music :: worship :: life
The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. . . .
—Rick Warren
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
—Romans 8:28-29
You were set apart by God for a special purpose. Your anointing, your unique combination of gifts and talents, your passion for God and for serving his people, make you a special threat to Satan. He will go to great lengths to ensure that you do not fulfill your calling. To this end, he will stop at nothing. He will use every means at his disposal to stop you. If possible, he will turn you away from God and the church altogether.
Why does God allow this? Because God must be foremost in your life. To fulfill God’s purpose for your life, you must love him more than you love anything else. If you love your church more than you love God, you cannot fulfill your purpose. If you love your friends more than God, if you love your ministry more than God, if you love the people you serve more than God, God will allow Satan to take them. And Satan, in his desire to separate you from God and from your destiny, will use the very things you love most as his weapons. He will spread his lies and slanders, and infect and poison the hearts of those you have cared for, and make them into his most lethal weapons.
God wants you to understand that all the love and everything else you have poured out upon the people you served is not lost. All of it came from him. He is the sole provider and source. You have no reason to expect them to return anything to you. They do not have your passion; they do not have your anointing. Their destiny lies elsewhere. But nothing you have given is lost. Nothing you have done through the power given you by the Holy Spirit can ever be undone by Satan. All that you poured out came from God, and he will continue to provide you with everything you will need. He is still your only source, and as you have been learning, his provision is more extravagant in its abundance than your most forlorn hope.
So continue to love the Lord. Continue to wait upon him. Continue to do what is right with what he provides you. Continue to pour out all you are given upon those of his children he places before you. Continue to be faithful in the small things he entrusts you with as he continues to entrust you with larger and more challenging things. This is the way he has been preparing his servants from time immemorial. Look how he prepared Joseph—how he carefully brought him through stages to ready him for his service. But then look how he blessed Joseph and how he used him to bless others. God greatly blesses those he greatly uses, so that his blessings can be greatly spread. But he greatly disciplines those he greatly uses, to transform them into fit instruments for his service.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
—Romans 8:18-21
God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?”
—Hebrews 13:5-6
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
—Matthew 25:21
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.
—Genesis 45:4-8
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
—James 1:2-4
Your love is a wildfire burning out of control.
Your love is a red-hot brand searing my heart,
marking me yours forever.
Your love is a seal,
molten and stamped with a cross.
Your love is a gentle hand reaching out to lift the fallen.
Your love is a bright searchlight piercing the darkness,
searching out the lost.
Your love is a glowing hearthstone,
warming your family.
Your love is a fortress of righteousness sheltering the humble.
Your love is a forge shaping rough ore into fine instruments.
Your love is a cool fountain,
a life-giving spring in a parched and barren land.
Your love is a father’s protecting arms.
Your love is a mother’s good-night kiss.
Your love is a friend’s warm hug.
Your love is a gift of unfathomable cost.
Your love is more precious than the finest jewel.
Your love is immeasurable.
Your love is beyond words.
Your love never fails.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
—Mark Twain
God abhors a vacuum. Every time I rid myself of non-productive activities and clear out some space in my life, the space is soon filled with other activities. Part of this is spiritual growth: as you grow spiritually, activities that were once fruitful for you become less productive. Also, when you are in God’s service, he exposes you to a variety of experiences so that you can learn the things you will need in order to be equipped for the roles he is preparing you to fill. We don’t know in advance what those roles will be, so some of our experiences don’t make sense until later. God is the Master Potter and he is continually shaping and reshaping us. The ultimate design of the vessel he wants us to be is known to him alone.
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