George Smiles From Jane's MarmaladeSample

DAY 6

#5 on our list: MINISTRY

ASK God to show up for you as you’re going over priority #5 on the GSFJM list.

READ: JHN 12:26, HEB 6:10, GAL 5:13, ROM 12.1, LUK 6.38

DEVOTIONAL: My choice to get involved in mission work has given me and my family the opportunity to travel all over the world and meet some amazing people. When working with people and teams to prepare them for going on their first mission trip, it is interesting how most of the thought process is wrapped around their thoughts of “helping others that are less fortunate.” That’s a great reason to go for sure and may be just the thing that gets you going on a trip like that. But after coming back, what I find is that people are changed, internally and externally from the experience of “helping others” or “doing” ministry. I served as a youth ministry assistant helping lead high school youth mission trips to Costa Rica twice a year from a pretty well-do-to church community and more often than not when we would return, parents would come up to me and say, “What the heck did you do to my kid?!!! They want us to sell everything.” That’s kinda what hands-on ministry does to you when you’re all-in. As my kids like to say, “You get wrecked!” I remember leading men’s groups into Juarez, Mexico to build houses for families living in the barrios. Men loved to sign up, bring their tools and “get ‘er done.” Over the years, I saw the toughest of tough men broken, tears streaming down their face while sitting in church with the families that had received the homes we built, just grateful for a place to call home (that home BTW, was about the size of one of our single-car garages here in the USA). I watched many of those same tough men, after serving and listening to God’s voice through their hard work in missions in Juarez and other places, step forward to dedicate their lives to full-time or regular service through ministry. Why? Because God works on us through our service to others. Wow!

Here’s the truth - When you choose to serve, no matter what reason it started out for, you will most likely be changed to see things the way God sees them, and it changes your perspective about what we have and how we live. I’m certainly not telling you to go out and sell everything, but that reaction from our mission high schoolers was a great indicator of God working in their hearts – just like He’ll work in yours. What I am saying is this: it’s never too late to get involved. Get out of your comfort zone and join God by serving others. That can be doing laundry at a local homeless shelter, packing boxes at the food bank, sitting down to help families in transition understand how to balance their checkbooks, repairing or painting homes of seniors, or going to Africa or Latin America (or anywhere!) for a couple of weeks to teach English or do a VBS week for kids; there are LOTS of things you can do with a group from your faith community, whether on a 17-hour flight taking you 9000 miles away or right down the street with a family struggling to make ends meet due to health or job changes. James 1:22 says, “Don’t just merely listen to [God’s] word, and so deceive yourself. Do what it says!” So get out there and DO IT!

WRITE down some thoughts about your Bible reading today. How do you feel about being involved in ministry? Does it make you nervous? Is it fun? What skills do you have, maybe from your job or other experiences that might be valuable for others around your faith community, in your town or for neighbors? Write down some ideas about how you could make yourself available for ministry. Follow through with doing it!

MEDITATE: Take the time to think and pray about what came out in your writing and reading time today. Pray over these things for better clarity and direction for the Holy Spirit to speak to you about how to get out of your comfort zone and be active in ministry.