THE POWER OF THE TOWEL PT 2

It takes more than just head knowledge to determine when to sheath your sword and carry your towel. There is a level of maturity that restrains you from wielding your sword, when you would rather use it to defend your position. But beyond maturity, it is a spirit … the spirit of servanthood.

(a)Servanthood is a spirit.
And you have either got it or you haven't. Servanthood cannot be taught it must be caught. There are no ten steps to becoming a servant. There is no logical, systematic, theological or philosophical approach to understanding servanthood.
If you are not a servant, you have to ask God to make you one. This is exactly what happened to the prodigal son. Luke 15:11-19.You need to ask yourself today "Do I have the spirit of servanthood?" The spirit of servanthood is what makes the difference between duty and desire - between doing what you have to do and what you want to do.

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said "Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest". But the moment He takes away your burden, He gives you His own - verse 29. He said "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…" What yoke is that? The yoke of servanthood. Even though He said "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (verse 30), it is a yoke nonetheless.
The spirit of servanthood is the factor that determines whether God's yoke is easy to carry or burdensome. For example, if you had to carry a 5kg bag of shopping around the shopping mall for about two hours, you probably would complain that it is too heavy but on the other hand, you would have no problem carrying your child who weighs 8 kg for the same length of time.
What's the difference? One is a duty the other is a delight.
If you step under the yoke of servanthood purely as a duty it becomes unbearable. Everything you do for God and His people becomes burdensome. Not everyone who comes to church has the spirit of servanthood. Not everyone who serves in church has the spirit of servanthood.
The lack spirit of servanthood is the reason why some people come to church, enjoy everything that others have laboured to provide and think absolutely nothing of it. It is the reason why some people never participate in anything that does not bring any direct benefit to them.
If you don't have the spirit of servanthood you may get involved in serving, but you won't get very far. You may manage to do what you have to do, but you will never become all that you can be. And what's more? People will see right through you.
One of the easiest places to single out a pretentious person is in the area of serving. If you haven't caught a cold, it is really difficult to pretend like you have one. Have you caught the spirit of servanthood?
Philippians 2: 5-8 The word "let" in this passage is not merely a passive "allow it to happen" word. It comes from the Greek word "Phroneo" from which we get the medical word "Phrenic" which refers to the diaphragm - that muscular sheet which separates the chest from the abdomen. It speaks of a deep feeling, an intense affection to be earnestly disposed in a certain direction.

Hallmarks of the spirit of Servanthood

1. The Spirit of Servanthood is the Spirit of Humility
Humility is a modest esteem of your own importance. Humility cannot be taught - it must be caught. The spirit of humility is the difference between "someone ought to fix that" and "I ought to fix that" Humility is your prerogative. You have got to humble yourself. James 4:10, I Peter 5:6

2. The Spirit of Servanthood is the Spirit of Sacrifice
Not only did Jesus humble Himself. His humility and obedience guaranteed His death. When you embrace the spirit of servanthood, you sign your own death sentence. Your body is living but your ego is dead. Luke 9:23, Romans 12:1 A servant never thinks "what's in it for me?"

3. The Spirit of Servanthood is the Spirit of Passion
Before you can burn for God, you must catch the fire of His heart. It is difficult for disaffected people to serve. John 2:17 "zeal for your house has eaten me up"
As a servant, you were born to solve a problem. If you want to know the problem you were born to solve, the key lies in the things that ignite your greatest passion. Conviction convinces you to do something. If a situation doesn't move you, then you can't move heaven. Conviction is what releases commitment.

4. The Spirit of Servanthood is the Spirit of Compassion
Matthew 9:35-38 - It is difficult to be passionate about something until you are moved with compassion. It is possible to do ministry without any compassion. Compassion of the heart must be triggered by the perception of the eye. If you can't see the multitudes, you cannot be moved with compassion towards them.
Many times, Jesus reacted in ways that seemed strange to His disciples. Sometimes, He would rejoice when the disciples couldn't figure out what made Him happy. At other times, He wept while the disciples wondered what had gone wrong.
He wasn't crazy or over-emotional - He just saw things differently. When you come into church, how do you see things? When you look at your brother how do you see things? You have to see the towel to pick up the towel. When you come into a room can you see the towel? Or are you simply looking for the seat on the right hand or left hand of Jesus?
Acts 3:1-10; 4:1-4 - Peter and John had passed by the lame man at the beautiful gate several times and just never noticed him. But on this one occasion, they had gone for an eye test. They were now wearing the "glasses of Jesus"
On this occasion, they were moved with compassion, because they were not moving fast. They could affect the man's problem because they were no longer afraid of it. They stopped in the midst of their busy schedule; they broke their religious routine. They said; "we will miss the service if we have to - but we just must do something about this cripple's condition"
They saw the towel, they picked it up and guess what happened - 5,000 people got saved that day. Guess what also happened. Peter and John spent the night in prison. But this time they did not try to swing the sword. You know why? They had caught the spirit of servanthood. When Jesus unleashed that spirit in the upper room, even though they did not catch it immediately, they caught it eventually.

John 13: 12-17 - Servanthood is not something that you do, its something that you are. Will you receive the spirit of servanthood today?

To be continued.......

****IF YOU CAN SEE IN THE SPIRITUAL, YOU CAN NEVER BE BOUND IN THE PHYSICAL****