Most Gracious Lord, You encourage those in Your Body (who are able) to bear the burdens of those who lack strength and have lost hope. They are the ones whose goal is to please You and not themselves. You want them to act as Your representative bringing love and compassion to those in pain. The things You want me to know, as Your “Helper”, are recorded in the Scriptures so I can understand my role in the building of Your Kingdom. May a “spirit of oneness” develop within Your Body as we work for good of others and build a foundation for Your Kingdom … so that with one heart and one accord we can give You praise. Teach me how to accept others as You have accepted me. Show me the way to become a true servant … humble, kind and diligent. Acting in humility, my desire is to draw others to You as I was drawn to You. You came to bring truth to the lost, can I do any less?
My understanding of the Scriptures helps me develop attitudes regarding the present and future. The more I learn about You … the more I want to become like You. The more I can see the things that You have done for me in the past, the greater my confidence becomes that You will do things like that for me in the future. If I become a diligent reader of Your Word, it will increase my trust in You and I will become more bold about sharing Your Good News. To have accepted You as My Lord means I accept Your values and perspectives. In doing so, I cannot keep my knowledge of You to myself … I must share what I know. As I learn more about Your will and call to service, I am compelled to join forces with others in Your Body to serve those more needy than myself. As I grow in faith and understand Your ways better, I become more capable of doing what is good and right in Your sight.
I can take no personal pride in what I do on Your behalf because, in actuality, it is what You are doing through me. Giving myself, my time and my talents in service to You is actually a form of worship. My goal is not to be a pleaser of men, but someone who brings great joy to You. In that process, if I can make You more real to others, I feel like I am doing something important in bringing about the expansion of Your Kingdom. When I can set aside my willfulness, rebellion and self-pleasure in order to serve You, I feel like I’m becoming one of those “lively stones” You spoke of as an integral part of Your Church. If my goal is to become a vessel of love, servant with boundless enthusiasm and work diligently to build up others, I know that I am being transformed into a viable part in the building of Your Kingdom. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Matthew 6:10 “… Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”