Know that the Lord has set apart His faithful servant for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. Psalm 4:3
“If you want to live in this world, doing the duty of life, knowing the blessings of it, doing your work heartily, and yet not absorbed by it, remember that the one power whereby you can so act is, that all shall be consecrated to Christ, and done for His sake.”
Alexander Maclaren in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers, compiled by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert (New York: Wilbur B. Ketcham, 1895) 158.
In our generous service, how do we draw the line between doing our part becoming absorbed by it in the process? It’s not an easy question to answer. For my part, I wrestle with this as my wife and family could feel forgotten because of the rigors of my travel and the work God has put before me on a global scale.
So, how should we live and work in a manner that is consecrated to God? These questions and more are at the heart of the GTP Empowerment Journey, an evening and morning experience that we are piloting at the Dubai Global Gathering with the board and regional facilitators.
We start with the idea that each person matters to God. From there, we consider that we are part of something bigger. God has not only set us apart for Himself but has something He wants to know. He cares about our ‘being’ and ‘knowing’ as well as our ‘doing’. We challenge participants to reflect prayerfully while they rest before thinking about their ‘doing’.
Then on the following morning, we talk about how together we can make a difference in our roles, but we must set God-honoring standards and hold each other accountable. In short, only glorify Him when we work together to preserve His honor. The journey is designed to help us consecrate ourselves together for Christ so that as one body we serve Him.