Skip to main content

Deliverance ... For what?

Luke gives us some answers to the bigger questions in life - like 'why are we here?' and 'why are we saved?'. There might be many answers to this question, but viewing it from man's perspective Luke wrote: '... that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days' (1:74)

The reality of finding complete fulfilment in being a servant is in stark contrast to the idea of seeing how we can fit Jesus into an otherwise unchanged life. In the former He is enthroned as Lord, in the latter I remain enthroned as Lord of 'My life'.

Where does His will fit in our list of priorities?

Are we sure that what we are doing today is what the Lord has asked us to do? Have we ever asked?

Jesus food was to do the will of His Father, so too it is our food ... In other words we will be malnourished if we simply go on our own way, giving no heed to His leading, or never even stopping to ask in the first place!

We have not simply been 'set free' ... But 'set free to serve' - the expression of the claims of Christ over all we are, have and do.

When we consider the challenge of proclaiming the gospel to the remaining unreached people's of the world it raises the question 'who will go?' ... Only those who recognise that He is Lord of all and that they are servants, for Christ's sake. Only those who ask 'Lord, what do you want me to do?'

He will then send some, others will hear the affirmation to stay where they are - either way they will know they are 'about their Father's business'.

Being set free to serve ... What a blessing!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts from a previous incumbent ...

In reference to 2 Tim 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of p o wer, of love a nd of sel f-discipli ne."   Norman Grubb decl are d that; "We are set in our day and generation to be overcomers, not to sail through calm seas but to walk on storms, to replace need with supply, to transform aspiration into realization. The language of defeatism, fear, lack and weakness is not to be in our vocabulary. "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. As for these giants, they are bread for us," we say with sturdy Caleb.  We are to act as the men of faith of old; we are to visualize our goal in clear outline; we are to take it for granted that we shall reach it, for we have both the commission and anointing of God?   We lay our plans ,build our organisations, produce our written and verbal pronouncements,  prayer our prayers, do our work, not as those who will fail and fall by the way, but...

Homes I have lived in #3

This year I am celebrating my silver wedding anniversary ... Just for something to do I have begun to sketch all the houses we have lived in during that time. So here is house number #3 On our return to the UK we were faced with the question that faces all people in transition, what next? For us, we were encouraged by our friends to investigate further training and opted to spend a year with Kerygma ministries. We joined with a group of some 20 other people from various different cultures and backgrounds to join the ministry led by Dr Bob Gordon, based at Drayton Hall near Norwich. We spent one year here, between September 1993 and July 1994.   Significant events that took place here included: Suffered reverse culture shock, as I grappled with the transition from life in a mudhut in Africa to life in the UK in a Manor House! (Struggled with the amount of money being spent on a sign that was being placed outside ...

Labels

Who are you? I have never been a great fan of labels when it comes to describing members of the body of Christ. eg. he is anglican, she is Baptist, they are Charismatic, etc. etc. I remember once causing a man to become increasingly hot under the collar when he asked me who I was? To which I replied I was a disciple (follower) of Jesus. He was meaning which Church did I attend (presumably so he could classify me and decide whether I was bona fide or not) and my answer did not bring him peace, but I refused to go any further.  Why? Because, as I said, I am not a great fan of labels, but also because for me there is a very important distinction between primarily identifying myself with Jesus and identifying myself with Church. Of course, I recognise that by becoming a follower of Jesus I become part of the body of Christ, but that can be very distinct from being a member of a Church. To me this is the crucial difference between vibrant faith and dusty religion.  ...