POWER TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE SERVICE: By Rev. Michael Ojewale

Service is a call from God. At salvation, we are called to serve God and with service come rewards and promotion. Our rewards and position in life is determined by our input. A significant moment in the life of the Israelites was when God heard their voice and sent a deliverer to them. Even at that, God did not just hear their voice or called them out of that place to go anywhere but to serve Him. The Bible made this clear. God instructed Moses to go to Pharaoh with a clear mandate: "Let my people go that they may serve Me..." So from the start of their deliverance, the reason and the purpose for which they were being called and delivered was to render acceptable service to God. The same way, God called every one of us to serve Him in whatever capacity He enabled. Grace is all that we need to serve God, and this grace is available for all who are willing and ready to tap into it. Today, by the grace of God I will be sharing with you on the Nine Power Tools for Effective Service to God. It is my belief that by the time you read this piece, you will know where you stand and consequently receive more of His grace to prepare you to serve God than ever before.

1. Agreement: It is important that we must be in agreement with God concerning His call upon our lives.We don't want to act like Prophet Jonah whom God sent to Nineveh and went to Tar shish. God is a God of ability and enablement. I look through the Bible concerning the word ability. I can scarcely find, if any at all, find words such as "maybe", or "may" describing ability. The book of I Thessalonians 5:24 say: "He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it". It suffices therefore to say that if your God who calls you to service is faithful, you, who are called and chosen by this great God, must also be faithful and this can only happen if you agree with Him. All He needs is that you agree with Him because He has the blueprint of the journey in His hand. There is great a danger in not yielding or surrendering to His call. Jesus declares that: "I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door. I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me..." Rev. 3:20. In Mathew 4:18-22, Jesus Christ at the beginning of His earthly ministry needed to choose His disciples. He found Peter and Andrew who were called naturally as fishermen. Jesus Christ promoted them to a higher level from being fishermen catching ordinary fishes to another set of people whose job now is to call people to the Kingdom. Jesus gave them the name "fishers of men". These men immediately obeyed by following Him, no wonder they became extraordinary and exceptional men whom the world will never forget. They agreed with the calling of God for their lives and accepted a higher call, better status, position and relationships than they ordinary have been if they were stayed at sea.
2. Determination: Without purpose and determination based on rugged principle and strong will, it will be difficult to serve God acceptably. Nothing can get done without having a strong determination and will to succeed at it. The devil cannot stand such people. To serve the Lord, decide and purpose in your heart that come what may, you are going to give your best, because God wants our best. All through the Bible, we see men and women who have sold out their lives unto God and have given up all and everything to the cause of the gospel. The world will not forget them. They are great generals of the faith. They paid the price before they could enjoy the prize. Among such people and men of extra ordinary biblical demeanors are Apostle Paul and Brother Daniel. Writing to the church and fellow believers then, Apostle Paul declares: "Who shall separate us from the love of God? He proceeded to make a list of possible enemies of service in the form of tribulation, distress, persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? (Romans 8: 35). Nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Paul already made up his mind not to allow anything, circumstances, situations, or anything so named. Paul was not alone in this resolve. Young Daniel who was even a captive did not allow his background or otherwise to hinder him from declaring for God. Daniel stood different, but he purposed and determined in his heart and mind not to contaminate or pollute his mind and body, so he stayed away from the king's delicacies. Moses, Joshua, Ruth forgot and left everything for the sake of God. You too can decide and make up your mind today for the sake of the gospel just like the patriarchs of faith did.