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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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Update 2025: Here I Am

Isaiah 6:8 (AMP)  Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

One January eighth of this year I wrote a blog called “2025: Here I Am.” Here is what I wrote: “Here I am” is a heart position to be all in. It is a response to God that you are sensitive to His call. It is a willingness to listen and to obey His commands. “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him” (1 John 4:21). Seeking the best for others requires a lot of dying to self. That lines up with what Christ said we would have to do to be His disciples (Matthew 16:24-26). So that new thing He is doing in me, has a lot to do with my surrender. God doing a new thing requires me changing (Isaiah 43:19).

When I dedicated this year to answer the call with, “Here I Am,” I did not know where it would take me. Some would hope it would take them across the world. Some would expect a change of scenery. Some would expect a huge move. What it did in me caused me to make a holy shift to Your will not my will, Lord. I have answered calls that I did not want to. I have gone into homes that I did not want to. I have made trips to spend just a few moments with someone, that was way out of my route for the day. Why? “Here I Am.” How can we say we want to do great things for God when we will not give Him the fifteen minutes, or even a couple of hours, that will make us uncomfortable for someone else? He has given me a heart for people like never before. It is not to point out what is wrong in their life, it is to point them to the person who will make them whole. I am not there to fix their problems; I am pointing them to the One who can ground them in Truth.

This still rings true today: What should we be praying for the church? That God becomes real to us. That we stop going through the motions and desire a real relationship with God. You can listen and not hear. You can look and not see. This will happen until you surrender your ideas. We have the luxury of doing so much research that we have not need to sit and listen for His voice. We have access to so many books and teaching online, that we do not need to read the Bible for ourselves. We read the Bible through the lens of experience and not really listen for His voice. We depend on scripture taken out of context and wonder why God is not doing what I want. It is not until we surrender that we will be rooted and grounded in Christ. This is where love starts. We cannot love each other when we are only worried about ourselves. Serving only those we want to serve is really self-serving. Only reading what we like is self-serving.

“Here I Am” is a call for deeper surrender. I do not know why God has me doing this. I spend my week with people. People that I am not looking for anything in return. I asked God why, especially since church attendance was looking sad this past Sunday. It can be disheartening when we look at people. I have to keep my eyes focused on Him. It is not about what I see in the natural, it is about what He is doing when I am obedient. I put my trust in Him. At the right time (His time).

Galatians 6:9-10 (AMP) Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in. So then, while we [as individual believers] have the opportunity, let us do good to all people [not only being helpful, but also doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being], and especially [be a blessing] to those of the household of faith (born-again believers).

Here I am, send me. I am choosing not to give it, not giving up.

Abba, Father, we are in awe of You. You are Holy, Marvelous, and Righteous. Help us to fully accept Your Son for who He is, the One who came to make us whole and whose peace fills us completely. When we love You and put You first, everything else finds its rightful place. When Your voice is our priority, all other voices fade away. When Your Word is first in our lives, distractions lose their hold. When we follow Your principles, the promises of Your Word become evident in our lives. Lead us back to putting You first. Let us say, “Here I am.” We repent for prioritizing ourselves over Your Word, Your voice, and Your guidance. Help us to open Your Word and crave it like the most satisfying meal. Thank You for Your forgiveness and Your mercies that are new every morning. We choose joy today. We choose hope today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Whoever has ears, let them hear!

Acts 2:17 (MEV) ‘In the last days it shall be,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

Why does God choose to speak to us in different ways? Some have dreams, some see visions, some see angels…how does God speak to you? The bigger question is, are you really hearing and doing what He speaks to you?

When the Holy Spirit pour out on your life, He will inspire dreams and visions, which will picture not just your present and future, but those you are to impact for His glory. Dreams and visions always conform to biblical truth. They will not present individualism. They will not cause you to fight against flesh and blood. Their purpose is to establish His Kingdom here on earth.

What if you say, “God does not talk to me.” What if the real reason is because we have become selective in what we choose to hear? For Mother’s Day I have this big pile of giveaways for our church, enough to require a table to be brought out to display them all. I had asked for my oldest to come with me and instructed him to grab the small table in the room we were in and that I would be on my way with a table cloth to put on the table. As I walked into the room, and the place we put the table, I see the large table and them placing the items on the table without table cloth. My son heard “table” and that is what he went on.

A lot of the times God is speaking, but we are selective in what we choose to hear. Or, we do not like how it is being brought to us. We want to hear His audible voice like he spoke to Samuel in (1 Samuel 3). God is not a human being. He is God. He can talk to you however He wants to, not the way you want Him to. Humans are limited, God is not. He can communicate through other followers, through experiences, through your gifts, through dreams, through visions, through nature…the list is endless. When you have ears to hear.

Matthew 11:15 (NIV) Whoever has ears, let them hear.

The Hebrew word for hear is shama. It means to hear, to listen, to pay heed, to obey. The voice of God will always line up with His Word. Here is my test: 1) Will it cause division? This is me being self seeking, the benefactor is me and it does not matter what division it will cause in the body of Christ. This will not line up with God. 2) Will it help establish His kingdom here on earth? This is the heart of a servant. My actions benefit God’s plan and purpose in others and me. This glorifies God and I can believe that it is His voice (no matter if it is out of my comfort).

If you get the chance today, read Acts 10. It is a great example of how God speaks to us and what happens when we obey. He can speak to us in different ways. He speaks to me in different illustrations of His Word. He speaks to me to be generous. He speaks to me to bake and deliver goodies. He speaks to me to buy flowers and deliver them. Whoever has ears, let them hear!