“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Psalm 16: 11
King James Version
The world offers us a happy hour in bars which costs money and which is definitely not a happy hour. It may bring a temporary high which makes us forget our problems but when the high wears off the problems are still there and we have a hang over. God offers us a happy life through His beloved Son, Jesus, which brings a genuine and a lasting happiness. This happy life is free to us but it cost Jesus His life’s blood. “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins”(Matthew 26: 27, 28).
However, we need to remember that satan will do all that he can possibly do to defeat us and discourage us from serving Jesus. It upsets satan and makes him very angry to see us happy and he will attack us with vicious lies, with doubts and confusion, and with criticism and sarcasm and judgmental words. Sad as it is, there are times that satan even attacks us through our families. Most of the time, our families don’t even realize that satan is using them to discourage us from serving Jesus.
I received an email from a lady two years ago who said that her daughter had disowned her and would have nothing do with her anymore because she was serving Jesus. It is so important that we stay in the presence of Jesus so satan will not be able to poison our minds and discourage us. One of the ways that satan tries to discourage us from serving Jesus is by confusing us and filling our minds with doubts about what we should do to serve Jesus.
When I surrendered to the mission field in 1999, my pastor prayed a beautiful prayer for me. Then he gave me some very wise counsel. Pastor David told me not to wait until God told me what my mission work was to be; he told me to start serving Jesus right where I was. I began telling people how much Jesus loves them and that He loves them unconditionally. When we don’t know what else to do at the time, we do know that all of us have been given a mandate by Jesus Himself to tell everyone that He loves them and that He loves them unconditionally.
However, I became impatient to know what God wanted me to do as a missionary. I must have prayed and asked God at least twenty times what He wanted me to do to serve Jesus. One day God spoke to my heart and said “My time is not your time. When the time is right, you will have peace in your heart.” I never asked Him again what He wanted me to do. It wasn’t until January 24, 2005 that God entrusted me with the ministries of encouraging pastors and writing devotions.
Over the last three and a half years, I have received several emails from missionaries, evangelists and pastors who told me that they had prayed and asked our Heavenly Father what He wanted them to do to serve Him but hadn’t received an answer. When we are confused and have doubts as to what God wants us to do, it is important for us to remember this verse “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55: 8, 9).
If we will stay in the presence of Jesus and keep praising Him, not only will we have fulness of joy we will also have peace and happiness in our hearts. Don’t allow satan to rob you of your joy and happiness by planting doubts and confusion in your mind and heart about what you are supposed to do to serve Jesus. Wait for God to speak to your heart.
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40: 29 - 31). Are you willing to wait for God to speak to your heart and give you direction and the ministries that He wants you to do? Remember, His thoughts are not your thoughts and His ways are not your ways. His thoughts and His ways are higher than yours and His thoughts and His ways are perfect.
Joanne Lowe
September 30, 2008
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment