What is the one most important thing about ministry and service to others?

The single most important thing besides Christ Himself, is love. In Romans 9:3 we read that Paul was willing to lose his life, both in the natural and for eternity, so that his people would no longer be separated from Christ.
I have often heard a great number of leaders and servants tell about their devotion to Christ Jesus. I have head of their stories of great works and success. Yet most of these have never lost their lives, they have only gained a greater reputation, more wealth, bigger fan club, TV, radio and internet following.
At the same time there are those who become as “one with no reputation” and fulfill every desire of God for them. The second serve out of obedience motivated by love. The first do out of trying to earn righteousness based on works. They are in danger of not even entering eternity themselves. (This is not intended to be self-righteous judgments as if I have the right plan. It is intended to be a call of compassion to the body of Christ for the body of Christ. Some need to decrease so that others can increase. All of God’s children need a place in the body).
The point is not how successful you are, but how loving you are. God is the one who both gifts and calls. If you do great things that you were never called to do, you have robbed another member of the body of Christ, disobeyed God by not doing what He called you to do and sought to establish a righteousness greater than grace. While in America self success is rewarded, it will not be in the Kingdom of God. It is God’s plan that we follow Him together. He is the head. And while we love leaders and those with divine authority just as much as we love the homeless, the socially challenged, the poor, the uneducated and our enemies; we do not serve success. We serve the Lord.
So what is the motivation of your heart? Do you want to write a book, lead worship, fast and pray so that you increase in your significance? Do you want to defeat the world by self promotion of your godliness? That won’t work. The only place to stand is in God’s calling of you (Rom. 9:11). You cannot make your own way, for He is already the way.
Please note that this does not mean that we do not strive, labor, work, study, increase in wisdom and education. But we do the natural things of improvement because we love, not because we are seeking to be lovable or significant. We work hard at our calling and work hard at joyfully staying within its limits.
Take it from a guy that has sought for years to be something. The more you run away from the simplicity of devotion to Christ Jesus, the more you run into frustration, trouble, critical spirits, being judgmental and false righteousness. Enter the rest of the Lord and give up the rat race.

Why has there been so much emphasis on loving God and God loving us?

The short answer is that we are going to need it. God in His wisdom stirs the hearts of men and women to prepare for His coming and what is yet to come. It is one of the results of the Holy Spirit leading us.
In what is yet to come, followers of God will need to know (experientially) the love of God. Those who desire to remain true to Christ Jesus will need to have a love of the truth in them that comprehends the circumstances of daily life. Man tends to look at God with a judgment from man’s perspective. It is a part of our present condition to play the judge. It even seems strange to act in such a way as to not be the judge, decider or evaluator of life and events.
Without a real ongoing experience in the inner man of the love of God, we are led down the pathway of false judgments. Our passion can be turned to anger, our desires to lust, and our dreams to depression.
At some level, a truthful relationship with God will result in knowing the love of God for you. In the reality of “who God is”, you will encounter a love, faithfulness, reliability of God for you. God does not place you at the center of all He does, but the reality of His nature being love, results in actions and words that reflect that nature. The result is that you are loved – always.
Yet it would be incorrect to stop there. His love for us leads us to discipline, harmony with His will, and agreement with His nature by the transformation of our nature and a willingness to lose our life in His service. This is the reflection of “if anyone would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me daily”.
The intimacy movement of the last decade has been divine preparation for people called to go through what is yet to come. We are being prepared to have His nature and Spirit in all we do, even when it is not easy. Most of the world has been doing this for quite some time now. But our turn is at the door.

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

One of the things I am amazed at is how deep the ways of God are intended to go. You know how you make a peanut butter sandwich by taking the peanut butter and spreading it on the bread. When God makes us new, His intent is to make us fully infiltrated with the nutty butter. The character of God and the humanity of man are to be one new thing.

This took on an unworldly reality to me as I discovered that Jesus did not revile against Satan in the wilderness temptations. Jesus dealt directly and truthfully with Satan, but he also did not belittle, mock, ridicule or scream at him. Jesus did rebuke the good old Godly boys of His day, but He treated everyone, even fallen angles, with God like character.

I have been trying to love my enemies. Now I get to mature until I love even God's enemies. I choose to love them, not because they are deserving of that love but because God's nature is to love and I want to be like Him.

So now is the harder part. If I am to love all that God has created and my fear of fallen angles is to be turned to faith, hope and love; then what about politicians, governmental leaders, those in earthly authority and those who are leading in a direction that I don't want to go. In the "ways of God" humility and compassion far outreach the outburst of anger that we have tended to use.

Why is God so extreme? Why do some of those who claim to be doing His will act so extreme?

Extreme can mean “going to the highest degree or pressure” and “going beyond what is reasonable, moderate or normal”. So if we take some time and consider it, we do not want an “un-extreme” God. We do not want a God who acts like us, is leisure or lacks the ability to deal with dangerous or life-threatening events. We are dying in our sin. I need an extreme Savior.
Most of us are uncomfortable with both the kindness of God and the violence of God. We love that God calls us to love, but shiver when that same love is disciplining us. “How can God love me if He is also punishing me”?
The ideas of suffering, punishment, judgment and total obedience are notions that we avoid in our present American culture. We have so many unhealed wounds and scars from parents, teachers, leaders and government that we train one another to “rebel a little” so that our independence is not lost.
God is extreme in that He alone is Lord and He leads, instructs and acts in ways that require our submission to Him. The fact that we struggle even talking about total submission is evidence that we are more interested in our own rights than in the divine right of God.

Why did God die on a cross? (I guess if we have a high value of our self we are worth is)

Why was the Lord God Almighty in the still small voice? (Why the paradox)

Why did He appear to Moses in the burning bush that did not burn up? (Why not just burn, why un-burning. Is He showing off)

Why was God overly dramatic in the Red Sea crossing and army destroying, waiting until the last second? (was it really necessary for such a spectacle)

Why did Jesus use the already hurting man with the withered hand to pick a fight with the Pharisees? (stand on your own Jesus, don’t drag some hurt guy into it)

Why is God a “My way or NO WAY!” God? (that sound a lot like my “bad dad”. Is God a mean, angry, hurtful “bad dad”?)

The hard answer that we all must deal with is that we do not get to choose what God is like. We get to choose to follow God or not. But any idea of making God in our image is going to result in not having the God of Heaven. We will have the God of our mind.
I can tell you that I have come to love the God who is extreme. I will also say it is not easy. I hurt when His love seems extremely unloving to me. Yet I have dome to trust Him. My relationship with God has proven to me He is good, even when it seems embarrassing, belittling, hostel, full of neglect, painful, resentful and just un-necessary.

Why should we expect God to do anything new in our life?

It is not uncommon for people to live today and expect there to be improvements, changes and advances in almost every area of life. If you talk to people about what a computer might do in 5 years, what the car will be fueled by or what a cell phone will be able to do; you will hear a number of creative answers.
Yet when it comes to the church many people live as if next year will be the same as this one. I will admit that the people of God have been bombarded with “things are going to change” and yet they set in what seems to be the same meetings year in and year out. With the exception of music and the projector, many churches are exactly as there were 50 years ago.
Talks of revival and unity sweeping the nation have not materialized. The raising up of Apostles and prophets who can heal the sick and foretell the future looks more like a new wave of organizers have added “Apostle” to their business card and prophecy is about telling one another that God loves us.
The reason I want to address this issue is because things are going to change. We, modern American Believers, tend to think in very short terms. If we do not see something materialize in a few weeks, even days at times, we move on. Could it be that our love to move on to the next short term good and exciting thing is the very thing that hinders lasting change? I think it is!
Spiritual change is often the result of someone being faithful in an area and then another person coming along who can build on what the other guy has done. Having few who desire to build on the foundation of another we tend to tear down the other guys work and start our own. So we end up with as much rubble as “creative advances”.
We all will see lasting change as we honor those who have gone before us and love others as we love ourselves. Once we defeat the need to be special because of my “special” and “unique” calling, we will be able to have deeper relationships that support and help each other. Some will build great things on the foundation someone else labored all their life to establish.
You can become a part of the new by honoring what others have done and joining with them as God leads. You can be one who breaks the cycle of “starting again”, by being one who honors, loves and values others as much as you do yourself..