"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil 2:5

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Water From The Rock Bible Studies Proper Outlook in Christian Service "And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith! And the Lord said, 'If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea; and it would obey you. But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat? But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drink and afterward you will eat and drink. He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded does he? So you too when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done." (Luke 17:5-10) This passage of scripture shows that faith is increased by the proper attitude in service. It is not only increased by service but also increased by the attitude that the servant has about his work. If we take the attitude that we don't deserve special treatment, then our faith will increase. If we take the opposite view that because we do a lot for the Lord then our faith will not increase. Knowing the proper attitude that one should take in Christian service does not guarantee that one would have the right attitude. Knowledge does not edify, love edifies (1 Cor. 8:1). To serve God and others one must first have his heart right before God and then he will be able to serve others with the right attitude. How do we cleanse our hearts from dead works to serve the living God? Read and meditate on the word of God. Ask for forgiveness. Obey the truth.(1 Pt. 1:22) Pray through. What I mean by praying through is not to pray and then go on to other things but pray until the answer comes. "How do you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?" (John 5:44) An attitude that seeks glory from others will never be able to believe God. To receive glory is to stroke your pride. To receive glory is to take credit for the work that has been done. To receive glory for what God has accomplished will hinder our ability to believe God in the future. Faith grows as we are looking outward towards others and not looking at ourselves. Jesus identifies with others and as we serve others we are serving the Lord. Service unto the Lord builds faith. Look at the slave that had worked in the field all day. He was tired, hungry. hot and dirty. The master ordered him to clean up and serve him. When I worked in the woods in Oregon I came home dirty and tired. I wanted to take care of myself before I helped anyone. I could put away a lot of food after a hard day of working the mountains. When the master ordered the slave to feed him first, the slave would not feel like serving him. Faith comes when we obey even when we don't feel like it. We know what is right to do, but our feelings don't match our knowledge. Faith is action on what the Lord has led us to do and not what we know or feel. As we serve the Lord and pray for His infilling power, the will to serve will come. "For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.(Phil. 2:13). Sometimes there must be faith before there is desire. The next verse shows that we won't always have that desire. "Do all things without grumbling or disputing" (Phil. 2:14) If God had already given us the will to work we would not grumble. There is never any profit in grumbling or disputing. I knew a millionaire who said that, he never complained about something that he did not have any control over. He said if the person did not have the solution he would not share the problem with him. I also knew a tree planter who was fast. He never would complain about the bad ground. He would say, "bad ground, I don't see any bad ground." He would go right on planting and he was one of the fastest planters on the crew. We are not able to solve anything by complaining. God is the source of our supply, so go to Him for the answer. "Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." (1 Pt. 5:7) Give it to God and let Him take care of it because He is the only one who can do anything about it anyway. Belief sustains us in trying situations. (John 4:32- 34, 6:35) Believing is drawing from Jesus and doing the work of God in faith. When you force yourself to serve God you may become depressed or discouraged. What I have found to combat this attitude is to answer my complaint with Scripture. This is fighting doubt not by claiming the promises but by quoting the promises, over and over. The Bible is alive and as it gets into our heart by meditation, it will change us. (Josh. 1:8; Heb. 4:12) Don't ignore your doubt, tell God about your doubt and then quote or memorize the promise dealing with that kind of doubt. The sword of the Spirit, in God's armor, is mainly what we have memorized. Complaining is the opposite of faith. It is the expression of hopelessness. Many times we don't realize what we do when we complain. Our confession is important. (Heb. 3:1) What we speak shows what is in our hearts. (Matthew 12:34) Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flows the springs of life. (Prov. 4:23) What we say is what is in our heart and if we watch what we say then we are watching our hearts. Praise God, look to Jesus and have hope in Him. Then what you say will be right. If you are having trouble memorizing a scripture, write it down on a card and carry it with you. The Scripture builds my mind back up. It is encouragement. Such as: But I don't want to do that any more. "For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to lay His life down a ransom for many. Mark 10:35 I can't do it any more. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13 I am too weak for this. My grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9 Satan will get me. I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightening. Behold I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, But don't rejoice in this, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Luke 18:10-12 When I serve the Lord I get depressed. For the joy of the Lord is your strength. Neh. 8:10 You will keep him in perfect peace because his mind is stayed on Thee. I don't know what God wants me to do. For the path of the righteousness is like the light of dawn which grows brighter and brighter until the full day. Prov. 4:18 But I don't have the money for this. My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19 "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;" 2 Cor. 9:8,10 Would God ask us to do something and not give us the ability or abundance to do it? If God asks us to do something He will provide a way to do it. It may not be as we think that He should do it or according to our timetable but He will accomplish what He has promised. He will also give us the will and desire to do it. Everything that we do in life is seed for the future. How are you going to set the course of your life? Are we going to live by what we feel or by what the Lord wants? Some would want to set a balance between these two. A lot of teachers talk about balance. I have always disliked this teaching because the end result with a lot of people is that they become lukewarm because they keep a balance between serving God and serving their fleshly desires. Don't seek balance, seek Jesus. Set your heart to know Jesus more and to follow Him in service. Some people would say don't strive to serve God. But anything that we try to do in life takes hard work. In sports you have to strive to be good. It takes years to be an accomplished musician. To not work hard is not to rise to the potential that you have. Follow the leading and anointing of the Holy Spirit. With the anointing of the Holy Spirit it is so much easier to accomplish something. 1 Thes. 2:9 "For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God." There is a right to get paid for doing the work of the gospel (1 Tim. 5:17,18; 1Cor. 9:12-14) but Paul paid his own way when he was in Thessalonica. "Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right." (1 Pt. 4:19) "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23) 2 Cor. 6:3-10 Paul did not give a cause for offense. He took an attitude as a servant of God. In this service he took all kinds of ridicule and physical abuse. Everything that Paul endured was for the benefit of those that he was serving. He did this by having the sentence of death within himself that He would not trust in Himself but in God who raises the dead. Paul knew that God would deliver him. (2 Cor. 1:3-11) The scripture that says that our life does not consist in what we own. If we have Christ with Him we will be satisfied. Phil. 3:8,9 If we have Christ other things will be given to us. Matt 6:33 If we have Christ there is fulfillment. Our desire to gain other things will fall away. "But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." (1 Tim 6:6-8) We are asked to follow the example of others. What is the attitude Phil. 3:15 is talking about? It is an attitude of seeking Christ to know Him. An attitude of having the righteousness of God on the basis of faith (v.9) An attitude of being used by Him in power. An attitude of seeking more and more of God and to be fulfilling what God has called you to do. Follow the example of the life of Paul. "Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us,." (Phil. 3:17; 1 Pt. 2:21) "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." (Heb. 13:7) What is the attitude of Jesus in Phil. 2? He did not grasp being equal with God, but humbled Himself and by being a servant for us even unto death. We are to have the attitude that Jesus had. (Phil. 2:5) To serve and not to be served. Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Many people look for fulfillment in ministry. But the Bible teaches that as we give up our rights and needs we will get fulfillment through the back door so to speak. Fulfillment comes as we serve others and not as we try to get something for ourselves. "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." (Luke 9:24) Fulfillment will come as we give, not as we receive. "For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord ; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." (Rom. 14:7,8) --- Scott McCrae Home | Back to Top

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