In this enlightening episode, we delve into the heart of true ministry and service. It’s not about what we do for God but what God does through us. Learn how to shift your focus from self-efforts to allowing the Holy Spirit to work mightily through your life. Discover the key principles that underscore successful Christian living and how they apply to your everyday life, from your professional duties to your personal vocations.
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, February 11th. It takes more than desire to serve God effectively. Today, you’ll see that the one thing that makes our efforts truly effective is the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER 01 :
Have you ever just felt downright discouraged about living the Christian life and thinking, Lord, what in the world is going on? The harder I try, somehow the worse I fail. And so once in a while you’ve asked yourself the question, well, why should I try any longer? Because no matter what I seem to do, I keep seeming to fail at living the Christian life. Well, I think all of us have felt that way at times in our life, and so what we have to ask is why. In the fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians, look at this 24th verse, if you will. He says… Now, what in the world does he mean by that? Here, listen, here is the first basic principle, the first bottom line foundational key to our success as a servant. And let me say right up front. When I talk about being a servant, I’m not talking about just serving the Lord in the church building. I’m talking about being a servant of God for the simple reason that since all believers are servants, we’re to be servants in our vocation. We’re to be servants in our schooling. We’re to be servants in the church among our friends. Among people who are strangers, a servant of God does not choose for himself or herself where they will serve or to whom they will serve. Now, I want to give you five basic principles, five keys here. Every single one of them is important. Here is the bottom line foundational one of all of them found in this particular verse. And here’s what it is. And that is ministry or service is not something we do for God, but something God does through us. So I want you to jot that down. True ministry, true service is not something we do for God, but rather something God does through us. That is the basic foundational truth. It is probably the reason, misunderstanding here, is the reason that so many people fail or refuse to serve the Lord because they don’t get this one down. And that is that true ministry, true service is what God does through us, not what we do for God. Now, I want us to look at two or three scriptures. Look at this one here in the 24th verse. He says… Faithful is he who calls you, and he also will bring it to pass.” Now, what does that mean? that whatever God calls you to do, whatever area of service you have, that simply means that God, watch this, God assumes full responsibility for enabling us, helping us to carry out the work that he’s called us to do, whatever it may be. So he doesn’t leave us to ourselves to do whatever he calls us to do. Faithful is he who calls you, who will do it through us. And so when you trusted him as your personal savior, he didn’t say, go do this work of that. He said, I will be in you and with you and upon you. And that is the spirit of God working within us will enable us. Now, you and I can understand how as servants of the Lord that we would need that kind of assistance. But I want you to turn to the 14th chapter of John. Because it may be a little surprising to some to realize what Jesus said about this in his own ministry. The 14th chapter of John. And I want you to notice in the 10th verse of this chapter what Jesus said. He says, do you not believe that I am in the father and the father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the father abiding in me does his works. Even Jesus said it was the father in him doing the work. Even Jesus did not take credit for the work that was going on. He said, it’s the father who is within me doing the work. So it is the pattern of Jesus that it was God working through him. It is the pattern for every servant of God and every single one of us as a servant. It is not what we do for God. It is the work that God does through us. Now. That would say several things to me. First of all, it would be a great sense of comfort. And it’s simply this. Whatever he calls me to do, thank God I don’t have to do it. You say, well, now wait a minute. Yes, you do. No, you don’t. He says it is Christ working within us through the Holy Spirit. Now, it is our body, our voices, our hands. The voice may come from us. Our hands may be helping someone else, but it is God, he says, in us who’s doing the work. Jesus said it about himself. He said it to his disciples. Therefore, it is true of us. So what a tremendous sense of comfort, and that is that we don’t have to do in our energy and our strength what we don’t feel like we can do anyway, but it is God working within us. Now, this is why God isn’t necessarily looking for people who are extremely talented and extremely gifted in an area. He’s looking for people who are available for the Spirit of God who is within them to do the work through them He knows they cannot do. Now, not only is it a sense of comfort to me, but it is also a sense of confidence, and that’s simply this, that whatever God calls you to do, if you know that He’s the one within you enabling you and strengthening you and giving you guidance, then you know that you can do well whatever God calls you to do. And the great sense of confidence that we can have is this. If He calls us to do anything, He says, “‘Faithful is he who calls you, who will do it?’ It is God working within us. So you can mark this one down. Whatever God calls you to do, you will be able to do well because the spirit of God within you will enable you to do whatever he calls you to do. Now, there may be somebody else who can do it better than we can. There’s always somebody who can. There may be somebody who may have more appeal than we do. There’s always somebody like that. That’s not even the issue. The issue is this, that you and I are the servants of God. He created us for a purpose. All we have to do is to fulfill the purpose of God in our life, whatever that is, listen, in total dependence upon the Holy Spirit who is living within us to enable us to do it. Now, it gives me a sense of comfort. I don’t have to do it. A sense of confidence that whatever God calls me to do, He will enable through me to get it done. It also gives me a great sense of contentment. And that is, I don’t have to worry and fret about, did I do enough? Did I do my best? Do other people like it? That’s not even the issue. The issue is this. If it is the work of God and I’ve surrendered myself to him and I’m willing for him to do his work through me and I do exactly what he leads me to do, then I’ve done enough. And so one of the excuses for not serving the Lord is, well, I’m afraid I’ll fail. I’m afraid of this, that, and the other. If I thought that I had to do the work that the Lord has called me to do in my strength and in my energy and my intelligence and my wisdom and my knowledge and my experience, I’d have checked out a long time ago. God doesn’t intend for any of us to serve him by us doing the work, but rather allowing him to do it through us with a sense of confidence and assurance with boldness that when we have done our best in trusting the Holy Spirit, he will accomplish whatever He chooses to accomplish in your life. Now, also, there’s a warning in all this. And that is, first of all, there’s no place for us taking credit. Let me ask you a question. If you agree to the fact that it is God working within you, doing the work, who gets the credit? You know, for somebody to strut around and act like they’re taking the credit for something, When you see a person taking credit for what God’s done within them, then first of all, you can chalk them off with being very ignorant or absolutely arrogant. One of the two. And I’d prefer to think they’re ignorant than arrogant. Because you see, it is the Lord working within us. And one of the warnings, he says, he will not share his glory with anybody. And he says, let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, they will glorify your Father who is in heaven. Those people who understand the basic foundational principle of servanthood understand that it is not what we do for God, but work that God does through us. That is a very, very basic foundational principle. And when you search the scriptures, you find over and over again those verses that bring us to that realization. And so that that be true also, I cannot insist on where I’m going to serve or what I’m going to do, how long I’m going to do it, or who’s going to recognize me in the process. If I am a servant of the Lord, it’s what do you want me to do? Where would you have me to do it? How would you have me to do it? Father, anything you want me to do, but Lord, you must do through me what you want done. Now, let me ask you a question. Who among us cannot serve the living God? Not a single one of us cannot, but all of us can because it is God doing the work, enabling us, strengthening us. And what these verses simply say is this, all of heaven is behind enabling you to do well what God called you to do. Because you see, God wants you to be successful, not in the eyes of men necessarily, but in his eyes, he wants you to do your best because he knows it’ll be rewarding to you and also bring glory to God. single thing that God calls you to do, you cannot do well. Whatever he calls you to do, you can do well in the eyes of God. It may not match someone else’s expectation. That isn’t even the key. The key is, can I do it in a way that’s pleasing to God? So principle number one is that as in servanthood, it is not what we do for God, but it’s the work that God does for us. Here’s the second principle, extremely important, basic principle, absolutely a key to enjoying our service for the Lord, to being successful and fruitful in our service for the Lord, whatever it might be. And what is that? Simply this. That is, no matter who is the object of our service, it is the Lord we serve. No matter who is the object of our service, it is the Lord whom we serve. Now, this is a very important passage here in Colossians 3 and Ephesians 6. So I want you to turn to both of these. Ephesians 6 first, if you will, and then if you’ll turn to Colossians 3 and hold that, and then let’s look at both of these passages. He says, if you notice in verse five, he says, now slaves or employees be obedient to those who are your masters, according to the flesh. That is when he says masters, according to the flesh, that simply means in this life, you have a boss. All right. He says, do so with fear and trembling. That doesn’t mean scared to death, but in the sense of obedience and, and reverence in the sincerity of your heart. Now he says, you are to do this. What are the next three words? What are the next three words in that passage? As to Christ. He says, you serve wherever you are as if you’re serving the Lord himself. Verse six, not by way of eye service as men pleases. That is, you don’t do this just to get the approval of men. but he says, as slaves of Christ. That is, we are serving the Lord Jesus, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill, render service as to the Lord and not to men. Now, what he’s simply saying is this, and I think it’s very evident, that no matter who we’re serving, it may be someone that, your boss, you say, well, let me tell you something right now, brother, you don’t know my boss. Don’t put him in that category. It doesn’t make a difference who he is. If you work for him, then you’re responsible to him and you are subject to his or her authority. And so how are we to serve? We are to look at those we serve as the Lord. That doesn’t mean that we place Jesus in their position, but whoever we are serving is not the issue. The issue is that whatever I may be doing for you, I must see that I’m doing this for the Lord Jesus Christ himself. You may be the one who receives the benefit of my service. You may be the one who receives the benefit of my love, but I’m to see and look at you as knowing that in serving you, I’m serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at this next passage, Colossians chapter three. Look at this. Here’s what he says in verse 22, Colossians chapter three, verse 22. He says again, slaves in all things, not some things, but in all things, obey those who are your masters on earth. A while ago, he said masters in the flesh, same thing, not with external service as those who merely please men. But he says, this is what you have served with sincerity of heart. fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily. Put your whole being into it, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom we serve. If you’ll think about it, this is a good way to deal with some things in our life that we don’t like to do. And I think all of us have seen that at times in our life. We look back, and I can remember when I was just a kid delivering newspapers, and I had to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning, and sometimes it’d be snowing. Back in those days, it’d snow 8 inches, 10 inches, whatever it might be, and pouring down rain, I mean, or sleet and a hailing. Well, you had to get your newspaper in the morning, so I got up, and I had to put on everything I could to cover up from the rain or keep from being cold. And I can remember lying there thinking, oh, dear, Lord, I don’t want to get up this morning and telling him all. But somehow along the way, the Lord impressed my heart to say to myself and to look at it as that I’m not delivering these newspapers for these 150 customers out there. I’m doing this for Jesus, that he’s going to receive this paper. I’m doing this for Jesus. I’m telling you, once that hit me, I could hop up no matter what time of morning it was and what kind of weather it was because I was doing this for Jesus. And whatever I was doing, I was doing it for him. Now, I did that for a couple of reasons. First of all, in those days, I was scared of the dark. I tell you, I was. So I had him along. If I was doing it for him, then he had to walk with me. So that took care of the darkness. Secondly, it took care of whether I felt like it or not. If it was for Jesus’ sake, my feelings about it didn’t have anything to do with it. And so when you and I begin to understand that we’re doing this for him, whatever you’re doing, if you’re teaching children and you’re saying, well, I only had five or six. Remember, you’re serving Jesus. It isn’t just the children. It’s Jesus you and I are serving. And this is a basic key, I believe. in all service to Him, because it affects more than you now realize. And first of all, I think it affects the quality of our service. You remember what Paul said? He says, do your work heartily. Listen, whatever you do, I don’t care who you are and what you do, you owe it to Jesus. to do your best, whatever that is. You owe it to him because we are serving the living God. When a person doesn’t do their best and don’t try to look their best, they just want to do as little as they can. I’m here to tell you what you don’t realize. You may be working in the secular world, but you are losing divine, godly, heavenly rewards because our Lord anticipates and expects us to do our best because he is the one we are serving. Whether you are frying hamburgers or preaching the gospel, it doesn’t make any difference. Not a bit of difference does it make. And that’s what this whole issue of servanthood is about. It is about allowing God to work in us. Listen, if I do the best I can and my job isn’t what it ought to be, it isn’t poor in the eyes of God if that’s the best I can do. And somebody needs to help me and train me and encourage me along. But if I’m just sloppy at it and want to do as little as I can and get by with as little as I can, I’m here to tell you what people don’t realize is, listen, you may be a Christian, you may be a believer out there, and you are doing a sloppy job, and you don’t care what your boss thinks, and you complain about him no matter what, I’m here to tell you, you will have to answer to God for poor service as a Christian. I don’t care what you’re doing. And that’s what he’s saying. He says, we are to do this as unto the Lord. Now, it’s of course, it certainly will protect me from being discouraged. If I’m serving the Lord, nobody approves of what I’m doing and I don’t get any compliments and I don’t get any attention and I don’t get this, that, and the other. Listen, if I’m serving the Lord Jesus, what does it make any difference whether anybody else likes it or not? Because you see, who’s going to reward us for eternal reward? Our Lord Jesus, we stand before him. So it’ll protect us from getting discouraged. If I’m doing this for you and I’m serving the Lord in the process, whether you thank me for it or not, it’s not even the issue. If you never thank me, if you never express any appreciation, if in fact you appear to be very unappreciative, it doesn’t matter because I’m serving the Lord. You happen to be the object of that service and I love you. And I care for you. But if you don’t approve or if you don’t give any compliments, that’s not the issue. The issue is I’m doing this for Jesus anyway. And if I know I’ve done my best and he approves, then what difference does it make? So it protects us from discouragement. Another thing it does, it checks our attitude as far as our motivation is concerned. Because here’s what happens. If I’m serving the Lord Jesus Christ, my motivation is because I’m serving because I love him, because I love the person I’m serving, and because I love myself. He said, now, wait a minute. I can understand loving the Lord and loving others. What about loving yourself? Well, think about this. All of us need to feel good about ourselves. If I have done my best and if I’m serving the Lord and realize that’s what I’m doing, then there’s a sense of contentment on the inside of me that I’ve done my best and I want to serve the Lord. And all of us need a good sense of self-esteem and we need to have that tripod of real emotions in our life. That is, we all need to feel like we have a sense of belonging. We belong to someone or some group. We all need a sense of self-worth that we are worth something to other people. And we all need a sense of competence that we are capable of doing whatever God has called us to do. When you and I do our best, we’re serving the Lord. God is going to give us in return. He’s going to give us that sense of self-worth, that sense of competence, that sense of belonging. We will begin to feel that. So we are rewarded immediately, oftentimes, for a service that we render. And so when I think about what he says here about not doing this as pleasing men. We’re not pleasing men, but pleasing God. Now, people don’t always serve for the right motive, which is love. Sometimes they serve out of duty. Sometimes they serve out of fear. Sometimes they serve out of guilt. Sometimes they serve out of personal gain. Now, naturally, in your vocation, you certainly want to serve. You certainly have your paycheck in mind or your benefits and so forth. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing whatsoever. But if my primary motive is that I am serving the Lord Jesus in this place, wherever I am, I’m here to tell you it will protect us from wrong attitudes. There will be a sense of freedom. There’ll be a sense of energy. I think there’ll be a sense of strength. I think many things happen to us personally when our attitude is right.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to The Keys to Success. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
