God, My Only Source of Service

As I pursued the Lord by pursuing the word of God, I was so supplied by the ministry of word concerning the pattern in the mountain. I saw an unrefutable spiritual principle that all Christians must follow. That is,  to follow the pattern in the mountain. That is, to do exactly what God had commanded, not less, not more, but exactly according to God’s words. To do anything lesser or beyond would be an act of disobedience, and to not do at all would be an act of rebellion. O how careful and serious we must be in serving the Lord. The excerpts from below helped to see this truth clearly and change the way I take God’s word and serve God. 

Therefore, I concluded that to serve God one must first of all be crystal clear about God’s clarion call. And then consecrate oneself fully to serve God according to His calling. God only must be the source of our service to Him. Any other way, at best is just voluntary and at worst, lawlessness.

Lord, preserve me in my service to serve You exactly according to Your calling. For You are My only source of life, life supply,  and service. Save me from anything other than You, O Lord!

In spiritual work, the most important thing is to know the “ pattern...in the mountain” (Heb. 8:5). There are many things that are important in spiritual work; the lack of any one of them causes our work to lose its spiritual usefulness and brings about God’s displeasure. But among these many things, the most important one is the “pattern...in the mountain.” The pattern in the mountain is simply God’s plan. If there is no comprehension of God’s plan, there is no possibility for God’s work.

“Whatever He says to you, do” (John 2:5b). 

In the Body of Christ, we are just members; we have to be absolutely under the control of the Head.

“Holding the Head” (Col. 2:19).

Psalm 19:13 says, “Keep Your servant from presumptuous sins; Do not let them have dominion over me; Then I will be blameless and cleared of great transgression.” 

God knows what He wants. All the things that He wants from us are revealed either through the Bible or through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, whatever He has not said is simply work He does not want. In spiritual work it is not a matter of quantity, but a matter of measuring up to the standard of being useful to God and matching His desire.The most important task for a worker of Christ is to know exactly what God wants him to do and the time and method that he should use to carry it out.

The most glorious thing in a man’s life is that he would do the things that God wants him to do on the very ground that God has set for him. For every believer, there is a pathway predetermined by God for him to walk on.

God only uses men chosen by Him to do His work. He does not want those who enlist and volunteer to do His work. Those who are chosen by God have absolutely no freedom. If they try to be free and go their own way, they will only stumble and suffer more.

Today we bear a heavy responsibility; we must be crystal clear about God’s instructions before we start working. Before we receive God’s command, we must do absolutely nothing. God’s command is an expression of God’s desire. If we want to be a useful vessel in His hands, we must secure God’s command before acting. If we do anything which God has not commanded, we cannot please Him.

May God bring us to a stage where there is no self, so that we will have no thought of our own, but will only have God’s will. Every time we work, we must first know if it is God’s will or not. If we know for certain that this is God’s will, then we should be encouraged to proceed according to the pattern He has shown us.

Excerpt from The Pattern in the Mountain, ch.8, The Present Testimony (2) CWWN, vol.9