Love God, love others. That's what life is all about. Nothing should get in the way of these commands. This is the esence of what being a follower of Christ is. That's the example He gave us.

I found this video that reminds us that we aren't here for ourselves, but for others. We're just so self conscious that we can't see other peoples needs. It's called "Get Service". Check it out.

Labels: faith, galatians, love, purpose, service

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6b

Sometimes it's just amazes me how we can make the important things about life and Christianity so hard. It's not that they are hard or impossible to do. It's that when the human factor hits; the ego, pride, selfishness; we make things harder than they seem.

It's not about how good you sing in church, or how much you give, or how long you've been a Christian. It's about showing God's love. Can you tell me why, when someone is doing the right thing in God's eyes, they end up thinking it's about them? Why does service and obedience turn out to feel like a burden in our eyes? If love is the expression of our faith, what do you call it when all you do is whine about what you for others?

Don't tell me you are doing something for the sake of another. Tell me you are doing it because of love. In itself, I believe that is the source of our strength to continue.

Labels: faith, galatians, love, service

One of the things that breaks my heart is to see a creature of God, the crown of His creation, desperately walking the streets trying to survive.

As I read Galatians 2 I ran into this verse: "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor..." (v.10).

Paul is talking about his first moments of ministry, after he finally had been accepted by the Apostles. Remember it took Paul about 17 years to finally do what he was so eager to do which was share the Gospel to the gentiles. He had spent years studying, working hard up the scale of trust; gaining a position among the early Christians; gaining a reputation, and after all that work again he is reminded of the simplicity of God's second command "love thy neighbor as yourself".

I guess this reflection could appeal to those "high" in power or spirituality. It is easy to forget the essence of loving someone when you're so "high" up there. But then again it doesn't matter where you think you are, spiritually speaking. I think this simple reminder that Paul got comes in handy from time to time. My prayers are that we may pause from looking at how spiritual we may "feel", and remember our calling in this world. May our response to this recommendation sound something like Paul's: To remember the poor is "...the very thing I was eager to do" (Galatians 2:10).

Labels: galatians, ministry, paul, poor, remember, service

Last Saturday I spoke on Psalm 50. A very direct and eye opening passage for those that have been involved in church happenings for a while. The basic premise that I took from this was to examine what is the source or motivation for serving God.

With routine comes burdens to carry, by carrying burdens comes sacrifice. Add to sacrifice our ego and we have the correct formula for believing that God needs us; that he needs our service. If you ever think that you are doing God a favor for anything; coming to church, to prayer, to youth, to Sunday school, or even living a good life, preaching to others, bringing others to Christ...well you've got it all wrong. God doesn't need you. But he wants you.

We must realize that all he desires from us is "thank offerings". In other words, that whatever we do must be an expression of thankfulness to him for who he is and what he has done. You know, when you meditate on this, things change. Everything changes. We understand that all we do with our lives has to be motivated by these two words "thank you".

Labels: jesus, sacrifice, service, thank you

How easy it is to do things. Not just because you "need" to, but because you think you have to. I'm referring in the context of Christianity. I think many times we "serve" just so we can say we did. Or we "help" so we feel better about ourselves. But truly, how selfish.

Psalm 51:16 says "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

What does God need from us? Nothing. We need Him. Does He need you to serve Him? No. We need to realize that our "doing" does nothing but frustrate Him (50:9-13). A broken heart means, everything we do is an expression of our thankfulness for what He has done. It's not about "look God, how much I do for you". It's about "God, I'm eternally thankful for what you've done, and I want you to know that" (50:14).

Labels: broken, psalm 51, serve, service, thankful, thanks