A true servant of God
Judges 13:16, “The angel of the LORD said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the LORD.”…”
The Israelites were going along good. Everything seemed to be going their way, and I can imagine they pit their lives on “autopilot”; including their worship of God. To be honest, I’ve done that before; and I imagine you have too. A half-hearted praise service here and there is easy to do, but we must always be on watch so we don’t get swept up in the feelings that God really doesn’t need our full worship. That is a very slippery soap that will lead us to separation from God. That’s the attitude that the Israelites fell into, and God handed them over to the Philistines.
In the midst of this seeming abandonment by God He sent His messenger to visit Manoah’s wife(who was barren) and tell her that she was going to conceive and give birth to a son. Manoah’s wife was so excited by this news that she immediately told him. I guess out of disbelief Manoah prayed to God, and asked Him to let His angel revisit.
When the angel of God came back Manoah wanted to serve him, but the angel refused his worship, and instead he told Manoah that he should instead worship God. That is always a clear sign of a servant of God. A servant always points to the one he is serving rather than taking any honor for themselves!
When the angel of God came to the apostle of John in the book of Revelation, John sought to worship him; but the angel rebuked him by saying, 9:10, “… But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus ; worship God….”
True servants of God never seek to get the worship that belongs to God alone, and they will always point back to The One Who Is Worthy Of All Worship!
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Father God, I thank You for honoring me, but I ask that You give me the wisdom to know and show others that You are truly the one who deserves all worship. In Jesus’ name, Amen
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The image above can be found at:http://soxfaninkc.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/worshiping-god-in-the-midst-of-adversity/
Yes, You Can Ministry 