Service: The Deliberate Love-Gift

We love because we have been deeply loved; 
therefore we serve because we have been greatly served. 

"Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. Service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God’s call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when I receive His nature and hear His call, His divine voice resounds throughout His nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals Himself in me, and out of devotion to Him service becomes my everyday way of life." - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest 

So, here's the big question:  have you signed up for ServeRDU 2012 yet?  This is a week of local outreach to serve our city, and there are many projects that need volunteers during the week of July 11-14th.  You can watch the promo video that has more information about ServeRDU by clicking here.

This is a great opportunity to invest in our community, serving in the name of Jesus out of the overflow of the love that He generously bestowed upon us.  Let this week of hope blossom into a relationship and on-going commitment to serve "the least of these" as we make God's name famous around RDU.  Join me!

UPDATE:  I just came across this Oswald Chambers quote and thought it might add a nice follow-up to my previous post:

"The lasting value of our public service for God is measured by the depth of the intimacy of our private times of fellowship and oneness with Him." - My Utmost for His Highest, July 5th devotional