The walk with Jesus for His followers is not about who does more, but about each of us serving Christ as He calls us to do so individually. This works together to support the body of Christ, which, as the Apostle Paul explains below, is made up of many parts [Christ’s followers]:
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-14.
As in our physical bodies, each part of the body has a different role. This does not mean that one part is more important, it is the way God designed our bodies to work. In the same way, the members of the body of Christ each have a different role, but none is more important than the other.
God is looking for us to give Him all we have, so He can work His supernatural power to facilitate the plans He has prepared since before the creation of our world.
What matters is that every member of Christ’s body needs to seek Him, abide in Him, and obediently follow the path He has set before us. One person may be called to more responsibilities than another, but each one needs to do whatever responsibilities God sets before us without grumbling, without comparison to others, and with His power and strength for excellence to His glory.
Romans 12:1 tells us that we are to offer ourselves for Christ, as living sacrifices: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” People would have understood what the Apostle Paul was speaking about, because those who did not have a relationship with Jesus were accustomed to offering sacrifices to their false gods. The Israelites, who rejected Jesus, continued to offer sacrifices at the temple until it was destroyed in 70 AD.
But God wants His people to live their lives in such a way that onlookers will see evidence of Christ in us – His power, His character, His love and goodness. This happens when we give our all for God.
I think about the people noted in Hebrews 11, and the testimony that still speaks to us today because they were men and women who were living sacrifices for God, men and women who gave their all for God.
I know people today who offer their lives for the Lord’s purposes at personal cost. Their all out service to God invigorates me to give my all for Jesus.
I am going to share about a woman, who is in her late thirties, whose childhood was rough. When she married, and had her first child, she was ecstatic. At three weeks old, her baby was diagnosed with a severe blood disorder. It took a few years of treatments to bring health to her baby, including a bone marrow transplant from England. This was a very challenging and difficult time. She leaned upon God. God never failed her. Her baby is now 12! A great kid, with some side effects from the treatments, but alive and a blessing.
She now has four children. The fourth child was adopted last year after a few years of being fostered. This little boy is around 4, and has had dozens of surgeries. In fact, he just went home from the hospital after having had five more surgeries! More surgeries are yet to be scheduled.
This mom now home schools her 3 older children because of the ungodly curriculum in her local school district.
I’ve never heard her complain!
Additionally, she is now caring for her father-in-law who is living with them under hospice.
She gives credit to God for all she is able to accomplish.
She proves that when a person abides in Jesus, He will equip and provide for all His plans for our lives.
I know God can equip you to do the deeds He has prepared for you since before we were created. You may not be called to the same challenges as my friend, but God will call upon you to do hard and challenging things for Him.
How do you view the struggles and challenges in your life? Do you tackle them by abiding in Jesus, or on your own initiative? Do you shrink back from following God when it looks overwhelming, or do you lean into Him for the power and strength to overcome? You have the free will to decide, but God will not give up on drawing you into following His path into challenges, if you are a true follower of Jesus.
Many verses in Scripture remind us and challenge us to endure hardships, these are a few:
Psalm 119:67 reminds us that affliction causes us to look to God, and keeps us on His path: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”
Philippians 3:10 states: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”. When we walk through and share in the sufferings of this life, not necessarily the ones we bring on ourselves, God works to transform our character to be more like Jesus. This should be our desire!
Accounts of people who have followed God through faith in His promises, especially those who have suffered for His cause, have always inspired me to trust God more deeply, and to want to be a living sacrifice for His kingdom, giving Him my all.
Below are additional verses that encourage us to be living sacrifices:
John 15:11: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
John 12:25: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Blessings come as we endure challenges, by leaning on God.
Additionally, I like to read books that will motivate me to give my all for Jesus.
These are a few of the books you might read, there are many others who have their accounts of giving their all for Jesus you can read:
“Created for Commitment” – A. Wetherell Johnson
“George Muller of Bristol”
Any book by Rosemary Jensen.
I like to surround myself with people who love and serve Jesus selflessly, people who are open to follow God, no matter where He leads, giving their all for Him. I spend time with those who don’t have a relationship with Jesus so I can share the Gospel with them, however, time spent with Christ’s followers is far greater than time I spend with those who don’t have a living and active relationship with Jesus. How do you choose to spend your time? Why do you think it matters how we spend our free time?
Please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com if you want to discuss having a relationship with Jesus, and giving your all for Him.
Living for Jesus, Donna
P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!
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Copyright 2024 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.