Daily Devotional for Thursday November 5, 2015
Serving the Lord with Joy!
(Psalm 126:5,6)
***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Please Lord, give me the strength that when tested, I will not be silent nor will I be afraid to tell YOUR TRUTH! Give me courage, give me strength, and let me stand strong for you no matter what the personal consequences! In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!
So many times I see Christians with long faces, head down, shoulders slumped, looking like the fans of a football team that just lost the big game. Often when I talk to other believers, they tell me that life is rough and serving God seems like a trip to the dentist for a root canal. Is it any wonder why those who are without Christ aren't real excited about "serving God?"
I'll tell you a secret that has worked well for me over the years. When I am in trouble. When I have many problems all around me. When the enemy is attacking on all sides. My first response is to pray, then to get busy serving God. I am a firm believer that if we are about His business, He will be about our business. If I am serving Him, He is serving me. That doesn't mean everything goes away and disappears.
It isn't magic, but it works because when our focus is on others, it allows God to work on those things in our life only He can fix!!!
The key in service though is to serve with joy! Serving others should not be a task, but something we should look forward to and are joyful about. Joy is infectious. It spreads to others. Serving without joy almost makes your service ineffective. How many times have you eaten at a restaurant where the waiter or waitress was unpleasant. At times, you almost wish you could just get the food yourself and not have to even deal with them because of their bad attitude.
Serving others should be a joyful experience, if for no other reason, because it is what God expects from us. When you focus on why you are here, to serve and glorify God with your life, it should make you joyful because you are fulfilling the purpose for which God created you.
I am going to leave you with these thoughts today to ponder and pray about. Do you serve with a joyful heart? Do people see your service as something you do grudgingly or something you do joyfully? Joy is something you can't buy and something most people long for each day.
Have joy if you know Christ because your eternal destination in heaven is established. Have joy when you serve Him because that is part of the reason God created you. Show those you serve joy because they will have a desire to know the kind of joy you possess, and you can use the opportunity to tell them that kind of joy only comes from knowing Christ as your Savior.
I love you and am praying for you today. Never think it is a burden when you email me your special prayer requests. It is a joy on my part to serve you. It is no accident you are reading this devotional, it is no accident that God is speaking to you about the problems you are facing. God can speak to us in many ways, through many people. I am hear to help you, pray for you, and see you be victorious over the things in your life keeping you from enjoying all of the rich blessings God has in store for your life.
Let this time of year be not only a time of joy, but let that joy be part of your life each and every day!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller