Serving The Lord

Serve the Lord with gladness;
 come before His presence with singing.
 Know that the Lord, He is God;
 it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
—Psalms 100:2-3
 
 
Serving the Lord is something He accomplishes in us and not something we accomplish. 

When the Lord works in and through us, we serve Him with gladness. He does more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)! The Lord draws us into His presence! It’s a new song (Psalm 96:1) of praise to God for Jesus’ finished work of grace! It’s praise for complete freedom from the bondage of sin and all of its destruction and death. 

It’s only when we have an experiential knowledge of Jesus as our Redeemer, Healer, Provider, and Restorer can we surrender to Him and serve Him out of His new life within us. We serve the Lord with gladness when we know it’s He who has made us righteous, and not we ourselves. 
 
Serving the Lord is either our work or His work. It’s only when we know our identity in Christ (that it’s He who has made us and not we ourselves), that the Lord is able to birth and deliver His perfect will in us. But when we serve the Lord out of our own or someone else’s desire, we make what we do for Him about us. The recognition of others and their opinions becomes more important than God’s desire. When we serve Him out of human expectation, we make the work we do for Him subject to our feelings instead of subject to His truth. When we serve the Lord because we are indebted to Him, we make what we do for Him our work. We are not free to serve Him with gladness when we serve Him out of debt. 

Serving the Lord out of a sense of owing Him is of the flesh and not of the Spirit. It’s service to the Lord that is not freely given. Any work for the Lord not freely given to Him is a work of the flesh. It becomes our work born of the debt that we feel we owe Jesus. And there is no joy or gladness in a work that will never set us free from ourselves. Joy and gladness are only found in serving Him when our service flows out of the new life He has given us. Gladness flows freely when we serve Him out of faith in the truth of what He has done for us and not out of feelings of indebtedness. Joyful service flows without hindrance and reservation when it flows freely out of our debt-free identity in Jesus Christ.
 
We are the Lord’s people and the sheep of His pasture. And as His sheep, we can hear His voice (John 10:27). When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. He wishes to reveal Himself to us. He wants us to know ourselves as He knows us. He wants us to know deep within our hearts and without any doubt that our debt is cancelled in its entirety—that there is nothing but to learn of Him and listen to Him, and allow Him to serve through us.
 
The Lord served us first before we ever served Him. He loved us first before we ever loved Him. Yet, so often we try to serve Him without experiencing Him serving us. Often, we try to stir up love for God without experiencing Him loving us in depths we have held in reserve. We cannot truly receive the fullness of God’s love until we respond to His grace with faith. We must say “yes” to the miracle of Him loving us first.
 
Jesus loved and served us first by making us right with God. His service is done. It’s finished. There is nothing more for Him to do. We receive the finished work of grace by faith and not by any work we do for Him. His work of grace is a complete work—the perfect work of salvation. We lack nothing in its truth. We stand in His righteousness before God without blemish—without debt. 
 
The Holy Spirit challenges us to behold the complete and finished work Jesus has done in us. It’s He who has made us and given us a new life of peace with God. Yes, we are called to serve the Lord, but we are called to serve Him with gladness. And joy is only found when we know that we are His—that He has made us whole—that He has removed our sins as far as the East is from the West. Jesus, who had no sin, took our sinful debt and paid it so we might have His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
 
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).
 
When you know who you are in Christ, you give out of His measure—and not out of your own. His power releases in you.  Your work is His work and not yours. You serve Him with gladness—pressed down and running over He gives unto you!

The Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation!
—Psalms 100:5