Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ’Well done.’

”It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased . . .” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket—to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served?

Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted—not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.

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February 5, 2015- JDV

God is this lesson about helping others or is it about allowing You to help others through me? I am not certain I can respond to the obligation and guilt that Oswald Chambers uses so well in many of his devotionals. In fact I am not even certain that obligation and guilt have any place at all in spiritual lessons. One thing You have taught us is that if we do anything for You apart from the motivation of love, it is wrong.

And God says…”I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. I do not want your fearful obedience. I do not want you to help others out of some sort of obligation and fear.  And I do not want you to reach out to help others because you feel it is your “duty”.  I gave you Jesus so that you could see my love for you, and so that you would be transformed and connected to Me. I gave you Jesus so that we could and would have a relationship of love. When you are connected to Me and you allow Jesus to live through you, you will be as amazed (as well as everyone else) by your actions to help others.  When you are connected to Me and allow Jesus to live though you, you reach out to help others, because you are unable to do anything less, given the love that pours out from Me to you. “