How to Know When To Serve Others

My Utmost For His Highest 

You also be ready… —Luke 12:40

{CHAMBERS}  “Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, and always in the most illogical situations. The only way a servant can remain true to God is to be ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. This readiness will not be brought about by service, but through intense spiritual reality, expecting Jesus Christ at every turn. This sense of expectation will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder He wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus Christ, we have to stop being religious. In other words, we must stop using religion as if it were some kind of a lofty lifestyle— we must be spiritually real.”

{ELGIN}  (Matthew 25:34-40) “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Having spiritual sight is something that you cannot give yourself, but something that comes from your relationship with the Lord and submission to the Spirit.  With spiritual understanding, you can see the opportunity to serve and you step into it, knowing that it is the right thing to do.  The world may question you, but you know that what you do is right.  You may not be able to explain why you said ‘yes’ to one opportunity and ‘no’ to another. It was not carnal judgement that prompted you to action, but the love that is in you.  And then, in the midst of your obedient service, the world sees Jesus in you.  Many Christians spend a lot of time trying to manage our sins, trying to be good .. to be faithful.  Some never venture beyond that point.  Instead, they should stop focusing on being good and regretting that they are not.  We must confess our sins. Focus on Jesus, the source of our goodness.  Yield to the Spirit, the source of the power to live our new lives. It was not because the people Jesus spoke to in Matthew 25 were able to do the right thing on their own merit.  It because they were following Jesus and walking by the Spirit that they did the right thing.  Living your new life rightly, begins and ends with Jesus.