Serving God and Others

God at the Centre

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

“Serving God and Others”

Galatians 2:20

                What characterizes a genuine and successful ambassador for

Christ? A person who has God within them.  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved e and gave himself for me.”

To truly serve Christ one needs to depend on the indwelling, resurrected almighty Jesus and not oneself. God needs to be in control of you.  And you are to dream great dreams because anyone who believes in Jesus can do the great things He did—spreading a message that reconciles people to God.

This is possible because 1) Jesus was going to the Father and He would send the Spirit to indwell us. With the Spirit indwelling us as believers, Christ does His works through us.  2) Jesus adds a condition to His promise. Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing. Christ challenges us to have faith- not more faith but faith in Him which continues.

Reflection: In this chapter, Palau writes of the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses. We are not sure what kind it was but it does not matter. God’s Spirit dwelt within that bush for a period of time making the ground around it holy. It was an ordinary bush much like another probably a few feet away. But this one bush is the one in which God’s Spirit was within and from which God spoke and called to Moses. You a not just an ordinary bush—You are human and have thoughts and feelings and God’s Spirit has spoken to you .The question remains—how do you respond to God’s Spirit? Does God’s Spirit dwell within you? How do you know? What drives you to do what God leads you to do? Where is your focus and what does this mean for you each day?

God’s Spirit is within you if you have received Christ as Saviour. To serve God means to respond to the voice of the Spirit and to do so by serving others. Are you listening? Are you responding in faith and is your faith continuing to grow as you live out the work of the Spirit in your life?

PRAYER
Holy God as we discern your way and your Spirit in our lives we pray that you would enable us to live and love and to reach out to others. Hear us and move your Spirit within us so that we become more than a bush—we become your faithful people called to tell others of your love. Amen.

Luis Palau, “God at the Center: Habits for Spiritual Growth” ODB Ministries, p.21-26.