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“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-5 NASB1995)
As those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to be his followers, and this should describe the kind of testimony that we have for the Lord Jesus. We are to be those whose lives are surrendered to Christ to do his will, whose desire it is to please the Lord in all that we do, and who are being led by the Spirit of God, and not by human flesh. We are to be doing the work of God which he has for us to do, by his Spirit, and not the work of the flesh. For if it is God’s work we do, we can only do it as he leads and directs us.
And service for the Lord is not something of our own choosing, and of our own will and purpose that we do in our own power, strength, and wisdom. We can only serve the Lord as we are chosen by him for particular areas of service and ministry, and only as being led by his Spirit, and only as he equips us to do his work. So all the glory belongs to God and not to human flesh! And that is how it should be for all of us all of the time. We should never go it alone without God and without his guidance and empowerment.
And let me give you an example. I live in the USA. It is now 5:43 p.m. where I live, but this is my first writing for the day. Why? Well, this morning when I sat down to write, I had no leading or direction from the Lord. He was silent, and Satan was fighting against me, and I was fighting back in the power of God. I also have not felt well all day, and so I have been sleeping much, too, on and off. But every time I attempted to hear from God and to follow his leading, he was silent, until now, and now I know why.
And the lesson is just what I expressed above. We have to first of all be chosen of God for his service, but then we must be led of the Spirit of God in what to do or we should not try to do it in our own flesh just so that we produced something. Nothing at all is better than works of the flesh which are not being led of the Spirit of God. So, I waited patiently throughout the day, waiting to be led of the Lord, and then he led me to this passage of Scripture, and then the lesson became clear that he wanted me to share.
We should never go ahead of God just to produce something, or because we think people are expecting something of us at a particular time, or because we have always done it a certain way, etc. We need to wait on the Lord and on his timing to be led of him and not of the flesh so that our service to the Lord is of God and not of our own doing. But this is never to be used as an excuse to be lazy and to do nothing. God has something for all of us to do who are his servants, but we must be led of the Spirit and not of the flesh.
I am always well aware that I cannot do what I do each day without being led of the Spirit and without being empowered by God in what to write. And as I sat at my desk in front of my computer today I acknowledged that again to the Lord, that if he is not directing me in what to read and in what to write, then I have nothing to give. And I would not be writing this now if he did not open my eyes to see what he had for me to read and to share with you today. For God must get the glory for all that we do in his name.
[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 3:20-21; Ephesians 5:11-14; Colossians 3:23-24; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 96:8; Revelation 4:11]
My Sheep
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
Led by The Spirit
An Original Work / June 17, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
