The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITY WAY June 30, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------ The Healing Service By Andrei Yashurin If you want to be healed and to maintain your wholeness, I strongly encourage you to adopt an attitude of selfless service. It will be good for your body, and for your soul. When we are sick or in pain, we are inclined to be self-centered. However, this natural tendency has to be detected as early as possible and to be replaced with the mindset of Christ, the mindset of a meaningful ministry. We know that our body is the temple of God, and, therefore, needs to be treated with reverence. This is true, but it is not the whole truth about us. Not only our bodies are temples - they are instruments, instruments that were given to us by God for fulfilling of our mission in this life. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me" (John 4:34), said Jesus. Food is a substance that gives nourishment and strength to a body. When we, following our Master Teacher, do the will of the Father, we are being nourished, strengthened, and revitalized. All our needs, including the physical ones, are met in Gods wonderful way. In order to explore this idea further, let us look at the words of Paul in Romans 12:1 "Therefore, brothers, I call on you through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service" (Literal Translation of the Holy Bible). First, we see that our service is not a duty, but a privilege. We are loved and highly esteemed just as we are, irregardless of what we do or fail to do. However, the mercy of God is calling upon us to express ourselves in positive ways, to achieve our maximum success, to be all we can be. It is up to us to answer this call. Second, God is looking for a living sacrifice, for a sacrifice of ones life that is lived fully and abundantly. When we realize this fact, we let go of many of the traditional ideas about service, which is often associated painful acts of self-sacrifice, self-humiliation, and even self-mutilation. We understand that such approach is not divinely ordained. True servant is a happy servant. He (she) does not groan and moan, but sings and rejoices. He (she) is useful for God and for others because he (she) is wholly alive! Third, God expects reasonable service. Some of the things that people do to others in the name of God are not reasonable, and, since they do not bring substantial results, they often undermine the whole idea of service. With all the zeal we might have, we need to be careful not fall into this trap. For instance, there are those who believe that they should do something only when the Spirit of God prompts them to act. As a result, their service is chaotic and inconsistent. Since they did not choose for themselves a long-term goal, which accomplishment would require planning, preparation and orderly action, they cannot bring their gifts and talents into maturity. There are those who are driven by compulsive desire to see the immediate results. They do not have enough trust to leave the results of their work to God, and, in many cases, enough self-esteem to be confident in themselves while their success is not visible. For such people, understanding of the process of growth becomes vitally important. The truth is, we cannot grow a single seed. All that we are able to do is to cooperate with the law of growth, doing of our part in planting and watering. It is God and only God who can give growth. People who lack patience often become intrusive and manipulative when they deal with others. But any kind of manipulation is a contradiction to the whole idea of service. When we loose respect to the freedom of choice of others, we loose a living connection with the Spirit of Christ, and, unfortunately, bring upon ourselves negative consequences of such error thinking. "Let none of you suffer as a meddler in the affairs of others" (1 Peter 4:15), warns us the Bible. When we trust God and His law of attraction, we can do our work of service calmly, steadily and confidently, knowing that the old maxim is true: "When the teacher is ready, the student appears". ------------------------------------------------------ You can read our current articles at our Web site, Positive Christianity E-zine: http://pczine.net ------------------------------------------------------ We invite you to share your prayer requests with us if you would like us to support you in your prayers. We will include your requests in this list (without mentioning your name and an address), or just pray privately if you want so. ------------------------------------------------------ Unity, or Unity School of Christianity, is a positive philosophy of life, based on teachings of Jesus Christ. Andrei, the publisher of this list, is a Truth seeker and non-denominational minister from Russia. You are welcome to visit his web site to find out more about him and how you can help him in his work. E-mail: admin@unityway.net http://www.unityway.net Please feel free to share this E-zine with your friends and loved ones. We grow best by word of mouth and appreciate your sharing this newsletter with others. THANKS FOR READING! "God is more willing to give than you are to receive, and you demonstrate what you are willing to receive by what you willingly give." Brad Jensen All messages (c) 2002 by Andrei Yashurin The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the Modern King James Version Bible. This E-zine is being sended through Felist.com list server only to those who subscribed to it, either at Felist.com or at our site. In order to manage your subscription, you need to go to the list page. I cannot subscribe or unsubscribe you. Please, follow this link: http://felist.com/catalog/lit.unityway/ Our ministry is supported through love offerings from like-minded people over the world. We invite you to join us in our work. To make secure a donation through Amazon Honor Ststem, we invite you to visit the main page of our site. http://unityway.net -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=lit.unityway http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com