Perspectives

Ephesians 3:7-8… 7) I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8) Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, (NIV)

What makes a person humble? Have you ever felt humbled when you discovered that you had the privilege of, let us say, “teaching some very profound truth?” Now by that, I mean, discovering Biblical truths about God’s plan for yourself and others? God has placed an idea, a thought within your heart, placed there by the Holy Spirit, to make this truth known. That is an overwhelming experience that does not fill the human heart with foolish pride, but rather humbles a human heart.

Let us say for a moment we have an idea for our community. And in that mental picture, the Holy Spirit made us aware that our group of believers is not like a company, it is not departments run by Presidents but, a living organism of God’s redeemed people. Now in that vision, we are called to minister the message of love to others. We are called to submit to God’s authority. We are called to make known God’s grace and wisdom as it has been revealed to us. And then we find that the greatness of the message does not come from the messenger but Jesus Christ. And we feel humbled and deeply privileged that God would use us in this way.

When we have been called to work in a leadership role, we soon find that we are undergoing and experiencing some technical glitches, better known to us as testing, trials that we had not experienced before. We find that our time is not our own. We sense that our popularity is not as great as we felt it might be with this new position. We soon realize it even costs us some money.

It is now that a new thought springs to life in our mind and we wrestle with the idea that other folks are victimizing us. This is a tough situation for us. Now we learn the truth behind the fact that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but evil forces. Forces that want to stop us from ministering to others. It is at this time that we must sort through some difficult thoughts that enter our minds and heart. Our mind is now working feverishly. We are asking ourselves whether we are doing this service for show and tell or championing the cause of Christ.

Notice what the apostle Paul says, “Just think,” he says, “I do not deserve this privilege that has been given to me, I feel so useless, as though I am the most useless Christian there is. But! But I was chosen for this special joy and excitement, adventure, and thrill of telling others the Great News, the Good News of the endless riches available to them in Christ Jesus. And then explain to everyone that Jesus Christ was sent by God to be our Saviour. And that we can now come freely and fearlessly into God’s presence, assured of His welcome because we have put our faith and trust in His Son Jesus Christ… that is a privilege.

A Thought to consider: When we are involved in Christian service, and I suppose it does not matter where, or what we are asked to do. We will soon find that it would be impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit. We must never lose heart when our Christian service is not treating us the way we thought we should be treated. In the end, we can be assured that Christ’s glorious, unlimited resources have been made available to us. And Jesus Christ will give us that mighty inner strength through the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish that work…To God be the glory great things He has done.

Would you pray this prayer with me… “Lord Jesus, come into my heart? Forgive my sins. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I do not have the peace in my heart that I yearn for. I really want that peace, joy and happiness that will fulfill my heart’s desire. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will honour Your Name.” Amen