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What to do with this abundance

Galatians 5:13 (AMP) For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.

Out of the abundance of love, it is that we serve. Some have already tuned out just because I have used the word “serve.” This only can be done through the abundance of love that we receive. Why? It is hard to give what you are already lacking in. Did I just call it what it is? Yes, I did.

Romans 12:9-13 (AMP) Love is to be sincere and active [the real thing—without guile and hypocrisy]. Hate what is evil [detest all ungodliness, do not tolerate wickedness]; hold on tightly to what is good. Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor; never lagging behind in diligence; aglow in the Spirit, enthusiastically serving the Lord; constantly rejoicing in hope [because of our confidence in Christ], steadfast and patient in distress, devoted to prayer [continually seeking wisdom, guidance, and strength], contributing to the needs of God’s people, pursuing [the practice of] hospitality.

The Modern English Version starts off with verse thirteen as, “Let love be without hypocrisy.” Who are we called to serve? This right here says I am to serve the Lord. How can I do that if I omit His people? Does it say it is permitted to only serve your family? This right here says that in the body of Christ we are all members of one family. Can we pose the same question that Jesus was asked when they inquired about who is their neighbor? Who is my family?

Ephesians 2:19-22 (AMP)  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [outsiders without rights of citizenship], but you are fellow citizens with the saints (God’s people), and are [members] of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the [chief] Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues [to increase] growing into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord]. In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Here is what I tell our church, and I personally watch out for, if it is of the flesh (me trying to live) then I am going to have to keep defending it. A defensive person is usually refusing to let go of something that God does not think is beneficial any longer. That is not living in the abundance of His love.

John 12:25-26 (AMP) The one who loves his life [eventually] loses it [through death], but the one who hates his life in this world [and is concerned with pleasing God] will keep it for life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must [continue to faithfully] follow Me [without hesitation, holding steadfastly to Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]; and wherever I am [in heaven’s glory], there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

Jesus was not too popular when He talked about loving your neighbor, forgiving seventy times seven in a day, serving, taking up their cross, etc. Really any instruction that was not their idea or their ability to live any old way was not popular. Serving when you want something in return is not going to be fulfilling. Serving yourself is not fulfilling, that includes saying that you only serve your family (that is self-serving). Serving only when you feel like it will not be fulfilling. It is out of the abundance of His love that we serve and that is the only way it will be fulfilling. Serving is how we tell the world what love looks like.

Mark 10:45 (AMP) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

What about the age-old excuse, ‘my gifting is not serving’? Yes, there are those that have a gift of serving. There are those that have a gift of giving. There are those that have the gift of teaching. However, every one of us should be doing some element of each of these in our lives. Just like it is not the job of the fivefold evangelist to be the only person that ministers the gospel. This is why I am willing to be outside of myself and do for others.

John 15:9-15 (AMP) I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing. “This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 

There are three different roles God gives us in this new life in Christ. We are adopted in as family, sons and daughters. We are also bond servants, as Paul calls himself over and over again. We are also friends. We all start off as sons and daughters. With deeper revelation of His love, we become servants and willing call ourselves bond servants (willing to do serve in any capacity). This does not diminish our place as sons and daughters, yet it elevates it. Lastly, we become friends. Not in the familiarity way that we do with people today. This is a holy role, and it is out of an abundance of reverence that we get to be called friends.

There was recently a well-known mega pastor that is now serving time in jail for what he had done to some teenage girls years ago in his home. Can God forgive? I believe so, with a truly repented heart. Here is where many in the church have an issue, they do not want him to be restored. If his reason for going through the steps is just to get to the restoration of a pulpit ministry, then I would question his heart motive. To me, he would be of greater testimony of forgiveness is if he would go back in the church and pick up a mop. A leader who will not serve, does not need to be a leader. That is why we watch before promoting. If serving is beneath you, then leadership is beyond you. If you are not wanting to serve, but willing to take a leadership role, then you have missed what God called a servant.

What about Acts chapter six? What about the disciples having men chosen to distribute the food so they could devote themselves to prayer and ministry of the word? Do you think they never gave to the needy after then? Do you think they never served in other capacities? Feeding the widows and orphans was not beneath them, they needed help to fulfill what other areas they served. I do not believe their hearts were not to meet the needs of others when they had the capacity. This would be contradictory to what Jesus lived and taught. They had become out of balance. Serving without abiding leads to burnout. Abiding without serving leads to stagnation. I want to be counted as faithful, even until the last breath that I take. Prayer, reading the Word, spending time in His house and serving one another in brotherly love is part of living in the abundance of His love.

Abba, Father, our Banner, You are worthy of all honor and praise. You are Holy and Marvelous. Thank You for sending Your Son to restore our relationship with You. Through Him we are born again and made new. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, our Teacher and Friend, and for Your Word. We repent for seeking gifts to build ourselves up and for only participating in the body when it serves our own desires. We are sons and daughters, also Your bondservants to the Gospel. We long to know You more and to be called friend. You reveal Yourself to us in ways beyond our imagination. We are grateful for spiritual gifts, but above all, we thank You for Your love. May we desire Your love above all else. Let us be trees of righteousness. You set the captives free so that we seek fulfillment only in You. We choose surrender today. We choose love today. We choose joy today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose hope today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Hello Sunflower

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (AMP) “Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord. “For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river; and will not fear the heat when it comes; but its leaves will be green and moist And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought nor stop bearing fruit.

What happens when we go through the tough parts of life? Can we still have joy? As I was preparing for this past Sunday’s message, that was my hearts desire for those that would be listening. May is Mental Health Awareness month. Lately I have been listening to Neil T. Anderson and some of the things he placed on YouTube in his Freedom in Christ channel. A lot of it had to do with the mind and the battle of depression that many believers have to overcome.

Four and a half years ago I was rocked. I had already been going through some things at work. I was promoted, demoted, talked down to, shunned…then terminated. My character was tarnished. How could I put myself out there in the community? Our vision for Connect Church is to touch the world through our community. I am constantly encouraging the body to look for opportunities to glorify God.

Our first gut reaction is to hide. I did, but I did it differently. I hid in the Word. I did not occasionally open my Bible any more, I really set out to get to know the Word. I ran to the Word. In doing so, I did not hide myself for protection from the hurt. I was able to stand free and with confidence of who I am in Christ. When I stand up and speak in front of people it is not to share how much I know, but who I know.

So when I was walking the track, listening to worship music a couple of months ago, God spoke to me about what I needed to share for Mother’s Day. He told me that I needed to share why I am so passionate about His ways. Why do I speak with such boldness and conviction when it comes to His Word? The secret comes in what you are rooted in.

John 15:5 (AMP) I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (AMP)  May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

To abide in Him means that I have replaced my roots in Him, I give Him first place. When I looked again at the parable of the sower in Mark 4, He spoke to me that we have placed ourselves in the story that was not what He intended. We wanted to be the good soil, but He is. When we allow ourselves to be in the love that He is, everything changes. Do branches have roots? No, the vine does. Where do the nutrients to grow come from? The soil. We have called the soil our hearts for so long. We are responsible for allowing the Holy Spirit to remove the rocks and the thorns. All soil has potential. Just like all of us do. There is only one that can be called good, and that is Jesus. Do not limit your perception of “in Christ” as a follower or just a position, BE in Christ. We are loved by Him and nothing can take that away, you are in that position, but we have put it on. We have to abide in that love. When we do, we are truly abiding in Christ.

I love sunflowers. They would have been the flowers for my wedding if a farmer did not give us 1000 gladiolas. I had chosen sunflower bracelets to give away that day. Sunflowers show their seeds. Sunflowers are sun worshipers. They need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. They actually track the sun (desire His face). A single seed planted in the spring can produce many seeds. They grow so fast that they will choke out weeds. Sunflowers droop when they are not drinking enough water. The sunflower is a tap root. It is an elevator of nutrients. It brings water and other microbes from deeper soil layers closer to the soil for subsequent crops to have better access to. Sunflowers produce oil, and lots of it.

This was my summation: the seed (Word, Jesus is the Word John 1:1) from the sower (us), is planted in Christ (the soil) and we allow the roots (love in Christ) and the fruit we bear become more seeds because we are abiding on the vine (in Christ)…but they will have to be continued to be watered by the Living Water (Jesus, His Word).

I have more to this message, but for you to even get to the part of being free in every area of your life, you first need to know that depth of His love. To be in that love because you are in Christ. You have to realize that Jesus came for more than to save you from hell, that He came to restore you. Then you will no longer allow the things to shatter you and cause you to go into a cave of hiding. We are in Christ, He is all we need.

Dear God, our Creator, You are so full of majesty. We honor You today with our thanksgiving. Thank you for Your Son. Jesus took on every part of our lives so that we can walk in fullness. We are sorry that we have not walked in the fullness of that love. Let us be rooted in grounded in the love of Christ. We choose to abide in Him today. Holy Spirit, lead us to the areas of rocks and thorns that we need to be set free of. Renew our minds. We submit to You today. Let us be sowers of the Word. When we sow in Christ all of the ground is good ground and all that we sow is good. The Word is always good. Thank You for the Word. Thank You for the Word becoming flesh. Thank You for being the vine. We desire to bear fruit that glorifies You. We choose Love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.