Sunday, September 23, 2012

Why Am I Doing This?

My Utmost For His Highest
 
The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.[…] Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose. […] There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.”’ CHAMBERS
 
What is the reason you do things for others?  Does it bother you when the people you help are ungrateful or even worse; they use and abuse your generosity to their advantage and your detriment.  While we were in Mississippi, I can recall having conversations about that fact the some of the people did not appreciate what was done for them.  The same thing in Haiti.  Should  appreciation by the recipient of the blessing be a requirement for my obedience to do what I know the Lord has told me to do?  What was Jesus’ example in Luke 17?
 
(Luke 17:11-19 11) ‘Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
 
It all has to do with focus.  We should do what the Lord directs us to do and leave the outcome to Him.  It’s God who gives the increase .. not us … we are nothing but workers in His field.
 
(1 Corinthians 3:5-9)  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.’
 
Be careful that you don’t begin to think more of yourself than you should.  Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.  Walk in the light that He has given you and leave the rest to Him.
 
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

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