Servants and Slaves of Righteousness

Now that we know what a "minister" is (a servant):
http://christianitynotchurchianity.blogspot.com/2009/09/minister-ministry-titles-men-give.html

We can move onto what it is we do as servants. One of the fundamentals of being a servant is humility. We can't serve our God if we are being actively opposed by our God (he opposes the proud (1 peter 5:5, James 4:6). Once we are humbled then we can serve. Our first acts of service always belong to the Lord. He is first.....always. This is where so many people have missed the mark. He is our primary focus, he must be served. Where do we see this idea in action?

Revelation 2:4
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

First love? Yep, first is reserved for Jesus. Where else do we see this?

Nehemiah 10:35 ... and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits ofall the fruit of every tree to the house of the LORD annually,

Leviticus 2:14 And if you offer a meat offering of your first fruits to the LORD, you shall offerfor the meat offering of your first fruits green ears of corn dried by the ...

Ezekiel 44:30 ... "The first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of everykind, from ... The priests should have the best of all the first ripened fruits. ...

Exodus 34:26 ... "You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into thehouse of the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a young

You see that? Over and over again, who gets "first" everything? Our Lord does. He is first....

So we see that as servants, our Lord comes first. We are to focus on him:

Psalm 32:9
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

We are not like animals that have no understanding, who will only come to you with the use of bit and bridle. We are servants who know our responsibility is first and foremost to our Lord. With this understanding, with our focus on the Lord, what are we to do as his servants?

PRAISE HIM

Ephesians 1:12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in ...
... He planned all of this so that we who had already focused ourhope on Christ would praise him and give him glory. ...

1 Chronicles 16:9 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his ...
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. ... Sing to him. Makemusic to praise him. Meditate on all the miracles he has done.

Romans 15:11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and ...
... And again, "PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM." ...And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

Psalm 150:2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his ...
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. ... PraiseHim for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

I could go on and on with these places in the bible where we are told to praise him. The moment our mind has the thought to approach our glorious God, we should begin to PRAISE...it is with praise that we approach our God:

Psalm 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Psalm 34:1I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I'm not going to go on and on with this, you get the point. If there is anything I sense the Spirit of God impressing upon me these days, its about his praise, thanks and glory to him, first and foremost. How many problems would we not have if we learned to praise and thank him for what he has already done. How many troubles could we avoid if we learned to approach him every day with praise on our lips? Is there not something you can find to thank the Creator for today? Find it and put it on your lips in thanksgiving and praise today.

We are servants, and serving our God first is the first thing we have to learn. He is first, no matter what. First love belongs to him, every day. If we love the people around us then we will understand that the best way to love people is by loving our God first. It is only with and through our God that we can do anything for people anyway.

Thank him today. Praise him today. He is worthy to receive all the praise and thanksgiving and glory...it all belongs to him.

grace and peace