Words Of Encouragement 12/08/09
Pastor Cathie Miller
Dec 8, 2009
"Render
service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women,
knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from
the Lord, whether we are slaves or free." (Ephesians 6:7-8, NRSV)
I get emails from people from time to time who tell me how
unappreciated they feel. I hear from men who go to work each day just
to put food on the table and go home to a complaining wife. I hear from
women who work hard at a job all day, go home and work there for the
family, to not even get a “thank-you” This causes them to become
resentful and bitter.
Folks we live in an ungrateful world. I don’t know why we are surprised. In the bible we read the following. “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy” 2 Timothy 3:2
The only way to move past the bitterness and not wallow in it is to
remember that we are in really good company. Moses who led the Israelites
out of Egypt, was treated badly by the people and when the times got
rough, they told him "You have brought us out into this desert to
starve this entire assembly to death." Then there is Job, when times
got rough his own wife told him “curse God and die.” His best friends
tried to insinuate that it was somehow his fault. Jeremiah has the
unpleasant job of telling the people that Jerusalem
was going to be destroyed and the people led into exile for their sins.
Instead of the people saying to him “Thanks, for warning us,” they
slander him, arrest him and throw him in prison for being a traitor.
I want to encourage people today to start not only being grateful to
those who serve them, but to tell them. I don’t know about you, but it
means the world to me when I receive an email thanking me or a card in
the mail. I have asked God to help me to go out of my way to express
thanks to those around me who do good for me and others with no pay but
out of love for the Lord and His people.
If you are down today, thinking no one sees or appreciates the things
you do for them, remind yourself that real love gives without thought
of ever getting anything back. God see’s your good works and we render
service as unto the Lord. We are pleasing Him and our rewards will come
from Him. We don’t really serve people. We serve the Lord.
I sometimes see a lack of gratitude from those we serve as a tool of
Satan. To constantly serve your boss, your spouse, your church members,
ect, with nothing coming back to you causes discouragement. It doesn’t
cost a thing to say “Thank-you” to someone who serves you. We need to
develop an attitude of thankfulness! Sometimes I think some folks think
“criticism” is a ministry.
Father help us to not
just be grateful to the angels who live and work amongst us and for us,
but to tell them. Thank you God for giving us our voice to praise You
and to show gratitude to others who do the little things for us on a
daily basis. In Your Name the Name above all names we pray. Amen and Amen.
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