Serving God, Part 1

Chuckle: "If people don't like tailgaters, why do they buy bumper stickers?" --Unknown

Quote: "You're not saved by service but you are saved for service." --Rick Warren

YOU WERE SHAPED FOR SERVING GOD! (Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from Rick Warren's "Meditations on the Purpose Driven Life.")

"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone serves, he should to it with the strength God provides. . . To him (God) be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:10-11 NIV).

To this point, we have been using Rick Warren's "Meditations on The Purpose Driven Life" as the primary resource for our daily devotions. We have discovered that we are not on earth by chance. God put everyone of us here for specific purposes. First, "You Were Planned for God's Pleasure." Second, "You Were Formed for (God's) Family." Third, "You Were Created to Become Like Jesus." Today, we move on to the fourth purpose for your life and mine, "You Were Shaped for Serving God." We are uniquely made for service by God himself -- to make a difference in the lives of others. In our Scripture passages, we are told that we have been created in Christ for service, and that each of us has been gifted by the Holy Spirit and we are to use these gifts for service to glorify God.

God has equipped you to serve him by serving others; and has given each of us grace gifts. The Greek word for "gift" is "charisma," which means "grace gift." The Holy Spirit has consecrated your natural abilities to God, but also gave you unique spiritual gifts. Through your service, using the grace gifts, God is pouring his grace into the lives of others. What a joyous privilege! Rick Warren uses the acrostic, SHAPE to show the various ways you have been shaped by God for service: S -spiritual gifts, H - Heart/passion, A - Aptitude/skills, P - personality, E - Experiences. When you evaluate yourself in these areas, you begin to see how God has shaped you for service. Then take your place among the faithful.

God has also provided the power for you to serve -- he powers your equipment. An electric tool is useless with a power source. God powers our gifts of service by his Holy Spirit. Trying to serve in our own strength makes us ineffective as God's instruments and results in frustration and burn-out rather than fulfillment. "If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides.

Finally, God is glorified when you serve using his gifts and his power. "To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." Using God's gifts and power is all about bringing glory and honor to Him -- exalting Him. God intends that we use our gifts with his power through the church, the body of Christ, to magnify his name. Like a telescope magnifies its target, our service magnifies our Lord and makes Him more visible and appealing to those around us. We must never forget that our primary goal is to glorify God - not to serve others, but we do this by our service to others. "Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work" (Jeremiah 1:5 NCV).

Love, Jerry & Dotse