From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

Are you more devoted to Christian service than to Jesus? Only you can answer that question. It is easy to be a "Martha", tending to others instead of a "Mary" tending solely to Jesus. It is all too common to have the details of the day crowd out the necessary determination to satisfy the Lord. There is an old saying "time is a treasure for which there are many robbers"...that is so true, especially in today's hectic whirlwind of activities. The old devil will be glad to oblige you and bring you a boatload of confusion, anxiety, conflict, and overload to get you off track…don’t let him!

But how can you know what pleases and satisfies God? Duh…just ask him! Look over Psalm 139:23 – 24, which asks God to search you, try you and see if there’s any hurtful way in you. Get you out of the way and He will show you what satisfies Him.

All throughout the Scripture, God tells us He is satisfied with obedience, prayer, praise, forgiveness, truth, purity, kindness, generosity, love, peace, patience and things like these. But this is not just another list of Christian "to do" activities. All of these things develop and gain strength in your inner being as you seek intimacy with Jesus. So be diligent to not only serve God, but also to satisfy him. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold!

---