Performance Anxiety

Proverbs 16:3
Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

     In all of our life, let there be One who we seek to please the most, our Lord Jesus Christ. When He is first, others can have our best; and we can give a more excellent effort to Him who is worthy. Commit is our key word, only, be careful how you provision it in our text. It is not our deciding what God gets, but rather our surrendering to what God wants. Commitment is the action every saint is lovingly beckoned to take, so let us do so with joy.
     Now we look at the phrase "unto the Lord." Is there a realization in you that there is One greater than commitment itself?  There is the Person to whom we commit, and knowing Him is more vital than the act of commitment itself.  The place of trust and commitment is the Lord Jesus Christ. He sits waiting with an open heart to receive with joyfulness every saint who comes to Him with a surrendered heart.  

     Now what are we to commit unto Him?  Our works of love.   With this mindset your kingdom work becomes a blessing to you and not a curse.  While Christ has commanded us to serve until He comes, He has never asked us to produce things in which we have no control.  Sowing and watering is our job; increase is His.  To the toiling saint I say, keep your fellowship fresh and Christ will break spiritual manna and serve it in fellowship.  To the Bible teacher I say, study with diligence, pray yourself alive, and commit the works unto God.  Work with a surrendered heart the doing of a task, and commit the fruit of it to Him who judges righteously.  Press towards external results only because you are trusting they come because the Spirit has first molded the internal results.  

     Now with this blessed practice our thoughts shall become established. No longer do we toil for what we can see, but for Him in who we do not yet see.  A peace and tranquility fills the anxious mind of the one who commits all they do to God and places faith in His ability.  "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established."

Abiding Influence

1 John 2:17
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

     The source of every river is a fountain head which disperses its waters to places it shall never see.  So is the Spirit-filled life for the believer.  It pays to serve Jesus, and we can be sure that the total sum of our influence shall never be seen or measured this side of Heaven.  All that is placed on the altar of the temporal is soon vanquished, yet he who lives for Christ has a continual influence.  Spiritual influence rolls forth like the mighty engrossing river which spans many lands.  Those who stumble upon it do so in gladness and dip down to drink from its reviving stream.  Long after the laboring saint has released his influence, teaching, love, or prayer, we may find the effect shall linger for a great duration.  We find one who is mentored becomes one who mentors, and so on down the generations serving Christ pays.  Now regard this law, and let this wonderful truth supremely resonate among your thoughts: service for Christ pays, then follows us to eternity and there it continues to pay forever.  Do not think it a small thing to cast aside worldly cares to serve Christ, but rather think it an eternal thing.  It pays to serve Jesus; it pays dear believer, every step, every day.

The Assembly

Hebrews 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

     Oh what grand importance lies in the ministry of the church.  The bride to whom Christ has espoused Himself is ever adorned with the affection of His love.   Many seek God's favor without assembly, yet it is as a member of the body that saints best hear from the head whom is Christ.  Would we count it tragic if a man's fingers were severed?   Would it not invite pain and sorrow if his limbs were separated from his torso?  What a great tragedy it should be. If this is so, how then do we count it acceptable to forsake the assembling of the body to Christ the head?  Should this spiritual severing do any less damage to the spirit as the physical severing would do to the body?  Ask this question of yourself and answer with excessive honesty.  Where does my church rank in importance?  Do you see the answer?  Is this reality self-indicting?   Forsaking the assembling is as removing an ember from the hot coals.  How much quicker it burns out without the heat of others to drive it on!  It would seem sensible that the lone ember should do well in isolation.  It no longer fights to share oxygen, which is a substance necessary to fire.  However, I encourage you to study this thought: the lone coal grows weary and cold.  The vibrance lump which once heated and served a purpose is now an ash, ready to be blown about by any wind of doctrine.  Do not join number that forsake the church as many professing Christians do.  Choose rather to assemble in its glory.  Exhort others to join with you.  All the while we do this awaiting the the return of our King.  Let this singular thought take our minds to a place of much reflection: Christ died for the church; therefore, we should honor it by assembly.

Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?

Left In Crete

Titus 1:5
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

     Should we despair in the will of God?  Not for any presumable reason.  That which falls short of faith is sin, and such an action brings slander against the very nature of Christ. What was Crete?  To the natural eye it should be thought of as an insufferable place.  Yet to the spiritual eye it was glorious; a divine quarter set forth in radiance by the splendor of Heaven itself. The eye of carnality sees only a lowly island off of Greece, separated from the importance of society.  The eye of spirituality sees hope, need, and contentment.  Such a clear contrast of two viewpoints is laid before us with glowing difference. One sees the uneducated, while the other sees a blank slate to carve the Gospel.  Note this thought today Christian friend, "For this cause left I thee in Crete...".  What then was the cause?  None other than Crete longed for that which Titus had.  Within the very soul of this young preacher lay all the imparted gifts of God that were needed to set in order the things that were lacking.  Though a region ravaged by sin, and with the reputation to support it, God had sent forth a deliverer in Christ, and a messenger in Titus.  Let us see our Crete now.  Though filled with difficulty, if God brought us to it, He will bring us through it. What glory divine that God's will is a place of resplendence and satisfaction.  Therefore choose satisfaction, and choose to rejoice. His will is always good, and His purpose always needful.