The following articles run along the same theme of being willing servants
(bond-servants) for the Lord.
A
Bondservant of Jesus
November 3
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me.
—Galatians 2:20
These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought
about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of
the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may
bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but
He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my
individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my
nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing
absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no
possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about
loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, ". . . for
My sake" ( Matthew 5:11 ). That is what makes a strong saint.
Has that breaking of my independence come?
All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is—will I give
up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as
to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own
understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality
of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the
witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— "I have been crucified
with Christ . . . ."
The passion of Christianity comes from
deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of
Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.
One student a year who hears God’s call would
be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into
existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even
academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to
lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned
with our own ideas of what we are going to be?
- Excerpt from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For
His Highest
Introduction:
Servants of Christ
Original article by Rich
VanKoughnett
Verses have been replaced with KJB.
I. The Apostles Called
Themselves Bondservants
In Romans 1:1, Paul begins his letter to the
Romans describing himself as,”Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God, 3 Concerning
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,…"
Before naming himself any other title, Paul
proclaims himself to be a bondservant. The word
bondservant means slave. Before Paul calls
himself an apostle, which places him on the
level of the 12 apostles and claims the
authority from God for his work, he first humbly
declares himself a servant or a slave for
Christ. Now, when Paul calls himself a slave, he
is not referring to forced slavery like many had
seen in the Roman Empire. He is talking about a
type of slavery undertaken voluntarily out of
love.
II. Old Testament Example of the Bondservant
(voluntary slavery)
Exodus 21:1-6 Now these are the judgments
which thou shalt set before them. 2 If thou buy
an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and
in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by
himself: if he were married, then his wife shall
go out with him. 4 If his master have given him
a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters;
the wife and her children shall be her master's,
and he shall go out by himself. 5 And if the
servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my
wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 6
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges;
he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the
door post; and his master shall bore his ear
through with an aul; and he shall serve him for
ever.
In Exodus 21:1-6 we read about Moses explaining
the law concerning having a Hebrew slave. A
Hebrew may have become a slave to another Hebrew
due to a debt or other crisis. The law states
that you can only keep a Hebrew slave for six
years. Now certain circumstances could arise
during these six years. One of these
circumstances that could arise would be that of
marriage during the slavery period. If a slave
married, the wife and the children would
consequently belong to the Master. Now say the
slave has served his six years and thus could be
set free. The slave would be set free the wife
and children would still be under slavery to the
master and the slave would have to leave them
behind. If the slave did not want to leave his
family behind, he was allowed under the law to
make a commitment of life long servitude to stay
with his family. The slave would be taken before
the judges where he could declare his
intentions. The Judge would then have the
slaves’ ear pierced and this was a sign of
voluntary life long servitude. The slave, out of
love for his family, would remain a slave to be
a part of that family. This is the type of
slavery Paul is speaking about here in Romans
1:1, a voluntary choice to be a part a family.
In Paul’s case, he is referring to the family of
Jesus Christ.
III. The Apostles understood the concept of
being set free to serve.
In other epistles, both Paul
and other writers declare themselves as
bondservants, slaves or servants of Jesus
Christ.
Paul starts out Philippians
1:1 saying, “Paul and Timotheus, the
servants of Jesus Christ…. “
In Titus he begins the same
way. “Paul, a servant of God….”
James begins his epistle as,
“James, a servant of God and of the
Lord Jesus Christ…”
In II Peter, Peter begins by
saying, “Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have
obtained like precious faith with us through the
righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ:”
Finally, in Revelation, John
refers to himself a servant and that he was
writing to God’s servants to show them the
things which must shortly take place. “The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him, to shew unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified
it by his angel unto his servant John:”
Why did men of such great
positions as those who walked with Jesus or had
direct revelation from Jesus, time and time
again say, with praise, that first and foremost,
they were servants of Jesus Christ?
Because they understood the
concept of being set free so that they may serve
God in Spirit and in truth. Romans 7:6 says,”But
now we are delivered from the law, that being
dead wherein we were held; that we should serve
in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of
the letter.”
What Paul is saying here, is
that because Jesus died for our sins, we are
free from trying to justify our selves through
the law. Since we are no longer in bondage to
the law, we are free to serve in power by the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Service to Christ is
what our reasonable and necessary action as
Christians.
Paul calls service an
opportunity.
In Galatians 5:13 he speaks
again of the liberty in Christ, and by not being
in bondage of the law, we have the opportunity
through love to serve.
Galatians 5:13 “For,
brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only
use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another.”
It is interesting to point
out here that Paul mentions what we are not to
do with this liberty that Christ has shed his
blood for. We are not supposed to throw the law
out and go around fulfilling the desires of the
flesh. Jesus did not die on a cross to let you
and me run around in sin, serving yourself and
not God. What is happening here is that the Jews
no longer had to spend their time in ritualistic
sacrifice to be forgiven of their sins. Since
this time was freed up, it is to be spent
lovingly and eagerly serving God.
IV. Old Testament
Sacrifices done away with to free time to serve
The Book of Leviticus is 27 chapters of law.
That takes up a lot of chapters to take up a lot
of time to keep all the rituals to keep moral
purity. But now we have justification in Jesus
Christ. No longer will they be going to the
altar to sacrifice a young bull for committing
an unintentional sin.
Leviticus 4:1-12. 1 And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto
the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall
sin through ignorance against any of the
commandments of the LORD concerning things which
ought not to be done, and shall do against any
of them: 3 If the priest that is anointed do sin
according to the sin of the people; then let him
bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young
bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin
offering. 4 And he shall bring the bullock unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the
bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the
LORD. 5 And the priest that is anointed shall
take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the
tabernacle of the congregation: 6 And the priest
shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle
of the blood seven times before the LORD, before
the vail of the sanctuary. 7 And the priest
shall put some of the blood upon the horns of
the altar of sweet incense before the LORD,
which is in the tabernacle of the congregation;
and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at
the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering,
which is at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation. 8 And he shall take off from it
all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering;
the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the
fat that is upon the inwards, 9 And the two
kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is
by the flanks, and the caul above the liver,
with the kidneys, it shall he take away, 10 As
it was taken off from the bullock of the
sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest
shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt
offering. 11 And the skin of the bullock, and
all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs,
and his inwards, and his dung, 12 Even the whole
bullock shall he carry forth without the camp
unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured
out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where
the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
That is just for an
unintentional sin. That means if you were going
about your business and the high priest came up
to you and said, “you know, what you are doing
is a sin according to God’s law.” And even if
you had no idea it was a sin, there goes one of
your best, unblemished bulls from the herd. Can
you imagine how long it takes to perform all the
steps to do a proper bull sacrifice? But now you
are justified by your faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the perfect lamb, without blemish,
which was sacrificed once and for all your sins,
past, present and future. Now, if the priest
would come up to you and tell you that something
you are doing is a sin, and you didn’t know it
was, you now confess it unto the Lord, repent of
your sin and stop doing it, and the bull is
still cooking in the microwave.
V. What are we doing with
this free time?
So what are we doing with all
this extra time on our hands? Are we cheerfully
and willfully acting as servants of the living
God?
NO!!!
In this day and age we are
the busiest people have ever been. People are
spending more time in the workplace than in the
home. People are working more than they are
sleeping it seems. We join every club,
committee, and social club we can find that will
help us network, get more business or just make
ourselves look good. Then the Internet and
wireless communication comes along. We think
this will help people work less and instead, we
double the work we can accomplish in 8 hours and
then double the amount of time we spend at work.
Then we come home…. Finally, and your brain and
your nerves are so shot, it is all you can do is
drop down in front of the television and veg
out. Imagine adding a bull sacrifice to that. I
tell you, right there is a great way to add
hours to serving God, praying and reading his
Bible; try shutting off that TV!
Everyone, count how many
television programs you watch in one day. Now
count how many chapters of the Bible you read
each day. If you are watching more TV than you
are spending time learning about and communing
with your Lord and creator, I would stop asking
why, in that 5 seconds you have left to spend
with him, why your prayers are not being
answered. You reap what you sow. You need to
make God a priority in your life. Take it from
me, I work for the Cable Company, and there is
nothing on. Nothing at least that will save your
souls and forgive you of your sins like Jesus
can. OK, enough of that. We know we should have
time to serve the Lord.
VI. Now lets look at what
the Bible says about being a servant.
Let us look at Matthew
20:25-28. But Jesus called them unto him, and
said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, and they that are
great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it
shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be
great among you, let him be your minister; 27
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him
be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and
to give his life a ransom for many."
Jesus begins these verses by
describing the earthly government as arranged
with the gentiles. In this arrangement, rulers
are great and exercise authority. But Jesus
tells us that Christians are not to practice
greatness in this manner. Instead, Jesus tells
us that whoever desires to be great, must first
become a servant. In God’s kingdom, greatness is
measured by how much we serve. Jesus then uses
himself as the perfect example of this teaching.
Jesus says that he himself did not come to be
served, but to serve. He goes on to say that the
greatest act of servant-hood one could display
is to lay down his own life to pay for our sins.
We read further evidence of
this in Hebrews 9:14 ” How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God?”
Let us put this in proper
perspective. God, perfect Holy God, who was
without spot or blemish humbled himself to come
in the form of man as Jesus Christ to serve us
by dying a horrible death on the cross for the
sins that we should rightfully have been
punished for. Praise God! The entire ministry of
Jesus revolved around service. He healed the
sick, he made the blind see, he cast out demons,
he fed the multitudes, he preached the word, and
then to top it all off, he took the nails for
you and me. Never in history could there be
found a greater example of what a servant is to
be. You may be saying, “Of course! He’s Jesus.
He is perfect in every way. Of course he is the
perfect servant. But what does that have to do
with me?”
1 Peter 2:21 says, "For
even hereunto were ye called: because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps:”
We are to be imitators of
Christ. We are to be imitators of his character,
his preaching, his healing, and of course, his
serving! The Bible tells us to be perfect, as
Christ is perfect.
Jesus himself tell us in
Matthew 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect”
We see very clearly in the
Bible that we are to be servants for Christ as
Christ was also a servant.
VI. Now lets talk about
the Benefits of being a servant of Jesus Christ.
Let us go right back were we
started this conversation; to the book of
Leviticus. We mentioned that there are 27
Chapters of law. Actually there are 25. This is
because in the 26th chapter we read about the
reward for serving.
Leviticus 26:-43 reads,
“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my
commandments, and do them; :4 Then I will give
you rain in due season, and the land shall yield
her increase, and the trees of the field shall
yield their fruit.”
God is telling us if we serve
him and obey him, he will take good care of us
and all our needs here on earth. And what about
our Heavenly hope. On the night that Jesus had
the Last Supper he said
Luke 22:26-30 “But ye
shall not be so: but he that is greatest among
you, let him be as the younger; and he that is
chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For whether is
greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that
serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I
am among you as he that serveth. 28 Ye are they
which have continued with me in my temptations.
29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my
Father hath appointed unto me; 30 That ye may
eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit
on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Does not Revelation 1:6 say,
“And hath made us kings and priests unto God
and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen. “
We are the Kings kids, at the
King’s table to serve the Father with the King.
What a glorious position and authority our Lord
has given to us!
Why else would Jesus say in
Matthew 25:21, “His lord said unto him, Well
done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the
joy of thy lord.”
Being a faithful servant
makes our master happy. Did you ever think you
could make the Lord of all creation happy? Try
serving him faithfully. What a way to say thanks
to our Savior for dying on the cross than by
serving. We are very blessed that the Lord
enjoys our serving, because when it comes down
to it, it is our duty.
In Luke 17:9-10 we read,
“Doth he thank that servant because he did
the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all
those things which are commanded you, say, We
are unprofitable servants: we have done that
which was our duty to do.”
God plainly tells us we are
to be his servants. We are to cheerfully and
willingly sacrifice our entire lives, everything
about us, us time, our finances, our thoughts,
or tongues, our actions to the Lord. It is not
only our duty but will gain us a greater reward
in heaven for our faithfulness and obedience.
Praise the Lord for this awesome freedom and
opportunity to serve the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords. Amen!
Original article by Rich
VanKoughnett
Verses have been replaced with KJB.
Ready, Willing, And Able?
by Jerry Bouey
Eagles' Wings Ministries
I’m sure the phrase “ready, willing, and
able” is one you have heard countless times. By it we mean we are prepared
to face anything we have to face, willing to do anything we need to do,
and are equipped to perform any task. Noble goals. Are we in fact ready,
willing, and able as Christians?
Are you ready?
The most important thing to be ready for in
our service to the King of Kings is in the area of salvation. If the Lord
Jesus Christ came back today, would you be ready to go to Heaven with Him?
Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow, are you washed in the
blood of the Lamb?
John the Baptist’s mission was to prepare the
way of the Lord, to preach repentance and faith, to preach the Gospel that
saves. Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of
Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for
the Lord.
The ten virgins were waiting for the Lord’s
return, but some of them weren’t ready. Some of them did not place
personal faith in the Saviour, believing in Jesus Christ’s death for their
sins, His burial, and His physical resurrection. When Jesus comes again,
will you be ready? Matthew 25:10 And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the
marriage: and the door was shut.
I have found six ways that the child of God
can be ready to serve the Lord Jesus Christ:
1) Ready to live for Christ:
a) By resisting temptation: Matthew 24:44
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of
man cometh. Mark 14:38 Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.
b) By dealing with disobedience in our own
lives: 2 Corinthians 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all
disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
2) Ready to search the Scriptures daily,
and to study it diligently (2 Timothy 2:15):
Acts 17:11 These were more noble than
those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness
of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Ezra 7:6 This Ezra went up from Babylon;
and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of
Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to
the hand of the LORD his God upon him.
3) Ready to do good works and contribute
to the needs of the saints:
2 Corinthians 8:11 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there
was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that
which ye have. 2 Corinthians 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to
exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up
beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might
be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness. 1 Timothy
6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to
distribute, willing to communicate. Titus 3:1 Put them in mind to be
subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to
every good work.
4) Ready to fight (as Christians, our fight is spiritual, against
spiritual forces of wickedness and darkness):
1 Chronicles 12:24 The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were
six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war.
5) Ready to be a witness and share the Gospel:
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready
always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you with meekness and fear.
Romans 1:15 So, as much as in me is, I am
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
Psalm 45:1 My heart is inditing a good
matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my
tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
6) Ready to die for the Lord:
2 Timothy 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand.
Luke 22:33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both
into prison, and to death.
I fully believe that if we intend to be
faithful to the Lord and perhaps die for Him someday, then we will need to
be faithful and live for Him right now, day by day. If you won’t live for
Jesus Christ, I guarantee you will never die for Him! You may be killed by
someone, but it won’t be as a martyr, unless you are killed for your
testimony of Jesus.
Are you ready, my friend?
Are you willing?
This one is simple: are you willing to serve the Lord? Do you have a
desire to please Him in all you do? Or are you doing the things you want
to do in your own life, regardless of whether that is God’s will for you
or not? While there is much in the Word of God regarding His will for our
lives, I will focus only on the passages that deal with our will in
serving Him.
Again, the first requirement is salvation.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God.
It isn’t your will-power that gets you into
Heaven, but your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the way of salvation
He offers.
After you receive Jesus as your Saviour, you need to choose to give Him
yourself, your life, your all, if you ever hope to be used by Him, to bear
fruit for His kingdom. Romans 12:1-2 is an excellent passage stating that
in light of all that Christ has done to save us, it is only our reasonable
service to give our lives back to Him; and as we do so, we are able to
discern the Lord’s perfect will for our lives. It all comes down to first
giving ourselves to the Lord to do His will. See also 2 Corinthians 8:1-5.
There are so many things to learn in our walk as Christians. Where do we
start? So many of God’s children get discouraged by the myriad opinions of
others (on various subjects such as Bible Versions, which church is right,
what type of music to listen to, what type of clothing to wear, etc.) that
they decide they can’t determine God’s will or leading in these areas. But
the Word of God gives us a promise in John 7:17 If any man will do his
will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself. If we choose to do God’s will, He will reveal it to us!
(See also James 1:5.) This will involve Bible study and prayer, as
well as an obedient heart that puts into practice all that it learns. If
you won’t obey what you already know, don’t expect the Lord to give you
more guidance.
The Bible teaches that Jesus is our example. When He was going through the
darkest time of His ministry on earth, what did He do? He prayed in the
garden of Gethsemane, and truly submitted to His Heavenly Father’s will,
even though it meant His own cruel death on the cross to pay for our sins.
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be
willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be
done.
John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat
is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do
nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not
mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Hebrews 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in
the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Matthew 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in
heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
Mark 8:34-35 And when he had called the people unto him with his
disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
Matthew 20:26-27 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will
be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant.
It is not enough merely to be ready, we must be willing from the heart.
Ephesians 6:6-7 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the
servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will
doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.
A true willingness is followed by action. 2
Corinthians 8:11-12 Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as
there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of
that which ye have. For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted
according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
Let’s live our lives in such a way that we please the Lord. May the Lord
look at us the way He looked at King David. Acts 13:22 …I have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my
will.
Two other passages that you may want to read are: Matthew 21:28-32 and
Luke 7:41-43.
Are you willing, my friend?
Are you able?
This last section sums up this study: Are you able to serve the Lord and
to do His will in your life? (Our main problem is not so much that we
aren’t able, but for the most part aren’t willing.) Where do you get the
ability and strength to perform all that He wants you to do?
The answer is simple, yet profound: our sufficiency is in Christ. The
Bible teaches that we are complete in Christ, and without Him we can do
nothing. (Colossians 2:10 and John 15:4-5.)
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 says "For we are unto God a sweet savour of
Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are
the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto
life. And who is sufficient for these things? The answer is clearly found
in the next chapter" (3:5-6): Not that we are sufficient of
ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of
God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament…
Jesus is the source of our strength (2 Corinthians 12:9), our source for
boundless grace (1 Corinthians 15:10), our source for victory (Romans 8:37
and 1 Corinthians 15:57), and, in fact, we find in Him all we need for our
Christian lives and service.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me.
Let the Lord have His perfect way in your life, and then you will be
ready, willing, and able. He will make you what He will have you to be.
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do
of his good pleasure.
Are you able, my friend?
No… but Jesus Christ is!
May 12th, 2002.
Jerry (Gerald) Bouey.
Are
You Willing?
by Angela Trenholm
Are you or I really
willing to do whatever God wants us to do? Really
willing….whatever….anything…?
If He called you to be a
missionary (or wife to one), an evangelist’s wife, Pastor’s wife,
etc….Would you answer the call?
If He called your child to
the wilds of India, would you tell him/her – “If it’s God’s will for you,
then you’d better do it”, supporting them every step of the way?
Are we REALLY willing to
do God’s will?
Then why didn’t we hand a
Gospel tract to that cashier the other day?
Why did we ignore the
Spirit’s leading to witness to that “friend” or neighbor?
Why didn’t we read our
Bible today or pray, but instead chose another book or an extra ½-1 hour
sleep?
Ouch!
If we will not be
“faithful in that which is least”, why should we think that God will give
us a calling unto “greater things”?
He
that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he
that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10
Still, the Lord may never
call us for services such as those mentioned above, but whether we are
willing or not to do God’s general (day to day stuff) and specific (our
life’s calling) wills for our lives is the whole point.
1. But just who does
God think He is that He can tell us what to do? What right does He have?
- He is King of kings
and Lord of Lords!
Which
in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the
King of kings, and Lord of lords; 1 Timothy 6:15
These
shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is
Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called,
and chosen, and faithful. Revelation 17:14
And he
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND
LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:16
- God is our Creator
and created us for His pleasure.
Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Revelation 4:11
- He is The Creator,
we are the creature, therefore He is in command:
Nay
but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed
say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter
power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and
another unto dishonour? Romans 9:20-21
- If we are saved, He
owns us, we are His servants:
For ye
are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:20
Ye are
bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 1 Corinthians 7:23
(This reference to “men” would also mean not to be servants to ourselves.)
Now, does God own part or
all of me? You?
2. Misapplication
Too often, I’ve heard the
following verses misquoted from the charismatic and liberal crowd:
Luke 11:9-12
And I
say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father,
will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him
a serpent? 12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
“See, see, I just have to
ask and He’ll give me whatever I want”
….But lets look at the
next verse….
Luke 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him?
“But, but… (we ask) don’t
I get a say?”
3. Are we so foolish as
to think that God does not know what is best for us and what will make us
happy?
The Lord wants us to have
an abundant life, but He knows what we need better than we do. He knew us
even before we were born and is interested in the smallest of matters of
our life.
The thief cometh not,
but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might
have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10
Are not five sparrows
sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7 But
even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye
are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-8
Thou puttest my feet
also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a
print upon the heels of my feet. Job 13:27
Delight thyself also in
the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm
37:4
Plus, the Holy Spirit that
He has given each child of God, knows how to intercede for us, even when
we don’t know what we need.
Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26
4. Why do we have to be
so stubborn and foolish that God often has to use drastic means to get our
attention and get us to do what’s best for us anyway?
It was during the
miscarriage of our 4th child that the Lord taught me the
importance of being willing, and I know my illustration is a sensitive
issue, but it is what the Lord used in my life.
I had always said I wanted
3 children and THAT WAS IT! I was even going for surgery to ensure that we
would not have anymore, but through the difficult time of our miscarriage,
the Lord showed me His will, and I learned to submit.
Losing that baby was one
of the hardest, yet easiest, trials I have ever gone through. Those of you
who have gone through this know what I mean. The emptiness of my womb was
terrible, but in my heart reigned “…the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding…´Philippians 4:7
Here’s what the Lord
taught me:
1. I
really did want more children.
2. He
owns me, therefore has complete control over my life, and I am to yield to
what His will is, not somehow try to fit my will in His.
I took the loss of our
child (but the Lord’s gain) as a gentle rebuke for wanting to have my own
way rather than God’s way. It wasn’t that God was saying “You ARE going to
have 20 kids….” it was more like I just needed to be willing to have as
many as He wanted to bless me with, whether He ever intended to give me
any more or not: I just had to be willing.
I am NOT saying this is
the case for everyone’s miscarriage, but I know this to be at least one of
the purposes God had for our miscarriage, as well as for comforting
others. Many of you know that God used that trial as a springboard for my
poem “Our
Little One” but it also got me back into poetry writing after not
having written for over 10 years and I know I could not have done “My
Prayer For His Will”.
I want to requote one of
the first lines of my lesson: If He called your child to the wilds of
India, would you tell him/her – “If it’s God’s will for you, then you’d
better do it”, supporting them every step of the way,
I do know what this feels
like. I gave the Lord all our children even before they were born, and
yes, my eldest is called as a Missionary to India, and the firstborn twin
in called to Germany. I have made it clear to my children that as long as
they answer God's call on their life (whatever that might be, whether a
housewife, single Christian woman, missionary, etc. whatever), then they
will be under God's hand of protection and nothing will happen in their
life that God does not allow for His glory. They are safer in God's
will in the wilds of some foreign field than out of God's will in our home
town.
All they need to focus on
is doing God's will for their life, just like each and every one of us has
to.
Lord, help us to be
willing, for you!
Angela Trenholm
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