[Passage]

[Romans 8:6]
"For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace"



[Introduction]

Dear brothers and sisters, let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this 2015 Men's and Women's mission devotional service. I give thanks to all the devotees who have prepared for this service with all your heart, mind, and soul.

Dear devotees, and other members,

Have you been riding on the flow of spirit well for the past five months?To ride on the flow of whole spirit means that you are changing. As in God's Word, we can say only those who are being changed by the truth and who are taking after the image of God are the ones who are accomplishing whole spirit.

To help you better ride on the flow of whole spirit, God has been letting you know your measure of faith and giving you the strength to stand on the rock of faith, and enter into spirit and whole spirit. But at the same time you know very well that more than 90% of the measure you received was filled up by the justice that the shepherd filled up, and the rest is what you have to fill up.

Through this message, I hope you will check yourself once again and quickly come forth as perfect fruits.



[Main]

Dear devotees, and other members,

The first thing you have to check in order to ride on the flow of whole spirit is whether you sacrifice yourself to serve the interests of others, or you are serving your own interests.

Fleshly people instinctively seek their own benefits. They want to have better things than those of others. If not, they become uncomfortable and even get into quarrels. In the past, most of you were trying to serve only your own interests. But now, you have changed to seek the benefit of others to a significant extent.

In particular, many of you have been praying to follow the example of Abraham who said, "Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left."When Lot was staying with Abraham, he received many blessings thanks to Abraham. The land could not accommodate the flocks and cattle of two people. They had to separate, and Abraham let Lot choose the land he liked first.


Abraham yielded first, but if you think about the natural course of things, it was not right for Lot to choose what he liked first. He should have said, "No, I can't do that. Uncle, you should choose first."

But Abraham did not have any uncomfortable feelings toward his nephew who just chose what he liked first. Also, Abraham did not think like, "If I yield with goodness, God will give me something greater."He was just happy and comfortable that his beloved nephew chose the better land.

Do you seek the benefit of others in all things and truly rejoice when they are well-off?Of course, as you've been hearing the holiness gospel, you wouldn't seek your own benefit to an extent to cause damage to others.

However, you need to check yourself once again, as to whether you are really happy to serve the interests of others, or you are just trying to follow his example but inside you still seek your own benefits. Sometimes you say with your lips, "...If you go to the left, then I will go to the right," but in fact, you don't really want to do that. You wish in your mind, "I hope this person will not choose what I want. I want to take the better side."

And if the other person chooses what is better, you feel uncomfortable. You think like, "I said I'd yield first, but she also knows the truth and how can she just go ahead and choose what is better?" And yet you just think you have a good heart seeking the benefit of others, just because you yielded first and willingly suffered disadvantage. Inside, you are still seeking your own benefit and you are uncomfortable, and you are even judging others that they are not good-hearted, and yet you do not realize it in yourself.

Sometimes, you seek your own benefit but just cover your outward actions. You say something like, "It is more beneficial for you to choose the right, so I will go ahead and choose the left."But in fact, you chose the left because you liked it better. But on the outside, you pretend that you are serving others and yielding to them.

There are other cases, too. You think like, "I've always served others and yielded, but I am not lifted up. Everybody takes it for granted that I serve them. That deacon is serving his own interests, and yet just because he serves the leaders, he is loved and recognized more than I am. I can't take up this kind of loss forever." And you have resentment.

Is this flesh or spirit? Is it spirit because he served others and yielded first?What God wants is not for us just to say only on the outside, "...If to the left, then I will go to the right."God searches the hearts. If you really want to ride on the flow of whole spirit, you should not just practice the truth on the outside but you have to cultivate the truth inside. You should not just pretend to be serving but you have to cultivate the heart of service itself so you can resemble God who is spirit.

Dear devotees, and other members,

In order to ride on the flow of spirit well, secondly, you need to check as to whether you consider the Father's things first or your things first.

John the Baptist prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus who came as the Savior. John was set apart from his childhood. He did not take in any pleasures of the world. After he grew up, he left the corrupt world and went into the wilderness. He waited for God's calling eating locusts and wild honey. When the time came, he passionately proclaimed repentance, and many people followed him.

But not long after that Jesus began His ministry, many of John's disciples went to Jesus. Also, while he was proclaiming the will of God, he caused anger of the king and was imprisoned. What do you think John felt at that time?

He lived only for the kingdom of God, but if he had just a little bit of a fleshly heart, he would have felt sad and disappointed. He could have thought like, "I dedicated myself to God completely, not enjoying anything good in my whole life, and what is left of me? People's minds are so cunning. Many disciples who were following me just now very quickly went to Jesus. I am awaiting my death at this young age. What did I make all these sacrifices for?"

But John never had such a thought at all. John 3:29 says, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full."He even said in verse 30, "He must increase, but I must decrease."He was not interested in whether he would increase or not, but he was filled with joy just by the fact that the kingdom of God is accomplished.

Dear devotees, and other members,

If you long for spirit, most of your top priorities would be God. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."If you consider God's kingdom more valuable than your own desires, God would be pleased with you, and He will quickly grant your wishes. You should be able to first seek God's kingdom, not just when you pray, but in everything.

But in some cases, you say you long for spirit, and so you seek the kingdom of God first, but in fact you seek your own benefit first. For example, you say you offer your money and time, but among the works for the church, you only do what you like to do.

Also, some of you try to avoid doing the work that you don't want to do at home or at the church, using your other duties as your excuses. Mark 7:11 says, "...but you say, 'If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God).'"Jesus was teaching a lesson to those people who said they didn't have to serve their parents because they had already given to God.

After all, it looks like you are longing for spirit in the church, but at home or at work, you cannot give glory to God. When the fruit of your fleshly work is revealed, you should not give excuses saying, "I couldn't do it because of God's works."Also, you say your first priority is the things of God, but within God's works you seek your own glory and your own satisfaction. You can see this if you look at the outcomes.

If your effort and hard-work is not recognized, you feel disappointed. If you do not have the results you expected, you become disheartened. You might even think, "I gave myself to God with all my best, and is this what I get?"You might not only be disappointed by people, but you might also secretly resent God.

If you really consider the things of Godfirst, you wouldn't have any of the fleshly attributes of becoming disappointed or disheartened in any situation. As said, "The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace," and that allows you only to have thoughts of joy and thanksgiving. If you have a proper heart of spirit, you'd rejoice only by the fact the work of the Father is done, rather than when you gain honor or receive your blessings.

Dear devotees and other members,

In order to ride on the flow of whole spirit, thirdly, you have to check whether you are doing all your work with consideration for others and service or just because they are your duties.

Let me give you an allegory. Suppose a mother is doing the housekeeping work, and she is lamenting. "I had a prayer meeting and also a visitation to a new believer in the morning, so I'd like some rest, so I can pray well in the Daniel prayer meeting. But the children are always making a mess right after I clean up. My husband thinks he is the only one who is tired. He never thinks about me. He never helps me with the house chores but only causes more work. I have to think about what food to cook every day and there is no end to the chores. I am not a maid or machine, and when is this kind of life going to end?"

So, she just cleans the areas that are seen, and she only prepares ready-made meals for days on end.If the children complain about the food, she scolds them saying, "If you want to complain, just don't eat. People couldn't even have this in the past."

On the contrary, there is another mother who thinks in a very different way in the same situation. "I had a good prayer meeting and good visitation in the morning. Now I can just clean up the house so my husband and children will feel fresh and cozy. What would they like the most for dinner this evening...?"So, with the desire to make the family members happy, she cleans the house singing praises.

She cooks various kinds of dishes even with same materials, and she even tries some decorations on the plate so her family might have better appetites. She tries her best so her family members can enjoy their dinner. She does not think like, "I have to do this and it has to done, so I'll just get it over with quickly." She does all the work considering her family members.

I gave an allegory of a mother, but I believe the Men's mission members can also apply it to themselves considering how you are treating your family members and your colleagues. The same thing applies to housekeeping, the works at your job, and works for God's kingdom.

When you clean up after a church event, everyone's aroma of heart is different. You might think like, "I always do this kind of voluntary work, so I don't have the leisure to sit back and receiving blessings. But nobody really recognizes me, so I won't do it next time." Or, you might not do a thorough job thinking, 'It's my duty to clean up, so I'll do it, but I'll just do it to get it over with and take a rest.'Or, you might not complain and do the work faithfully, but you just do it because that's what you've been doing for a long time and now you do it without putting much thought into it.

But of course, the latter'sattitude is better than that of the former kind of people. But if you do all the work with love and service, you will volunteer not just with your action, but with the aroma of your heart. You will serve others thinking, "This is the precious church of the Father. It's the gathering place of the believers so I will clean this place thoroughly so that the church members will be able to use this place when it's all clean and neat."If you want to ride on the flow of whole sprit, you should do all your work with this kind of attitude and not just for some big duties in the church.

You should work with gratefulness for the opportunity and the desire to pay back the grace of the Lord for saving you and for the great love of the Father God.Ephesians 6:6-7 says, "...not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,"

I ask you in the name of the Lord that you will act in everything with consideration for others and service as if you were serving the Lord Himself, so that you will be able to ride on the flow of whole spirit more quickly.



[Conclusion]

Dear devotees and other members,

It is not something difficult to go into spirit.Check yourself all the time thinking, 'What would the Lord and the shepherd do in this situation? If he was the Lord, how would I treat this person? How would I do this work if the Lord was watching me right now?" Also, because of your love of the Father and the Lord you should be able to choose the side of the truth with happiness even if it means you have to humble yourself and suffer a loss. If you can do these then you have the heart of spirit and whole spirit.

Please keep the message you heard today in your mind. Seek the benefit of others, consider God's things first, and act with service and consideration for others. If you just remember these three points and put them into action, you'd be able to harvest abundant fruits towards the end of this year and say, "the way of spirit was so easy and something so happy!"

I pray in the name of the Lord that all you devotees and other members will choose the side of spirit in every matter and preserve your whole spirit, soul, and body until the Lord comes back.

2015-06-09 Posted
2015-06-17 Updated