2025-03-28
Good Morning Dear Ones,
At the behest of the Holy Spirit, I gave a list of ways one can interact with God. Let me repeat it here. It was study of His teaching; hospitality; discipleship; practicing godly ethics, teaching others, preaching, almsgiving, serving on missions, various types of worship, and evangelism. In keeping with what we learn in EPH 2: 8-10, our Creator endows each person with a skill set and the grace to enable us to use it. Remember in verse 10, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” No one human being can or is expected to do them all. Having said that and written what the Holy Spirit gives me about establishing faithfulness, each of us has to mature in our faith as we try the skills out to find which ones apply to us personally. Often, this discovery comes as a surprise as we gradually emerge from childhood to adulthood.
So, I’m called upon to write about the set of believers that have come to faith or are potentially going to do this in today’s message. There are people who take great joy in welcoming both the Lord and other people to their homes and churches. They serve meals, greet people coming to services and events, and cook food for them. There are people whose hearts lead them to be cheerful givers. 2 COR 9: 6-8, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Active worship can take different forms, each form being acceptable to God. We are told to worship privately and corporately. Prayer is a key part of it, and we should pray with a genuine heart and often. MT 6: 6, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father Who sees what you have done in secret, will reward you.” This is not just praying for the reward; it is prayer said out of one’s faith in the Father. Prayer involving others is just as important, which is why we have prayer chains—prayers intended to be said confidentially (not to jump-start gossip) among a few trusted believers. The most common worship is what we experience in our churches—people praying together and/or led by a pastor or other leader. COL 3: 16, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
The often-spoken comment, “Bloom where you are planted,” certainly applies to us all. The meaning is clear: serve God wherever you are. COL 3: 17 expresses this notion in its unique way. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father through Him.” It might be in the workplace, at home, in church, or wherever God sends you on a mission away from home. This can even be when you travel for a vacation and find your God-given skills needed.
Some people, Rev. Billy Graham, for example, find themselves being called to evangelism. The Graham family, including Ann Graham Lotz and Rev. Franklin Graham, all felt called to various types of ministries. I remember Billy Graham filling stadiums with people looking to hear him encourage them to altar calls to come to faith in the Lord Jesus, all singing “Just As You Are.” Ethel Waters would sing “My Eye is on the Sparrow,” and others would help to engage our hearts. Not everyone can be an evangelist, but God will call those He has set out for this task. The closest I’ve gotten to this in my ministry has been spending several years volunteering for “In Search of Shalom,” a Canadian ministry designed to connect people familiar with the Bible with seekers in real-time computer chats. This gave me the chance to talk with people in need of developing faith in Jesus Christ and to help some of them walk through that door marked “FAITH.”
PRAYER: O most holy Lord, You have given us so many ways to use our heads, hearts, and hands to serve You. Our spiritual lives would be so needy, if this were not so. AC 20: 35, “In everything I did I showed You that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” We offer You praise and thanksgiving for transforming hearts from evil selfishness to godly caring for others and self. No human alone can do that, as we see from JN 15: 5 we need Your intervention. We ask You to give us the faith and courage to step out of our comfort zones and use the skills You gave us to serve You, while we serve others in faith-building. We thank You for enabling us to overcome our reticence and in doing so, to show Your love to others. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write about study, writing, teaching, preaching, counseling, presiding in rituals, hospital visits, and other forms of serving the Lord next week. We are told, in PHIL 2: 3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of others.” Samuel, in his farewell speech uttered, “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you” [1 SAM 12: 24]. Thanksgiving and praise to His name!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2025. All Rights Reserved.
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