The blessedness or beauty of serving others! II

Greetings to you, dear friends! I am so happy for this opportunity to share with you the word God has placed into my heart for this day. I believe it will bring you strength and enrichment.Yesterday we began talking about the blessedness of ministry. God Himself has said that the one who gives himself will be blessed or happy. We also discussed that God has given us two main commandments – to love God and to love people. It is impossible to love God Whom you have not seen and not love people whom we see every day. God’s love in our hearts motivates us to give ourselves to the others in service. It is this service that is the proof of our love towards God and people, as well as our way to promotion.Yesterday we read from the book of Isaiah (6:1-8).

«In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: „Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: „Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: „Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: „Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, „Here am I! Send me.”»

Isaiah saw three important things that totally changed his life. Isaiah saw God. He saw God’s greatness and holiness. When you draw near to God, God reveals Himself to you more and more. When we see God we also see ourselves, because we are created in His image and according to His likeness. In His light we see light.Isaiah saw himself. God desires for us to see ourselves clearly. For this very reason He allows different things to happen to us so that our eyes would be open about what we are like inside. Why does God want us to see ourselves?First, until we see what we are God is able to help us. If you do not see that you are ill, you can’t pray for healing. You fight God like Jacob did until you see yourself face to face. When Jacob saw his true nature he was broken before God and then was finally able to enter the destiny God had prepared for him. God can only use broken vessels. These people don’t think of themselves too highly. Only after Isaiah saw himself, God was able to cleanse him.Isaiah saw God’s needs. God also has some needs, and He is looking for the one who will offer himself as a solution. Too many people are busy with their own things and do now hear the cry of God’s heart. So many go to church, listen to wonderful sermons and then go home. So many have not entered ministry or they do it half-heartedly.After Isaiah exited the temple he had a message for the people. He was burning with a desire to represent God and bring His Word to the others. Isaiah went to God for fellowship and he left with a ministry for the whole world. The love for God always affects our attitude towards people and society.Whoever loves God serves people. The one who serves people is blessed and exalted by God. Ministry is a sacrifice. When you serve, you give what is yours – time, money, energy, sleep, food etc. God loves generous hearts, and He can’t pass by this type of people.Do you know why God blessed Abraham? It was because Abraham was a generous man. He was ready to give anything to God. Abraham left his family in obedience to God; he yielded to his nephew and allowed him to choose a place of lodging first. Abraham gave tithe to God at the time when no such law existed. He did not refuse to sacrifice to God his own son. For this reason God blessed him.Sacrifice must cost you something. If it doesn’t cost you anything, it can’t be called sacrifice. King David said that he would not bring to God something that didn’t cost him anything:

 «Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver» (2 Samuel, 24:24).

God can’t support those that are only concerned with their own well-being and do not have time to promote the Kingdom of God.We will continue tomorrow!Be blessed!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye