BLOGWORDS – Monday 14 August 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – JENNIFER HALLMARK

BLOGWORDS – Monday 14 August 2017 – NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – JENNIFER HALLMARK

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NEW WEEK NEW FACE – GUEST POST – JENNIFER HALLMARK

 

“The most important thing to me is my faith in God the father, His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Second is my family and friends.”

 

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“Jennifer and Ellen seek to bring hope and encouragement through Small Acts of Kindness on the blog and through everyday life. We hope to inspire others to be kind and thoughtful.”

Are You a Servant or a Child that Serves?

 

Many years ago, I was driving to the dentist with my daughter Mandy. I’d been studying the concept of being a child of God so I mentioned my thoughts to her along with a title, Are You a Servant or a Child that Serves?

 

She said, “Mom, it’s the same thing.”

 

I shook my head. “I thought so too. Now I know differently.”

 

Understanding the difference is probably the most important concept which led me to a closer walk with the Father. For almost 20 years, not understanding this has kept me from experiencing the closer relationship I desired with Father God.

 

We find the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, a familiar story to Christians. It’s the story of a son who leaves home after demanding his inheritance from his father, spends it on riotous living and in his subsequent poverty, remembers his home and father.

 

“I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants.’” Luke 15:18-19 NKJV

 

The son returns home and when his father sees him from afar, runs to his son for a tender reunion. The son starts to make the above speech but is cut short because the father has forgiven him and started making preparations to bless and restore him to his proper place in the family. This is an important concept; one too many of us have missed somewhere along the way.

 

The story of the prodigal, whether told in sermon, drama or song, began to have a greater impact on me than ever before and I couldn’t understand why. The story, though familiar, would reduce me to tears every time I heard it. I had given my heart to God when I was nine years old and made a stronger commitment to give Him my life when I was fourteen. Since that time, I’d tried to serve Him to the best of my ability. God spoke gently to my heart, at that time, saying I’d been a servant instead of a child that serves.

 

We read in verses 18 and 19 of Luke 15 that the prodigal son realized his sinful state. He knew he is not worthy to be a son but had hopes that he would be accepted as a servant. The father is merciful and forgiving, however, and more than eager to have his son back at the family table. God used this story to show me that even though I’d given God my heart and accepted His salvation, that He’d prepared a “table” for my blessings and restoration and I’d not accepted them. He had a place designed for me since before time began; a special place as a daughter by her father. Unlike the prodigal son, I’d not accepted my seat at the table.

 

The prodigal son, upon his return, accepted the blessings and restoration that the father offered. He didn’t go put on servant’s clothes, sleep in servant’s quarters, and work with servants all day nor did he go back to poverty and the pig pen.

 

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Years ago, God spoke to me and today He wants to speak to His Church. He desires children who will take their place as beloved of the King as did those of the kings of ages long past. Children of kings in the past were still children except they were in training to someday be like their father the king. They played and had fun like other children. However, throughout their childhood, they were learning the ways of the father. They weren’t born with all the characteristics of the king; it came through a process of learning, day by day.

 

When a married couple discusses adding to their household, they usually mean children. They don’t sit down and say, “Honey, do we want children or should we just hire a maid or butler?” This might sound ridiculous, nevertheless, we tend to think this way about Father God. Before we know God, we realize at some point in our lives that we are prodigal children, living in sin and upon this realization run home to God. The Father sees us coming and runs to us, already with preparations to restore us to our place as His child.  How many of us have said, “Thanks, but no thanks, I have to serve you and live in the servant’s quarters and work until I can repay you for all the grief I have caused.”

 

The debt has been paid. Jesus paid the price on Calvary and no amount of serving will bring us any closer to God. If anything, serving can get in the way of the intimate relationship God desires to have with His children.

 

We need to learn to be accepted as children before we can seek to please God through serving. Now I’m not saying you can’t help people and the church while you are learning, if your focus is on being restored as a child. God stopped me dead in my tracks one day and told me I could go no further until I accepted my place as His child. I could no longer try and please God or others through works, instead I had to learn to receive from God first His restoration and then His blessings.

 

For example, let’s look at one thing that happened after the Civil War. Some slaves who were freed would not leave their former masters and live as free men. They were so accustomed to slavery that they stayed at the same place doing the same job with little pay. They were freer than they were before the Civil War but were not living in the freedom that had been provided for them by others who laid down their lives.

 

Can you see this parallel with us today? We’ve been saved through Jesus’ finished work on the cross. However, we’re not much freer than before because we have a slave’s mentality.

 

How can we change? First, we must accept our position of sonship with the Father, acknowledging that we are saved by what Jesus did for us on the cross. It’s not according to our own worthiness or unworthiness. It is Jesus’ righteousness. We receive our adoption whether we feel it or not and then God will start our restoration and training on how to become more like Him.

 

It is a day-to-day process, ever dying to self and our fleshly way and learning to walk in the Spirit. We learn through relationship; spending time with God, just seeking His face, worship, listening to the Word and prayer.

 

God wants children who serve. Not out of duty. More out of love and relationship. We will serve and obey God in all areas of our lives and look at God as Father instead of a slave owner. This changes everything.

 

Are you a servant or a child who serves?

 

 

[image error]Jennifer Hallmark is a writer of Southern fiction and also fantasy; a combination that keeps the creative juices flowing.

She’s published over 200 articles and interviews on the internet, short stories in several magazines, and been part of three book compilations: The Heart Seekers Series, Sweet Freedom A La Mode, and Not Alone: A Literary and Spiritual Companion for Those Confronted with Infertility and Miscarriage.

Jennifer’s website, Alabama-Inspired Fiction, and the group blog she co-founded, focus on her books, love of the South, and helping writers. She sends out a monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to at her author page. You can visit her onFacebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Jennifer and her husband, Danny, have spent their married life in Alabama and have a basset hound, Max. Their daughter Mandy is married to Tim and they have two beautiful daughters, Ava, and Sadie, and a handsome son, Zeke. Their son, Jonathan, is married to Kristie and they have two beautiful daughters, Phoebe Jill and Rozlyn Claire, and a handsome son, Cohen .

Jennifer loves to read detective fiction from the Golden Age, watch movies like LOTR, and play with all her grandchildren. At times, she writes.

 

https://jenniferhallmark.com/

https://www.facebook.com/authorjenniferhallmark

https://twitter.com/JenHwrites

https://www.pinterest.com/jenlhallmark989/

https://writingpromptsthoughtsideas.wordpress.com

 

“Acts of kindness. One reason I like sharing what others are doing to make the world a better place is to inspire others. Everyone can do something . From helping a neighbor to donating time and/or money to community projects, you have value inside of you to share with others.”

 

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#Blogwords, New Week New Fact, #NWNF, Guest Post, Jennifer Hallmark, A Child That Serves