Are You Willing To Be Used?

The Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone and I hope it brought joy to your family.  I wonder, though, if we are more full of turkey or more full of realizing how blessed we are to know God as our Heavenly Father and Jesus our Savior? The freedoms we enjoy living with in America are amazing but our consumer culture always seems to leave us wanting more.  If we are more thankful, shouldn’t we consider reaching out to people with the love of God these next few weeks before Christmas? If God loves the whole world as the book of John 3:16 states, shouldn’t we have a deep concern for the world that Christ died for?

As true believers in Jesus Christ, we have a foundation stone to our faith in which we believe man is separated from God by his sin and thus he needs salvation and redemption. According to the Bible, that salvation and redemption is possible through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. His sacrifice can be our atonement because he was sinless and he is the Son of God. As the book of Philippians states, his worth is higher than any person or thing since he is the very embodiment of God in human flesh. It is for Him we should be setting our life activities on and not just material things that many seem to captivate our attention.

Philippians 2:6-9                                                                                                                                                                                       

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.                                                             [8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!          [9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

The apostle Paul in the beginning of Philippians chapter 2 challenges the believer to have the same “Attitude” that Jesus had. He had and still does have an attitude of serving the will of the Father. Remember “For God So Loved The World” that he gave. Our desire should be developing towards the same attitude and behavior as Jesus. I, for one, still struggle at times being selfish and wanting to do my own will rather than God’s. Granted, I think I’m advancing towards the attitude of Jesus but change is still a struggle to keep the gains I have made in my life and continue to develop further into a Christ like attitude and walk.

Philippians 2:1-2                                                                                                                                                                               

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 

This mind that Paul talks about is the mind of Jesus. He gave himself towards the service of God the Father and put the kingdom of God first in his thoughts and actions. We, on the other hand, tend to think about Jesus and his nobility and greatness and yet somehow feel free to disconnect ourselves from his pursuits in this earthly life. Funny how we love Jesus so long as he doesn’t mess with our goals and pursuits.

Back to my original question:  are we truly grateful enough to do something for the love and blessing of God? My wife and I are investing towards her mission trip to Tanzania, Africa in order to help an orphanage of some 80-90 kids and complete some buildings they need.  Most of all, she wants to reach the Maasai people in that region with the gospel. We don’t do these kinds of trips every year, but we felt directed by God to do so this year. The point is that we are engaging in being thankful past Thanksgiving Day and hope others will do the same. Maybe you can’t go to Africa, but you can go next door and help your neighbor with some act of kindness. Maybe that act of kindness will open a door to share your faith journey with them. Maybe they will ask for you to pray about their personal concern. A sick child, a financial struggle, a death in the family. By being willing to express your gratitude the Holy Spirit can direct your hands and feet to be Jesus to those who don’t know him.

In my last church, which I spent 30 years of my life sowing into, we would do a simple act of kindness by taking canning jars and for two to three months put our spare change in. Then, the week before Christmas, we would ask the Holy Spirit to direct each of us to the person he wanted us to touch.  There were so many wonderful stories of divine moments.

One such moment happened to a lady who was scared to approach strangers yet she decided that she needed to love people practically. She faithfully filled her jar with loose change each week until the week before Christmas. She asked me what to do with the jar now that it was full and she confessed her fear of talking to strangers. I told her to stop trying to figure it all out and listen to the voice of God. He will direct her who to give the jar to. I encouraged her to not look at a certain type of person but to be directed by the Holy Spirit. At the time, many of us were engaged in gift wrapping at the local mall and a lady came up with lots of packages to wrap. You could tell she had money by what she bought and how she was dressed. My friend approached the woman and said she felt God wanted her to give the jar of change. The lady looked at my friend and asked why she would do that since she didn’t need money. The woman with the jar said she had saved her change for three months to give it to someone special and God told her it was her. It wasn’t because she needed the money, but because she needed to know that God loved her and that she was valuable to God. The woman just started to cry. You see, even rich people need to feel loved. Many rich people struggle with their self worth because they think they are only loved because they have money. Rich or poor, God used simple people with simple jars to make a profound impact on many during the Christmas season.

If you want to read an inspiring book, then get, “A Christmas Jar” and be inspired by what people have learned about being kind to others during the Christmas holidays. It may just inspire you to expect the Holy Spirit to give you a divine appointment to touch a soul who needs Jesus this Christmas.

Isaiah 6:8                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? …… Who will go for us?”                            And I said, “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”

Questions:

1) Should you do something to touch a soul, maybe even a strangers, for Christ? If not, why not?

2) Should you do a Christmas jar or something similar? If you do I believe God will use you greatly.

May The Holy Spirit of God fill us with the power to believe …… that we can be used of God!

Pastor Dale