Kirksa

You share in their reward in heaven. For many, giving money is easy. In many countries we have a high standard of living and so we can give, but if you have no money, you can still give. You can give of yourself, especially if the ministry is nearby or you can raise money to give by telling others about your passion and encouraging them to give. Although foreign missions are important, there are so many places nearby to minister. Even if you have no money to give, you can teach a class, hold a hand, love a homeless person, sit with the sick, bring food to a mission, or help a lost child with their homework. You can pray and you can get others to pray with you. You can join a prayer group. You can find a mission to raise it up to God.

What is the basic idea of "slave"? A slave is compelled to do his master's bidding, to partake in his suffering, to die in his defense. He must go where he is told to go, do what he is told to do, say what he is told to say. If his master gives him food, he eats, if not, he starves. If his master gives him wealth, he is rich, if not he is poor and he has no right to expect riches or food, only to be grateful when it comes. We must ask who we are a slave to? Our flesh will enslave us too, and all of these things may come to pass if we are slaves to the flesh, except the riches of the flesh are temporary, unlike the riches of our Lord Jesus. Finally, if you are a slave and your master says you need to work on something, you must work on it. If Jesus tells us to kill the flesh so that we can better serve him, then as slaves, we, like Paul, need to learn to serve him and be content no matter what our circumstances. But then Jesus, having compassion on us, looks at us and tells us, you are not only slaves. Look at My Father. See how well He takes care of the lillies... You are also saints. Partakers with me of all the riches, which are in Christ Jesus. What is the root idea of "saint"? We are also saints, beloved by our Father. Cared for by Him with tenderness. Shown the way to go and the way in which to walk. He has made promises to us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has gone to prepare a place for us and while it may be hard to walk through a world which honors the flesh and tempts you daily, if you cast all of your cares on Him, He will meet all of your needs, because you are a saint, beautiful and completed in the eyes of God. No matter what you look like now - you are beautiful to God, because he sees that you love his son and have become conformed to his image. In what way are these words saying the same thing about a Christian's relationship to God? When I am a slave, I am compelled to do what I have been called to do, even though the flesh would like nothing better than to run away. When I am a saint, I want to do what I have been called to do and struggle to kill the flesh which stands in my way. I think we must have both, because when I am tempted or close to failing, I need the mind-set of a slave, telling me I have no where else to go and I'd better just do it. This gives me strength, but when the battle is being waged against the flesh or satan, I need the mindset of the saint telling me that no matter what happens here on earth, no matter how difficult the walk gets, I am already seated with Jesus. I have to just put my head down and walk, because nothing in this life can compare to the glory we have in Christ Jesus.