Christ is Worthy of Our Service

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:11

When we consider Christ and the sacrifice He made to redeem mankind by His substitutionary death on the cross, we can do nothing less than acknowledge that He is Worthy.  And because Christ is Worthy, we can live and be what He desires us to be in this life on Earth. 

We can, if called to do so, minister in hard places.  Two such hard places are presently on my heart and mind. 

An old friend has ministered in the hard place of Africa for years.  Hardships and handicaps, sacrifices and service, deprivation and dejection.  However, he has continued to minister in this hard place.  That is until just recently when apposing political and religious factions have necessitated the evacuation of he and his family and the Christians in their small community.  Their very lives depended on evacuation.  However, I am sure that when God permits, he will return to minister in that hard place. 

Because Christ is Worthy.

A second hard place of ministry that is on my heart is that of the military chaplain.  They are called upon to represent God in desperate circumstances and to desperate military personnel.  One such said, "...Chaplains are the bearers of the presence of God, the physical reminder that God is always with us."  "Chaplains practice the Ministry of Presence, the Emmanuel Factor - God with us.  A chaplain touches a life in such a way that has significant ramification for all eternity."*

All because Christ is Worthy.

*[CIU Connection, "The Military Chaplain, Spring 2012]