Value 2.0

In yesterday's post, "Value", I wrote on getting our minds in line with the value God has for us and I wanted to expand on it as the Spirit has opened my eyes further on the matter this morning. I hope I'm not to repetitive as the two posts are being written just hours apart from each other.

I want to talk about us finding our value in works. When we become Christians, I'm referencing myself here, we often times have this sense of needing to pay God back for the kindness He has shown us. Again, we are using human understanding to figure out our relationship with God. We usually dive head long into service as we feel that is the thing to do. My wife and I never said no to anyone that asked us to help when we joined our first church. We were all in on being Christians and we thought service was the thing to do. Come to find out, only 5-10% of the church members will actually serve in some capacity which felt very wrong to me. That's why me and my wife were literally doing everything, from choir, to Sunday School teaching, to bus driving, to acting in plays, to Wednesday night Awanas, to VBS, to puppet ministries, to almost being a deacon and in every capacity we served we thought this was a normal Christian life. Pouring out our time to the church was our way of paying God back. Of course, this was before we really understood the scripture 

Matthew 7:21-23

21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

Lawlessness: iniquity, disobedience, sin

So when I read into this for the first time, I thought. Could I be working for God but never being obedient. Was I being sinful and not being know by Him even though I do all this stuff for Him. 

We have discussed before, the way we reckon ourselves dead to sin and to alive and obedient to the Spirit yet this concept didn't really hit me till later on in my life. At that time it was a developing concept that the church wanted to hear nothing about. Fast forward to today and I literally came to understand that anything we pursue outside of the will of God is sinful. We read all the time in the Bible how we know we are His if we obey His voice and follow Him. So it shouldn't be a shock to come to that understanding but it kind of does. We want what God wants, yet we sometimes go about it all wrong. It's like putting together IKEA furniture without the instructions, although that may be a bad example. Any furniture reference is a bad example but you know what I'm getting at. To be motivated by our own ideas of what God wants instead of getting directions from Him is two different things. We can have faith to move mountains but if we don't have love, we are nothing. Again, Love is the selfless nature of God. 

Even trying to serve Him, we serve ourselves. Comfort is the main reason we do what we think is right. We seek that which is comfortable for our flesh. If we truly listened to God and did His will then we would not be as comfortable as we would like. His leading always leads you through tasks that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable; to one, test your willingness to follow and two, to kill your flesh. We cannot stand in the familiar and say we follow what God wants. It's not possible. Now, we can be so in Him and so one with Him that those moments of discomfort melt away and only God is seen but it is discomforting to our flesh. If we left His presence, the discomfort will prevail. 

So, my issue has been the desire to heal the sick and lame. I have wanted to do this for years but at first I was scared. Then I became confused whether or not it was God's call or my own. Then I stopped pursuing. Now I'm pursuing Him with a desire to still heal. The difference is this, I'm pursuing Him and not the gift of healing. I'm seeking His face and not what He can give me. The gift of healing can be used to glorify God but it can be used to glorify me as well. 

If we find our value in what we do for Him instead of  God's love for us then we are ship wrecked. The things we do for Him or in His name can become our value. Preaching, ministries, church volunteering, singing, gifts of the Spirit and everything we could do for God can create a sense of value for us. If we think that God loves us because we do things for Him then we are sadly mistaken. It does say that He loved us from the foundation of the world, which means He loved us before the fall, during the fall and now. 

Can we move without Him. No we cannot. He must provide us with our daily movements. Now, we aren't robots but if I say something a bit too harsh to someone or say something off color, and I am in the Spirit, then I will hear a rebuke, a sadness in my heart for my actions. To rectify that, I would apologize and correct the behavior. That is following God. We cannot come up with our own way of serving Him, instead we trust in Him to guide us and walk with us, to keep us on the narrow path. Trust and faith in Him to do that, will create the relationship we need. So instead of depart from me, He'll say good and faithful servant. 

Mark 7:6-8

6Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘These people honor Me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from Me.

7They worship Me in vain;

they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

8You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”

Traditions, laws, rules, gifts and works of men all stand in the way of having a relationship. Seek Him first and then all things will be given. Not do all things and expect Him to follow you. Don't find your value in works but find value in Him.

To God be the Glory!