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I thank Christ Jesus our Lord,

who has strengthened me,

because He considered me faithful,

putting me into service

~ 1 Timothy 1:12

 

Good morning beloved of God!

What a beautiful way to begin our day; with thankful hearts to our Lord for giving us strength for today! 

What opportunity for service will He put in our way? We ask God to lead us and He does, from His all-knowing perspective! From our limited perspective though, it often seems that the Lord puts opportunity in our path and we need to be on the lookout for it! Sometimes it is a chance to minister to someone in some small way, or a thought that comes to mind to do something or go somewhere. From our perspective, that looks like following God’s lead. 

For many years I was the kind of child that said to my heavenly Father, ‘I just wanna be a sheep, tell me what to do and I will do it!’ When I became a parent though, I realized that I desired more from my children than obedience. I desired a relationship wrapped in the bonds of faithfulness and love. That’s when it began to dawn on me what kind of relationship our heavenly Father wants with us, His children! God is not my boss, He is my Father! 

Faithfulness is a big part of any relationship. It takes strength of character and a conviction to remain loyal to truth. Just as we can exercise our muscles to strengthen our bodies, God strengthens our faith when we step out in faithfulness and love in service to Him! 

I wonder if Paul was thinking about that when he wrote his letter to Timothy? Reading Paul’s testimonies and instructions always seemed more biographical to me, useful for the amount of wisdom that could be gained from his testimonies. He glorified God in all his ministry experience, whether good or bad and is a great example for all believers. Somehow though, it didn’t really touch me until his greeting to his spiritual son Timothy finally enlightened me.

When we commit our lives into the hand of Jesus, He gives us a new heart in exchange for our old heart. Jesus came to serve, not to be served. When we begin to focus on serving God for His kingdom, not merely our own, He gives us the strength and wisdom we need to serve Him well! In fact, service for Him becomes service with Him!

We may have training, education or the willingness to serve already, but when we are open to serving with God’s direction, the seeds of the gifts that He has planted in us really begin to flourish and multiply! He puts us into the exact place where we fit, because that is what He has intended for us all along! Not only are we strengthened, God's grace is more than abundant, with the faith and love, which are found in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim 1:14) Not our grace, not our faith, not our love, but the unsurpassable grace, faith and love found only in Jesus, giving us strength!

There is still a part of me that says to God, ’tell me what to do and I will do it’, but I’m finding that as I allow my heart to become more like His, my priorities of service change, I begin to see a little more like He sees. Sometimes I take a step of faith and act in a way that I would never have dared to before because He strengthens me. I no longer want to be considered obedient, I want to be faithful.

Do you remember playing games with your friends, lining up to choose teams and wanting to be chosen by your best friend, sibling or the best person on the team? (Pick me! Pick me!) 

Imagine, God, the Great I AM, the Lord over all creation, calling YOU faithful, and strengthening you for His team! God chooses us and gives us a ministry to work in His kingdom! What an honor! Work with eternal value! Is there anything better than that?

We are blessed beyond measure, every day of our lives, let us turn back some of that blessing to Him in praise and thanksgiving today!

Thanks be to God, who knows us so perfectly and loves us so well!

With faithful love, by the strength of Christ, your sister, Celeste