If I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. —Philippians 2:17

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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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, Being in the background, doing menial or un-noticed work only works for me when I’m connected with you. When I lose that clear connection, I tend to resent doing menial things. So I guess the key is to stay connected and be ready for anything you send. The large and the small, the strategic and the menial.

Connected with me is the best way to live. It’s the way I live … and the way I lived when I walked the shores of Galilee. I’m always connected with Father and Holy Spirit .. and as many of you as accept that invitation to our connection. As you stay connected with me, you can say with Paul. I can do all things, thru Christ, who strengthens me. Phil 4:13. When you lose connection, you lose the strength to withstand all pressures. That is when men have fallen back on their own strength and built structures to maintain their power. It’s an ugly thing. My people connected to me with my power (Me) flowing thru them … That is a beautiful thing. My essence is Love. Love manifests many ways but here are some clues:

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Cor 13)

If those things are not flowing in your circumstances … check your connection. When something seems to be missing in your life … it’s me. Look how fast the Father was there for the prodigal son who realized that something was missing. We are here for you, just like that.

The love of Christ compels us… —2 Corinthians 5:14

We have been made as the filth of the world… —1 Corinthians 4:13

These words are not an exaggeration. The only reason they may not be true of us who call ourselves ministers of the gospel is not that Paul forgot or misunderstood the exact truth of them, but that we are too cautious and concerned about our own desires to allow ourselves to become the refuse or “filth of the world.” “Fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ…” (Colossians 1:24) is not the result of the holiness of sanctification, but the evidence of consecration— being “separated to the gospel of God…” (Romans 1:1).

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you…” (1 Peter 4:12). If we do think the things we encounter are strange, it is because we are fearful and cowardly. We pay such close attention to our own interests and desires that we stay out of the mire and say, “I won’t submit; I won’t bow or bend.” And you don’t have to— you can be saved by the “skin of your teeth” if you like. You can refuse to let God count you as one who is “separated to the gospel….” Or you can say, “I don’t care if I am treated like ‘the filth of the world’ as long as the gospel is proclaimed.” A true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom for the reality of the gospel of God. When a moral person is confronted with contempt, immorality, disloyalty, or dishonesty, he is so repulsed by the offense that he turns away and in despair closes his heart to the offender. But the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me…” (Galatians 1:16).

Journal DJR
Good morning Lord. So I’m not to think it strange, the fiery trials that may come my way as in 1 Peter 4:12. How then am I to think of them? I can think I am privileged to “Fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ…” (Colossians 1:24). But to be honest, that thinking seems to be too far a stretch for me in the midst of a trial. How about an attitude of “Curiosity?”

Curiosity is a good first step. I can work with that and it won’t shut down your ability to hear my voice and move to those next levels of thinking. Staying curious requires that you have not already come to a conclusion or judgement about an issue. Curiosity is a good starting place for hearing my voice or feeling my nudges. Then it is up to you to be obedient. That’s when the faith kicks in. You dont even need faith until you hear me tell you something which isn’t “logical” … like step out of the boat, or something out of your comfort zone, like, “go pray for that person.” So live curious and connected and ready to obey. It’s the way I lived. It’s the best way to live.

Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! —1 Corinthians 9:16

Who are You, Lord? —Acts 26:15
“The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand…” (Isaiah 8:11). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best— not through your ears, but through your circumstances.

God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, “I know that this is what I should do” — and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. “He…rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ ” (Luke 9:55). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13.

Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord— “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8).

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Journal DJR
Good morning Lord, Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons … or doing God’s thing with man’s power, That is the result of not being connected and hearing your voice. Two ways that I wind up doing a good thing for the wrong reasons revolve around the operative words, “should” and “ought.” Those words (for me at least) are shrouded in guilt. The guilt drains the joy out of the good thing that I go ahead and do so I’m left with an empty feeling. I wonder if it erases the spiritual blessing that only you would see also.

Whatever is Not of Faith is Sin (Rom 14:23)

Paul could have amplified that and said that the faith needs to be in me and what I make clear to you. You can have faith in your country or your leaders, even religious leaders and still miss the mark. Like the Pharisees.

It seems so simple. Just get connected, hear your voice and your heart and live out of that. How did I miss it for all those years? But also so easy to get disconnected, listen to my own thoughts or pick up some shoulds and oughts, and find myself sick and tired and missing the delight.

“I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8).

Thanks for promising to never leave me or forsake me. You’ve never let me run amuck for too long. And I’m always welcome back… like the prodigal son. Lord help me to get and stay connected faster and stay disconnected less and less.

If there’s a guilt feeling attached to it, or driving it, skip it, no matter how good or godly the issue seems to be. That’s not my way of relating with my kids.

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? —Acts 26:14

Do not worry about your life… —Matthew 6:25

A warning which needs to be repeated is that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches,” and the lust for other things, will choke out the life of God in us (Matthew 13:22). We are never free from the recurring waves of this invasion. If the frontline of attack is not about clothes and food, it may be about money or the lack of money; or friends or lack of friends; or the line may be drawn over difficult circumstances. It is one steady invasion, and these things will come in like a flood, unless we allow the Spirit of God to raise up the banner against it.

“I say to you, do not worry about your life….” Our Lord says to be careful only about one thing— our relationship to Him. But our common sense shouts loudly and says, “That is absurd, I must consider how I am going to live, and I must consider what I am going to eat and drink.” Jesus says you must not. Beware of allowing yourself to think that He says this while not understanding your circumstances. Jesus Christ knows our circumstances better than we do, and He says we must not think about these things to the point where they become the primary concern of our life. Whenever there are competing concerns in your life, be sure you always put your relationship to God first.

“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). How much trouble has begun to threaten you today? What kind of mean little demons have been looking into your life and saying, “What are your plans for next month— or next summer?” Jesus tells us not to worry about any of these things. Look again and think. Keep your mind on the “much more” of your heavenly Father (Matthew 6:30).

Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord, It certainly is true, “things” will come in like a flood to fill my schedule, fill my head, and fill my heart unless I (we) do something to prevent it. The first paragraph suggests I allow your Spirit to raise up a banner against it. That sounds good, because me flexing my will power to keep my mind from wandering hasn’t been very successful. So what’s a banner against wandering minds and lustful thoughts? It’s got to be more than just pouring on more will power to not wander and not lust.

Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For those who truly want to be mine all the time and come to me with their request… I will answer and my Spirit will be there with help in the time of need. There are some techniques that you can use but success in focus and staying worry free cannot be boiled down to a list of tips and techniques. But one that you will find valuable as I did when I walked as you do is to know that your mind cannot be void. All vacancies will fill with something. Especially if you have a habit, any habit, that takes you away, when a vacancy appears in your thinking … that other thing will fill the vacancy and your focus will wander away to that thing, rather than being with me and the best thing I would choose for you.
So one key is to recognize those decision points that happen before you choose a direction and choose to fill the void with what I have for you. If it’s not clear, fill it with something you choose, rather than what you default to. Then keep listening and I will lead you.

If God so clothes the grass of the field…, will He not much more clothe you…? —Matthew 6:30

We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image… —2 Corinthians 3:18

Do we expect God to come to us with His blessings and save us? He says, “Look to Me, and be saved….” The greatest difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God, and His blessings are what make it so difficult. Troubles almost always make us look to God, but His blessings tend to divert our attention elsewhere. The basic lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is to narrow all your interests until your mind, heart, and body are focused on Jesus Christ. “Look to Me….”

Many of us have a mental picture of what a Christian should be, and looking at this image in other Christians’ lives becomes a hindrance to our focusing on God. This is not salvation— it is not simple enough. He says, in effect, “Look to Me and you are saved,” not “You will be saved someday.” We will find what we are looking for if we will concentrate on Him. We get distracted from God and irritable with Him while He continues to say to us, “Look to Me, and be saved….” Our difficulties, our trials, and our worries about tomorrow all vanish when we look to God.

Wake yourself up and look to God. Build your hope on Him. No matter how many things seem to be pressing in on you, be determined to push them aside and look to Him. “Look to Me….” Salvation is yours the moment you look.

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Journal DJR
I get it Lord, that when I look to you, I am saved. The language we’ve been using is “get connected” with you. My question today is how can I maintain that connection more continually. I find myself getting disconnected and wandering off … even though I’ve determined not to allow that to happen. Do you have any suggestions?

I would ask, Do you love me? Do you believe?

And I would insist like Peter, You know I love you (and probably follow up like Peter did) and answer like the man, Lord, I believe, Help my unbelief.

You have answered well. What you are up against is that it is not in man to will to love me or believe me. Your will power to follow regimens that look like love will fail. They always have. Get more simple than that. Just look to me. Dont try to be righteous. Dont try to be holy. That will only get you into the camp of the Pharisees. Only look to me. It’s a different practice than trying to please me or measure up. Just look. See what you see and act out of that.

OK, I’ll try that. I know it sounds wimpy to just say I’ll “try”

It’s OK. I’ll take it.

OK I believe you, Help my unbelief. I love you, Help my un-love.