Tag Archives: serving God

July 4, 2025 · 6:02 AM

Serving God

Jesus said that one of the greatest commandments was to love the Lord with Al, your heart, soul, mind and strength. When we love Him in each of those areas we will serve Him with all of them. Who or what we love, we serve. The attitude and posture of our heart results in action in our lives. Serving God is about submitting every area to Him out of our love for Him. Are you doing what He wants or what you want in your life? Remember, you can’t serve two masters. The fruit of your life shows who you are serving. Take a moment to reflect on which areas you need to submit to the Lord and serve Him with.

Here are some Bible verses on serving God:

1. Does this sound as if I am trying to win human approval? No indeed! What I want is God’s approval! Am I trying to be popular with people? If I were still trying to do so, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10 GNT

2. Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’”

Luke 4:8 GNT

3. If it is unacceptable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15 AMP

4. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.

2 Corinthians 6:7-8 NLT

5. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

Luke 1:74-75 NLT

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June 10, 2025 · 5:30 AM

God Over Everyone

When the Israelites left Egypt, God was their supreme leader. He used leaders like Moses and Joshua to take them to the land He had prepared. He then used a combination of judges and prophets to lead His people to victory and to call them back to repentance. That lasted about 400 years. In 1 Samuel 8, the people said, “Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” Samuel was upset and cried out to God. He was reminded that Israel wasn’t rejecting him. They were rejecting God as their leader. They were saying that they preferred to be culturally relevant instead of spiritually distinct. God had set them apart from all the other nations to be holy and devoted, but they decided they would rather blend in culturally than to stand out spiritually.

This isn’t just a story in the Bible. It’s a reflection of who we are as humans and how our desires tempt us to choose cultural conformity over spiritual conviction. The culture we live in is at odds with the teachings of the Bible. Jesus says He is the Truth, yet our world says that each person can have their own truth. When there is no absolute truth, there is no standard of what is right and wrong instead of God. We all face the temptation to look and act like everyone else, but God called us to be separate. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” How can you show others the goodness of God if you are no different than the culture around you? When there is no difference, we risk losing the very distinction that makes us God’s people.

Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” We are specifically told to not imitate the behavior and customs of the world. The idol of approval tempts us to conform to cultural norms by sacrificing our intimacy with God in order to look like everyone else. God wants us to live transformed lives starting with changing how we think about what we value. When we value what He wants, we live our lives following His lead. We become less concerned with what others think and more concerned with pleasing Him. We then put our relationship with God over all others.

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October 15, 2024 · 5:37 AM

Experiencing God’s Presence

One of the questions I like to ask is, “How do you connect with God?” I also like to find out, “When do you feel closets to Him?” What I’ve found is varying answers to these questions because we are wired differently. Some feel closest to Him when there’s worship playing. Others would say they feel closest when they are in nature experiencing His creation. Some will connect to God in solitude away from all distractions. I’ve had someone say they feel closest to God when they are serving other people. There are those who feel His presence as they study God’s Word or something in the world because they can see His handiwork.I’ve also seen someone connect to God through church rituals. The answers vary by our upbringing, our personality and by what we’ve been through.

Jesus is a great example of someone who connects with God in solitude. He was always going away to a quiet place to reconnect with God. Solomon was one who found God’s handiwork in everything he studied. We give her a hard time, but Martha connected with God through serving, while Mary did it through the quietness of sitting at His feet. I love reading Psalm 19 because it was written by someone as they were connecting with God through nature. People in the Early Church experienced God’s presence in the context of community and sharing meals. David expressed many different ways he connected with God, but we associate his with worship. Ultimately that is what connecting with God produces. It should grow our love for Him and create an attitude of worship.

In Mark 12:30 Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (NLT) I’ve found at various times in my life I’m good at loving Him in some of these areas, but not all of them. I like to stop and evaluate how I’m doing in them every so often. When I’m lacking love for Him in certain areas, it’s usually because I’ve not been being intentional about taking the time to experience His presence and connecting with Him. Our lives can get so busy that we know we love God in our mind, but we fail to feel that love in our heart or express it with all of our soul and strength. How are you doing in all four of these areas? If you’re lacking, think about the first two questions I asked and take time to connect with God in your way. Loving and connecting with Him should be the priority in your life because that’s what will matter for eternity.

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August 11, 2023 · 5:35 AM

Servant Development

If you work somewhere, you know that leadership development is a hot topic. It seems almost everyone wants to be a leader and businesses spend millions training people to become the best leaders they can be. I believe in leadership development strongly, but I also believe we in the Church need servant development. When we get to Heaven, Jesus isn’t going to say, “We’ll done good and faithful leader.” While we need good leadership in the Church, we should all be thinking about how we can be good servants of Jesus who honor Him and serve others. It’s not as glamorous as being a leader, but in eternity, there is a greater value placed on being a servant than a leader.

Here are some Bible verses on being a servant.

1. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

John 12:26 ESV

2. The leaders who are served are the most important in your eyes, but in the kingdom, it is the servants who lead. Am I not here with you as one who serves?

Luke 22:27 TPT

3. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world Lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.”

Matthew 20:25-26 NLT

4. The servant of the Lord must not participate in quarrels, but must be kind to everyone [even-tempered, preserving peace, and he must be], skilled in teaching, patient and tolerant when wronged.

2 Timothy 2:24 AMP

5. “Well done, you good and faithful servant!” said his master. “You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!”

Matthew 25:23 GNT

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February 16, 2022 · 5:51 AM

Being A Servant

A friend of mine sent me a passage from a book called “Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition: The Path To Spiritual Growth” by Richard J. Foster. In it, the author discusses the difference between choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. When I read that, my first thought was, “Isn’t that really the same thing?” However, as I read it, it’s clear they are two different things. A person who chooses to serve picks the person, the time and place. We are in charge during serving, but when we choose to be a servant, we give all that up. We give up the right to choose who, when, where and how. We don’t have a problem serving. We have a problem being servants.

In Isaiah 6, he says that in the year King Uzziah died, he saw the Lord. God was sitting on the throne and the train of His robes filled the Temple. When Isaiah saw that, he felt the holiness of God and immediately saw his sin. Am angel brought a piece of coal to cleanse his lips. Then God spoke up. Verse 8 says, “Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am. Send me’” (NLT). God then sent Isaiah. He told him exactly what to say and who to tell it to. Isaiah chose to be a servant in this instance. He put himself in a place to be God’s servant.

When you look at the start of that chapter, it really helps us see how what the difference is between serving and being a servant. When we are a servant, God is on the throne of our life and we are at His mercy for what He wants to do. It’s the equivalent of getting out of the driver’s seat and letting Him drive. When we serve, we are still on the throne of our life and in the driver’s seat making the decisions. We may seek His guidance on where to serve, what to say and who to help, but we still have the option to decline. God is looking for people who will choose to be servants, submitting themselves to Him. Have you been serving God or have you truly given up your rights? If you’re looking to get to that next level in your walk with God, get off the throne and let God sit there. You will find true freedom, a closer relationship with God and fully fulfill your calling.

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July 26, 2021 · 5:57 AM

Being Teachable

One of the things I’ve learned is that if you’re going to grow, you must be teachable. People who think they know it all have placed a lid on their growth. The ones who are humble enough to realize they don’t know what they don’t know are often the people who ask questions that seek understanding. They want to learn more so they can get better at something. They seek out people who know more than they do in the area they want to grow in, ask questions and then apply what they’ve learned. Application is a huge part of growth. It’s what takes the knowledge you’ve been given and does something with it. If you’ve been taught something new and don’t do anything with it or change how you do things, then you may not be as teachable as you thought.

Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, was a serious scholar. He had one of the brightest teachers who poured everything into his students. Even though he had all that knowledge and was very strict in obeying the Law, he was missing the point. Jesus met him on the way to Damascus to show him His will for him. Paul spent the next several years relearning everything in the Scriptures with his new perspective. Once he understood what God wanted him to do, he did it faithfully until he died. He served God with complete devotion, and wrote letters to the churches of that day explaining the Scriptures and helping them follow Jesus with the same devotion.

In Psalm 86:11 David prayed, “Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do, and I will obey you faithfully; teach me to serve you with complete devotion” (GNT). It’s a prayer each of us should pray as we seek to grow and follow Jesus more closely. Like Paul, God will reveal to us His will and give us understanding of Scriptures. He wants us to know His will for our lives so we can obey Him and fulfill our purpose. It starts with us being teachable and asking Him to show us. Just like before, knowledge is great, but growth happens in the application and obedience. Both David and Paul were people like you and me. They had flaws and failures, but what sets them apart from most is that they were always seeking to know more of what they didn’t know about God and how to serve Him more faithfully. I believe their teachability is why God revealed so much to them and why God used them to write so much of the Bible. Imagine what God could do through you if you were that teachable.

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July 5, 2017 · 5:31 AM

Busy Work


I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand busy work. I hate being given a task just for the sake of having something to do. I see it as a waste of time rather than a time filler. Nothing truly productive comes from it. I’d rather save my energy, brain power and time doing nothing rather than doing meaningless tasks. Whether it’s at work, home or wherever, we’ve all been given busy work since we were kids.

Sometimes doing things for God feels like busy work. I can’t see the purpose behind doing what He’s asked, so it feels like busy work. Whether it’s busy work or not, I obey because it’s God who is asking. Many times it’s simply to go somewhere, pick someone up, say something to someone, serve at an event or something like it. When I don’t get to see the impact or reason, it can feel like busy work to me.

I was discussing this with one of my pastor friends recently. Then I recalled a couple of events that really I could barely remember doing, but the people I helped acted as if I had saved their life. The “busy work” on my part had a significant meaning to the person God was directing it toward. It was a great reminder that often what we do for God may feel like busy work at times to us, but to others, it’s life changing stuff.

Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 15:58, “Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless” (GNT). If you’re feeling like God has given you a lot of busy work lately, take heart. Nothing you do for Him is useless. It’s not a waste of your time, talents or resources. Often you’re changing lives without even knowing it. God doesn’t give out busy work to keep us occupied. He gives us work that we’re to stay busy at because eternity is at stake.

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