The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"Outward and Away"
Service to others involves many aspects of planning, motive, organization, action, and sacrifice. Or sometimes it occurs spontaneously, in the moment. Before all and through all, however, one response of the heart to the Lord Jesus Christ makes possible our effectual ability to help.
"He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).
Faith in Christ enables our hearts to serve as the tributary through which His person and work flow through us. Believing leads to receiving our Lord's supply for our personal needs, which then flows outward and away from us unto others. "Freely ye have received, freely give" declared the Lord to His disciples, a commission that sounds and resounds to all believers for God's glory and the blessing of others (Matthew 10:8). We trust Him in accordance with His Word. He responds in faithfulness, and then provides opportunities for us to give as we have received.
It is one thing, one wonderful and proper thing, to rejoice in God's provision for our personal needs. It is a greater blessing to realize He does so to make possible our service to others. "Remember the words of the the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). Consider the next breath we breathe, supplied by the One who "giveth to all life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:35). Does Lord grant such grace for us to use the air He bestows for self-centered reasons? Hardly. "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor" (Ephesians 5:2). We rejoice in His good gifts to us that bless us so greatly, but always in the knowledge that our Lord purposes His provision to turn around within us and venture forth to search for the blessing of others.
It all begins - it must begin - with "he that believeth on Me." The needs of others far transcend our abilities and possessions, and most of all, the wisdom in knowing how to minister that which meets needs of the heart even more than those of outward matters. We must seek our Lord's leading in order to wisely give forth that which we have received. The Apostle Paul prayed a telling prayer in this regard, and we do well to offer the same for one another and for ourselves…
"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment."
(Philippians 1:9)
Weekly Memory Verse
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God."
(Deuteronomy 9:7)
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