Some Of God's Yardsticks For How We At Keys Serve Him

("Yardsticks for Success")

One of the things we'd like to share with you is some ways God has us measure "success in Him" as we seek to be used by Him in the Keys ministry.

There are many ways people measure success depending on whether they are in ministry, sales, administration, government, retail, etc. For example...

How many...

...of something were sold?
...people were led into a relationship with God?
...people were in attendance?
...visitors came to a website?
...etc.

At Keys To Understanding Life we look at some of those things too. However, we do believe that in the service of the Lord we must examine our hearts and consider how well we focus on letting Him live through us in the course of however He chooses to use us. While we call this page "Yardsticks for Success," the yardsticks aren't about how we measure up to the Lord's will for us in our own strength. Rather, they are about how much/often we step out in faith to let His strength flow through us.

Looking at these things (below) isn't as numerically tangible as with the kinds of questions we listed above. Looking at our hearts has to be done with honesty and humility and a genuine desire for the Lord to live and work in and through us.

The yardsticks God has for us at Keys (below) are some of the ones we get really excited about and talk about. They are really about connecting with God in real-life. To us they seem more "spiritually real."

Am I continually open to discerning the instruction and correction of God's Spirit?
Am I getting wrapped up in my own ideas of how to serve the Lord, or am I seeking to let Him work through me, however that looks?
Am I getting caught up in doing stuff and not seeking out the Lord and how He might transform me in my personal trials?
Am I remembering what the Holy Spirit has already revealed to me about being set free my own fleshly patterns? Am I stepping forward in faith so He strengthens me in my true identity in Him?
Am I trusting the Lord in faith regularly to let Him transform me from my fleshly patterns?
How certain am I, in any given trial, that I know exactly what God wants me to have the faith to NOT do, so He lives more through me?
How well do I step out in faith as God directs me, and leave the results in His hands?
How well do I surrender so the Lord's peace, hope, understanding, and love shine through my own trials and toward others in their trials?
How well do I let the Lord's love come through me toward someone who isn't necessarily happy with me?
When God reveals something to me through His written Word, am I having faith in Him to help me get out of the way so He would live through my life?
How well do I trust and patiently remain open for the Lord to communicate truths about:
- my spiritual battles,
- my need to be discipled by God's Spirit in the heart,
- the relationship between submission to Him and His transformation of my heart during a trial?
How well do I allow the Lord to open me toward like-minded believers and ministries to share the message of Christ and the possibilities for hearing the guidance of His Spirit in trials?
Am I allowing the Lord to build relationship with me? With others by using me?
Am I letting Christ use me to walk through trials with new believers or with those whom the Lord would use me to disciple?
When a believer wants me to assist him/her in discerning God's guidance for them concerning a trial:
- How well do I hold on to the heart of Christ so that I do not judge?
- How well do I remain just an instrument to be used to help them focus on hearing the Lord, not me?
- How well do I NOT "get in the Spirit's way" when being the instrument of Christ?
- How well do I remain alert to my own heart disturbances and cling to Christ and His peace?
How well do I remember that ANYTHING God does in His ministry through me is not about me? It is a blessing to me for sure. It is a wonderful reflection of His grace to an undeserving me.