HOW TO BE USEFUL TO GOD

HOW TO BE USEFUL TO GOD.

No,

I am not an expert on the subject.

But I have picked up on the clue which

 is my desire to pass on to you.

Back ground, or research if that would

make you feel any better.  I have "attempted"

to live for God for over sixty years.  That does

not count my years of growing up.  And of 

course that includes a lot of experience and 

not all of that has been good.  A lot of that 

has been failure.  That includes many years

of observation of the lives of other people,

both successful and unsuccessful.

During those sixty or more years I have

been a diligent reader of the Holy Bible

having read it well over one hundred times.

No, that does not necessarily make me smart.

And of course have studied it for years 

attempting to teach it now and then.

But probably one of the most instructive things

I have run across, at least as far as my current

subject is, the reading of dozens and dozens

of biographies.  For myself, one of the most

encouraging things spiritually apart from the 

Bible is the biographies of successful men and

women of God.  Reading them is encouraging

to me.

But in all this reading something has stood 

out to me.  Some of these People were highly

educated.  And some could not read or right

enough to spell their own name.

Some of them came from wealthy situations,

and some were as poor as dirt.

Some of these people had very strong physical

constitutions.  And some these people were

sickly by nature.

Some of these successful people were outgoing

and charismatic by nature.  And some of these

successful people used of God were retiring quit

people who would make great hermits.

Some of these people "just" happened to be 

in advantages positions.  And some of these

people were totally disadvantaged.

The list could go on and on.  But that is enough

to see that the list could include you and me.

What was the one common denominator that

made them useful to God?

Jesus Christ himself said,

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, 

he must deny himself, and take up his

cross daily and follow Me."

(Luke (9:23 NASB)

Remember, the cross was a method of

execution.  A way to die.  And in this 

case to die to self.

The Apostle James says it another way;

"Submit therefore to God.  Resist the

devil and he will flee from you."

(James 4:7 NASB)

And the Apostle Paul one place when talking

on this subject said; "I die daily."

(1 Corinthians 15:31 NASB)

In short, If I want to be really useful to God,

no matter where I am or what ever my 

circumstances my be,

I have to die to myself and my

desires and give myself over to

God to let him use me however

he wants.