A Servant's Heart

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Galations 2:13

Higher

Higher than the highest heavens,

Deeper than the deepest sea,

Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered;

Grant my now my supplication,

None of self, and all of Thee.

At times I look at myself and shudder at what I see. Living a life of service is the life our Lord lived and to be like Him, we must give our lives in service to Him.

He said, "serve ye, one another in love." Serving has at times been difficult for me. Many times I think, "Why can't he get up and walk the ten feet to the refridgerater and get the milk! He can do it just as easily as I can! Why doesn't he get it himself instead of asking me to get it?!" That may be true, maybe he is to lazy to do it himself, but than why don't I want to do it either?

I guess it is selfishness on both our parts but the Lord wants to deal with what is in my heart, and I shouldn't be saying that he is just as bad. It is me that needs to have the heart of a servant.

Sometimes (actually probably quite a few times) we look at ourselves and we see things in our hearts that we don't really like, and would rather not admit is there. But I know the Lord sees it all, all the hidden parts of our lives, everything, nothing is hidden from Him!

It is easy to serve people when they can't do anything, or are incapable of caring for their needs. When they are incapable of doing things for themselves, but when they are perfectly able and capable, it is a little harder.

And so, I realized that I wasn't joyfully serving others the way I should be and the way Christ would have me serve. When I realized that I prayed, "Lord, make me a willing servant! And give me the joy of serving others even when I think they could easily do it themselves. Make me willing, make me joyful, a servant as You served."

I long to follow in the footsteps of my Master, to live a life of unselfish service to others as He lived. To glorify Him in my life, so that others would see Him shining out in me.

Lord, make me a willing servant...!

Written 30/09/06

Oh Ye of Little Faith!

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matt.6:30

S parrow, He guardeth thee;
Never a fight but thy wings He upholdeth;
Never a night but thy nest He enfoldeth;
Safely He guardeth thee.

Lily, He robeth thee;
Though thou must fade, by the Summer bemoaned,
Thou art arrayed fair as a monarch enthroned;
Spotless He robeth thee.

Hear, thou of little faith;
Sparrow and lily are soulless and dying;
Deathless art thou; will He slight thy faint crying?
Trust, thou of little faith!
R.G.W.

I am going to share with you something that many of us struggle with and that I struggled with and still do. It is the issue of faith and trust. It has always been difficult for me to trust people. It was also difficult for me to trust God…if I had a problem trusting those I could see, of course I had a problem trusting Who I couldn’t see.

It has been and still is a long uphill climb for me in this area, but slowly if I persevere I will reach my goal. And I know that when the way seems hard and dark, that I can put my hand into the Hand of God and He will lead me on to the light. Placing my faith in God in this area was not easy, but slowly I am gaining victory and as I give more to the Lord, He continually gives me more and more. And richer blessing of peace and joy I could not ask for.

He cares even about the sparrows, so much that He sees if one of them falls the ground. He cares about the lilies of the field, so much that He robes them with splendor!

His love and care is evident wherever I turn. Even in the midst of pain and suffering the Lord is always there to comfort and cheer. And in gloom His light shines brighter! He never allows more pain or suffering than we can handle. God’s Word says, “He will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able.”

Why then do we humans have such a difficult time trusting Him? Why then do we want to hold back? Why then do we fear what He may ask us to do? When He is all-knowing, all-powerful…He sees the future as He does the past. He sees everything hidden and un-hidden. He sees our hearts, He knows that we are dust… yet, oh amazing truth!…He loves us and He cares about us. He has our best interests in mind. He knows just what we need and when we need it. But we poor failing humans in our mortal state, we don’t realize the greatness of God! The devil has so blinded and tried so hard to keep us in darkness that we don’t see God’s love! Until the day that the good Lord breaks through to us and shows us His marvelous love.

And when I think of His love, so divine, so amazing, that He sent His only Son to die for us! And when I experienced His saving grace in my life, then I knew that He is real, and that He does care for each of us. He pities us, caught in the trap of the devil. If we only would stop trembling and look up unto the Heavens and see the handiwork of God, and take our eyes off of ourselves and earthly things turn them on to Him…we would find Him to be all that He said and more, and we would think; “why didn’t I turn to Him sooner?”

Why did I reject Him so long? That is the question I often ask myself, I could have had so much and yet in my blindness and fear I hung back until I could no longer and than I desperately turned to Him, and found in Him a resting place and He has made me glad! I wonder why I waited,…I wonder why He waited. But it is His infinite love for mankind that makes Him wait so long. He has a plan, a great and wonderful plan. And everything will be fulfilled in His time. Praise Him!

Take the Supreme Climb!

Jesus lead me up the mountain,
Where the whites robes are seen,
Where the saints can see the fountain,
Where the pure are keeping clean.

Higher up, where light increases,
Rich above all earthly good,
Where the life of sinning ceases,
Where the Spirit comes in floods.

Lead me higher, nothing dreading,
In the race to never stop;
In Thy footsteps keep me treading,
Give me grace to reach the top.
-Author Unknown

Courage, my friends, let us journey on!

This also is to be/is published in Prairie Blossom Gazette.

A Heart of Thanksgiving:

O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Ps. 107:1

A s we near Thanksgiving Day, I want to pause and think. Each day is a day for thanksgiving, each day is a day to give glory to our Maker. But there is one day of the year that North America has set aside as the day of pausing in thanksgiving. To stop and look back...and think of all the our Lord has done for us.

When I pause and look back, I see so much for which to be thankful! The Lord has blessed me so much, and I can't say that I am all that deserving of it. I think of the times that I have been ungrateful, what shame. I strive not to complain outwardly, but even so the Lord sees my heart, and He knows the times I complain inwardly. Which is just as bad, I want to live with a grateful heart, thanking the Lord for everything, even the things that I think it wouldn't have been so bad without.

Christ says, "In everything give thanks." It is my desire to to strive to be more Christlike in this area. More thankful for everything...because really, I have so much, how could I ever be ungrateful?

The Lord has blessed me so much...I have:

God, and my Saviour, Jesus Christ - He has given me the joy of salvation, the priviledge of knowing Him in a real way. There are so many that don't know His love. Because I do, I have so much more of a reason to praise Him, and live my life for His glory and honor.

My Family - I am so thankful for them all. My brothers, I don't know what I do without them! :) And my sisters are much loved even if there are somewhat annoying sometimes. My parents definatly play a big part in my existence. The loved me, cared for me, fed and clothed me all my growing up years. And continue to do a wonderful job of providing for and caring for our family.

My Friends - My dear friends have been such an encouragement to me! I am so thankful to the Lord for each one. I know that good friends are priceless because there was a time when I didn't have. The Lord has indeed blessed me greatly!

Freedom - How often we take forgranted the fact that we have religious freedom. Freedom to worship and serve God. Why, when so many others are suffering and being martyred for their faith? How can we even complain for a minute?

Food, Clothes, and a roof over my head - There are so many that don't have even these essentials. They don't have homes, they hunger not only for physical food, but for spiritual food also. How can I complain when I have been blessed with not only a temporary home on earth, but also an eternal Home in heaven with Christ!?

Oh miserable human beings we are! I pray God to make me to be more grateful. To seek to serve and glorify Him in all I do. Indeed to make use of the fact that we have more than many others, and share instead of selfishly hogging it all to ourselves, and than thinking we don't have enough.

My desire is to shed the light of God's love, how can I, if I am not grateful? Lord, make me grateful for each and every little thing, no matter how small.

Make in me a heart of thanksgiving, I pray!

Note: This was written a week or so before our Canadian Thanksgiving day. I wasn't able to post it until now.

But For a Moment...

L ord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man that You are mindful of him? Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow. Ps 144:3-4

The Word of God tells us that we are dust. Dust, you say? Dust? Yes, dust. Or dirt! And here the psalmist says; "Why does God even think about us?" We are dust, and dust sure isn't worth much...in our eyes anyway.

But...! The Lord tells us that we are worth much! So much that He was willing to give His life to save us from the devil and eternity without Him. Wow, that is amazing...!

Psalm 145 has been a favorite of mine for a long while. It tells us of God's care and that He is gracious and merciful and full of compassion for sinners caught in the death trap. For He remembers that our life is fleeting, but for a moment. And the thing that I found amazing is that, "He Cares!" [1 Peter 5:7]

Oh, Blessed thought! He cares about us,...some dust!?! Yes, He does! He is near to all who call upon Him and will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. He hears our cry, and in our sorrow He bears a part that none can bear below.

Him who is so mighty, He could have wiped us all away long ago! But in His infinite mercy He has waited, waited...for us. Given us chance after chance. So while there is yet time and while you have yet life, cry to Him and He who is on High will open His hand and satisfy your desire and fill you with a peace and joy better and more wonderful than our poor human minds can imagine. [Ps. 145:16]

Our life is short, but for a moment, that is why it is important to serve Him and devote ourselves to Him while we are here on earth, so that we may spend eternity with Him!

Truly, we serve a great God!

Walking the Walk:

F or from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place, your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. [1 Thess. !:8,9,10]

Here in these verses it struck me as I was reading; that this group of believers,... their faith in God was so strong that it went out to the nations. They were lights in this dark world. And that is what we need to be. As a city on a hill that shines forth light.

Don't put your candle under a bushel no matter how small it may be. Shine forth! That our faith may be seen by all the nations. Undaunted, sharing the Gospel, "For if God be for us who can be against us?" Yes, us young people can share, and shine also! You don't have to wait until you are old, in fact it is much better if we shine while we are young! And when we are older! The Lord blesses and gives oil for our lampfrom an everlasting supply so that it will never go out.

He holds His hand over our lives to protect us so that our flame doesn't die but in the end glows brighter. Though trials and temptations may come we know that He is protecting us and giving oil for our lamp that the flame will never go out.

But it will spread to the nations if we set our candle or lamp on the hill for all to see. "As a city on a hill..."

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." [Matt. 5:14]