{"id":3589,"date":"2021-09-02T05:57:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T11:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3589"},"modified":"2021-09-02T05:57:11","modified_gmt":"2021-09-02T11:57:11","slug":"available","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3589","title":{"rendered":"available"},"content":{"rendered":"

At their church in Mexico, a friend put Abraham and Mario in touch with the leaders at L\u2019Arcada Christian Camp and they arrived in Barcelona the same day Karlyn and I did. Both in their twenties, these guys came with a willingness to serve.<\/p>\n

No matter how small the task, it seemed either Abraham or Mario would be the first to volunteer. They were always available. On Sunday, the last full day Karlyn and I were at camp, Abraham led worship and Mario assisted. I then realized how talented they were and began wondering what is more important: \u2018talent\u2019 or \u2018surrender\u2019?<\/p>\n

Our world exalts talent; God exalts humility. (see James 4:10) God is the one who gives us our talents and He wants us to use them, but I think we have to determine to be humble. We\u2019ll all be surprised in heaven as God honors His hidden saints who simply lived surrendered lives on earth with this understanding: \u201cYou have saved me, Lord, I am Yours. I am willing to go wherever You call me. Whatever you want me to do, however you want me to serve\u2026 I just want to honor You.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Catalonia region of Spain, the people love our nation. American sports, American history, and American culture are very popular. A couple of weeks each summer, L\u2019Arcada holds Native American Camp. The lodging facilities for all campers and counselors are huge teepees that hold ten beds. Each teepee is named for a different Native American tribe. During the week of camp, many things are taught about nature, our Creator, and care for our world. The campers love it.<\/p>\n

\"mario_indian\"<\/a>A Native American believer from the United States always comes to help lead these sessions, but this summer pandemic difficulties complicated plans. Shortly after Karlyn and I returned home, it was no surprise to learn that Mario volunteered to be the chief for a week.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, Jesus was the fastest kid in Nazareth. Some have proposed He was a gifted carpenter. Maybe He was a dynamic speaker\u2026 people sure listened to Him. But I would propose the Father was most proud of His Son for these two things: His meekness and His obedience. \u201cI always do what pleases Him,\u201d Jesus said. (John 8:29) What if we shifted our focus from \u2018trying to be the best\u2019 to \u2018simply being available\u2019?<\/p>\n

Of course we should strive to be excellent in all we do, but what if I spend all my money developing my craft and have nothing left to help the person need? Or what if I am so busy becoming the very best in my field that I am never available to serve the least of Jesus\u2019 brothers and sisters? What if I glorify God most when I simply present \u2018myself\u2019 to Him with no constraints?<\/p>\n

Jesus wants us to adopt His own surrendered mindset: \u201cFather, I am Yours. I am willing to do anything You tell Me; My life is not My own. I place Myself in Your perfect, wise, and loving hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: \u201cSacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased. Then I said, \u2018Here I am \u2013 it is written about Me in the scroll \u2014 I have come to do Your will, O God.\u2019\u201d Hebrews 10:5-7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At their church in Mexico, a friend put Abraham and Mario in touch with the leaders at L\u2019Arcada Christian Camp and they arrived in Barcelona the same day Karlyn and I did. Both in their twenties, these guys came with a willingness to serve. No matter how small the task, it seemed either Abraham or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3589"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3594,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3589\/revisions\/3594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}