Today's devotional in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers is as follows:
"Are You Ready To
Be Poured Out As an Offering?
“If
I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all” (Philippians 2:17).
Are
you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer—to pour out
your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I
am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how
to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have
certain people watching me and saying, ‘Well done.’ ”
It
is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but
quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a
“doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say,
“I know how to be abased …” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to
be sacrificed like that? Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the
bucket—to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they
think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you
are used up and exhausted—not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some
saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they
feel such service is beneath their dignity."
LEAVING ON A JET PLANE......
Tomorrow morning we leave for India. It will take us three days to actually get there and we can hardly wait. The anticipation of reuniting with our precious friends, Pastor Mathews Cherian and Grace, our Indian family in the Lord is extra precious. This man of God has stayed in our home, encouraged us, prayed for our family and just been a spiritual papa to us. To go and serve his ministry is such an extreme blessing to us.
After concluding our ministry in India, we are immediately flying to Ireland. We will be working with Pastor James and Rachel, our dear friends and family in the Lord.
Probably the most difficult thing we had to do in preparing for this trip was packing for two diverse cultures and climates. Compare the two pictures, the first is India (dry, hot, and dessert like) and the second is Ireland (cold, wet, green and mostly raining). You can get a small idea of this challenge.