Perhaps some of us may have certain limitations that prevent us from serving. Repent and believe right now! Through the Bible, we can understand the promises God has made for us, how He can help us in our time of need, and His amazing love for us. The fear of judgment imagines God frowning, crossing his arms, annoyed, angry, fed up with your mess-ups. May this occasion also be a time for each of us to search our own hearts with this question: Are you more faithful to the Lord or to yourself? The apostles were the shepherds of the church. Challenges in serving God. Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.". The trouble is, many congregations face substantial obstacles that make the daily practice of experiencing God more challenging. Confess Unbelief Be honest. Fear and faith cannot co-exist, and they battle for space within us. Everything a church does should fall under the umbrella of reaching the world with the gospel and making people into disciples. Job eventually repents and is humbled before God. Click to Tweet " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge " and " wisdom " (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). Tough times and obstacles in life build Christian character and faith. The sinless Savior died and he ever lives and pleads for me. We can focus and realign our thinking through prayer, daily devotions and meditation. For more on this, read How to Have a Happier Life by Practicing Gratitude. (It is not right that we give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. (ESV) We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. sign me up! Confusion: Perhaps worse than the ignorant are the confused. Do you remember when you first yielded your life to Christ? This then is what it means toserve the Lord with allhumilityof mind.The Lords interests must always come first. Yes, we have sinned. Climbers think theyll go down the wire smoothly, but when the lever is pulled, they face a 20-foot freefall. Picture this scenario: people complaining that others were being shown special favor in the distribution. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation" ( Isaiah 12:2 ). "Serve the Lord" Men's hearts are naturally atheistical, they will not endure the thought of God. Within that time, Paul put in all his efforts to fulfill his role in several ways: Public teaching is mentioned in v.20 , But Paul did not expect the elders of Ephesus to do what he did, because they had a, Did the Ephesian elders fulfill their role well? All Rights Reserved. This can be seen in the call which He gave to the church of Smyrna in Revelation 2:10Be thoufaithfulunto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.It is also seen in the commendation which the servants received from the Lord in Matthew 25:21Well done, thou good andfaithfulservant: thou hast beenfaithfulover a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.. 3. This is mentioned in vv.26,27 where Paul said,Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. After our conversion, our inner person matures and grows, but our flesh is neither removed nor improved. If you are united to Jesus by faith, the anger is gone. The writer tells us . More growth and new challenges would come ahead. . What happens when the trapdoor opens in your life? Obstacles expose our weaknesses and increase our dependency upon Christ. When this question has been settled, we should then go on to another area that requires faithfulness fulfilling our God-given roles. Many who started out well have not finished well. Worse, some of us feel too exhausted we just want to stop serving Him. . Weve tried it. The preaching and teaching of Gods word. . Right beside the foundation of Jesuss death in our place is this glorious picture of Jesus praying for us. Others have been blessed with spiritual gifts of faith, administration, discernment, hospitality, giving, mercy, or encouragement. Quote This: 2 Corinthians 2:14 But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. Jesus Tells Us to Love the Lord Yes, our pain and our disappointments are real and valid. Allow God to remind you who He is and what He promises, and then be honest with Him. We are here to help and encourage you! God created us in his own image and likeness Gen. 1:27-28. We asked a few members of our staff at Deep Spirituality for their favorite biblical characters who trusted God in the midst of difficulty and came up with 10 examples in the Bible of trusting God in difficult times to inspire you. These are emotional, intellectual, and volitional barriers. The suggestion to handle the ministry: (v.3) As a Christian, its important to not let your obstacles in life tear you away from your faith. The Emotional Barrier: Is It Safe to Trust God? This command to draw near might be summarized as a summons to live in a rich God-accomplished relationship with God. They can give you advice on how they turned to faith in times of trail and what helped them. No matter what problem is in your way, God is right beside you walking you through each step. He had been doing this to the Ephesians for three years (54-57 AD), as he said to them in vv.18 and 31Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia,after what manner I have been with you at all seasonsTherefore watch, and remember, that by the space ofthree yearsI ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.. Remind yourself that this isthe word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.. Let's stay in touch! Ive tried it before. In order for us to get grace we have to surrender ourselves to God and accept His grace as a free gift. You may be diligent in feeding others, but you also need to, If you want to remain faithful, you must give sufficient time to the study of Gods Word. This was approved by the church, and they selected seven men to take care of the ministry of food distribution. Submit yourselves therefore to God. And so as Proverbs, Unfortunately not everyone in Ephesus heeded Pauls exhortation to guard themselves. He didn't say, "you should not serve both God and money.". Thus we have seen that Paul and the Ephesian elders were faithful in fulfilling their respective God-given roles. Our Christian life comprises of many obstacles we meet. and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near . They told the church they had no desire to abandon the preaching in order to embark into another ministry. When it comes to facing challenges as a church, we must learn like the first Christians did. He is there right beside you. Paul then left Ephesus to visit all the churches he had planted in Macedonia and Achaia during his previous missionary journey. Benefits Of Serving God: The Challenges, The Pains, The Blessings And The Rewards - Kindle edition by Kanu, Kenneth. This issue needed the attention of the apostles before it would escalate. *A.W. Obstacles to serving God. Let us therefore be faithful toChristin all our service. 8) Luke 1:37 "For every promise from God shall surely come true.". When we study Scripture and see what God asks us to do to fulfill His purpose, eventually we find there are obstacles to God's will. Hebrews 4:12 states: His word is alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, able to pierce to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow and even able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. Gods Word is incredibly powerful and holds the key to many of our problems. God wants you to be successful and triumphant, and has a great plan for your life. Serving God is what we were made to do as his creatures, but our service has been corrupted by our sin and rebellion which has rendered us unable to please him. I signed up . In v.28 they are told tofeedthe church of God.In vv.29-31 they are told to keepwatchagainst false teachings that may come into the church both from without and from within. He alone can give us the strength and wisdom we need to endure. This was a great thing happening. The church needs your effectual fervent prayers! We relish our sin too much to renounce it. Obstacles that we face in life are riddled with anxiety, fear, worry, anger, stress, and every negative emotion that you can think of. Trusting God gives us direction (Proverbs 3:5-6). There's no doubt, that the Bible is full of Bible verses about struggle and perseverance. The world tells us, Take charge! You are the master of your own destiny, and God helps those who help themselves. This kind of advice flies in the face of the Bibles urgings to submit to God, trusting and yielding ourselves to Him (cf. Paul was faithful in his role as achurch-planter, testifying of the Gospel of the grace of God wherever he went. They even say,Surely God wants His servants to have the very best!, The apostle Paul would have disagreed with them very strongly. The elders of Ephesus were faithful in their roles asshepherdswho provided for the flock and protected it from danger. He has the ability, power, and strength to help you overcome any obstacle in life. This relationship were called to is not our building a tower, or our climbing stairs, or our somehow trying to maneuver our way to get close to him. If it has, one way to restore it is build yourself up spiritually. Thats why his discourse ends by saying, If Christ has purchased His Church at such great cost to Himself, do you think He will leave its fate to be determined by the changing hearts of men? He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge.*. Stephen: (a man full of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas from Antioch a convert to Judaism. Thats why his discourse ends by saying,And now, brethren,I commend you to God(v.32a). We see in God's dealings with people, that in almost all cases, God uses the obstacles/difficulties and overcoming them, as a means to inculcate great character in people and to prepare them and use them for great purposes. If you have an immediate prayer need, please call our 24-hour prayer line at 800-700-7000. There is no way that you can escape from the fires of hell, unless yourepentof your sins andtrust onlyin Jesus Christ to save you, submitting fully to His Lordship in your life. This is a spiritual thermometer. There is one thing that everyone can do that is to pray. Similarly, repentance is not so much a matter of turning from evil as it is a turning to God. You can be confident in Gods ability to handle your problems (Job 42:2). Many of us, however, get to a point of exhaustion and fatigue as we strive to do His will. God's purpose for the problems he allows us to face is so different than our way of thinking. Have you seen how crazy my life is? This is a fear that doesnt tempt us to stop believing; it tempts us to forfeit a life of intimacy with Jesus because we just dont think that kind of life is possible for us. Yes they certainly did. The role of these church elders is basically to look after the flock of God as shepherds by providing them with spiritual food and protecting them from spiritual predators. Paul belonged to Him alone, and so he lived to do the will of the Lord Jesus. Paul did not say, , If anyone here is still unsaved, please listen to this carefully, because it is part of Gods whole counsel . The Bible has scripture for every one of your needs. To be faithful to the Word is to give our attention to thewholecounsel of God. The once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus has completely absorbed Gods anger towards us. This will not dampen my faith or take me away from knowing Him. This helps you build confidence in faith. For the past 66 years, we have seen how faithful God is to provide, preserve and protect us so marvelously despite all our weaknesses, faults and our little faith. These feelings can keep us paralyzed from dealing with the. Obstacles that we face in life are riddled with anxiety, fear, worry, anger, stress, and every negative emotion that you can think of. "Serving God" is one of the important reasons man was created from the beginning. It is also full of examples of how God has helped others overcome their obstacles. One of the glories of God is that He left the majesty of heaven to have intimate relationship with us. The punishment has been paid. Fear is the first item listed in Joshua's challenge to the people. It means submitting to Him even when it doesn't make sense and serving others faithfully even when they don't appreciate our efforts. We overcome the emotional barrier when we believe it is safe to yield to God. Were on a mission to change that. These seven men will oversee the ministry of distribution of food. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. In Pauls discourse we can see how greatly concerned he was that the Ephesian church should remain faithful. The second part of verse 21 gives us another reason to draw near to God: Jesus prays for us. Here are 4 barriers to getting through to God: 1) Harboring secret sin. There are many things, in fact, that might deter you from a rich relationship with God, but two in particular are worth mentioning: 1) the fear of judgment and 2) the fear of disappointment. We have a great priest over the house of God wherever he went absorbed Gods anger towards us congregations... The comment gets approved so he lived to do the will of the apostles it... Of heaven to have intimate relationship with us 8 ) Luke 1:37 quot! And holds the key to many of our problems emotional, intellectual, and then be with. 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