Our Reasonable Service

Good day sister saints!
I pray you are all striving on after our Savior!

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1 

We have a great example in brother Paul, who imitated Christ and for us to learn from and imitate also.  In that we need to remember that Paul also went through great persecution, trials and troubles in His name, and we too will, as we follow.  It's our reasonable service to do so.  (Thank you sister for these scripture pictures that you shared this morning:-)

I thought I'd encourage us all on about our reasonable service. We sisters remind one another all the time about that and it helps stop pity parties within our flesh and gets us going, doing the works of a good soldier of the Lord. 

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 2:3 

The brothers are currently helping a young saint grow strong after just leaving his 'Egypt' and those in it (who claim Christ but live in sin), behind.  It's painful leaving loved ones behind to go serve the Lord, but it's just our reasonable service.  That doesn't mean we all physically leave people behind because some can't (those married to unbelievers, those living in houses with unbelievers or sinful claimed believers etc) but we leave them spiritually behind and strive on for the kingdom of God.
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We saints as a body had to just endure a tearing apart of saints because of sin.  We sisters have lost children and grandchildren.  We've lost much and had to fight the battle of sadness in our flesh but guess what....
It's our reasonable service. We are doing nothing more than our Savior has already done and doing a lot less than many of the saints before us.  Let's read an example of something we don't have to do...

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. [27] And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. [28] And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 
Exodus 32:26-28 

They had to literally kill people they knew, who wouldn't serve the Lord.  Today we are blessed to offer the truth of the biblical gospel and how to find eternal life if they repent... and then separate from them.  That's it. That's a lot easier than killing someone...so the next time you have to separate from someone for biblical reasons, don't be whining and complaining about it, thank the Lord for allowing you to share the truth and not have to kill them.  The same goes for all the persecution we endure (which is nothing compared to what the saints of old endured or those who will be alive through the tribulation)...

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [11] Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. [12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Matthew 5:10-12 

We're commanded to REJOICE and be EXCEEDING glad.  
Not say 'I know but....'
We are commanded to do it.
It's our reasonable service to suffer whatever it is the Lord has us go through for Him.  I've learned over the years of trials, to try to embrace them and learn from them, not try to escape and lose the opportunity to grow and mature.  (Read James 1 for more encouragement on that.) 

Ponder that will you?  (Myself included, which I do often.) 
Our reasonable service...in all things. Let's read what Jesus said about that.

But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? [8] And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? [9] Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. [10] So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Luke 17:7-10 

 The servant was out plowing the field or feeding cattle (probably a long day of hard work) and then comes in and the master wants him to prepare food too. The servant isn't sitting there going 'but I worked hard all day already'.
Nope, he does what His master has him do even if he's tired and worn out.  That's like a sister raising her children, helping her husband, cleaning, cooking and all the Titus 2 things she has to do....it's all her reasonable service.  What about the sister married to an unbeliever who is worldly and carnal and she has to suffer through that in her own home?  It's her reasonable service. What about those who live on the streets to proclaim the gospel and they endure the wickedness, noise and persecution of the world day in and day out?  It's their reasonable service. What about those who work a job and have to endure the worldliness around them every day? It's their reasonable service.  What about those who have to lose parents, children, grandchildren, jobs, houses etc.  It's their reasonable service. And like we just read...endure hardness like a good soldier.  It's a brutally honest concept that allows for no flesh or pity to wallow in.  We must what?????

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 16:25 

Lose our life for Christ.  It's His life in us not ours and who are we to waste our time complaining about enduring trials or yearning not to?  That's not redeeming the time, that's allowing the flesh to rule and we know by Romans 8 we cannot please God by walking in the flesh.  We do our best to battle it when it rises and put it down for Him just like He put down His life for us. 

The Lord promises us He will give us what we need to press on, we don't want to make Him a liar in our lives, do we?

Let's all press on in our reasonable service, joyfully doing all things unto the Lord. 

Love in Christ and sister hugs,
​Sister Aman

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