The Greatest Serve with Expectation!

Jesus offers the expectation for those who serve in the Kingdom of God. He states in Luke 22:29-30, “And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Jesus teaches that the greatest in the kingdom serve with the method of expectation. Jesus expects us to serve and he also tells us to serve with an expectation that God is a good God, with the expectation that we can expect the person in who we are serving will receive a blessing from our service...even if that person does not appreciate it. At the time Jesus tells his disciples these declarations of a kingdom, they did not appreciate that God's kingdom is a kingdom built on serving others.

I love this picture...so many of us serve with the expectation that we will be served in the process. That we will serve and turn into this super buff spiritual Christian...yet we are so busy thinking about the “me” that we forget that service is about the “THEM.” The church is filled with soft cuddly puppies sitting on a cushion waiting for God to rub their belly because of their service...the greatest in God's Kingdom serve with the expectation that God will be served, God's name will be recognized as worthy of allowing me to serve, and transformation will take place within the one serving....

Serving with expectation is not about the “me,” serving in God's Kingdom is about serving the “THEM.” 

You know I love ya, Don 

The greatest serve with persistance!

Luke 22:28 Jesus says, “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.” Persistence is defined as continuance till the end. And endurance is defined as using strength to continue despite pain and fatigue. The difference between the two is that persistence is remaining steady in hopes to finish while endurance is bearing pain so that you can finish. Christ-followers cling to the hope that “Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, Son of God and that he will carry them through.

I am always amazed at water. It is the model of persistence. Water has a way of pushing through amazing obstacles, one drip at a time. There have been many instances where what seemed to be an insignificant drip was really a tiny part of a dam pushing through a little at a time. Water is also very adaptable to what it wants to accomplish. Water can be calm and peaceful, but become raging and destructive. A lake can rise inch by inch and suddenly become a flood. A bay can combine with wind to be an agitator and bulldozer.

We need to be more like water. We need to be determined to push through our obstacles to serve whether by peace or by force. Imagine our lives as if it were a stream. It can trickle along gently, flowing across pebbles and shaping them as we move over them. Water changes things...persistence changes things. It exerts gentle pressure over time and softens hard rocks into rounded pebbles. Water combines with others to gain power. A stream joins with other streams to make a river. A river combines with other rivers to make its way to an ocean. Water is not satisfied with being a mere drop, but makes its way drop by drop to being a grand ocean.

Water carries things. It carries life along its banks. It carries progress from place to place. Water moves people and things from where they are to where they need to be. The persistence of waters..serves others...the persistence of believers also serves others.

Water is a change agent. It changes barren lands to fertile grounds. It can cut off or it can bring together. Even when it divides, it can still be crossed. Water changes the power balance. Water rises to the occasion. When life pours too much in it, it just finds new paths for it to flourish. When life tries to contain it, water pushes through to where it wants to go. 

As a servant... we need to be more like water and find a way to push through. Water is persistent. We need to be persistent as well. We need to move towards our goals, one step at a time. Our goals will not be reached overnight, but through the diligence of continued steps. We need to combine our strengths with others to form alliances that get us to where we want to go. When we add and multiply our strengths, we will eventually overflow our present boundaries and flow out into our full destiny. We need to carry ourselves from dream to reality to prosperity. We should not be satisfied with stagnancy, but keep current and keep moving toward a life full of productivity and creativity and fruitfulness.

Most of all, we should be full of life. Full of life-giving nourishment. Full of life-giving hydration. We should add to, not take away from. We should rejuvenate, not suck the life out of others’ dreams. We should bring forth creativity, not stifle.

If ever we need encouragement, we should think about a drop of water. We should think about how water gets where it wants to, drop by drop, building pressure that eventually results in a breakthrough. There is so much power in a drop of water. It is just the beginning. It is only the promise of what is yet to come.

If a drop of water can move a mountain through persistence, then surely we can serve through the method of persistence as well.

Serving with persistence is not about the “me,” serving with persistence is about clinging to the hope of our salvation and serving the “THEM.”

The greatest in the kingdom of God serve by methods of persistence.

You know I love ya, Don

"Love"...

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:16-18

I was asked what love is and I thought about it and tried to explain love as an expression of heartfelt passion toward another person...yet it does not truly describe love. There are theological words that describe love and there many ways love can be interpreted. Yet, that just does not do the job.

I think we have trouble describing love because love is an action word. Action words need to be told by the action that is demonstrated. Thus the text above describes what true love is. Marvin Williams writes about love:

A South African man surprised nine men robbing his home. Seven of the robbers ran away, but the homeowner managed to shove two into his backyard pool. After realizing that one of the robbers couldn’t swim, the homeowner jumped in to save him.The Cape Times reports that once out of the pool, the wet thief called to his friends to come back. Then he pulled a knife and threatened the man who had just rescued him. The homeowner said, “We were still standing near the pool, and when I saw the knife I just threw him back in. But he was gasping for air and was drowning. So I rescued him again.”

In his letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul wrote of another rescue: God the Father had saved them from the domain of darkness. This rescue occurred at the death of Christ, but also at the Colossians’ conversion. The imagery Paul used (1:12-13) suggests that believers have been rescued from the dark reign of Satan by being transferred as free people into the peaceable rule of Christ. By Jesus’ death, believers become free citizens in the kingdom of light.

The appropriate response to such amazing grace is to show joyous gratitude by offering God acceptable service with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28).

Our only response to being rescued and loved can be nothing less than to go and love those around us as Christ loved us first. I am going to "go" and "love." I will be looking for you on the journey. You know I love ya, Don

"Go" ...

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130 NIV

Matthew rides horses every week. It is part of his Hippotherapy to strengthen his core and balance. He rides the horses and receives physical and occupational therapy at TherAplay. They teach him that as he is ready to call out to the horse and say, "Go!" Then the horse will move forward and they get moving.

I couldn't help but think of Jesus while I was watching Matthew on Friday. Jesus also gave us a command. He said, "Go." He was telling us to go physically out to people around us and demonstrate worship in compassion and sacrifice. Notice he says to all people and to go with a purpose. David Branon wrote in June of 2010:

Picher, Oklahoma, is no more. In mid-2009, this once-bustling town of 20,000 went out of business. In the first quarter of the 1900s, Picher was a boomtown because of its abundant lead and zinc. Workers extracted the ore, which was used to help arm the US during both World Wars.

The town faded as the ore began to run out—but the biggest problem was that while the lead and zinc brought wealth, they also brought pollution. Because nothing was done to deal with the pollution, Picher became a toxic wasteland, and the government condemned the land.

What happened to Picher can happen to people. Prosperity can look so good that it’s hard to think about possible downsides. Actions that are detrimental to long-term spiritual health are accepted, and unless the problem is corrected, destruction follows. It happened to King Saul. He began as a good king, but in seeking success he failed to see the damage he was doing. Turning his back on God’s commands, he acted “foolishly” (1 Sam. 13:13) and lost his kingdom (v.14).

In our attempts to find success, we need to watch out for spiritual pollution that comes when we fail to follow God’s clear scriptural guidelines. Godly living always beats toxic living.

To many times Christ-followers go yet they do not go with a purpose in mind. They go and move forward but with out a purpose it is like a town full of pollution. They start to feel scorned and toxins set in along with discouragement. So, what is the purpose Jesus set out for us? The purpose is to go and LOVE! Jesus' words are full of love and are are to follow in His example.

I am going to "go" and I pray I will see you on the journey. You know I love ya, Don