Are You Willing to Serve?

PRAY OVER THIS

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

 

PONDER THIS

Love does not give people what they deserve. Love gives people what they need. And love is willing to serve the lowest. Some of you may think of yourself as above changing diapers and wonder if maybe you could teach a Bible class somewhere. But there is no task too menial for love to do. This includes the work in the kitchen, the work in the nursery, or anything else. Love does whatever needs to be done. What motivates people to do that? In John 13 we see the Lord of Glory, who knew He came from God and was going to God, who made the Universe and scooped out the seas. He placed the mountains, flung out the sun, moon, and stars. And He washed fishermen’s feet.

Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Paul essentially said, if Jesus forgives me, then surely, I can forgive you, right? Of course. If Jesus washed my feet, then surely, I can wash yours. Remember Jesus’ words: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).

How do you serve those around you? What are jobs that most people overlook that you could help with?

Consider what Christ has done for you. How does that motivate you to love others?

PRACTICE THIS

Do a task you normally overlook to serve someone else today.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Gain of Serving God

“They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” (2 Chronicles 12:8)

Serving God is utterly different from serving anyone else.

God is extremely jealous that we understand this — and enjoy it. For example, he commands us, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Psalm 100:2). There is a reason for this gladness. It is given in Acts 17:25. God is not “served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”

We serve him with gladness because we do not bear the burden of meeting his needs. He has no needs. So, serving him can’t mean meeting his needs. Instead we rejoice in a service where he meets our needs. Serving God always means receiving grace from God to do what we have to do.

To show how jealous God is for us to understand this, and glory in it, there is a story in 2 Chronicles 12. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who ruled the southern kingdom after the revolt of the ten tribes, chose against serving the Lord and gave his service to other gods and other kingdoms.

As judgment, God sent Shishak, the king of Egypt, against Rehoboam with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen (2 Chronicles 12:2–3).

In mercy God sent the prophet Shemaiah to Rehoboam with this message: “Thus says the Lord, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak’” (2 Chronicles 12:5). The happy upshot of that message is that Rehoboam and his princes humbled themselves in repentance and said, “The Lord is righteous” (2 Chronicles 12:6).

When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he said, “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak” (2 Chronicles 12:7). But as a discipline to them he says, “They shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries” (2 Chronicles 12:8).

The point is plain: serving the enemy and serving God are very different. How so? Serving God is a receiving and a blessing and a joy and a benefit. Serving Shishak is exhausting and depleting and sorrowful. God is a giver. Shishak is a taker.

This is why I am so jealous to say that the worship of Sunday morning and the worship of daily obedience is not at bottom a burdensome giving to God, but a joyful getting from God. That is the true service that God demands. In all you do, trust me as the giver.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Colossians 3:14

[14] And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

1 Timothy 1:5

[5] The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

John 15:13

[13] Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

1 Peter 4:8

[8] Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

How Do You Love Others?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my feet?’” John 13:3-6

 

PONDER THIS

Think of someone who has done you wrong or disappointed you. Perhaps it’s someone who has failed you. Perhaps it’s someone who has abused or misused you. Perhaps it’s someone who has betrayed you. The Bible tells us how to deal with that individual. We are to love as Jesus loved. We all need love—true love. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). You're to love others as Jesus Christ loved you. It’s going to be extremely hard. It feels completely against our nature, but it is our call in Christ.

Do you know what most of us do? We fight for our reputations. We talk about how we went from nothing to something. The Lord Jesus didn't talk about how He had gone from lowliness to highness. As a matter of fact, our Lord had come from highness to lowliness. Jesus, knowing the Father had put everything into His hands, laid aside His garments, took a towel, and washed fishermen feet. He served selflessly and humbly.

That is true love. Pride drives wedges; humility always builds bridges of love. If you are going to love as Jesus loves, your love will be selfless.

Who in your life loves selflessly?

Think about people who have wronged you. How do you treat them? How does that need to change in light of this passage?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk to a mentor about how you treat those that have wronged you. Pray and consider how you can love others selflessly.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Something to Boast About

By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

The New Testament correlates faith and grace to make sure that we do not boast in what grace alone achieves.

One of the most familiar examples is Ephesians 2:8. By grace, through faith. There’s the correlation that guards the freedom of grace. By grace, through faith.

Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own insufficiency to the free and all-sufficient resources of God. Faith focuses on the freedom of God to dispense grace to the unworthy. It banks on the bounty of God.

Therefore faith, by its very nature, nullifies boasting and fits with grace. Wherever faith looks, it sees grace behind every praiseworthy act. So it cannot boast, except in the Lord. The author of grace.

So Paul, after saying that salvation is by grace through faith, says, “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Faith cannot boast in human goodness or competence or wisdom, because faith focuses on the free, all-supplying grace of God. Whatever goodness faith sees, it sees as the fruit of grace.

When it looks at our “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” it says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30–31).

John Piper 

Bible Study

John 17:1-4

The High Priestly Prayer

[1] When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, [2] since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. [3] And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. [4] I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Matthew 11:27

[27] All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Revelation 2:26-27

[26] The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, [27] and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

John 8:42

[42] Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.

No One is Too Far for God to Reach

PRAY OVER THIS

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Romans 10:9-13

 

PONDER THIS

While I was a pastor in Florida, I had a group of men I would meet with for prayer. We felt the need for revival in our city. We decided to start by praying for the meanest man in our city. And I said, “How do you get the meanest man saved?” We agreed you begin to pray for him and then you witness to him. After a long time praying, I went by his house and knocked on the door. I presented Jesus Christ to him and asked, “Would you like to be saved?” He said he would, and I led him in the sinner’s prayer. He gave his heart to Christ in the same way a little boy would trust Christ as his personal Savior. I’ve never been able to forget that. The man everybody was afraid of became a follower of Christ. God had softened his heart by prayer. There is no man, no woman, no boy, no girl too difficult for God to save.

Who are some people you believe are very far from God? How often do you pray for them?

Why is it important to trust God’s power to transform hearts over our ability to share or persuade?

PRACTICE THIS

Set a daily reminder to pray for someone you know who is far from God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers