The Power of Serving Others

Yesterday this devotional captivated my imagination with the possibilities of how our Father operates. The intricacies of His plans and how what one person does impacts another person and then how that person impacts others because of one seemingly random act boggles the mind.

During our short off season, we have purposed to go through the house and do three things, put away, give away or throw away items that seem to accumulate as we live life. With the success of the online yard sale program in our local area, we decided to sell some of the excess items. Shortly after listing a few things, a deal was struck to sell 2 of them.

As my wife readied the articles for deliver I sensed we should bless the 2 individuals these were going to…and so that’s what we did. Both people were touched by this simple act. When asked why they were free, she simply replied, “the Lord wanted us to bless you.”

Afterwards, my wife had to run a few errands. One of them was a stop at the local WalMart. While waiting inline to buy stamps a young girl (perhaps 2 or 3 years old) who was also waiting in the line with her parents, looked at my wife and immediately started to struggle to get down from her mothers shopping cart.

When she was finally free, she ran to my wife and jumped into her arms giving her a big hug. Everyone, the parents and my wife, were astonished by the little girls action. It was as open and honest act of unfettered love as she has ever witnessed. The only explanation, the little girl saw the glow of the Lord in my wife’s face through the gifting of these 2 items. I can only imagine what the little girls parents thought.

Serving others, without expectation, is the single most generous act we can accomplish. Give it a try today, it will bless you beyond imagination.

Blessings

The Power of Serving Others
by Os Hillman

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:9-11).

There is a Kingdom principle I find few really understand. The principle is this: When you focus on serving others, your need is often met through God’s supernatural law of serving.

I’ve seen this happen so many times. The law of sowing and reaping comes into play in this Kingdom principle. “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love.” (Hos 10:12). “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor 9:6-9)

Whenever God calls me to serve another person with my time and resources, I notice how God measures resources back to me from unrelated sources. Sometimes it comes through an unexpected donation to our ministry or a speaking engagement or a new opportunity. It is uncanny how this happens consistently when I serve others. We are never to view people or organizations as competition. The Bible says that God has already assigned our portion. We need not have to manipulate outcomes.

“LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance” (Ps 16:5-6).

We don’t serve others to get. However, when you do serve others, there is a Kingdom principle that works on your behalf as fruit of your service. Is there someone you need to serve today?