Serving God - Pastor’s Heart

Hi Folks!

God is looking for those who will serve Him. There are three basic ways in which we can serve the Lord

1. Serving God personally
2. Serving in the Church
3. Serving in the World

I will talk about each of these in the weeks to come. But first of all let's look at serving the Lord personally. We see the heart intent of the Lord in His dealings with the Children of Israel. When He freed the Isrealites from the heavy hand of Egyptian slavery, they were brought out of bondage with great power through many signs, wonders and judgements. Moses gave instruction to the Pharaoh directly from the Lord, let My people go! Pharaoh would not relent and God eventually caused him to command the people to go. Through the miraculous deliverance of the children of Israel, and the destruction of the world's most mighty military, the nations of the known world knew there was a God in Israel. The Israelite's were feared because folks had heard that God was with them, and that He was their defender. But what was God's "primary" purpose in freeing His people from bondage? To serve Him.

We can learn a lot from the shadow. Pharaoh can be likened to Satan; Moses can be likened to the Saviour Jesus Christ; And the ones being rescued can be likened to you and I. God the Father over 16 years ago, said through His son Jesus to the Devil, let my son David go that He may serve Me! Just like God the Father spoke through Moses to the Pharaoh, He also has spoken to the "Pharaoh" who once had you in bondage to sin and death, saying "let my child go so that he/she can serve me!" God's primary purpose for you and I is no different to that of the Children of Israel... "serve Me". God has set you and I free from the bondage of sin and death, to serve Him first. We once were slaves of Satan, the dictates of the flesh and of the world. But now we are to be a "slave" to the One who purchased us with His own blood, and serve Him only.

A little recap from last time...
Contrary to much teaching nowadays, God's primary purpose for releasing the Israelites was not so He could bless them with a "promised land". He was wanting "first" a people that would serve Him, and then as a reward for their faithfulness He would bless them and lead them to the promised land. God was wanting a people for Himself. After all He is the Creator and He can have it whatever way He wants. Have a look at this same verse from another translation...

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let My people go, so they can worship Me... Exodus 8:1 (NLT)

This is the Lord speaking directly to Moses with His very own heart's intention. Notice the difference between the two translations with reference to the word serve? The NLT uses worship instead of serve. They are both accurate translations of the original meaning of the text. True servitude to the Lord is true worship. What did the Lord say again?
Let My people go that they may... serve Me.
Let My people go that they may... worship Me.

The Hebrew word can be translated either way. Let's have a look in the New Testament to see what the Lord Himself had to say about the true heart's desire of our Father.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

Here we see the Father's desire for us to worship Him. Or we could say, 'He is looking for those who will serve Him'. To worship and serve the Lord is our highest privilege as believers down here on Earth. God won't force anybody to worship Him in the way He has chosen, but He is certainly longing for it. Even now as I write this letter our Father's eyes are searching the globe for the one who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth. This is the greatest command of all.. love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength... see Mark 12:30. Our highest calling in this life and in the life to come is to love the Lord. We do this through true servitude to Him.
Let's take a look at a very popular verse of scripture. It is one of my favourites :)

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Praise God what an awesome promise. Read it again... you can see that God is our source of strength. He is the One who has the ability to uphold us through any test, trial or temptation, and bring us out into total victory, each and every time. Bless His holy Name! But, why is it we see so many folks in the Church that are weak and miserable? There is a key in this verse that could be the answer to many a dilemma. It's the word "wait". The promise of renewed strength and vitality to the believer is found in "waiting" on God. The word wait here means... "to minister to in praise and worship" and "to serve". It means to be like a first class waiter or waitress who waits upon a patron in a restaurant. They are ever looking to see what they may want and how they can best serve them. They are there to please the patron and help them be as comfortable and satisfied as can be. They are there to look out for the needs and wishes of another. They are servants to the customer.

We are to wait on the Lord as a waiter waits upon their customer. We are to be there for the Lord and to answer His every wish and desire. We are to please our Lord through praising Him, worshiping Him and through obedience to Him. We have been bought at a very high price and He is worthy to be served and worshipped. This I believe, is a most major problem in the Church, a lack of true servitude. God is looking for this and is certainly finding it through many of His dear children. But there are many others who have pledged allegiance to Him through His son Jesus, but have failed to serve Him. They are still living for themselves and serving their own interests and desires.

Living for themselves and not for the Lord can only hold folks in bondage, and a change of heart and attitude as to who really is serving who, needs to be determined if first the child of God is to move on to victory. Remember, to the children of Israel the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, was given - but was not inherited for over 40 years because the people refused to serve the Lord as they were instructed. They continually complained about any hardship and wanted only self gratification. They were only concerned with their own interests and had no concern for the needs of the One who rescued them from slavery.

You and I have that same calling as the Israelites had all that time ago... serve Me

And He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 2Corinthians 5:15

David

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