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I couldn’t say it any better than the apostle Paul said it—
We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.
We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us.
We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything. (2 Corinthians 6:3-10 NLT)
A mark of a godly leader is one who faithfully serves God whether people treat him well or not.
We don’t minister faithfully so we can receive human applause, because cheers can quickly turn to jeers. Just ask Jesus who heard everyone speaking well of Him in one moment, and then in the next moment saw that same group ready to throw Him off a cliff.
Instead, we minister faithfully so that we can hear applause from nail-scarred Hands, and hear His voice saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
In my book Shepherd Leadership, I talk about these metrics of success. And in my book When Sheep Bite, I talk about how we can respond to the slanders and slings that come our way.
This is part 80 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.
Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all want us to live in the fullness and freedom of the Kingdom of God. The Father longs to give us the kingdom, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us!
Do not be afraid, little flock, because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
Therefore [Jesus] is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
But this isn’t quid quo pro—we aren’t grateful people just so we can get something back for ourselves. We should be grateful people because…
(1) …God is good all the time and so we should be thankful to Him continually—1 Thessalonians 5:18
(2) …Jesus was grateful—1 Peter 2:23; Hebrews 12:2
(3) …God blesses thankful people—1 Peter 3:9; Luke 6:33
(4) …your thankfulness can benefit people you haven’t even met!
Near the end of his life, David wrote a hymn of thanksgiving, which he taught to Asaph (his worship leader) who then taught it to all the citizens (1 Chronicles 16:7-35). Throughout this song, notice how many times David sang about not only giving thanks but sharing our thankfulness with those around us.
In difficult times, people search for what delivered others in the past. A good example is Psalm 106, where the psalmist warns his readers about the dangers of forgetting to be thankful for God’s blessings. This psalm begins and ends with words taken right from David’s hymn of thanksgiving as an added reminder of what our gratitude should sound like (see vv. 1, 47-48).
One hundred years after David wrote this song, King Asa needed to look back to it. His father Abijah had been evil throughout his reign as king, so had his grandfather Rehoboam. His great-grandfather Solomon started off well, but turned away from God near the end of his life. So Asa looked all the way back to the thankful heart of his great-great grandfather David (1 Kings 15:11).
Jehoshaphat needed this same song 100 years after Asa (200 years after David wrote it) in 2 Chronicles 20. Enemies had surrounded Judah and Jehoshaphat called the people to prayer. Jahaziel, a direct descendant of David’s worship leader Asaph, calls the people to trust God to fight the battle for them. As the army marches out the next morning, they put the worship team at the front who sang David’s 200-year-old song of thanksgiving and God used that to ambush their enemies!
Your lifestyle of gratitude today—your songs of thanksgiving—could be a blessing to future generations that haven’t even been born yet!
We would do well to learn the lessons of the past and make sure we are always quickly turning our grumbling into a song of thankfulness.
As you do, you are…
Emulating the lifestyle of Jesus
Banking up blessings from God
Ambushing the enemy
Bringing a testimony to non-believers
Establishing a standard for future generations
We bless God and bless others by employing two words: BE THANKFUL!
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It is nearly impossible to overstate how fearful Christians in the first century were of the Jewish zealot named Saul of Tarsus. Saul called himself “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14) as he sought to seek out and destroy all who were followers of The Way.
Not only was he personally bent on his ruthless mission, but he had the full sanctioning of the Sanhedrin (Acts 8:3, 9:1-2). This was the religious body that had successfully goaded Pontius Pilate into crucifying Jesus.
So you can imagine the apprehension in Ananias’ heart when Jesus calls him to visit with Saul after he had encountered Jesus for himself. Ananias said, “I’ve heard all about this man and the harm he has done. And I also know he has come to my city with the authority to drag Christians off to prison” (Acts 9:13-14).
Ananias’ interaction with Jesus seems to me to echo the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is as if Ananias is praying, “Is there another way? But not my will but Yours be done, Lord” (see Luke 22:42).
Ananias is called a disciple of Jesus (Acts 9:10), and Paul even refers to him later as “a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews” (22:12). In other words, Ananias is an early church leader. What he does or doesn’t do here will set the pace for other Christians.
So I love the fact that Ananias didn’t just begrudgingly do only what Jesus instructed him, but he said and did only what Christ’s love could empower him to say and do.
Jesus told Ananias to lay his hands on Saul and pray for the restoration of his sight (9:12). Ananias did more. He laid his hands on him in such a loving way (9:17), that Luke uses the same word as when Jesus laid His hands on people for their healing (c.f. Luke 13:13). Ananias even called him “brother Saul” (9:17).
Jesus told Ananias to simply pray for Saul’s physical healing, but Ananias did more: he prayed for Saul to be baptized in the Holy Spirit as well (9:17, 22:13).
Jesus told Ananias what His plan was for Saul’s ministry, but He didn’t tell Ananias that he had to repeat that to Saul. Ananias did more: He reaffirmed to Saul what Jesus had already said to him and encouraged him to get up, be baptized, and began to do what Jesus had told him to do (9:15-16, 22:14-16).
When Ananias called Saul “brother,” he used the term that fellow Christians used for each other (Philippians 4:1; Hebrews 2:11; 1 John 3:14). That means that Ananias is the first one to recognize the genuine conversion of Saul the persecutor to Paul the Christian.
When the love of Jesus is in us, we will not be looking for ways to begrudgingly obey what Jesus tells us, but we cannot wait to lavishly do more loving things out of the overflow of Christ’s love in us. What a fantastic example Ananias has give all of us who call ourselves Christians!
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And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Also the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53)
The centurion and his soldiers saw a Man die like no other crucifixion victim ever had. And it got their attention!
People in Jerusalem had dead friends and family members return to life. And it got their attention!
The religious leaders felt the earthquake and saw the curtain that shielded the Holy of Holies ripped in half. And it got their attention!
Now all of them had a choice: Would they acknowledge that Jesus was who He said He was or not. The Bible gives us only one man’s response: the centurion at the Cross. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He died. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “This Man was in fact innocent” (Luke 23:46-47).
I wonder if there were others?
More importantly, with all of God’s miracles around me every single day, does it get my attention?
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Do you remember this song: “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”? It goes on to say, “If you’re happy and you know, then your life will surely show it….” Frankly, I’m concerned about Christians that are unhappy.
Charles Spurgeon was talking to his students and he said, “I commend cheerfulness to all who would win souls; not levity and frothiness, but a genial, happy spirit. There are more flies caught with honey than with vinegar, and there will be more souls led to heaven by a man who wears heaven in his face than by one who bears Tartarus in his looks.” Tartarus, in Greek mythology, is a sunless abyss, below Hades, in which Zeus imprisoned the Titans, which is the exact opposite of the Paradise described in the Bible.
Unhappiness generally comes from ingratitude. An unhappy Christian gives God no praise, robs Him of glory, and paints God in a bad light. A happy Christian lifts God high and invites others to know this All-Good, All-Happy God too!
Christians need to fight against the downward pull of negativity in which our culture seems to so easily gravitate. In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul says that a Christian who doesn’t engage in the complaining that the world is known for will shine brightly. Quite simply, thankfulness is the antidote to complaining (Philippians 2:14-18).
Even those who may not recognize the the authority of Scripture have extolled the benefits of gratitude. Psychologists and medical professionals have identified three benefits from a thankful heart:
Physical benefits—stronger immune system, less body aches and pains, regulated blood pressure, a better sleep-wake cycle
Social benefits—better communication with others, increased empathy, increased likability
And Christians can add one more benefit to this list:
Spiritual benefits—more dynamic corporate worship, enchanted Christian testimony, perseverance through trials, fortification against giving in to temptation
The well-known Cleveland Clinic reported that an attitude of gratitude leads to overall wellness. When you are grateful for what you have, it improves your outlook mentally, physically, spiritually, and relationally.
Here are five things you can start doing today that will increase your gratitude levels, enhance your Christian testimony, and generally improve your life:
Switch your perspective. Worry is focusing on what you don’t have. Make the switch to gratitude by giving thanks for what you do have (Matthew 6:25-34).
Strengthen your relationships. It’s fine to weep with those who weep, but let’s encourage others and be encouraged by others so that we can rejoice with those who rejoice (1 Thessalonians 3:6-10),
Foster healthy habits. Dr. Luke gives us the pyramid of health that Jesus demonstrated in Luke 2:52. The pinnacle is strong relationships, and grateful people are more empathetic and likable.
Keep a gratitude journal so that you don’t forget what God has done for you (Psalm 106:7).
Talk about your gratitude. This instills thankfulness in other saints (Isaiah 63:7) and in future generations of your family (Isaiah 46:4), and it becomes a testimony for seekers (1 Peter 3:15).
Let me close with this observation from Blaise Pascal: “There are three kinds of people in the world; those who have sought God and found Him and now serve Him, those who are seeking Him, but have not yet found Him, and those who neither seek Him nor find Him. The first are reasonable and happy, the second reasonable and unhappy, and the third unreasonable and unhappy.”
Reasonable, happy saints are the ones who lift God high and invite others to know this All-Good, All-Happy God too! Not just at the Thanksgiving season, but starting now and then going all year long!
Follow along with all of the messages in this series called Be Thankful by clicking here.
And Jesus responded and said to the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” And they could offer no reply to this.
The logic of Jesus is supported by the proof of His miracles and His knowledge of Scripture. This makes His arguments airtight so that none of His opponents can even respond to Him, much less refute Him.
We have the same things available to us:
(1) The Word of God which the Holy Spirit illuminates to our minds, and which He helps us use when critics attack.
(2) The example of our lives which have been changed by a personal encounter with Jesus.
(3) The logical connection of Scripture to the situation in which we find ourselves.
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Have you ever been trying to finish a DIY project and you’re getting frustrated because there’s one part you cannot seem to complete? Then you phone a friend. They come over, look at the situation, pull the perfect tool out of their toolbox, and quickly fix the problem. You are amazed and they think, “It’s no big deal. I just happened to have the right tool for the job and the skill to know how to use it.”
We are all gifted, but in different ways.
God has uniquely prepared you for the situations you will face in your life. David declared, “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). That tells me that your loving Creator knew the challenges and opportunities you would have, and He has already placed the perfect tool in your toolbox that you will need to excel in that moment.
We have already talked about how your passion helps you discover your areas of giftedness. Finding out what thrills you and what fills you is one key step on this journey. There’s another aspect of this discovery process that at first seems almost the opposite, but I think they are actually two sides of the same coin.
If passion is what thrills me, then pain is what kills me. I think a good word for this is zeal. In the biblical context, zeal would be anger at the things that keep people from experiencing all that God has for them—things that keep them from knowing the fullness of God’s glory.
As Moses grew older, it killed him that the Jewish people were now enslaved by the Egyptians and kept from worshiping God in their own place (Exodus 2:11-12).
We see Moses’ zeal misapplied at first (I mean, he did commit a murder!). This about the differences between a river powerfully flowing within its banks, and a flood when the river overflows its banks. When we use our God-implanted zeal in ways that He hasn’t sanctioned, we make a mess like that flood. But when we use our zeal to glorify God, it is as powerful as a mighty river within its banks.
We see perfect zeal in Jesus. We see Him cleansing the temple so all worshipers could come close to God (John 2:13-17). We see his anger over the religious rules that kept people trapped in their disease( Mark 3:1-5; Luke 13:10-16).
If passion asks, “What is God passionate about that thrills my heart too?” then pain asks, “What breaks God’s heart that also breaks my heart?” or “What’s broken that I would love to fix?”
Zeal moves us to action!
When we move forward in our zeal, others may say we are meddling or we are sticking our nose in places where it shouldn’t be. But we simply cannot help ourselves.
In Moses’ initial zeal—without God’s commission—he committed murder and then fled to the wilderness.
Stephen says, “Moses was well educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (Acts 7:22). The word Stephen uses for “educated” means Moses was fully trained to interact success with is culture. And he also says Moses was “powerful” in speech and action.
So why does Moses say of himself that he is not “eloquent” and “slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10)? Literally, Moses is saying, “I might make the same mistake that I made previously.”
Moses looked back on his initial stumble and was fearful he may misfire again. He was comfortable staying in his restricted comfort zone, but this attitude made God angry (Exodus 4:10-12).
Saul in his zeal for the rules and traditions of Judaism, persecuted the Christians. After he became a Christian, we see the same zeal—calling out Barnabas and Peter, and asking the Galatians who has bewitched them to stay entangled with meaningless traditions.
We usually discover our giftedness by looking backward. The devil would love for us to see our previous missteps as disqualifications for future service. But God says that He can use all of these things for His glory (Romans 8:28). We have to surrender our fears to Him if we want to soar out of our comfort zone and into our comfort zone.
Let me give you three things to consider:
What do you find yourself praying about more than anything else?
What do you move toward that others ignore or move away from?
What topic do you talk about all the time?
Here’s your homework: Think about the three things to consider regarding pain, and then consider where your passion circle and your pain circle may overlap.
If you’ve missed any of the messages in our series Living In Your Gift Zone, you can find them all here.
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I want to give you some thoughts to take your Bible studies even deeper. Here are three strategies to make your Bible study time stickier—sticking in your heart and your mind.
I couldn’t say it any better than the apostle Paul said it—
Craig T. Owens 