Purpose Driven Life Day 34: Thinking Like A Servant

Numbers 14:24

But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it.

Philippians 2:5

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Service starts in your mind
To be a servant requires a mental shift, a change in your attitude. Attitudes count more than achievements.

Real servants serve God with a mindset of 5 attitudes:
1. Servants think more about others than about themselves
This is true humility: not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. They are self-forgetful. 

Philippians 2:4

Each of you should look not only to your own interest, but also to the interests of others.

When we stop focusing on our own needs, we become aware of the needs around us.

We can measure our servant heart by how we respond when others treat us like servants. How we react when you're taken for granted, bossed around or treated as an inferior?

Matthew 5:41

If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.

2. Servants think like stewards, not owners
Servants remember that God owns it all. In the Bible, a steward was a servant entrusted to manage an estate. Servanthood and stewardship go together, since God expects us to be trustworthy in both. 

1 Corinthians 4:2

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

How are you handling the resources God has entrusted to you?

To become a real servant, you are going to have to settle the issue of money in your life. 

Luke 16:13

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Living for ministry and living for money are mutually exclusive goals. Which one will you choose?
All your time belongs to God. He insists on exclusive allegiance, not part-time faithfulness. When Jesus is your Master, money serves you; but if money is your master, you because its slave. Wealth is not a sink but failing to use it for God's glory is.

The Bible is very clear: God uses money to test your faithfulness as a servant. That is why Jesus talked more about money than He did about either heaven or hell.

Luke 16:11

So, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

3. Servants think about their work, not what others are doingThey don't compare, criticize or compare with other servants or ministries. They're too busy doing the work God has given them.

Galatians 5:26

We will not compare ourselves with each other as is one of us were better and another worst. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

Real servants don't complaint of unfairness, don't have pity-parties and don't resent those not serving. They just trust God and keep serving. It is not our job to evaluate the Master's other servants. It is also not our job to defend ourselves against criticism. Let your Master handle it.
I you serve like Jesus, you can expect to b criticized. The world and even much of the church, does not understand what God values. Your service for Chriet us never wasted regardless of what others say.

4. Servants base their identity in ChristBecause they remember they are loved and accepted by grace, servants don't have to prove their worth. If you're going to be a servant, you must settle your identity in Christ. Only secure people can serve. Insecure people are always worrying about how they appear to others.

2 Corinthians 10:18

For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one when the Lord commends.

The closer you get to Jesus, the less you need to promote yourself.

5. Servants think of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligationThey enjoy helping people, meeting needs and doing ministry. They serve with gladness because they love the Lord, they'e grateful for His grace, they know serving I the highest use of life, and they know God has promised a reward.

John 12:26

Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.

Hebrews 6:10

God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.

Imagine what could happen if jut 10% of all Christians in the world got serious about their role as real servants. Imagine all the good that could be done. Are you willing to be one of these people?
It doesn't matter what your age is, God will use you if you will begin to act and think like a servant.

Point to ponder: To be a servant I must think like a servant.

Verse to remember: Philippians 2:5
Your attitude should be the sane as that of Christ Jesus.

Questions to consider:
Am I usually more concerned about being served or finding ways to serve others?

Purpose Driven Life Day 33: How Real Servants Act

Mark 10:43-44

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servants and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

Matthew 7:16

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

We serve God by serving others.

The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige and position. If you can demand service from others, you've arrived. In our self-serving culture with its me-first mentality, acting like a servant is nit a popular concept.

Jesus, however, measured greatness in terms of service, not status. God determines our greatness by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you. While knowing our shape is important for serving God, having the heart of a servant is even more important. For God shaped us for service, not for self-centeredness. God often tests our hearts by asking us to serve in ways we're not shaped! While we may not be gifted for a particular task, we may be called to do it if no one gifted at it is around. Our primary ministry should be in the area of our shape, but our secondary service is whenever we're needed at the moment. Our shape reveals our ministry, but our servant's heart will reveal our maturity.

1. Real servants make themselves available to serve

2 Timothy 2:4

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.

If you only serve when it's convenient for you, you're not a real servant. Real servants do what's needed, even when it's inconvenient. Can God mess up your plans without you becoming resentful?

If you will remind yourself at the start of everyday that you are God's servant, interruptions won't frustrate you as much, because your agenda will be whatever God wants to bring into your life. Servants see interruptions as divine appointments for ministry and are happy for the opportunity to practice serving.

2. Real servants pay attention to needs

Galatians 6:10

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

When God puts someone in need right in front of you, He is giving you the opportunity to grow in servanthood. Notice that God says the needs of the church family are to be given preference, not put at the bottom of 'things to do' list. We may only get one chance to serve a person, so take advantage of the moment!

Proverbs 3:27

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

when it is in your power to act.

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." - John Wesley -

3. Real servants do their best with what they have
Servants don't make excuses, procrastinate, or wait for better circumstances. 

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Whoever watches the wind will not plant;

whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

It doesn't have to be perfect for God to use and bless us. It's better to involve thousands of regular folks in ministry than have a perfect church run by a few elites.

4. Real servants do every task with equal dedication

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Galatians 6:3 (NLT)

If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody.

God will never exempt you from the mundane. It is in these small services that we grow like Christ.

Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath Him, because He came to serve. Small tasks often show a big heart.

Great opportunities often disguise themselves in small tasks. The little things in life determine the big things. You develop a servant's heart when you're willing to do anything needed.

5. Real servants are faithful to their ministry 
Servants finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises and complete their commitments. They don't leave a job half undone, and they don't quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable.

Are there promises you need to keep, vows you need to fulfill, or commitments you need to honor? This is a test. God is testing your faithfulness. Imagine what it will feel like one day to have God say to you,

'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:23

By ther way, faithful servants never retire. They serve faithfully as long as they're alive. You can retire from your career but you'll never retire from serving God.

6. Real servants maintain a low profile
Servants don't promote or call attention to themselves. 

Matthew 6:1

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."

Self promotion and servanthood don't mix. Real servants don't serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of one. You won't find many real servants in the limelight; in fact, they avoid it when possible. They are content with quietly serving in the shadows.

Unfortunately, many leaders today start off as servants but end up as celebrities. They become addicted to attention, unaware that always being in the spotlight blinds you.

You may be serving in obscuriy in some small place, feeling unknown and unappreciated. Listen: God put you where you are for a purpose! He will let you know if He wants you somewhere else. Your ministry matters to the kingdom of God.

Colossians 3:4

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.

The most significant service is often the service that is unseen. Knowing this, don't be discouraged when your service is unnoticed or taken for granted. Keep on serving God!

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work if the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Even the smallest service is noticed by God and will be rewarded. Remember the words of Jesus. 

Matthew 10:42

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because He is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his rewards.

Points to ponder: I serve God by serving others.

Verse to remember: Matthew 10:42

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because He is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his rewards.

Question to consider: Which of the 6 characteristics of real servants offers the greatest challenge to me?

Summary of the 6 characteristics of real servants:
1. Real servants make themselves available to serve. 
2. Real servants pay attention to needs. 
3. Real servants do their best with what they have. 
4. Real servants do every task with equal dedication. 
5. Real servants are faithful to their ministry. 
6. Real servants maintain a low profile.

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35 The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" 

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

" Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 

"At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.' 

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

Forgivable person vs unforgivable person
How can I forgive when it hurts so much?

Isaiah 1:18

"Come now, let us settle the matter,"

says the Lord.

"Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 

Luke 23:34

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Matthew 18:18

"Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

The gift of forgiveness

John 20:22-23

And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

We need to acknowledge that we need to be forgiven. 
Would you forgive someone who keeps coming back with the same sin?

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We need to forgive everyone for everything. 
Forgiveness is costly => usually involves broken heart. 
Forgiveness is God's mandate

Matthew 6:14-15

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

10 Things to be Thankful for today

1. Good parents - provided and protected me thus far
2. Good spiritual support - prevents me from making the wrong choices in life
3. Storms and rain - make me stronger and have a closer walk with God
4. Opportunities - to see the amazing works of God and experience His love
5. Happy moments - to know that this is not the end, it's just a bending
6. Holidays - to see the world from a different perspective
7. Friends - to add color to our life
8. Meditation - reminds us of all the blessings in life
9. Good health - able to do God's work
10. Being alive - to see/ experience God in a different way today!

Purpose Driven Life Day 32: Using What God Gave You

Romans 12:5

Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be.

What you are is God's gift to you;

what you do with yourself is your gift to God. -Danish proverb-

God deserves my best!

Discover Your Shape

Ephesians 5:17

Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Start finding out and clarifying what God intends for us to be and do.
1. Begin by assessing your gifts and abilities
Take a long and honest look at what we are good at and what we're not good at.

Romans 12:3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Make a list. Ask others for their candid opinion. If you want to know if you have the gift of leadership, just look over your shoulder! If no one is following you, you're not a leader!

Ask questions like this: Where have I seen fruit in my life that other people confirmed? Where have I already been successful?

The best way to discover your gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service. Just start serving, experimenting with different ministries, and then you'll discover your gifts. We have dozens of hidden abilities and gifts we don't know we've got because we've never tried them out.

2. Consider your heart and your personality

Galatians 6:4-5

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

Questions you can ask:
1. What do I really enjoy doing most?
2. When do I feel the most fully alive?
3. What am I doing when I lose track of time?
4. Do I like routine or variety?
5. Do I prefer serving with a team or by myself?
6. Am I more introverted or extroverted?
7. Am I more a thinker or a feeler?
8. Which do I enjoy more - competing or cooperating?

3. Examine your experiences and extract the lessons you have learned
Forgotten experiences are worthless; that's a good reason to keep a spiritual journal. We rarely see God's good purpose in pain or failure or embarrassment while it is happening. Only in hindsight do we understand how God intended a problem for good.

Extracting the lessons from our experiences takes time. It is recommended that we take an entire weekend for a life review retreat, where we pause to see how God has worked in the various defining moments of our life and consider how He wants to use those lessons to help others.

Accept and Enjoy Your Shape
Since God knows what's best for us, we should gratefully accept the way He has fashioned us.

Ephesians 4:7

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

Part of accepting our shape is recognizing our limitations. Nobody is good at everything, and no one is called to be everything.

2 Corinthians 10:13

We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the fields God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.

Whenever we lose our joy in ministry, start by considering if we've been comparing or conforming to others. There are 2 reasons why we should never compare with others. 
1. We will always be able to find someone better and be discouraged. 
2. We will always find someone less effective and get full of pride.

Either attitude will take us out of service and rob our joy.

2 Corinthians 10:12

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

There are people who do not understand our shape for ministry who will criticize and try to get us to conform to what they think we should be doing. Ignore them. Paul often had to deal with critics who misunderstood and maligned his service. His response was always the same: Avoid comparisons, resist exaggerations and seek only God's commendation. One of the reasons Paul was used so greatly by God was that he refused to be distracted by criticism or by comparing his ministry with others.

If my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me,

And if my life is fruitful, it doesn't matter who criticizes me. - John Bunyan -

Keep Developing Your Shape
We are to cultivate our gifts and abilities, keep our hearts aflame, grow our character and personality and broaden our experiences so we will be increasingly more effective in our service.

Philippians 1:9-10

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

If you don't utilize the abilities and skills God has given, you will lose them. Whatever gifts we have been given can be enlarged and developed through practice. Don't settle for a half-developed gift. Stretch ourself and learn all we can.

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Take advantage of every training opportunity to develop our shape and sharpen our serving skills.

1 Corinthians 9:25

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

We're getting ready for eternal responsibilities and rewards.

Points to ponder: God deserves my best.

Verse to remember: 2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Question to consider:
How can I make the best use of what God has given me?

Be Thankful in Life

Heavy rain reminds us of challenges in life.
Never ask for a lighter rain. Just pray for a better umbrella.
That is ATTITUTE.

When flood comes, fish eat ants and when flood recedes, ants eat fish.
Only time matters.
Just hold on, God gives opportunity to everyone!

Life is not about finding the right person, but creating the right relationship,
it's not how we care in the beginning, but how much we care till the very end.
Some people always throw stones in your path.
It depends on what you make with them. A Wall or a Bridge?
Remember you are the architect of your life.

Search for a beautiful heart, but don't search for a beautiful face.
Coz beautiful things are not always good,
but good things are always beautiful.

It's not important to hold all the good cards in life.
But it's important how well you play with the cards you hold.
Often when we lose all hope and think this is the end,
God smiles from above and says, "Relax dear, it's just a bend, not the end."
Have faith and have a successful life.

One of the basic difference between God and human is, 
God gives, gives and forgives, but human gets, gets, and forgets.
Be thankful in life...

Purpose Driven Life Day 31: Understanding Your Shape

Psalm 139:13
For You created my inmost being;
  You knit me together in my mother's womb. 

Only you can be you. 

SHAPE: Applying Your Abilities
1. All of our abilities come from God
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. 
Even abilities used to sin are God-given; they are just being misused/abused. Since my natural abilities are from God, they are just as important and as 'spiritual' as my spiritual gifts. Part of the church's responsibility is to identify and release our abilities for serving God. 

2. Every ability can be used for God's glory
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

Here's a few mentioned in the Bible:
Artistic, architecture, administering, baking, boat making, candy making, debating, designing, embalming, embroidering, engraving, farming, fishing, gardening, leading, managing, masonry, making music, making weapons, needle work, painting, planting, philosophizing, machinability, inventing, carpentry, sailing, selling, being a soldier, tailoring, teaching, writing literature and poetry. 

God has a place in His church where my abilities can shine and I can make a difference. God gives some people the ability to make a lot of money. If you have this business ability, you should use it for God's glory. How?
1. Realize your ability come from God and give Him the credit. 
2. Use your business to serve a need of others and to share your faith with unbelievers. 
3. Return at least a tithe of the profit to God as an act of worship. 
4. Make your goal to be a Kingdom builder rather than Wealth builder. 

Deuteronomy 8:18
But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today. 

3. What I am able to do, God wants me to do
You are the only person on earth who can use your abilities 

Hebrews 13:21
May God equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 

To discover God's will for your life, you should seriously examine what you are good at doing and what you're not good at. Whatever you'e good at, you should be doing for your church!

SHAPE: Using Your Personality
When God made me, He broke the mold. There never has been, and never will be, anybody exactly like me. There is no 'right' or 'wrong' temperament for ministry. We need all kinds of personalities to balance the church and give it flavor. My personality will affect how and where I use my spiritual gifts and abilities. 

Like unstained glass, our different personalities reflect God's light in many colors and patterns. Tis blesses the family of God with depth and variety bit also blesses us personally. It feels good to do what God made you to do. When you minister in a manner consistent with the personality God gave you, you experience fulfillment, satisfaction and fruitfulness. 

SHAPE: Employing Your Experience
I have been shaped by my experiences in life, most of which were beyond my control. God allowed them for His purpose of molding me. In determining my shape for serving God, I should examine at least 6 kinds I'd experiences from my past. 
1. Family experiences: What did I learn growing up?
2. Educational: What were my favorite subjects in school?
3. Vocational: What jobs have I been most effective in and enjoyed most?
4. Spiritual: What have been my most meaningful times with God?
5. Ministry: How have I served God in the past?
6. Painful: What problems, hurts, thorns and trials have I learned from?

God never wastes a hurt! In fact, my greatest ministry will most likely come out of my greatest hurt. God intentionally allow me to go through painful experiences to equip me for ministry to others. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 

If you really desire to be used by God, you must understand a powerful truth: The very experiences that you have resented/regretted most in life - the ones you've wanted to hide and forget - are the experiences God wants to use to help others. They are your ministry! For God to use my painful experiences, I must be willing to share them. I have to stop covering them up and I must honestly admit it my faults, failures and fears. People are always more encouraged when we share how God's grace helped us in weakness than when we brag about our strengths. 

Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. -Aldous Huxley-

Don't waste your pain. Ue it to help others. 

Points to ponder: Nobody else can be me. 

Verse to remember:  1 Peter 4:10
Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 

Question to consider:
What God-given ability or personal experiences can I offer to my church?

Purpose Driven Life Day 30: Shaped for Serving God

Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself
that they may proclaim My praise.

You were shaped to serve God.
Before God created me, He decided what role He wanted me to play on earth. He planned exactly how He wanted me to serve Him, and then He shaped me for those tasks. I am God's handcrafted work of art. I am custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece.

Psalm 139:13-14
For You created my inmost being; 
You knit me together in my mother's womb. 
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Nothing that happens in our life is insignificant. God uses all of it to mold us for our ministry to others and shape us for our service to Him. God never wastes anything. He would not give us abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality and life experiences unless He intended to use them for His glory.

How God shapes You for your ministry
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personalities
Experiences

SHAPE: Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are special God-empowered abilities for serving Him that are given only to believers.

1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Because God loves variety and He wants us to be special, no single gift is given to everyone. Also, no individual receives all the gifts. Our spiritual gifts were not given for our own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for our benefits.

1 Corinthians 12:7
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

God planned it this way so we would need each other. When we use our gifts together, we all benefit.

2 common problems:
1. Gift-envy
We compare our gifts with others', feel dissatisfied with what God gave us and become resentful or jealous of how God uses others.

2. Gift-projection
We expect everyone else to have our gifts, do what we are called to do, and feel as passionate about it as we do.

1 Corinthians 12:5
There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

Sometimes spiritual gifts are overemphasized to the neglect of the other factors God uses to shape us for service. Our gifts reveal one key to discovering God's will for our ministry, but our spiritual gifts are not the total picture. God has shaped us in 4 other areas, too.

SHAPE: Listening to Your Heart
The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams and affections we have. Our heart represents the source of all our motivations - what we love to do and what we care about most.

Proverbs 27:19
As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.

Our heart reveals the real us - what we truly are, not what others think we are, or what circumstances force us to be. Our heart determines why we say the things we do and why we feel the way we do and why we act the way we do.

God has given each of us a unique emotional 'thumb print'/'heartbeat' that races when we think about the subjects, activities, or circumstances that interest us. We instinctly care about some things and not about others. These are clues to where we should be serving. Our emotional heartbeat is the 2nd key to understanding our shape for service. Don't ignore your interests. Consider how they might be used for God's glory. There is a reason that you love to do these things.

Repeatedly the Bible says to "serve the Lord with all your heart". God wants us to serve Him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don't enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants us to use our natural interests to serve Him and others. Listening for inner promptings can point to the ministry God intends for us to have.

How do you know when you are serving God from your heart?
1. Enthusiasm 
When we are doing what we love, no one has to motivate/challenge/check up on us. We do it for the sheer enjoyment.

2. Effectiveness
Whenever we do what God wired us to love to do, we get good at it. Passion drives perfection.

Proverbs 15:16
Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.

Figure our what you love to do - what God gave you a heart to do - and then do it for His glory.

Points to ponder: I was shaped for serving God.

Verse to remember: 1 Corinthians 12:6
There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Question to consider:
In what way can I see myself passionately serving others and loving it?
Medical missionary
Pediatric
Discipleship/Accountability