Day 34 ~ The Purpose Driven Life ~ Thinking Like a Servant
The heart of the problem is the heart!
Get your heart reassigned and make it a joy, display the luvacta as a witness of your worship.
Thinking is a consequence of attitude. How we think is influenced by our core values which are established by beliefs and experiences. The heart of the problem is the heart! If your heart is not fully aligned with God you cannot think of the task you are about to do, in service of God, as anything else than simply work.
We cannot have the right thinking process if it is an attachment to our value. In other words, If you are in the process of “thinking” that you love God, you believe in God, and the very essence of your existence in your heart is not a testament to this, then, having the right thinking process is an attachment and not a natural outflowing of your heart.
This concluding paragraph on Day 34 of “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren is the essence of the outflowing of our worship;
“Servants think of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligation. They enjoy helping people, meeting needs, and doing ministry. They “serve the LORD with gladness.” (Psalm 100:2 (KJV)) Why do they serve with gladness? Because they love the Lord, they’re grateful for his grace, they know serving is the highest use of life, and they know God has promised a reward. Jesus promised, “The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.” (John 12:26 (MSG)) Paul said, “He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians.” (Hebrews 6:10 (NLT)) Imagine what could happen if just 10 percent of all Christians in the world got serious about their role as real servants. Imagine all the good that could be done. Are you willing to be one of those people? It doesn’t matter what your age is, God will use you if you will begin to act and think like a servant. Albert Schweitzer said, “The only really happy people are those who have learned how to serve.”” (PDL – Rick ©)
If the value of what we are to be is not the essence of what makes our being we are practising religion.
When God’s agape love has been mirrored in your heart you will serve with joy and love and not as a result of some obligation driven by conscience condemnation. This is essential as it then changes the result of this action of love because the objective is no longer self-serving. The objective now becomes a natural outflowing testimony of your heart’s expression.
Passing it from hard to easy. If it is what we must do, it is work and will have our limited resources if it is love it will have our all, our unlimited resources.
Shift the result of what we are about to do from accomplishing the task to an act of worshiping our Lord. What will be the objective result of the task, if at the outset, the result should be a testimony of our worship?
The Last Supper is an immense display of worship.
The record of the Last Supper in John 13, displays a detailed act of love (of God’s agape kind) which is not so clearly defined in the other Gospels. {( Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:14-23; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 )} Jesus is standing at the brink of having to face God’s wrath for the sins of mankind. How dark and foreboding this moment was for him. Yet despite this, he displays the ultimate sacrificial love, fully and completely prepared by stripping off his garments, and lovingly washes the feet of his disciples. The record includes all the disciples! Even Judas Iscariot. {(Zechariah 11:10-17; Matthew 26:14-16; Matthew 27:3-10)} He singled Judas out in words but not in deeds.
“Jesus knew that it was his hour, he knew that he would leave this world in the most horrible way, but he also knew he was going to step into the Father’s embrace. He drew love and energy from his disciples who would remain in the world after his departure. For he loved them completely. There are no exclusions. It was time for the supper and the heart of Judas had already been prepared for the betrayal of Jesus.
Jesus was fully aware that his father had given all things into his hands; he knew that he was the son and that he would be returning to be face-to-face with God. As the incarnate Word he knew that he exhibited the very thoughts of God in human form on this earth. He knew full well that he was fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah and the prophets. He knew the anguish and suffering which lay waste in words in the old Testament which he was to face.
John has now prepared us for the story. Jesus the Christ got up from the table stripped all his outer garments and wrapped a towel around himself. He took some water in a jug and poured it into a basin and began to wash the feet of his disciples. He dried their feet with the towel from around his waist.
When he came to Simon Peter, Peter protested, “Lord do you want to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered, “You might not appreciate it now but later you will understand the significance of what I am doing!”
Peter in refusing said, “I will never allow you to wash my feet!”
Jesus answer came, “If I do not wash you then you have no participation with me.”
Peter said, “Lord, also wash my hands and head not only my feet!”
Jesus replied, “He that has already taken a bath only needs to wash his feet for he is completely clean. You are already clean, yet not everyone of you.”
Jesus knew who would betray him that is why he said “you are not all equally clean.”
Frances du Toit comments that not all had been given the full opportunity to wash their minds with the word of God. It was not necessary for Jesus to wash the whole of their bodies because it was custom that before you attended a feast, which as written in all the Gospels had been prepared,{( Psalm 41:1-13; Matthew 26:17-25; Luke 22:7-13; John 13:18-30 )} the patrons would be coming to the feast already bathed and only the dust from the feet would need to be washed.
The record concludes that when he had done the washing of all the feet he put on his robes, reclined at the table and asked them, “Do you understand what I just did?”
Jesus further elaborates, “You call me your instructor and Lord and that is good for so I am; if I, your teacher and Lord have washed your feet you too ought to wash one another’s feet! For I have demonstrated an example for you which you are to follow.” John13:1-16 Para adapted from the Mirror Bible.
Note; Jesus did preparation for the washing of feet in complete form. He did it with no shortcuts and not halfheartedly with his clothes on. He did it thoroughly with love. He also excluded no one, not even Judas Iscariot. We truly have no excuses.
How can we do anything else except love?
Love God with all your heart and the heart problem is solved, your task in the church then becomes an act of worship. If that happened to all the church there would not be enough work!
Further resources; http://www.purposedriven.com/day34/
Interesting fact about the number 34.
While I was revising my notes, it came to me that the number 4 (four) in Chinese is a symbol of death. It is regarded as a very unlucky number in Chinese superstition. So I was wondering what the combination of the three and four for today’s Day 34 would reflect in Chinese mythological interpretation (Superstition)? Purely curiosity. Well, how is this for coincidence? The number 3 (three) is regarded as a very lucky number as it sounds similar to the character used for birth in Chinese. The number 3 (three) is also very significant since it displays the three most important stages in a man’s life, namely birth, marriage and death. All three of these stages are heralded by the unconverted is vestiges of church life. The 4 being the last number in our day 34 it culminates in death.
For further information on luvacta, you can also see a definition of luvacta at; https://pfojc.org/luvacta/ and for additional information on the luvacta ministry you can find it at luvacta.org or luvacta.com or luvacta.uk. Read here..; http://luvacta.org/