#690 Serving with the Right Heart

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 

There are Christians who feel as long as they are serving in some capacity at their local congregations or helping with some non-profit organizations they are okay in serving the Lord.  Many of these are actually performing the services to be seen by others with no thoughts of actually serving the Lord as their reason for doing so.  In other words, they are serving, but not ministering.  While these endeavors are certainly worthy and needed, God desires more from us.  He desires that our service for Him be true ministry with the right hearts, hearts that are devoted to Him with inner desire and willingness on our parts to minister for Him.  God is not fooled:  He knows our hearts and our very thoughts, judging our motives.  We need to be sure we are not only obeying God’s calling to ministry but we are doing so with hearts that are devoted to Him and His calling.

 

Are you serving the Lord with a glad and devoted heart, or just to be seen or recognized by others?

 

“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind:  for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.”  (I Chronicles 28:9a)

#631 Worship – Pharisees of Today?

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We as Christians would never want to be called “Pharisees.”  Yet, every one of us could easily fall into the routine of religion if not careful, and thus become hypocrites.  Hypocrites are those who pretend to be something they are not and have no intention of being.  When we attend church regularly, let others know how faithful we are in church attendance, yet fail to worship God genuinely, we are hypocrites just as the people of Isaiah’s day and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were.  God wants our worship to be from our hearts, honest and sincere, giving Him our love and devotion, and when that is not the case, our worship means nothing to Him.  God knows our hearts, and the attitude of our hearts speaks louder to Him than our acting religious without sincerity.

Protect your heart from being “holier-than-thou,” and being considered by God as a hypocrite!

“Which say, ‘Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.’  These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burneth all the day.”  (Isaiah 65:5)

May God Richly Bless You Today

#623 Worship – Commitment to Worship

Good Day Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of the great challenges we face in our churches today is having a full commitment to worship.  It is not whether the service is contemporary or traditional, singing praise songs or traditional hymns, or dressing casual or in suits; genuine worship is not experienced without the commitment to worship.  When Christians do not feel they are having a true worship experience they usually begin blaming someone or something, usually the Worship Minister and the music; however, they often will further blame things like the looks of the worship center not being conducive to worship, the switch to more modern media such as video screens taking away the reverence of the sanctuary, and the Pastor’s sermon being too deep theologically for some or maybe not deep enough for others making the worship during the sermon impossible.  Whereas some excuses may be legitimate, the problem may also need to be placed on the person’s attitude and commitment to worship.  Let’s continue these thoughts on commitment to worship.

Do you let the environment around you and/or your personal preferences affect the way you worship?

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”   (Hebrews 12:28-29 – ESV)

May God Richly Bless You Today