Because of our victory in Christ we should live from the position Christ won for us. When we’re fixed in our faith, God uses us!
Can you say, my face is set. My stride is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my guide is reliable and my mission is clear?
Can you say, I do not want to be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed?
As a child we played a game called “you flinched.” If you flinched it was a sign of weakness in adversity. I do not want to bargain with the enemy, get caught up in the desire for popularity, or fall to mediocrity.
Can you say, I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ?
Realize you are a disciple of Jesus. That means you will give until you can’t, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing you.
1 Cor. 15:3-4, “for I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the 3rd day according to the Scriptures.”
Is something holding you back? As Christians, we must be forward-focused in serving our Lord and trusting God for results.
God has won the victory. You are fighting from ‘Victory.’
Are we giving our best to Jesus’ work? 1 Cor. 15:58, Romans 8:5. I knew a preacher once who would wear him self out on Saturday and could hardly make it on Sunday.
How do we do his work? To teach our children about Jesus at home and at Sunday school. We serve. We encourage those believers who are down, we call and lift up others.
A church is a caring body. But when loafers don’t pull their part of the load, it falls on others to do it.
The word says, be “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Always. Over-and-above. Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Some people hate washing dishes because more dirty dishes magically appear overnight. Sweeping and vacuuming are the same way. Things never stay clean. Someone is always tracking in dirt. You get discouraged. It’s only when you consider the alternatives that you get out your vacuum cleaner and have another go at it.
Your wife may not keep track of how often you change the spark plugs. Your husband has no idea of how often you have to dust.
But God keeps track of our faithfulness in His work. He sees us serving Him when no one else sees; and seeing us hanging in there brings joy to his heart.
Our Christian service is not done in vain for three reasons:
1. Christ’s work is built with our service; that phone call, kind words, prayers.
2. Seeing your faithful service brings joy to God’s heart.
3. God will reward you for your faithfulness, even when no one else sees. Notes of service are made every time you serve Him. In a word, your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Yes, I get discouraged and so do you. But God keeps bringing us back to this verse to build us up and help us to see the importance of faithful service. Don’t give up. Your labor in Christ is not in vain.
God wants your best not your leftover efforts. God gave his best, in Jesus his Son!
Be immovable. Stand in the victory that is yours. And give God your best. Leave the results to Him.
