THINK LIKE CHRIST WHEN YOU SERVE GOD.
We should come to God to please Him, without an agenda of what He should and should not like. He tells us in His word that His "ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways above our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts." Paul said that just as no one knows your thoughts except your spirit in you, no one knows God's thoughts except God's Spirit. How do I know what makes you happy and what makes you angry unless you tell me? If I'm your waiter, how do I know your order unless you tell me? In the same way, God is not subject to our church programs and agenda. We should seek the Spirit's desires, at church and in our lives, just like waiters seek to know what pleases their customers.
THINK LIKE CHRIST WHEN YOU SERVE PEOPLE.
Imagine this:
I see you at church and you look sad. I gently approach you.
"Excuse me, I'm Olatunde. Would you mind if I sat with you? "
In this scenario you don't know me, so I'm not expecting a yes or no. I'm waiting to see what you want. I'm doing my best to create an atmosphere where you feel free to say yes or no without any pressure.
"No thank you, I'm ok."
"Alright," I say. God bless you.
"Wait," he says. "Could you pray for me?"
"Yes, I'd be glad to. What do you want me to pray?"
"Right now I feel like dying. Please ask God to help me."
"Alright, I'll pray that God helps you. Do you mind if I ask the Spirit to lead me as I pray for you?"
"No, not at all."
So I first pray only what this man asks me to. No more. No less. Then I wait for the Spirit to lead me, if the Spirit wants me to say anything else. I'm serving the sad man. And I'm serving the Spirit by praying only what the Spirit leads.
I don't give the man unsolicited advice that I very badly want him to take. I don't try to force more information out of him. I am his servant. I'm there to meet whatever spiritual need he has, as he tells me, or as the Spirit tells me. I have no agenda of my own.
If you get nothing else from these 3 blogs, or the blogs on healing, or the blogs on spiritual gifts, get this:
WE ARE GOD'S SERVANTS WHO HAVE NO AGENDA OF OUR OWN.
We have "emptied ourselves," just as Jesus emptied Himself. When we come to God we come with the words of Jesus, "Not my will, but yours be done." When we come to each other, we come with the words of Jesus, "Not my will but yours be done."
Imagine two or three believers meeting at a home to pray. They don't come with any preset prayer plans or talks or anything. Each come completely submitted to the will of the Holy Spirit. Yes, each come with burdens or needs. But they have put their needs aside to focus on God's will and on each other. Each of the three come in this very mindset. Three servants of God, together.
So, they all enter the home and greet each other. They sit in silence, waiting for the Spirit's leading. Each of them. Sean, Fredrick, and Louis. The Spirit leads Louis to speak first. Sean and Fredrick felt led to stay quite.
"The Spirit is leading me to open us up in prayer. Do you both agree to this? They do, affirming Louis that he is hearing from the Spirit. So Louis prays as the Spirit leads him. Then Fredrick sees a picture of Sean at his job, alone, reading his bible during a lunch break. Fredrick asks the Spirit what this means and if he should tell Fredrick. The Spirit tells Fredrick that Sean needs to know how much of an impact he's making just by reading his bible on his lunch break. So Fredrick tells Sean what the Spirit says, and Sean is overwhelmingly encouraged! Sean never told either of his friends about his bible reading at work.
Each came to serve God and each other, not force God to follow their house prayer program, and not force each other to worship God, pray a certain way, or recite certain scriptures by faith. They all come with the mind of Christ, having emptied themselves, and avoided the worst Christian sin:
Seeking to be served instead of seeking to serve.
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