Serve, Pursue & Profess

Serve : The Lord and One Another

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15)

What does that mean? It means to do what God says to do, when He says to do it, in a way that brings glory to Him and not us.

1 Peter 4:11 "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Serve God? Certainly, but in serving Him, to serve one another as well . . .

Galatians 6:2 "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

We might all well say together with Christ Jesus:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

God has given each of us gifts, whether in serving, teaching, or simply in carrying out our everyday work. Whether you are a student, a rancher, a manager, a mother, or a husband, whatever; your earthly work is to be, in fact, a service to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

John 15:8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit . . . "

Pursue: The Kingdom and His righteousness.

James 4:8, God makes a promise: "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you"

The pressures and demands of this life will always lead to spiritual poverty (or make that weakness), if we are not intentional about pursuing and cultivating our relationship with God.

We cannot expect to show Christ to others if we are not engaged in a growing relationship with Him ourselves. Above anything else, our primary task as followers of Jesus is to stay in a fresh relationship with our Lord. It is then that we will hear His voice of guidance and His words of wisdom and encouragement to pass onto others.

Profess: Faith without works is dead.

1 Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Jesus said: "Thus you will recognize them by their fruits," You know you're real if you bear fruit, he tells us. Fruit is the telltale sign of authentic faith because fruit doesn't lie. "For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush" (Luke 6:43-44)

We have got to be real. Being real is more than being in church all the time, feeling good about God, or "accepting" Jesus as your Savior; it's more than being baptized, receiving Communion, or becoming a church member. Being real runs deeper than these things.

"Behold, all things become new". We don't look any different, but we have been radically changed - we've experienced a new birth, received a new heart, and have new desires in our hearts. Which all makes us new people who live new lives.

And it shows. If you're real, you'll see it in your life. A real Christian will walk out his faith in ways that can be seen, heard, and felt. When you know what you're looking for, you can see the marks of 'real' in their lives - and in your own. That's what Jesus was saying!

Our 'mission' then, is to pay attention! To lay hold of all the resources that God has given us: People, gifting's, finance, property . . . and to use them in fulfillment of our vision.