Simple, Spiritual Self-Service


 

1.Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (NASB)
Self-service kiosk
Self-service kiosk (Photo credit: melitroncorp)

Self service is a common part of human services that we realize throughout the course of every day. Whether it is at the ATM, airport, gas station, supermarket, workplace, etc., there is always some type of self service facility where you can serve yourself.  It has become the basic standard of service that we as Americans have come to expect. It is a simple, time and cost effective service tool which provides us with a new level of independence.  You can go, choose what you want and quickly keep it moving. It’s that simple!

 

The key to spiritual self-service is the acceptance of Christ’s unconditional service to humans, through His birth, life, Earthly ministry, death and resurrection, thereby establishing and fulfilling a Divine plan of redemption through the forgiveness of sin.  His Service to us At the Cross was unconditional work because He was born to provide us with the means of spiritual salvation  that we all can benefit from Eternally.  Whether we choose to believe in Him or not, His service to us is forever established. When we surrender our bodies to our Heavenly Father because we need forgiveness of our sins on a daily basis, we begin the process of spiritual self-service. True holiness is realized through your own personal identity with your need for forgiveness.  Spiritual self-service is that simple!!

 

There is Spiritual power of unknown proportions available to you when you are willing to present your body to God on a daily basis, totally surrendered to His Sovereignty over your life. His Power is revealed in your walk, your talk and your manner of life. Through every opportunity that makes up your day, you can experience the spiritual freedom of the conqueror lifestyle.  You see, when you choose to start your day, or in some cases re-start your day, by surrendering yourself under God’s authority, you are securing His leadership over every aspect of your day.  However, if you go through your day without this simple, spiritual self-service,  you are living a life that is solely reliant on your own abilities. Every idea, desire, motive and goal is born out of a spirit that is quenched by a soul that is sickened by unconfessed sin. Your body becomes a host for evil rather than God’s goodness. Unconfessed sin is a breeding ground for a swarm of complications that are designed to continue to distract you from His goodness as the world’s appeal demands your attention.

 

Your life can greatly benefit from the simple, spiritual self-service of surrendering to the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ daily.  The reasonable service begins with a mindset to pray without ceasing, having a thankful heart and mind willing to submit your body, mind i.e soul and spirit to Him all reliant on His will for your life from day to day.  A healthy prayer life and daily attachment to His Word completes the simple, spiritual process. It is a simple process that can humbly begin every time you wake up from rest you are blessed to realize. It gets you going spiritually!

 

Find out how I was trained to realize the importance of this self-service model in my new book     “A Conqueror In Training

 

“Pray 1st”


Psalm 121:1 A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 
Ps 121:2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 
Ps 121:3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 
Ps 121:4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 
Ps 121:5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 
Ps 121:6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 
Ps 121:7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 
Ps 121:8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

My awakening was greeted with the severest of pain. I have learned to live with it from day to day. Yet this morning, like so many others, it began with the horror of stillness summoning the acuity of my spirit.  The stabbing, burning suffering in my flesh upon awakening is more consistent in the last year. There is literally nothing immediate about the relief process naturally.  It can happen at the most inconvenient moments and with no apparent reason.

Hopefully, you will read my new book, “A Conqueror In Training” over the holiday season and discover how I came to realize the “Conqueror Lifestyle.”  In fact, I pray you will want your friends and loved ones to have the blessed experience of reading it as well through your gift giving via ebooks. When you have read it, the message of this post will resonate in your spirits more brightly.  His training has effectively taught me to “pray 1st.”  Today, and everyday I start out in prayer 1st helps me to continue to stay in the race and run on some more.  Doing this has proven His Sovereignty over my life from situation to situation, experience to experience, outcome after outcome ultimately revealing that “Prayer Changes Things.

Billie Holiday penned the song “Good Morning Heartache” while wrestling with her reality of pain and heartache experienced every morning when she needed another “fix.”  Her addiction to heroin was breaking her spiritually as her body required the drug more and more. Over time it destroyed her talent and took her life in death far too young.

English: Billie Holiday, Downbeat, New York.
English: Billie Holiday, Downbeat, New York. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The imagery contained in this powerful recording demonstrates a heart overcome with brokenness and unwilling to “pray without ceasing.” I Thess. 5:17.  When you are caught up in your flesh and your spirit is conquered by sin, you will do everything humanly possible to discover change which can only come through the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Pain is painful.  God allows pain for the purpose of perfecting His will in us. A personal identity to Jesus’ suffering on the Cross is where this truth begins. Thanks be unto God for  the mighty power of His Spirit at work which manifests and maintains the Conqueror Lifestyle in me from day to day. You too can come to know the Conqueror Lifestyle God has just for you. When you pray 1st, you call His power into the situation immediately.  Humanity ceases and Divinity commences in spiritually defining ways to demonstrate His power in us.   And He will do, what no other power, can do.

Stay in the race!

Darrin

 

Let Him Lead You


"Lead Me, Guide Me" by Doris Atkers
Verse 1 
I am weak and I need Thy strength and power,                                        
To help me over my weakest hour. 
Let me through the darkness Thy face to see, 
Lead me, oh Lord lead me. 
Chorus 
Lead me, guide me along the way, 
For if you lead me I cannot stray. 
Lord, let me walk each day with Thee. 
Lead me, oh Lord lead me. 
Verse 2
Help me tread in the paths of righteousness.
Be my aid when Satan and sin oppress. 
I am putting all my trust in Thee: 
Lead me, oh Lord lead me. 
Verse 3 
I am lost if you take your hand from me, 
I am blind without Thy light to see.
Lord just always let me thy servant be,
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.

“Where Your Feet Are IS Where You Are”

Solid as a rock
Solid as a rock (Photo credit: Joybot)

     For years I struggled with the TRUTH in the slogan above.  Furthermore, for decades I maintained enormous opposition against the idea of “God‘s leading” over my life. As I look back over my life I can now see that all of my struggling with the prospect of surrendering to God’s will for my life was due to me wanting to be in control, my ego leading me in the fulfillment of the desires of my flesh and my human affinity towards being a product of this world rather than a servant of the God who created me. I could not “Be still and KNOW THAT GOD IS GOD” and appreciate all of the goodness that He brings into my life through His Sovereignty over my life. The best I could do was to continue spinning my wheels of human potential landing in life situations where I ultimately got stuck in ditches that got deeper and deeper over time. I could not appreciate the joy in the journey because I was always frustrated with one aspect (or another) of my life’s reality where I kept coming up short. 

     Along the way to the point of realizing God’s mission for my life, I came to appreciate all of the hardships, pain and suffering, grief, loss, guilt, shame and remorse my life manufactured. Today “I do not regret the past nor do I wish to shut the door on it.” Like Iyanla, “I did my work.” The evidence of the task is soon to be realized publicly with the release of the books. Today I can be grateful for where my feet are because my heart and mind are humbled under the “mighty hand of God.” There is a consistent awareness of God’s presence that sustains me. The reason for the presence of peace, love, joy, thanksgiving, faith and hope that wakes me up every day and preserves me throughout most of my days is because GOD IS LEADING ME. The essence of His leadership in and over my life is realized in the Conqueror Lifestyle that He prepared just for me. 

God has a Conqueror Lifestyle prepared just for you as well. To find out more about the Conqueror Lifestyle follow me on twitter @ConquerorShots.

 Darrin D. Payne