It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day five in the eleventh week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Patience In Sharing God’s Word

“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.“
2 Timothy 4:2 (NIV)

How often do you share the Word of God while you serve?  Why?  What kind of results do you expect to see from sharing God’s Word?  Do the results always come when you expect them to?  How does not seeing immediate results test your patience when it comes to sharing God’s Word?  Have you ever not shared what you should have because you didn’t think it would make a difference?  Does that say more about the power of God’s Word, or about you?

The Bible talks about the process that takes place in bringing about a changed life through the Word of God.  We read that some prepare the ground, some plant the seed, some water, and some do a variety of things to help the Word of God grow in a person, but it is always the Lord who brings about the increase.  When we serve others by sharing God’s Word, we must realize that our work is just a part of the process.  Occasionally, our part is near the end of the process and we get to see a person respond immediately in accepting the Word of God, but more often we must wait patiently for God to use the seeds and water we have spoken and bring about a harvest in His time.  As you pray, ask God to give you the patience needed to continue sharing His Word as you serve.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day four in the eleventh week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Patience With Everyone

“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.“
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 (NIV)

Are there certain people that you find it difficult to be patient with?  Are there times when people are not as patient with you as you think they ought to be?  What characteristics of people do you find you have the least amount of patience with?  How does losing your patience with one person affect how you serve someone else?  Why is having patience with everyone important to those you serve?

It is easy for most of us to let certain actions of people irritate us to the point that we have no patience with what they are doing, or with them.  Unfortunately, not only is our ability to serve them well diminished as our patience decreases, the lack of patience becomes contagious and spreads to others around us who we would otherwise have great patience with.  As we serve, we usually need people to have patience with us.  Yet when our lack of patience infects those we are to serve, we soon discover an atmosphere where everyone has a really short fuse.  As you pray, ask God to help you to have patience with everyone.  Pray that you would have particular growth in your patience with those whom you have difficulty with.  Pray that the way you patiently serve others would be reflected in their level of patience with you.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day three in the eleventh week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Patience Produced By God’s Spirit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.“
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)

What are some things that you find difficult to do on your own?  How much help would it be to have someone who knows what they are doing assist you?  How readily do you accept help when you know it is available?  How do the things that surround patience as part of the fruit of God’s Spirit help you to serve with greater patience?  How often do you turn to God for help in having patience with others when patience is not what you feel?

Many times people will pick apart the fruit of God’s Spirit and claim the elements they find pleasing while avoiding the ones that seem like extra work.  For me, the good news when we lack patience with people and situations is that I don’t have to come up with the necessary patience on my own — God’s Spirit will produce it in me if I seek it and allow it to take place.  Serving others often calls for a level of patience that can be difficult to have on our own.  Without the presence of God through His Spirit, we simply don’t have what it takes to be as patient as we ought to be.  As you pray, ask God to give you the courage necessary to allow His Spirit to produce patience in your life.  Pray that He would be seen as His Spirit produces a patience in the way you serve others.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day two in the eleventh week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Patience Because Of Love

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.“
1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)

How patient are you with the people you love?  Is that different than your level of patience with those you simply tolerate?  How about with people you can’t stand?  Would your answer to any of those questions need to change if you were to view patience as a result of God’s love toward you rather than your feelings toward a person?  How has God’s patience toward you been demonstrated through His love?

Young love is a fascinating thing.  We often use the phrase, “a honeymoon period”, to describe a time when faults are overlooked and patience is at an all-time high.  While the phrase comes from a marriage relationship, it is used in many situations where love for a person, an idea, a job, a friendship, or a variety of other things makes us appear, for a time, blind to the everyday faults that everyone else can see.  When God says that love is patient, He is talking about a love that helps us serve others when the people around us say they don’t deserve it.  As you pray, ask God to fill you with His love in a way that gives you patience in serving others.  Pray that you would daily see God’s love as He is patient with you.   Pray for a patience that overlooks the offences of others in the same way God overlooks yours.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day one in the eleventh week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Patience From Wisdom

“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.“
Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)

Are you a patient person?  Would your friends agree?  In what ways are you more, or less, patient now than you were a year ago?  What caused the change?  How has your level of wisdom changed in the same time period?  How does wisdom increase your patience?  How does patience increase your wisdom?

The old joke says to never pray for patience because God may answer by putting us into a situation that requires great patience.  While many would view patience as a noble quality, few in our culture are eager to wait for anything.  Wisdom is gained through a combination of experience and the time necessary to see that experience from God’s perspective.  The more we grow in wisdom in this manner, the more patient we become as we learn to wait with expectation for how God will work out our current situation for a greater good.  When we apply that wisdom to serving, it should give us a greater patience in watching for how God will bring about transformation in our life as well as in the lives of those we serve.  As you pray, ask God to fill you with a wisdom that will produce patience with those you serve.  Pray that you would have a greater practice of patience in your interactions with others as you grow in godly wisdom.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day seven in the tenth week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Listen For Instruction

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.“
James 1:22-25 (NIV)

Are you a person who is likely to read instructions and owner’s manuals of things you purchase or do you live by the motto, “If all else fails, read the instructions.”?  Do you often find yourself in the middle of doing something and wish you had more information before you began?  What do you think is the purpose of God’s Word in your life?  How often do you think of it as being instructional?  How would a daily practice of listening to the instruction found in God’s Word help you as you serve?

God says that His Word is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”, yet how often do we really listen to what it says and believe that it is the greatest source of instruction on how to serve?  When we serve people, it is important that we listen to them to understand their needs.  It is even more important, if we wish to serve well, to listen to God’s Word for instruction on how to serve that person according to their needs.

As you pray, ask God to help you listen to His Word with the intent of doing what it says.  Pray that your usefulness in serving would come by applying the instructions of Scripture.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day six in the tenth week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Listen Eagerly

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.“
James 1:19-20 (NIV)

What types of things are you eager to listen to?  Why?  Are there things, or people, that you try to avoid listening to?  Why?  Do you ever feel trapped in a conversation and try to find a way out?  What could you do to listen more eagerly in such a time?  How eager are you to listen to those you serve with?  Why?  How about to those you serve?  Why?  Are you more likely to listen or to want to be listened to?  Would the people closest to you agree with your answer?

We have all likely had times when something happened that caused us to listen eagerly to every detail we could possibly hear.  I think of national tragedies such as 9/11 and the space shuttle Challenger disaster.  Everyone I knew was glued to a news source, eager to hear whatever could be told.  It didn’t matter how minute or trivial the details may have been, we all were eager to hear every last word.  We would do well to apply that same eagerness to our desire to hear every last word of those we serve and those we serve with.

As you pray, ask God to help you to be a person who is quick to listen.  Pray that you would listen to others with an eagerness that encourages them to speak.

In prayer,

Tom

It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day five in the tenth week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Listen Patiently

“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.“
Acts 26:2-3 (NIV)

How quickly do you get tired of listening to someone?  How likely are you to interrupt a person before they are done speaking?  How often do you quit listening to someone because you think you already know everything they could say?  Has your listening to someone ever revealed an unexpected surprise?  How difficult is it to continue to listen to something that you suspect will challenge your beliefs and way of life?  How will listening patiently help you as you serve today?

I have a rather slow speech pattern.  Unfortunately, most of the world doesn’t seem to know what to do with such a thing.  It is nearly impossible to finish a sentence because I have met very few people who know how to listen patiently.  Many of the people we serve, and serve with, have the same frustration with us but for a slightly different reason.  Often times the very heart of what they want to tell us is buried deep toward the end of a conversation as it takes great courage to build up to what they need to say.  It is through our patient listening that we discover how we need to serve.

As you pray, ask God to give you patience in listening.

In prayer,

Tom