Whose work is it anyway?

Humanity has its downfalls which includes sin. (Romans 3:9ff) Sin permeates our every act of life so that none can claim perfection (or anything close for that matter). But we do see acts of "kindness" in our everyday life. While the "good" act of the non-Christian can be ascribed to various sinful reasons, there are some examples of good works in the life of a Christian. I'll clarify that while not all actions of the Christian are good, there are some identifying factors which identify actions as being "good" or "bad".

1. Good works are done through true faith
2. Good works are done with compliance to the law of God (found in scripture)
3. All good works are done to God's glory

This is the Christian imitating Christ's action and putting on the "new self" (Ephesians 4:17-32). This is only possible through the continual renewal of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (Titus 3:5). Your actions either testify for or against your faith. Don't let your depravity be an excuse for laziness and complacency. When Peter told our Lord that he loved him Jesus only replied "feed my sheep". (John 21:17b) Therefore go... as your Lord also commands you.

Excellent topic!

If we are not listening to our Lord then our work is our work and not His. Jesus said He did and said only what the Father told Him.

Now I am not the Word of God, Jesus is. That is His name because He has always said and done only what the Father tells Him. Since He only says what the Father tells Him, He is thus the word of God. I am not the Word of God, but I can hear words from Him. I can get instructions from Him. Being His sheep means I hear His voice, which means I can and do get instructions from Him.

So while I don't do and say only what He tells me, I do things that He tells me and that sometimes means given someone a word from Him that He tells me to. That is possible because I listen to Him, and because we talk I know Him and He knows me.

Sometimes the instruction from Him is a general instruction. He once told me "Karl, I want you to preach the Word but not as it is so often preached today. I want you to preach I AM the word of God" When He said "I AM" to me it hit me with power and caused me to go stumbling across my bathroom. I almost fell and had to grab hold of some fixtured to keep from falling. He said it with that same small voice that I normally hear Him speaking, and the I AM wasn't some how louder but it had power in it. He has also talked to me many more times about it, so that I have come to know that I have the authorization and support from Him to preach Him as the Word of God at anytime.

Sometimes the instructions are for a season. For example He once asked me to get into a healing ministry. He told me at the beginning that it was for five years. Now He did let me have a week off here and there, but otherwise He would remind me that He needed me there each week until one week He told me that the five years were up. I couldn't remember exactly when they were going to be up, but He told me. He told me that I could continue if I wanted or I could go back to it if I wanted, but I had done what He had asked. It was an incredible ministry where He did amazing things and it didn't take too much time, but I left and didn't go back. It is also a ministry that can disappoint you and where people can put presure on you to here what they want. Hearing the Lord does not mean hearing what other people want you to hear. And while He did incredible things and most people who came in left with some obvious type of blessng from the Lord, there were those who needed a miracle and didn't seem to get it and you can't help but care for them. I left.

Then there are very specific instructions I get from Him. Indeed, most instructions are of this type. It is written that He guides your steps and that you will hear a voice behind you everytime you turn to the right or to the left. When I listen closely I hear lots of very specific instructions. They can be as seemingly unimportant like Him telling me what clothes to wear for the day, or they can be rather important like Him telling me that person over ther has a stomach problems He wants prayed for. Those can be awesome but challenging to speak out. They are awesome because when He tells me those type of things He almost always is ready to heal the person. Yet they are challenging because that is sensitive information and so the reaction of the person can be all over the place, and you'll have no clue what it is going to be.