Tag Archive for servanthood

He’ll Understand and Say, “Well Done!”

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If when you give the best of your service,
Telling the world that the Savior has come,
Be not dismayed when men don’t believe you.
He understands; He’ll say, “Well done!” 

Refrain:
O when I come to the end of my journey,
Weary of life, and the battle is won,
Bearing the staff and cross of redemption,
He’ll understand and say, “Well done!”

When you are tried, so weak and discouraged,
Turn to the cross – see the Father’s own Son.
Look up in love and say with Your Savior,
“Not my own will, but Yours be done.”

Trials will pass; they soon will be over.
Pain will be gone and the glory begun.
Then we will see the King in His beauty.
Bowing, we’ll hear, “My child, well done!”

by Lucy E. Campbell and Ken Bible, © 1996 LNWhymns.com.

Your Glory, Lord

Creator,
Sovereign Lord,
Fountain of all goodness and beauty,
You are perfect wisdom.
You are perfect love.
What else could I want but
Your will?
What else matters?

Knowing You, my Father,
what could I desire but
to glorify You?
What other ambition could
fill my heart and
fire my imagination?
You are
good and
great, and
You are always with us
right here,
right now.
Everyone needs to know You!
Everyone!
Help me glorify You, Father.
This is the high privilege for which
You created me.
This is the purpose for which
You saved me at such a precious price.

You are my master.
I am Your joyful servant.
Exalt Yourself through me.
Use me as pleases You.
Use my weaknesses.
May they make it plain that
You deserve all the glory,
not me.
Use my ignorance.
Lift Yourself through my failures.
Lead me through
sickness,
suffering, or
grief.
Humble me in any way You choose
if it will show the world just how
radiantly wonderful You are!

I am Your servant.
I cannot choose my path.
You choose, my Lord.
Just help me fulfill
this one goal,
this one desire:
to stay faithful to You. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: A Servant’s Prayer (BINNEY)
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Examine My Motives

Father, examine me.
When I share Your Word with people,
what are my motives?
When I speak in Your name,
what hopes truly drive me?

Am I hoping to feed my hungry ego?
Further my career?
Fatten my pocketbook?

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:17, NIV)

Am I hoping to gain from them, or
will I eagerly spend and be spent for them?

I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. (2 Corinthians 12:15a, NASB)

Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice. (Philippians 2:17, NASB)

Am I a smart business person seeking their money, or
am I a shepherd laying down my life for the sheep?

Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God bur our lives as well. (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NIV)

In my heart, are they a “market,” sources of profit, or
are they souls for whom Christ died?

I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. (2 Timothy 2:10, NASB) 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: One in Purpose, One in Passion
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A Prayer for Many Occasions

Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44, NASB)

God, what should I do with this free time?
I am Your servant.

I tend to get preoccupied with my own plans, Father.
Forgive me.
I am Your servant.

I’m feeling overwhelmed and confused, God,
but I look to You and rely on You.
I am Your servant.

I face a decision, and I don’t know which way to go.
Lead me, Lord.
I am Your servant.

Father, I feel for that person.
I sense their need, but
I don’t know how to help them.
Use me.
I am Your servant.

I am Yours, my Lord.
I am listening.
I am available.
I am Your servant. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I Am Your Servant
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Details Matter

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m reading through the Old Testament in the original Hebrew. But my Hebrew skills are rudimentary at best, so some portions of the Old Testament are quite challenging.

For example, I had trouble getting through 1 Kings 6 and 7. They describe in some detail Solomon’s construction of the temple and his own palace. The subject matter necessitates the use of numerous technical terms that I didn’t know. Add to that my own limitations: I barely know which end of a hammer to hold, and I can’t picture physical structures from verbal descriptions. I have to see them with my own two eyes. So for a zillion verses, I struggled through words I didn’t know to try to picture structures I just couldn’t picture. For me, it seemed an extended exercise in frustration and futility.

But such details matter. 1 Kings 6 and 7 remind me of Exodus, chapters 25 and following, which provide seemingly-endless detail about the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness. There God specifically warns Moses:

“See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40, NASB)

By the time I finished Exodus, I began to understand the importance of those details, even without the ability to accurately picture them in my mind. I could see that each of the details in the tabernacle were given by God to help the people know Him. Each of the furnishings – the candles, the incense, the bread, the curtains, the ark, and more – provided the worshipers with a sensory experience of God, however partial. In a sense, God was “incarnating” Himself in the tabernacle, making Himself physically knowable centuries before Christ. He was glorifying Himself, proclaiming His presence, His greatness, and His goodness in ways perceivable by our five senses.

Thus, details matter. They mattered in the building of the tabernacle. They mattered in the construction of the temple.

And they matter in my work as well. As a hymn writer, I can’t see God’s full purpose in the work I do. I can’t see the end from the beginning. But He can, so I carefully follow His lead. I am like Bezalel, who worked on the tabernacle (Exodus 31:1-11), and Hiram, who helped construct the temple (1 Kings 7:13-14). They were craftsmen, gifted, prepared, and called by God to perform specific tasks as a small part of God’s greater purpose.

That is my role as well. In ways I didn’t plan and can’t imagine, God is using me, in some small way, to glorify Himself through Jesus Christ.

And that is your role, too. Aren’t we blessed? Each of us is a tiny part of all the marvelous, eternal, creative work God is doing in Jesus Christ. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: God’s Mysterious Ways
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I Am Your Servant

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44, NIV)

Pray this simple prayer in all kinds of circumstances:

When you have time in front of you that is not yet spoken for;

When you are preoccupied with your own plans;

When you find yourself overwhelmed and confused;

When you don’t know which way to turn;

When someone is in need, but you don’t know how to help them.

Remind God, and yourself, that You are His, that You are open and listening to Him, that You are always available to Him.

God,
I am Your servant.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: If You Would Be Great
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Looking for Acceptance

He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God. (Romans 2:29, NASB)

Lord, You saved me out of my sin.
And our relationship is person to person,
You and me.
You have called me,
prepared me, and
enabled my every step.
It is You who is working through me.
And all my work is for You alone, Lord.

Then why do I hunger so much for human acceptance of my work?
Why do I gauge its worth, and mine,
by the amount of response from others?

Father, help me to look for acceptance only in Your face.
Let obedience to You,
not recognition,
be the measure of my success.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Focus
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I Work for You

Obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people. (Ephesians 6:5-7, NIV)

Father, I do not work for my employer.
I do not work for my boss.
I do not work for money.
I work for You.

As long as I am on this job,
I will do it for You.
When I quit,
it will be for Your reasons, not mine.

Until then, I will do what pleases You:
I will persevere;
I will be faithful;
I will be Christlike.
I will work to serve and glorify You
out of gratitude for all You have done for me.

Father, all I am is Yours completely,
purchased by the blood of Your dear Son.
I work for You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I Am Your Servant
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You Did It for Me

The picture that Jesus paints is a sobering one. When He returns to earth in all His glory, He will gather before Him all our race. Then He will separate us. Some will be blessed and welcomed into a beautiful kingdom prepared for them by their loving Father. Others will be cursed and sent away from God into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

What will be the standard for this separation? Simply this: how we responded to Jesus Christ here in this life; specifically, how we treated Him when we met Him in the needy around us.

We will answer to Jesus face to face, with our hearts and lives laid bare. In that moment our acts and our omissions will be seen for what they are: our personal response to the living, ever-present Jesus Christ.

That moment is a certain future for each of us. How should we prepare? Surrounded by need, how can we live up to such a standard?

What He wants for us is very simple: live in His presence now. Make Him the center of life now, as you will see Him to be in that moment. Your love for Him will grow. And as you love Him, you will love those He loves.

If we claim to love Him but live to please ourselves, ignoring the needs of His dear ones all around us, our love will be shown to be a lie. 1 John 3:17 (NIV) says: 

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

Lord Jesus, help us to see You in the faces of the needy all around us. As we love each little one, we are loving You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: When I Face You, Lord
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You Come to Me Every Day

Jesus said:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 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…
Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.”
(Matthew 25:35-36, 40, NIV)

Jesus, I want to know You better.
I want to be with You.
I want to serve You.

And You come to me every day.
You come in the needy that surround me.
Their faces are Your face.
Their needs are Your needs.
As I serve them,
I serve You.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Welcome, Jesus Christ!
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