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Hi from the Salvation Army and you're listening to Words of Life. You record speed. These are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Welcome back to Words of Life.
If you listened last week, you would have heard part one of a sermon that we are sharing that took place at a recent Salvation Army event with Salvation Army Officer Lieutenant Jessica Pierre. This is now part two of that sermon. Enjoy. The beautiful thing about serving an all-knowing Master is that He always searches out the happenings of our inner lives and He gets to our motives. He responds to the servant and says, If you knew I was such a shrewd and harsh man, if fear was the motivator, here's what you would have done, which is what?
You would have put it in the bank. We can come to God with all our Of our excuses, but in the end, he sees our motives. You can fool everyone but God. Emotives matter.
So the master replies and calls the servant wicked and lazy, not fearful, because he wasn't motivated by fear. He called them wicked and lazy. Laziness is self-explanatory. Friends' work is good. If you look at our creation story, you will see that work.
Stewardship is not a byproduct of sin. Work was designed out of God's foundation of goodness towards us. The part that left me really seeking the Lord is the wickedness part. And if this story was being told in our day, one of the main motivations that would keep the servant from working the silver given to him was the servant's summation that what he was given was too small in comparison to the others. Right.
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Terms and conditions apply. You see, one of the most crippling factors that keeps us from receiving a let's celebrate together from Jesus is the fact that we love to play the comparison game. Let's go back to verse 14. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.
Notice that when the master was dividing his assets, he had all of the servants in the room together.
So all of the servants were fully aware of how much they each received from the master. And this is prime ground for the enemy to use to succumb us to this nasty game of comparison. Listen, unsurrendered, comparison will lead to contempt. The servant could have thought, why did I only get one? I want five.
Why did they get five? And because I didn't get what I want, I'm not going to be faithful with what I have. And Jesus is teaching us that this is wicked. This is a wicked way to respond to what God has given you. And I don't necessarily believe that the act of comparing itself is wrong.
The act of saying five is more than one is not a sin, it's truth. Five is more than one. Where we go from truth to wickedness is when we try to ascribe value based on our comparisons. We say this is small and so it's of little importance.
Well, this ain't much, and so it doesn't have much value. Friends, God is a sole proprietor of value. When it comes to serving, we don't get to ascribe value ever. That is God's job. The size of what you've been entrusted with does not correspond to its value in the kingdom of heaven.
Discontentment will lead to entitlement, and entitlement will lead to contempt towards God and others. That's wickedness. If you are someone that has estimated that God has only given you a little, whatever season you're in, maybe because you're young, maybe because you've just started following Jesus, I don't know. Whatever the reason, I'm so thrilled for you. Start there.
Start serving exactly where you are. Serve with a little, because a little can be of great value and have great impact in the kingdom of God. And not only in the kingdom of God, but guess what? Also in your own spiritual formation. The small things can have enormous impact on you spiritually.
Let me share with you my personal recent experience with this.
So during Lent season this year, I did a Bible study that encouraged me to give up something, like all Lent Bible studies do. I came to this Bible study with my mind made up what I was going to give up for God. But on day one of this study, God revealed to me that what I had planned to give up was not at all what he was after. He instead invited me to give up one of my favorite TV shows.
Okay, so now I won't tell you the name of this TV show, but I can tell you that it's about. Women who call themselves housewives, but they never stay married and they are never at the house. And this show is a franchise. I won't tell you which city in this franchise is my favorite because it could potentially be the city we're currently in.
So you put two and two together, okay?
Okay. You got it.
Okay, but God revealed to me that this show was becoming an idol in my life. I was using this show to fill a void and numb my feelings after hard days at the office. My friend and mentor, Diane Uri, said recently at Asbury's commencement that we are designed by our Creator with the precious emptiness that he intends to satisfy by filling with himself. And instead of giving Jesus the opportunity to meet me in my emptiness after those long and hard days at the office, I was shutting him out and running to entertainment instead. And let me outright say, so don't tune me out, let me outright say that this is not an anti-entertainment message, right?
God gives us gifts, entertainment included, for us to enjoy from a place of fullness in Him, not from a place of emptiness. His gifts cannot satisfy you, they never will, only He can. You can enjoy them from a place of fullness in him. Yes, you can, but they won't satisfy you. And here I was trying to fill my emptiness after those hard days with something other than him.
So Jesus lovingly instructed me on day one. to give this up. And the first thing that I said, my flesh fought, the first thing that I said to God in response was, God, this show is only 45 minutes once a week. When you take out the commercials, it's 45 minutes once a week. Like, you have all my life.
Why can't I have 45 minutes once a week? But the truth is, y'all, that show could have been a three-second clip that aired once a year. If I decline God's invitation to surrender it, I would be declining God access to all of me. Right. Hey, you're listening to the Salvation Army's Words of Life.
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Terms and conditions apply. There are 10,000 plus minutes in a week, but unsurrendered, unyielded, that small 45 minutes had the potential to wreak havoc in my spiritual life. God wants all of us, He deserves it. And if we keep anything from him, no matter how small it is, we are not holy. Whole.
We are living divided lives by choice because we've heard his voice and we're not obeying. That's disobedience.
So, we don't measure what God is asking us to surrender or the ways that God is asking us to serve by big or small. It's a matter of wholeness. to Jesus. Love it. Small things can have great value and have huge impact.
In the kingdom of God, we will always find diversity in our abilities.
Some will be able to do more and some less.
Sometimes you won't be able to do more until you learn to be faithful in doing less. Zephaniah 3:17 says that he rejoices over you with exuberant singing. His love for you is the foundation of reality. Like his love for you is more real than anything you're touching tonight. It is the foundation of existence.
And if you have a hard time believing that Jesus loves you to this degree, you need to pray, Lord, help my unbelief. We have to hold that, or we're going to be walking and living in an orphaned spirit. He loves you. Endlessly. Don't break God's heart by wasting time measuring what you have against somebody else.
If you want to measure, measure him because he's immeasurable. You won't be able to stop. When it comes to service, there are two responses that we can get from Jesus. We can either hear Jesus say, Well done, my good and faithful servant, let's celebrate together, like he does in our scripture for tonight, Matthew 25. Or We can hear him say, depart from me.
I never knew you. Like he says in Matthew 7. And the difference between these two responses lies in our abiding. The secret is in our remaining in Him. Jesus says in John 15, those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit.
For apart from me, you can do nothing. If we want to serve Jesus in a way that pleases Jesus, we must remain in Jesus. And the scariest thing is, y'all, God will allow us to serve disconnected. That's frightening to me. That God actually allows us to do all of these God activities and be apart from Him.
If that's what you want, He'll let you do it. And when we serve disconnected from Jesus, we end up disqualifying ourselves in the end.
So, what is it that you're not surrendering today that could disqualify you from your race tomorrow? Is there any part of your life that lacks integrity? Yes, even the small parts, even the tiny little things that he's already pointed out to you. Is there any division in your heart that could damage your witness for him? Is there anything you are engaging in today that could embarrass you tomorrow?
I'm being real with y'all. Salvation Army, all of these good deeds will amount to nothing if we are not living consecrated lives. It will amount to nothing. When we don't allow Jesus to permeate all of us, we become the antagonists in our own spiritual stories. Your disobedience is a weapon formed against you.
And without true repentance, those weapons will prosper. They will. They'll prosper. No one can disqualify you, young people, from your race except for you. It is you.
I've already said a lot this evening.
So now I'm inviting you to respond. At the altar, there should be, or there's gonna be, some flashcards and pins. And um In response, I want you to come to the altar and I want you to grab two flashcards. On one of them, I want you to write something that you know God is asking you to surrender. You know God is asking you to yield it.
As I've been talking tonight, the Holy Spirit's been doing what the Holy Spirit does, right? Convicting.
So, what is it that is keeping you from wholeness? Because wholeness is the goal. It's not big or small, wholeness. What's keeping you from wholeness with Jesus? I'm inviting you to come up, take a card, write it down, and then you are going to place it in this basket right here in the center as a symbol of you surrendering, of you saying to Jesus, have all of me.
No reservation. Have all of me. On the second card, I want you to write a way that you know the Lord is calling you to serve and which you are not. And for this card, keep it with you as a reminder that the Holy Spirit of the living God spoke to you this evening and commanded you. to do something.
Because if you are a child of God, there will be proof you will serve.
So, what is it that could be done that you are not doing, that God is asking you with what He's given you, with what's in your hand? not what you're missing, not from a place of lot. No excuses. What do you have that could be used for him? Respond, family.
Don't delay. My prayer over us this evening is that when it's time to give account. That we all receive a let's celebrate together from Jesus. The Salvation Army's mission, doing the most good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army.
Visit SalvationArmyUSA.org to offer your support. You can subscribe to Words of Life on your favorite podcast store or visit salvationarmysoundcast.org. Join us next time for the Salvation Army's Words of Life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life.
Thanks so much for listening to Words of Life. We want to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the show. Visit lifeaudio.com where you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They have shows about prayer, Bible studying, parenting, and more. Thanks again for listening.
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