How to Be Useful to the Lord, Week 3, Chapter 6, Wednesday

HOW TO BE USEFUL TO THE LORD

CHAPTER SIX

WEEK 3 - WEDNESDAY

Bible Reading: Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Pet 5:1-4

Read and pray: "Then Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church; and with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the care of the Lord, in whom they had believed." (Acts 14:23 - KJA)

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR OUR EXERCISE (1)

Question: Why does the function of many Christians before the Lord not manifest?

Answer: Let us consider our usefulness before the Lord. Perhaps we are very zealous, willing to seek the Lord, and diligent in attending meetings, but what is our usefulness in the hands of the Lord? I believe that most would probably say they do not know. In local churches everywhere, we can see that there are many who are zealous for the Lord, love the Lord, have a heart that seeks the Lord, and are present at all meetings. However, they do not know their usefulness in the Lord’s hand. Not only are they unable to say, but the fact is that their usefulness has not manifested. What is the reason for this?

The problem lies in not loving the Lord completely, not consecrating oneself deeply, not letting go of the future, not allowing oneself to be broken, and not experiencing the elimination of the flesh. If someone truly loved the Lord, consecrated themselves fully, abandoned their future, and were broken and disciplined, the Christ in them would gain space and a means to express Himself. At that moment, whether they felt it or not, their function would manifest.

Forgive me for saying that in the church today, few are called, few are useful, few can make a difference, few can serve, and few can be used by the Lord. The only and main reason is that we are not absolute when loving the Lord and do not fully surrender to Him, consecrating ourselves to Him, renouncing the future, and truly being broken and dealt with.

If we all seriously practiced these five things: loving the Lord absolutely, fully consecrating ourselves, letting go of the future, allowing the natural man to be broken, and disciplining our flesh, then Christ would have a way to express His life through us little by little. In this way, we would be sure that one day we would be useful in the hands of the Lord.

Today, the main reason we do not know whether we are useful in the Lord’s hands is that we do not practice these five things. We do not practice loving the Lord absolutely, consecrating ourselves, letting go of the future, being disciplined, or being broken. Our "self" still remains and is preserved. That is why we are zealous but do not serve; we attend meetings but are not useful; and we always gather, but our functions do not clearly manifest. In many cases, it is not very clear among us who are elders, who are deacons, and who are teachers.

Many times, when we, the workers, went to the churches to help designate elders, after examining the names of all the brothers, studying them, and praying for them, we could not find anyone who could be an elder. The impression was that everyone was almost the same; brother "A" was almost the same as brother "B," who, in turn, was almost the same as brother "C," who, in turn, was almost the same as brother "D." Everyone was almost the same. It was difficult to find someone who had the capacity to be an elder or who had the function of a deacon. Everyone loved the Lord, was zealous, sought the Lord, and regularly attended meetings, but they could not be deacons or elders because the life in them did not clearly manifest their function.

Enjoy more: Hymn 426 - "Without function and isolated, every member will die."