Servanthood

P 3370 Where is your focus? On you or Him?

/ DVH

Yet we don’t see ourselves as capable enough to do anything in our own strength, for our true competence flows from God’s empowering Presence. He alone makes us adequate ministers who are focused on an entirely new covenant. Our ministry is not based on the letter of the law but through the power of the Spirit. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit pours out life.” 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 TPT.

God’s loving faithfulness is our best focus. Doubt yourself, doubt your friends, doubt your relatives! People have their own agendas. But please don’t ever doubt God – believe in His goodness. Make that a fixed point in your heart and belief system. The enemy comes at all of us with trumped-up charges that supposedly prove that God doesn’t love us, and He doesn’t care when we are in pain.

When that doubt sneaks up on me I deliberately remind myself: “God is good. He is always faithful. The bible has loads of stories that illustrate His faithfulness.” He doesn’t have to prove He is faithful to me, His book firmly establishes that fact. So I go and read the Psalms, or one of the parables of Jesus. Let’s deliberately choose to bring our focus back to Him first, above everything else.

Children expect their parents to always understand them. But adults mature, and they actively comprehend that we are all different. Our parents are human, and we can all be sidetracked by our own needs. However, our Heavenly Father, God, is always for us, and we can quite simply, lose sight of His goals. We need the Holy Spirit’s help, strength, wisdom, and His input to help us to see our Heavenly Father clearly. Not to mention everybody else in this world!

If you’ve ever read the books of Kings or Chronicles you will find God never ignores the things that are bad. He has no problem calling bad things, BAD. However, He also always clarifies what is really going on, and He goes to the heart of the matter. Let’s choose to grow up enough to realise our perspective is not the only one, nor is it necessarily the right one! The perspective that really matters is HIS. We need that.

Almighty God made a covenant, an agreement with His people, the Israelites. Sadly, often all they could see were the benefits He supposedly owed them. They were obsessed with themselves, their comfort, their victories. They only thought about the things that would benefit them if they followed Him. They forgot He is Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth. Father God will not be weighed up and measured by our measly little opinions or fall for our hissy fits. He’s God. He doesn’t need us – He chose us – and we absolutely need Him!

When our focus is on ourselves, everything else blurs into insignificance. We can no longer see the hurting, dying, lost people around us — and those people could be members of our own family. The Body of Christ needs to stop thinking of Jesus as just a supplier and see Him as our Commander in Chief!  Sometimes we don’t, or can’t see the answers to our prayers because, as James clearly tells us  … “…we are asking amiss.”  We say: “God rules the world” on Sunday, and then go home and act like a despot demanding that everyone else suit our needs, comfort and moods, on Monday. Whatever happened to servanthood?

Often we want to escape from the very things that can teach us humility, patience, or long-suffering. We can become so focussed on ‘me, my feelings, my life, and my family, ‘ that we can’t see anything else. The second we start to look UP and outwards, we are standing in the Lord Jesus’ shoes. He always looks toward His Father, that’s why He is radiant! And He also looks outwards – toward all of us. Everything He did, said or suffered He did for us. Perhaps over time, we’ve focussed for too long on who the bible says we are, and not nearly enough time on WHO HE REALLY IS.

Let’s start voluntarily correcting our course, and focus on what really matters – HIM! Bye. 👋

P 2636 A greater attitude.

/ DVH

A son or a daughter has responsibility within their family for the contribution to and oversight of their household, particularly in the parent’s absence. However, a servant will simply do whatever they are told to do and they are paid for it. Very few servants end up as an heir to their master’s property! To qualify they would need to be adopted so they become sons and daughters.  

The Lord Jesus, through the Apostle Paul, talks about that in the passage down below from Romans. (There are others, but I only have a small space!) Adoption is part of God’s parenting us – we voluntarily choose to move on from serving Him for our benefit, into serving Him for LOVE’S sake, like Jesus did. We follow His Son into sonship. That will cost us, all our time, effort, money, comfort, and reputation.

First of all, let’s be clear, being born again as God’s own child, means the Lord God has planted His eternal seed within us. We belong to Him NOW by birth! However, that seed of new life needs to be nurtured and cared for, in order to grow – with prayer, reading the bible, and healthy fellowship. Viable growth, with clear signs of impending fruit, is a sure sign of eternal life within. 

That person exhibits qualities that can only come from the Holy Spirit’s nurture, input and love, together with their willing acceptance, submission and participation. So this is not just about whether you or I belong to God or not – it is about us having His kingdom within us, plus the freedom and authority to share it with others for their benefit. Moving from servanthood into son-by-adoption involves our CHOICES. As God’s children we choose to follow Jesus down our own road of surrender – which can include difficulties and pain, simply because we love Him and we are grateful for all He has done for us. Jesus is not just a bless me person – He’s a follow Me Leader!

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” Romans 8:14-17.

A servant or slave does their master’s bidding, whether they like him or not, and they usually get paid for doing it. There are benefits. But a true son respects his father and does whatever his father wants, to honour him … he may or may not get paid … but the son/daughter carries out their father’s wishes for the entire family’s benefit. The job gets done either way, but sonship has a different mindset motivating it.  Let’s move on…

“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”John 1:12-13. And:“I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18. 

To see what being a son or daughter looks like, we must look at Christ. What did Jesus Himself do as God’s Son? He did and said everything He saw the Father doing! It is not shameful or weak, to live a dependent life, Jesus did it … He totally relied upon His Father and the Holy Spirit. He served His Father willingly, no matter what the circumstances were like. Not one argument, not one whoops, not one regret!! He did it as if His Father was present.

That is not the way a servant does things, a servant does things even in our absence. However a son willingly chooses to learn to think like his father, so he can perfectly represent the father’s wishes, whether his parent is absent or not. To the son his father’s wishes are always foremost in his mind. Christ served all of us showing us what heavenly love looks like, and He did it to benefit others. His sacrifice released the things that belong in His Father’s house into this world. In other words, Jesus used HIS inheritance to benefit us.

And because He chose to do that, He raised humanity to His level in the Father’s house. However, we are not given these benefits just to benefit us, we are given them to benefit OTHERS. Just like Jesus did. Authority is not about WHO is in charge, it is about who perfectly represents our heavenly Father —and our Father is not a tyrant! When God loves He gives. A servant takes, he takes what he thinks he’s earned — but a SON BECOMES A GIVER. Living to love and give is the greater attitude. 🙌

P 2605 Faith in action.

/ DVH

I Kings 18:41-46 “And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”  So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.”

I definitely do not bat in Elijah’s league and I’m not sure I wish I did either – that man of God did some truly spectacularly brave stuff!  He prayed until he knew what God was going to do next! Meanwhile, I love the way the bible does not hide the other bits where human beings act like faithless cowards. Whilst reading about Elijah this time, I learnt that if you want to beat the rain, then you will have to learn to run like the wind! 

I enjoy these stories. The courage in Elijah’s heart that led him to obey God’s instructions step-by-step, eventually flew out of the window when he was threatened by Jezebel and co. He’s so human! Right after that huge miracle of fire from heaven – when he dispatches the opposition’s front men – he turns into a scared, whingey whiner-pot, because he is threatened by Jezebel. She wants to make him into cat food! Sigh. I so identify with his response.. But, eventually, his personal relationship with the Lord takes him where his feet do not want to go.

I fight fear about what comes next all the time … instead of focussing on the wonderful thing the Lord is doing NOW. Sometimes, other people and their responses and actions don’t help either! There have been times when I have caught myself waiting for the other shoe to drop, because bad things are happening all around me and I hope I can somehow avoid the bad stuff… instead of watching for the Lord’s deliverance. There are also times where I mentally run away hoping God won’t notice. Fat chance.

Back to this passage, Elijah prophesied rain when there was no rain, and nobody expected it either. Let’s get this straight – Elijah did not imagine rain … he simply spoke out what he had heard from the Spirit of God out loud. He declared it. He saw the rain coming in his spirit-man before it ever appeared on the horizon. Prophecy is not saying what WE want, or WE think we need, and expecting it to happen, it is tuning in to what GOD Himself is saying and announcing that. And yes, there is a difference.

Meanwhile, does anyone else but me think that Elijah’s servant must have gotten sick of running back and forth, looking for clouds that weren’t there? …  …Until they finally were! Six times that man trudged back and forth with nothing to report. To me this is what true servanthood looks like – it looks like doing what our Lord says, simply because He said it. In our current environment, that servant would have probably quit, and gone and reported Elijah to the union! 😂 At the same time, imagine Elijah’s faith – he kept continually sending that man to check!

You know, today we could carefully analyse, or even try to copy what Elijah said, or what he did, or how he did it, when he saw all those incredible miracles. That giant heavenly mountain-top barbecue is so awe-inspiring, perhaps we secretly hope that we can do stuff like that too? But God isn’t looking for repeat performances. That was then. Analysing how it happened so we can do it again, will not bring us any closer to the God Who made it happen. These stories are not formulas to be followed – they are testimonies of how incredible our God is, and what a man of faith can do! The best aim we can ever have is to know Him, intimately. When you look at Elijah’s conversations with Almighty God, you can see they have a relationship!

This great prophet shows us that imperfect people can serve a perfect God and see and do spectacular things … or not! This is one of the reasons I love the Old Testament. A parade of very different people pass by, serving – or not serving God, ushering in all kinds of outcomes. It is astonishing that in this day and age, the bible appears to end up being about us getting or making God do stuff for us … when the Old Testament clearly says He is looking for people who will do what HE wants!

In my heart, faith = obedience. No more no less. Sometimes there are feelings, sometimes there are not. Feelings are a nice bonus, but my advice is, don’t get used to them… because sometimes our feelings will drag us away from God, leading us into running away and hiding. These stories about Elijah are profound, because we can see with our own eyes, that our God is the God of second, third, fourth and fifth chances. Faith does something. It doesn’t just have opinions – it has actions. We are faltering in our faith because we have head knowledge NOT active faith like Elijah. 👋

P 2337 Do we value comfort and healing ABOVE obedience?

/ DVH

Are we prepared to follow Jesus no matter what shape we are currently in? There is a trait within the body of Christ to seek healing and wholeness first, because we think we will be in better shape to serve Him. Actually, the bible says we are to seek His kingdom, first. When Jesus died for us, and the Holy Spirit came here to stay with us on earth – the doors of healing and transformation flew open. They cannot be shut. The cross of Christ sealed the most incredible deal mankind has ever seen.

As we walk with Him, using our faith, day by day, endless possibilities open up in front of us. The Lord our God is a fantastic, reliable, all-powerful Healer. The bible says so, over and over again. However, there are people who are very used to having healing available and handed to them through other people’s recognised gifts. Their OWN faith has not prepared them for spiritual opposition or the strength to fight and go get things for themselves. I think the power to grow in our faith is linked to our willingness to go all out for Him. Sadly the children of God have not always fought for the kind of God-given strengths we need to combat all the stuff that comes at us.

We’ve have made being ‘whole and trained,’ a more valuable attribute than things like ‘servanthood, surrender, discipleship and being a laid-down lover of Jesus.’  The truth is, in our interactions with the Lord, sometimes, like Jacob, we could end up limping! I’ve ended up as sick as you can get in hospital, only to discover there was someone I was meant to comfort, and witness to, that I would not have met any other way. My little story was relevant to them. I am NOT saying God made me sick – but He used it for His purposes. Sometimes, like Sarah we could end up healed and whole, with a whole life scenario that is is just plain impossible. These things serve God’s purposes. Did you get that? His purposes.

Some of the most fruitful transformational words I have ever had are words of correction. I love to see the body of Christ grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord.  And when we receive what we believe is a prophetic word then we need to take it seriously. BUT, we also know that God corrects His kids, and if we accept His correction with faith – we will also grow – we don’t always have to be babied along. Take whatever God gives your pastor to preach as food for your soul, pray over it and ask the Lord to make it personal to you. We desperately need ‘every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” because that’s where the power of God is. In the truth of what God Himself says.

Perhaps we are inadvertently waiting for the Lord to swoop in, and zap us, and then we will get an instant spiritual makeover to prepare us for the wonderful things that lie ahead. That thought makes no sense whatsoever to me. This is the God Who we know does things, ‘layer upon layer, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.…’ We need to be in agreement and prepared to engage with His processes – complete with His correction when we’ve wandered off into lah lah land.

Otherwise we will limit Him to our own understanding. There are totally sold-out people all over this planet who will follow Jesus anywhere anytime into any kind of danger. My problem is I can’t see where those dedicated people are supposed to be in a separate category to ME.  For those of us who live in the West, we need to make it our great quest to take His Words even more seriously … otherwise ease, and comfort will distract us into the grave and we will have lost the precious time allocated to us by the Lord.  We cannot be distracted by the so-called quest to be READY for whatever He wants us to do – no matter how difficult, or life-changing it seems to be. We need to step out in faith and obey.

We are at the place where we need to be relying upon Him  and His written word more than anything else. Fortunately that is a learned skill – gained by using our faith, followed up by action. Let us not allow the enemy to lie to us that we are not ready, or we are not up to the task. Instead let’s remind ourselves that our God uses the willing! He qualifies hearts that are passionate and sold out to His purposes. He will heal, correct and guide us as we go ahead living out His word, for this world to read in our lives.👋🏻