
then fear overtook them and the building stopped. When God sets a plan into
motion, He provides not only direction, resources, and strength, but also
encouragement to overcome our fears and lack of faith when the enemy comes
attacking. Enter Haggai, God's encouragement. Through this man of God, not
only did Zerubbabel find encouragement to finish the job, but a promise to
once again become the signet ring of God, simply by being faithful. It
wasn't about a building, but about being content with the Father and
following His lead (through Haggai) regardless of the what the enemy around
us is saying. God is our source! Jesus is the signet ring that is placed
on our finger that represents the promise and love of God almighty. Christ
is our authority to do the work given us through His written word and the
Holy Spirit. There is a broken down temple in Braddock that needs
rebuilding. Lives that are shattered by the world we live in. But God has
a plan and a promise to rebuild that is bigger than all of those things.
Not is not a time for complaining, but a time to get to work. Why, because
Jesus is worthy and for His name's sake. Thanks Justin for being my Haggai,
and reminding me not only of God's resources, but His promise never to
abandon through the living Savior.

Separation

God's verse for Elizabeth & me.

"For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 8:38-39

I think about being half a state away from the woman I love and how much I miss her embrace and the sound of her voice. I am reminded as I read God's word about His love and how much He misses us. Longing to talk to us and tell what is on his mind. Share with us his heart and the things He desires for us. To tell us about His son Jesus and how wonderful He is! To teach us about being at peace with Him in all things, free from all worry and stress. That is what it means to be in the arms of the Savior. I guess that is why I long for the embrace of my wife. I feel at peace and at home there.

Thanks Father for your wonderful love and for your Son. Wrap your arms around us today.