CHOSEN TO BE WITH HIM

MEMORY VERSE: And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach. Mark 3:14

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Galatians 4-6

It is a good thing to serve in the vineyard of God. Firstly, anyone that wants to be great in the kingdom of God must serve. Matthew 20:26 says, “But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.” The word ‘minister’ literally means ‘servant’. Those who ‘only’ want to come to church to listen to sermon and go back home are indirectly saying to God, “I don’t want to be great in Your kingdom”. Asides this, there are a lot of benefits in serving in the vineyard of God. For example, God renews the strength of those who serve so they can mount up with wings as eagles in their careers, family, and things that pertain to them. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” To ‘wait’ means to serve as waiter i.e. wait tables. In addition, God honors those who serve in His vineyard. John 12:26 says, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” When you serve in the vineyard of God you are honouring Jesus, and the Lord will honour you in return. Also, God has a special love for those who serve in His vineyard. There are two basic types of love. There is the general love. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave.....” Then, there is the special love. Proverbs 8:17 says, “i love those who love Me...” Those He loves specially are referred to as conquerors. Romans 8:37 says, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” One way to express our love to God is by serving in His vineyard. Whilst others are too busy to clean the church, too big to be an usher or too important to work in the media department, you create time out of no time to serve Him and watch Him make you a conqueror.

Without a shadow of doubt, God loves those who serve Him and serve in His vineyard. If you are serving in the vineyard of God, i can assure you of one thing and that is God loves you specially. However, the number one reason why God saved our souls, washed us in the blood of Jesus, sanctified us, etc is not to serve. The number one reason why He chose us is to be with Him. Mark 3:14 says, “And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.” You are I were chosen to be with Him first , not to preach, evangelize, sing in the choir, do crusades, write Christian articles, sow a big seed, work in the media department, counsel people, work as a charity worker, etc. All these are good and God appreciates them, but that is not the number one reason why He chose us. Our Lord is more interested in what we are becoming in Him than what we are doing for Him. He is more interested in winning our whole hearts than in our wining the world for Him. Many of us are busy with His work that we no longer have time to be with Him. God is not impressed by this. You can be an usher, prayer warrior, choir, and sanctuary keeper at the same time, if you are not spending time communing with Him ( praying and fasting, reading His word), it means you have a misplaced priority.

ACTION: Ask the Lord to forgive you for not spending as much time as you ought to with Him. Create time out of your busy daily schedule to always spend time with Him especially to pray and read the bible.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

FELLOWSHIP WITH THE BRETHREN

MEMORY VERSE: blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, Psalm 1:1

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Judg 4, Acts 8, Jer 17, Mark 3

There is safety in fellowshipping with christian brothers and sisters. There is peace in fellowshipping with the brethren. You will never find a true brother or sister in Christ get into trouble with the law because they are law abiding citizens. The life of Christian brothers and sisters maybe boring but it is problem and heart ache free. It is true they don’t do fun things like partying late at night or clubbing but there lifestyle gives peace of mind. I heard a story not too long ago that brought tears to my eyes. A Christian lady escorted her friends to a night party. While everyone was having fun, someone spiked her drink (added some drugs to her drink) and she unknowingly drank it. Before you know it some strange men took her into a room and began to have sex with her. One way or the other her friends found out what happened and reported the matter to the police. The boys were arrested and the parents of this lady demanded a blood test. The result of the test that came out showed that two of the boys that slept with her were HIV positive. If only her friends were born again, she would not have gone out that night.

When you fellowship with the brethren, evil ideas and strange suggestions will not be giving to you. When you fellowship with the brethren, they will never advise you to divorce your husband or be rude to him. When you fellowship with the brethren, they will never encourage you to participate in extra – marital affairs. When you fellowship with the friends, there is no jealousy or people talking behind your back. When you fellowship with the brethren, you will never get depressed because they are always talking about faith. When you are down, they will speak the word of encouragements to you and share bible verses that would build your faith. When you fellowship with the brethren, you don’t give up easily because faith in the power of God is always preached.
Psalm 1:1 says blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. In other words, if you want the Lord to bless you walk with the godly / brethren. If you are looking for a counselor, choose a brother or sister in Christ. The reason is that the mentality of the brethrens is very good. In all their counsels, God always come first. If those that are counseling you do not have the fear of God deeply rooted in their heart, God help you. Not that they will purposely lead you astray, but their counsel will be devoid of divine wisdom which is pure, full of mercy, impartial, sincere ( James 3:17).

ACTION POINTS: Choose your friends in Christ.