I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day and that you have had an awesome week. The 1st full weekend of college football...I love it! As my wife texted me earlier this week, this Labor Day Weekend is going to be all about "Faith, Family & Football!" I am blessed beyond measure it so many ways!!! :)
This week we are going to have two quasi guest bloggers, meaning I am going to share some excerpts from a book as well as a saying with you. I am just going to let each speak to you as they will and leave it there.
As for the excerpts, I have been reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I want to encourage anyone reading this message to thoughtfully consider reading this book. It is broken up into to daily readings. I literally was excited to get up each day to see what the next message was going to be. I finish it tomorrow and I plan to start right over again. I feel I must also tell you that I have tried to read this book twice before...unsuccessfully. I just couldn't get into it. Just another example of God's time, the preparation of our hearts, etc. Before now I just wasn't really ready to get it. Perhaps now is the time for you as well.
The excerpts I am going to share are out of the readings of the 33rd day - it is broken up into 40 daily readings. The name of the chapter is "How Real Servants Act." I am just going to directly list the excerpts without any in-put.
Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. - Mark 10: 43 (Msg)
- The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige, and position. If you can demand service from others, you've arrived.
- Jesus, however, measured greatness in terms of service, not status. God determines your greatness by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you.
- Everyone wants to lead; no one wants to be a servant.
- While knowing your shape [Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experience] is important for serving God, having the heart of a servant is even more important.
- You primary ministry should be in the area of your shape, but your secondary service is wherever your needed at the moment.
- Your shape reveals your ministry, but your servant's heart will reveal your maturity. No special talent or gift is required to stay after a meeting to pick up trash or stack chairs. Anyone can be a servant. All it requires is character.
- Real servants make themselves available to serve.
- If you only serve when it's convenient for you, you're not a real servant. Real servants do what's needed, even when it's inconvenient.
- Being a servant means giving up the right to control your schedule and allowing God to interrupt it whenever he needs to.
- If you will remind yourself at the start of every day that you are God's servant, interruptions won't frustrate you as much, because your agenda will be whatever God wants to bring into your life. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving.
- Real servants pay attention to needs.
- Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others.
- Great opportunities to serve never last long.
- John Wesley was an incredible servant of God. His motto was "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." That is greatness.
- Do these little things as if they were great things, because God is watching.
- Real servants do their best with what they have.
- God expects you to do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are. Less-than-perfect service is always better than the best intention.
- You may have read it said, "If it can't be done with excellence, don't do it." Well, Jesus never said that!
- Real servants do every task with equal dedication.
- You will never arrive at the state in life where you're too important to help with menial tasks. God will never exempt you from the mundane. It's a vital part of your character curriculum. The Bible says, "If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody." Galatians 6:3 (NLT)
- It is in these small services that we grow like Christ.
- Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid; washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath him, because he came to serve.
- It wasn't in spite of his greatness that he did these things, but because of it, and he expects us to follow his example.
- Small tasks often show a big heart. Your servants heart is revealed in little acts that others don't think of doing...
- Great opportunities often disguise themselves in small tasks. The little things in life determine the big things. Don't look for great tasks to do for God. Just do the not-so-great stuff, and God will assign you whatever he wants you to do. But before attempting the extraordinary, try serving in ordinary ways.
- The race to be a leader is crowded, but the field is wide open for those willing to be servants. Sometimes you serve upward to those in authority, and sometimes you serve downward to those in need. Either way, you develop a servant's heart when you're willing to do anything needed.
- Real servants are faithful to their ministry.
- Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don't leave a job half undone, and they don't quit when they get discouraged.
- Can you be counted on by others? Are there promises you need to keep, vows you need to fulfill, or commitments you need to honor? This is a test. God is testing your faithfulness.
- You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.
- Real servants maintain a low profile.
- Servants don't promote or call attention to themselves. Instead of acting to impress and dressing for success, they "put on the apron of humility, to serve one another." (1 Peter 5:5) If recognized for their service, they humbly accept it but don't allow notoriety to distract them from their work.
- Real servants don't serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One.
- You may be serving in obscurity in some small place, feeling unknown and unappreciated. Listen: God put you where you are for a purpose. He has every hair on your head numbered, and he knows your address. You had better stay put until he chooses to move you. He will let you know if he wants you somewhere else. Your ministry matters to the kingdom of God.
- Notoriety means nothing to real servants because they know the difference between prominence and significance. You have several prominent features on your body that you could live without. It is the hidden parts of the body that are indispensable. The same is true in the Body of Christ. The most significant service is often the service that is unseen.
As for the saying, I went to meet with one of the nurses where I work on Monday. This was hanging on the wall:
"You are the real thing.
A genuine original.
Perfect in all your flaws.
So find your voice and change the world.
Make a real difference.
Be a hero, an inspiration, a mentor.
Believe in Your gifts and use them wisely.
Never stop learning.
Make mistakes and ask questions.
Embrace the journey.
Be passionate about the things that matter to you most.
You are the author of your own life story.
Make it a good one." - Unknown
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you. I will always be willing to help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
No comments:
Post a Comment