Are You Working As For the Lord?

As a Christian, you're being watched closely. Whether at work, at home or in the community at large, people are watching you, angels are watching you and God is looking on, too. Even more than your words, your deeds are your witness.

Do you perform your duties well and with joy - as if working for the Lord? Or do they seem like drudgery? Remember, as a believer, God has called you according to His purpose. You may be waiting on tables or the president of a bank, it doesn't matter. It's your calling for right now, and how you approach it is what counts. This is the time and place in which the Lord has work for you to do far greater and beyond the job description given by your employer.

A friend once told me she finally "took a serious look at Jesus" because everywhere she went she was running into Christians... and they all seemed so "radiant." She was also impressed that "they all were very good at the work they were assigned." Several witnessed to her, but it was their radiance and strong work ethic that impressed her the most and finally led her to the cross of Christ.

God has entrusted you with a highly important mission. The two pieces below will help inspire you as you carry it out.

Attitude
Submitted by Viola Gilbert

I woke up early today,
excited over all I get to do
before the clock strikes midnight.

I have responsibilities to fulfill today.
I am important.
My job is to choose what kind of day I am going to have.

Today I can complain because the weather is rainy
or I can be thankful that the grass is getting watered for free.

Today I can feel sad that I don't have more money
or I can be glad that my finances encourage me to plan my purchases wisely and guide me away from waste.

Today I can grumble about my health
or I can rejoice that I am alive.

Today I can lament over all that my parents didn't give me when I was growing up
or I can feel grateful that they allowed me to be born.

Today I can cry because roses have thorns
or I can celebrate that thorns have roses.

Today I can mourn my lack of friends
or I can excitedly embark upon a quest to discover new relationships.

Today I can whine because I have to go to work
or I can shout for joy because I have a job to do.

Today I can complain because I have to go to school
or eagerly open my mind and fill it with rich new tidbits of knowledge.

Today I can murmur dejectedly because I have to do housework
or I can feel honored because God has provided shelter for my mind, body and soul.

Today stretches ahead of me, waiting to be shaped.
And here I am, the sculptor who gets to do the shaping.

What today will be like is up to me.
I get to choose what kind of day I will have!

Have a great day...unless you have other plans.

God Trusted Mary, Can He Trust You?
By T.D. Jakes
Submitted by rrobinson@conpwr.com

When God gave Mary an incredible promise, she was willing to believe and obey--even when her promised son went to the cross.

What does a man look for in a woman? The answer may surprise you. Initially he may be attracted by looks, a certain style, a winning personality. But when it comes to making a commitment, the main issue for men is trust. It is much easier for a man to give his body than to give his heart. Before he commits his heart to a woman, he must know: Can I trust you?

What does God look for in a woman? When He has an extraordinary work that needs to be done, when He has a special calling that requires a "certain someone," how does He choose? Again, the issue is trust.

Consider Mary, the young woman selected by God to birth His only begotten Son. What was it about Mary that persuaded God to choose her?

The Bible tells us nothing about her appearance -- nothing about her hair, her stature, her shape, the texture of her skin or even the attractiveness of her personality. Yet according to the angel who greeted her, she was "highly favored" and "blessed art you among women" (Luke 1:28, NKJV).

Why was she chosen? I believe the answer can be found on the lips of Simeon, the old man in the temple who took the baby Jesus in his arms, blessed God and spoke these words to Mary: "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35, emphasis added).

I believe God chose Mary because He knew He could trust her. And not just with good times. Anyone can do well when times are good, when blessing and prosperity and comfort are the norm.

He knew He could trust her with trouble! Throughout her life her heart would be pierced, again and again. Yet Mary could be counted on, in the words of the commercial, to "take a lickin' and keep on tickin'."

The fact is, when you've been selected by God, it's for the long haul. His question is not "Can I trust you for one event?"; it's "Can I trust you through stages and ages, through eras and eons, to be as faithful at the end of time as you were at the beginning?

"Can I trust you to go through changes and still not change? Can I trust you to relocate and never move? Can I trust you to be altered and never be different?"

Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her soul. She was about to embark on a journey into the very purpose of her life -- and it would cost her everything.

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow" (Hebrews 4:12). If you are going to find God's Word for you -- if you are going to fulfill His will and purpose for your life -- I guarantee the journey will pierce your soul as it did Mary's.

Can He trust you? Can you be counted on to "deliver," even though your heart is pierced in the process?

Mary's heart went through seven "piercings" -- seven painful trials, seven tests of trust -- that might have shaken and moved any one of us.

But in them all, Mary proved that God's trust in her had not been misplaced.

You, too, will suffer many piercings if you're serious about pursuing the will of God for your life. But you can learn from Mary's example as you face the questions that are on God's heart:

1.Can He Trust You with Misunderstanding? Not even Joseph understood at first. All he knew was that he was engaged to a young girl carrying a baby she said God gave her! God straightened him out, but Mary still faced the whispers and sneers of the other people around her. She walked through adversity and delivered in the midst of misunderstanding -- without fighting for herself or arguing to prove it was a holy thing.

God never has to be defended. And when He has called you to get the job done, you can be confident that "He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6).

If you are going to be "highly favored," if God is going to do anything mighty in your life, you cannot spend all your time trying to get everybody to understand and agree with you. Are you willing to be controversial to produce the "Christ" in you? Is God doing something important enough in your spirit for you to endure misunderstanding?

2.Can He Trust You to Hide the Treasure? Mary took the wonderful baby she had birthed -- the very Son of God and hid her "treasure" for two years in Egypt. God knew that He could trust her to possess a great treasure -- and keep it to herself. Can God trust you to keep a secret? Can He do something wonderful in your life, knowing you will not flaunt it? Can He give you an ability, knowing you will not rush to put it on stage?

The birth of Jesus was a new thing. It had never happened before! Some of the things God wants to do in your life will be new, as well. But like Mary, you have to know when to hide the "new thing." Mary took Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod's death warrant. The enemy is after your "baby," too. He is after your dream, your vision. He wants to kill it early, before it is fully developed.

Just as God had to know that He could trust Mary with a supernatural blessing, that He could depend on her to hide it until the time was right, He wants to know: Can He trust you to hide the treasure He's given you until the appointed time?

3.Can He Trust You Through Separation? When Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem for Nazareth after the Passover, they realized that 12-year-old Jesus had been left behind. Distraught, Mary returned to the temple to retrieve Him.

"Why did you seek Me?" responded Jesus, who had been amazing the teachers with His wisdom. "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49).

At that point, Mary had to be willing to go home alone, separated from the precious Son she had birthed and raised. Like Mary, you may not always be able to maintain a relationship with the person or thing you are attached to. After all, this is not about you; this is for God's glory!

God needs to know that when He gives you something special, you will give it back to Him and remain separated from it even though you care about it. Can God trust you to say, "I love you, Lord," even through separation from that special person or thing?

4.Can He Trust You to Wait for the Right Timing? If Mary had one trouble, it was with timing. At the wedding in Cana, she came to Jesus and told Him the host had run out of wine. He answered, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4).

Timing is so important! If you are going to be successful in dance, you must be able to respond to rhythm and timing. It's the same in the Spirit.

People who don't understand God's timing can become spiritually spastic, trying to make the right things happen at the wrong time. They don't get His rhythm -- and everyone can tell they are out of step. They birth things prematurely, threatening the very lives of their God-given dreams.

There is a time for everything. Can God trust you to resist pressure that would rush you into His plan for your life?

5.Can He Trust You with Rejection? Once, when Jesus was teaching a crowd, Mary came to see Him. But when Jesus' disciples told Him she was waiting outside, He responded, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" Pointing to His disciples, He added, "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (Matt. 12:48-50).

Jesus' own mother -- the woman who went through pain, endured scandal, and nurtured and protected Him all His life--had to face rejection. You, too, will be rejected.

You won't always get the answer you want from God. People won't always respond to you or your ministry the way you'd like. Can you be trusted to remain faithful?

What do you do when you've danced all over the church and you're still not healed? What do you do when you get "slain in the Spirit" and the debt is still there? What do you do when you pray the seven-step prayer and the crisis doesn't go away? Can God say "no" and trust that you will still dance, still pray, still praise Him?

6.Can He Trust You Through Death? At Golgotha, Mary watched her Son hang from a wretched, rugged cross -- watched everything that she had labored for, fought for and built her life around -- die. And yet she never turned her head. She never walked away, even though her whole world was falling apart.

Can God trust you through trauma and death -- the death of a dream, of something you build your whole life around?

What do you do when things don't turn out as you thought they would? What do you do when being in God's will breaks your heart?

Mary stood at the base of the cross and said, like Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15). She could not have understood what was happening.

She did not know that through her Son's death, God was reconciling the world to Himself. She had no idea that in three days, He would be resurrected to new life. She just stood there watching, trusting a God she didn't understand.

When God's purpose brings pain in your life, can you be trusted to stand and say, "God, You can still count on me?"

7.Can He Trust You Through Disappointment? After Jesus' death Mary walked away from Golgotha, but she did not walk away from God. The Scriptures say that she was still part of the church. She was at all the services. She was still worshipping and praising God, raising her hands, saying, "God, You're good! I magnify You. I worship You. I adore You."

Mary kept going. She was in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when "suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind." (Acts 2:2).

The Bible says that everyone in the room was filled with the Holy Spirit. But Mary had a unique distinction. This was not a new experience for her! When the Holy Spirit filled her, she knew who it was because He had filled her once before.

Have you experienced the piercings that Mary did? Are you someone who has survived hell and high water and still says, "I love you, God. Your will be done?" Are you able to praise Him not only through the good times but also when everything is going wrong? When you don't understand? God wants to bless you with favor and victory. He wants to birth great things in and through you. He wants you to know His resurrection power.

But the Scripture is clear: If you want to know Jesus and "the power of His resurrection," you must be willing to enter into "the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10). God is still looking for women like Mary -- women He can trust with trouble. Can He trust you?
****************************************************************
Reprinted from the Dec/Jan 1999 issue of Spirit Led Woman. Bishop T.D. Jakes is the founder and pastor of The Potter's House Church in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books including his most recent release, The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord (Putnam Publishing) and The Holy Bible, Woman, Thou Art Loosed! Edition (Thomas Nelson Bibles).

Visit T.D. Jakes Ministries online

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