She has done a good work for
Me. —Mark 14:6
{CHAMBERS} “If what we call
love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the
idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never
taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection
and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate
description of love. Have you ever been driven to do something for God not
because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was
anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? […] I’m not referring
to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple
human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally
surrendered to Him. […] To be surrendered to God is of more value than our
personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our
eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and
talk and look, out of fear of offending God. […] Once we are totally
surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.”
{ELGIN} What does it mean to be taken beyond yourself? It means that you will find yourself doing
things that make you, personally, feel uncomfortable. We typically shy away from people who make us
uncomfortable. Maybe because of what
they look like, how they talk, that they “wear their problems on their sleeves”
for everyone to see and know about. Maybe
because they are angry at God or the world or maybe even you. Perhaps you will have to give up personal comfort
or financial security to minister to those people. So what to do? Well ….. you should start by focusing on God …
have a rock solid relationship with the Father.
If you are sent by the Father .. and you are … then He must be the
source of your strength … your ability to do whatever it is that He puts in
front of you has spiritual roots. The
problem is that most often we do not see the heart of the problem … we just see
the symptoms … and we try to put a Band-Aid on them. In Acts 3, when Peter and John met the lame
man at the gate, he needed money .. but Peter said “I don’t have any money but
what I do have I give to you .. in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk.” And
he did. (Have you ever encountered someone like that? How does it make you feel? Like you want to escape?) That is not to say that we should not offer “natural
help”, water, food, and other assistance … but we must remember that it is the “living
water” that people need the most. We
should not use the natural help as a carat to get people to listen to the
Gospel. Both are an expression of love (see
Matthew 22:37-39 and Matthew 25). 1
Corinthians 13 says “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does
not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does
not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always
trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
When you encounter people that are difficult to be around .. that is
what they should see in you … they should see Jesus ….
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