Let this teaching encourage you brothers and sister! First, know that you are in good company. If I were to recount all the leaders who were criticized and unappreciated, it would be a long list: Moses leads Gods people out of Egypt, but when times get tough they say, You have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. Only after his death do they really appreciate him. Some consolation prize! Job lives a righteous life before God, but who appreciates him when the tide turns against him? His wife calls him a fool and his so-called friends try to hammer into his skull the message that it is all his fault. Jeremiah has the unhappy mission of declaring to Israel that Jerusalem will be destroyed and the people will go into exile for their sins. Who appreciates him? No one. He is slandered, arrested, imprisoned, and called a traitor. Paul spends long, grueling years in missionary work, but some of the churches he himself founded discredit him. To his detractors in Corinth he bares his soul, and in his sarcasm you can feel his pain: We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. (1 Corinthians 4:10-13) And Christs work can indeed take a heavy toll on us. Paul writes again to the Corinthians: We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. (2 Cor. 1:8) Then, when he has recovered a bit, he tells them: We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) In the midst of the incredible pressure, he receives strength from God that helps him to make it through. Jesus said: Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12) Why are you so blessed? you ask. Because this persecution proves that you are in very good company. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are times life when we feel like were in a rowboat filling with the water of hurt and bitterness. If we dont keep bailing it out, bailing it out, the bitterness will soon overwhelm the boat and we will sink in self-pity, anger, and unforgiveness. But when we read Jesus words, were rebuked. Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. (Luke 6:35) Sheep and the Goats, Jesus tells us: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. (Matthew 25:35) Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free. (Ephesians 6:7-8, NRSV) Unlimited Service.... I serve to hear one simple sentence, spoken to me personally by Jesus: Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord (Matthew 25:21). I want God to be pleased with me. It doesnt matter if people are selfish and critical, insensitive and unappreciative. All that really matters is Gods approval. That is why we serve, because we love him. Press on brothers and sister,Press on...i encourage you to One passage of scripture sticks in my head and plays itself over and over. Let me share it with you, that it might repeat itself in your brain until it does its work: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58, RSV). God Bless You , Phipps Derrick YouTube Channel Link: https://youtube/channel/UCb7YpOb9trbT4i1BB7Yggog Facebook Group Link: https://facebook/groups/globalfamilyinchrist/
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 14:25:37 +0000
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