Partakers Christian Podcasts

Romans 12: Living Life

Study 08: Gift of Serving

Romans 12:7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well.

Did you know serving is a gift? Wow! Is this serving only a gift for some people or for all people? Some people do have a gift of serving and are particularly adept at doing it! However, serving is for all Christians – whether they specifically have this gift or not!

This serving is by offering assistance to other and in that way, we also serve God. We are to serve wholeheartedly, not just other Christians, but all others including our enemies – those that despise and ridicule us. Serving others is a way of loving others. Serving is love in action. Serving is love getting it’s hands and feet dirty in service of others.

When we as Christians serve and help others, we are emulating of course the greatest servant of all, Jesus Christ. For it is through serving, that the Christian Disciple reflects the greatest servant of all - Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to serve and to give his life for others.

As Jesus said in Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The Christian life is not to be static or inactive, but rather it is to be dynamic and active. The word ‘servant’ is used at least 500 times in its various derivations. Spiritual growth comes from serving, rather than being served. This is because what ever is given in service of God and others, faith grows and Jesus Christ gives back even more. Serving others is a sign that you, as a Christian Disciple, trust God and are having faith in Him.

When you, as a disciple and partaker of Jesus Christ, serve in any capacity, then God’s honour is released. This is done because service shows the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ to those being served and to those watching. That is to be our motive for service. Serving is never about what you can get out of it. When that is the motive, God is patently not glorified. God’s glory and supremacy is the goal of all those who would call themselves a Christian Disciple.

So go … serve. As Christians, we are all commanded to serve God.

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Psalm 140

(As read by Pammy)

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140:1 Deliver me, Yahweh, from the evil man.

Preserve me from the violent man;

140:2 those who devise mischief in their hearts.

They continually gather themselves together for war.

140:3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent.

Viper’s poison is under their lips.

Selah.

140:4 Yahweh, keep me from the hands of the wicked.

Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet.

140:5 The proud have hidden a snare for me,

they have spread the cords of a net by the path.

They have set traps for me.

Selah.

140:6 I said to Yahweh, “You are my God.”

Listen to the cry of my petitions, Yahweh.

140:7 Yahweh, the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

140:8 Yahweh, don’t grant the desires of the wicked.

Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud.

Selah.

140:9 As for the head of those who surround me,

let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

140:10 Let burning coals fall on them.

Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits,

from where they never rise.

140:11 An evil speaker won’t be established in the earth.

Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him.

140:12 I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

and justice for the needy.

140:13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name.

The upright will dwell in your presence.

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Romans 12: Living Life

Study 07: Gift of Prophecy

6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

Now Paul comes to the expression of the Roman Christians faith – their gifts! First of all we have prophecy! Much debate is made of what Paul means here by this word “prophecy!”

Calvin’s opinion is that Paul means any one skilfully and wisely performed the office of an interpreter in explaining the will & mind of God. For example, preaching. That is in his own words “hardly anything else than the right understanding of the Scripture, and the peculiar faculty of explaining it, inasmuch as all the ancient prophecies and all the oracles of God have been completed in Christ and in his gospel.”

Others insist that prophecy is the prediction of future events as pre-thought by the mind of God, such as occurred at the beginning of the church and recorded for us in the New Testament. Yet others, would insist that prophecy was only those writing what we have as the New Testament today, and that this gift of prophecy has expired and is no longer in use for today.

I am of the mind that it is both the correct explanation of God’s mind in preaching and the speaking of future events… Whether we preach or predict, we prophecy and Paul exhorts his readers, the original and also us today, to use our faith to speak God’s mind and will. That is what the prophets of the Old Testament did – revealed God’s mind and will to the people.

That is our job today too – revealing God’s mind and will to people – not just in preaching and in prophecy, but also in evangelism – telling others what Jesus, the Son of God, did in his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension. Preaching and prophecy are gifts from God and are the outworks of faith of the believers who have those gifts.

Tomorrow – another gift - serving!!

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Psalm 124

 

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ If the LORD had not been on our side-

let Israel say-

² if the LORD had not been on our side

when men attacked us,

³ when their anger flared against us,

they would have swallowed us alive;

⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,

the torrent would have swept over us,

⁵ the raging waters

would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the LORD,

who has not let us be torn by their teeth.

⁷ We have escaped like a bird

out of the fowler's snare;

the snare has been broken,

and we have escaped.

⁸ Our help is in the name of the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

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Romans 12: Living Life

Study 06: Gifted Graciously!

v4-6 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
As we saw in our previous study, part of the Christian life is that each of us has special abilities and gifts! Paul uses the illustration of the human body! Your body is made up of many parts, each with a distinct purpose and function! So it is with the Church – Christ’s body! We have these gifts, each of us, because of God’s amazing grace toward us!
All Christian Disciples have Spiritual Gifts, for “in his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” (Romans 12:6). God the Holy Spirit, through His infinite wisdom, mercy and grace bestows these gifts that belong to Him, upon Christian Disciples! What is the purpose of these gifts? These gifts are to be used primarily to bring glory to God and to extend His Kingdom here on earth! They are opportunities for Christian Disciples to serve other people. If these gifts are not being used for God’s purposes, then they are meaningless.
If each of us is serving as we ought, using the gifts and talents that God has given, then God is being praised and His kingdom here on earth being extended. We are one body – the Church! We belong to each other – even if we don’t particularly want to be! That is connected with our previous study about each person thinking of themselves appropriately – not too highly and not too lowly.
So each of us has gifts, given by God freely to those who are following Him. We have them due to His generous grace upon each of us. WOW!


We start looking at each of the gifts in this list in our next study! See you then!

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Psalm 124

 

A Song of Ascents. By David.

124:1 If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, let Israel now say,

124:2 if it had not been Yahweh who was on our side, when men rose up against us;

124:3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;

124:4 then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;

124:5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.

124:6 Blessed be Yahweh, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.

124:7 Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare. The snare is broken, and we have escaped.

124:8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.

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Romans 12: Living Life

Study 05: Be Warned

Romans 12:3 "Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us."

 

Now these Roman Christians, have a warning from the great Apostle Paul…. A warning which is also for us as the church today, if we are listening. This verse, in some manuscripts also starts “Because of the grace…” When Paul had his conversion, God had poured His grace out upon the Apostle. So it could be said that Paul’s privilege and authority had come from God’s grace upon him.
Perhaps when Paul says “Don’t think you are better than you really are”, Paul is looking back at how he used to be! He was then a man called Saul, a proud and zealous man for God, a Jew of Jews! A man eager to please God by persecuting these Christians! No more though! Now called Paul, he was an apostle and emissary sent by God to preach the Gospel throughout the world! Just as he was told at his conversion just a few short years ago when he was on the road to Damascus to pursue and persecute the early church. It is not only privilege and authority from where Paul speaks from, but also grace – grace from God… It is grace alone that Paul was changed from the path of being the persecutor to being one of the persecuted.
We must not think too highly of our selves, our skills, our abilities over-estimating or exaggerating either our strengths or our weaknesses. We are to think of ourselves with honesty and with self-accountability! That is why it is also good to be accountable to others. That could be a good friend, or your home bible study group.
As Christians, we are to think of ourselves rightly – not be so high and mighty that we can fall off our own perch. We are to think of ourselves appropriately and not with lustful pride! Faith here means a special gift which God has given everybody who is following His Son, Jesus Christ. But we start to talk about gifts in our next study!

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Psalm 57

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.”

A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

57:1 Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me, for my soul takes refuge in you.
Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, until disaster has passed.
57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
57:3 He will send from heaven, and save me,
he rebukes the one who is pursuing me.

Selah.

God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.

57:4 My soul is among lions.
I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men,
whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
57:5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be above all the earth!
57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down.
They dig a pit before me. They fall into its midst themselves.

Selah.

57:7 My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
57:8 Wake up, my glory!
Wake up, psaltery and harp!
I will wake up the dawn.
57:9 I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples.
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
57:10 For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens, and your truth to the skies.
57:11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.

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Romans 12: Living Life

Study 04: Transformation

Romans 12:2 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. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

When you became a Christian, if you are one, is that God is transforming you into the image of Jesus Christ. That is part of what the Apostle Paul has been saying and in the preceding verse 1, had encouraged them in response to this news, to worship God with all their minds and their bodies. It is transformation of mind and body! That is worship! How do we do that, you may ask? It is a fundamental of living a Christian life – transformation! WOW! The process of transformation starts with the Holy Spirit who lives within you, who is your seal of salvation and is the agent of change in your life. This transformation starts in the mind through reading the Bible and praying! Listening to God is part of prayer! Are you aware of that?

Of course the world we live in has many different values to that of the Christian or indeed the universal church. People will try to get you to not change and get you to compromise  and adopt or maintain habits and behaviours that are distinctly not Christian. But we, as the Church, are to resist this. We can resist in the power of the Holy Spirit. Because if we resist in our strength and confidence in ourselves, then we are destined to fail. But by using the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you remember, we can prevail, overcome temptations and be transformed into the image of God the Son, Jesus Christ…

 What are you personally struggling against? What is your church struggling with? Accede to the impulse of the Holy Spirit who is quietly urging you, prompting you and encouraging you. Then as you learn to listen to His urges, you will as Paul acknowledges, know what God’s will is for you in your life – not only transformation but also what you are to do and how you are to go about it to the praise and glory of God – Father, Son and Spirit.

We hand not just our bodies over to worship Jesus, but also our minds! What you input to your mind will dominate your mind! Sins start in the mind, then transfer to your will. Remember, if you are struggling with sin, confess it quickly to the God and ask to be continually filled and controlled by the Spirit! If the church were to be a lighthouse to the world, this world would be changed to the glory of God and God alone! Worship God – body, mind and will. Part of living life wholly for God in the 21st century.

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Psalm 13

13:1 How long, Yahweh?

Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

~

13:2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

having sorrow in my heart every day?

How long shall my enemy triumph over me?

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13:3 Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God.

Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;

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13:4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”;

Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.

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13:5 But I trust in your loving kindness.

My heart rejoices in your salvation.

~

13:6 I will sing to Yahweh,

because he has been good to me.

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