When Mordecei woke me at 3AM I was a surprised because he has been sleeping all night for several nights. But then I realized God knew I would need to be up out of bed to pray or I would fall back to sleep. I prayed for pastors before going to bed thinking I might not be awake enough during the night to pray. God is so good! The verses He brought to my mind in my prayers was Colossians 3:23-24.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
It is very easy in ministry to try to please everyone. The Lord gave me these verses in the first year of ministry at Willard. I was working full-time with driving an hour and fifteen minutes each way plus trying to do everything everyone wanted me to do in the church. God gave me Colossians 3:23 to write on cards and put various places such as the mirror where I did my hair in the mornings, my car, and my desk at work. He was very clear that the Only One I was to please was Him. I did not change overnight and continued to have a problem saying 'no' but I did learn to pray and ask Him before giving an answer. In Colossians 3 Paul was explaining to the Church of Colossae the way a servant was to be to their master. Matthew Henry writes of these verses:
Those who fear God, will be just and faithful when from under their master's eye, because they know they are under the eye of God. And do all with diligence, not idly and slothfully; cheerfully, not discontented at the providence of God which put them in that relation.
Yes! We need to serve God with a right heart. We need to be joyful as we walk in obedience to His will. When we are in the workplace, it is our privilege to represent God. When we are out and about, it is our privilege to represent God. When we are in our homes, it is our privilege to represent God. Plain and simple. It is our privilege to represent God.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for Your love that covers me so greatly! Thank You for the privilege You give me every day to represent You! Thank You for last night being another Saturday night of praying for pastors! You had me pray for pastors to remember Paul's words of Colossians 3:23-24 and I did. You reminded me to pray for pastors who are in transition. Some have left vocational ministry; some have retired; and some have moved to another church. You had me pray for all of them to seek Your will and to walk in obedience to it. Once again I pray for those starting out in ministry to stay close to You so the mistakes will be fewer. I pray for hurting pastoral families to have their hearts healed and for those with prodigal children to not give up praying for them. Father, I pray for my husband/pastor Doc to have a miraculous healing in his physical body. Lord, I pray for You to be glorified through all we do. I pray You will be with us as we preach together this morning and for Your strength to be his. Lord, cleanse us so You can fill us with Your Holy Spirit. May You flow from our words, actions, attitude, and thoughts today in a new, different way. Woo hoo! May we all remember that Your love is greater than anything that comes before us and may we remember to stand upon II Timothy 1:7 in Your love and empowerment. May You be the One we choose to please! Amen.
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