{"id":1396,"date":"2011-08-15T05:29:39","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T09:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1396"},"modified":"2012-01-03T11:59:55","modified_gmt":"2012-01-03T16:59:55","slug":"gods-power-to-change-our-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/gods-power-to-change-our-life.html","title":{"rendered":"God’s Power to Change our Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A\u00a0friend told me that he saw a man mopping up a spill in a local 7-11 store.\u00a0 He said to the man who was mopping, \u201cI assume you are the manager.\u201d\u00a0 The bosses in stores get to do the dirty work.\u00a0I hope it isn’t a secret that the higher you climb the ladder leading to heaven, the more you are expected to be a servant to others.\u00a0 \u00a0God\u2019s way is to promote us into becoming a person who serves everyone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ephesians 6:7 says, “Do your work, and be happy to do it. Work like you are serving the Lord, not like you are serving only men.”\u00a0 We all remember the story of how the mother of James and John came to Jesus and wanted to insure that here sons would be able to sit next to Jesus when he came into his kingdom.\u00a0 I can see the contemplative look on Jesus’ face because he knew the future of both of these men.\u00a0 He knew what they would suffer long before they would be ushered into HIS heavenly kingdom.<\/p>\n

Thinking about James’ and John’s ambitious mother, I can’t help but contrast her attitude with the widow, Dorcus, who is introduced to us in Acts.\u00a0 Dorcus had died and the church wanted Peter to come and raise her from the dead.\u00a0 As Peter moved toward the place\u00a0where the body lay, people pressed in to show Peter the clothes she had made for them and their children.\u00a0 They wept because of\u00a0the many kind\u00a0and generous acts that Dorcus had given to them.<\/p>\n

Mom wanted James and John to be number one in the God’s kingdom.\u00a0 Dorcas knew how to be number one.\u00a0 She was a servant to everyone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>At Special Gathering, no one gets too big to do the dirty work.\u00a0 At our annual retreat camp, the\u00a0Special Gathering staff often wear\u00a0fanny packs.\u00a0 Some of the other campers wanted to have a fanny pack also.\u00a0 Somehow, these fanny packs became a symbol of important individuals.\u00a0 Until, during chapel services one year we showed people what was in the fanny packs.\u00a0We carried rubber gloves and cleaning supplies\u00a0because the people who wear the fanny packs get to clean up messes–nasty, bathroom\u00a0messes.<\/p>\n

Years ago, we had a staff person who told the rest of the staff that he wasn’t going to\u00a0carry rubber gloves.\u00a0 He said that he \u00a0didn\u2018t clean up messes any more that he had paid his dues.\u00a0 That was the wrong answer.\u00a0 As you can imagine, he wasn’t part of our staff for long after that.<\/p>\n

God wants us all to be the servant.\u00a0 We elect deacons from our membership.\u00a0 These women and men are voted on by their peers–the members.\u00a0\u00a0They\u00a0are asked to do the jobs that no one else wants to do.\u00a0 Everyone loves to push the wheelchairs, our deacons don\u2018t get to push the wheel chairs.\u00a0 Often they aren’t able to do the fun things that other members get to do.\u00a0 They get to clean the floors, set up tables and chairs.\u00a0 They are expected to ask our new members to join their clique’.\u00a0 <\/em>Our deacons are expected to ask new folks to sit with them during worship.<\/p>\n

The heart of a real man or woman\u00a0of God must be to serve others.\u00a0 What are some of the things you have been asked to do that have not been\u00a0enjoyable for you?\u00a0 How did you feel?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0friend told me that he saw a man mopping up a spill in a local 7-11 store.\u00a0 He said to the man who was mopping, \u201cI assume you are the manager.\u201d\u00a0 The bosses in stores get to do the dirty work.\u00a0I hope it isn’t a secret that the higher you climb the ladder leading to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,186,49,16,147,8,12,4,41],"tags":[690,697,688,696,7,699,694,19,247],"class_list":["post-1396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-leadership","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-camp-agape","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mental-retardation","tag-special-gathering"],"yoast_head":"\nGod's Power to Change our Life - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/gods-power-to-change-our-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God's Power to Change our Life - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A\u00a0friend told me that he saw a man mopping up a spill in a local 7-11 store.\u00a0 He said to the man who was mopping, \u201cI assume you are the manager.\u201d\u00a0 The bosses in stores get to do the dirty work.\u00a0I hope it isn’t a secret that the higher you climb the ladder leading to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/08\/gods-power-to-change-our-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-15T09:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-03T16:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/08\/mopping1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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