Who do you see?

Man. When left to his/her own demise, we act in accordance with out OWN will. It drives me crazy. I drive myself crazy.
Constantly I think, "Today, I will be selfless. Today, I will serve. Today I will seek others better good than my own."
And at the end of each day, I hang my head in failure and say, "Tomorrow, I will try harder."
Perhaps I am taking the wrong approach?
I think so.
Today as I spent time with my Lord in His word it's as if He said, "Who are you doing this for? Why are you doing it?"
I thought for a bit, and decided that much of the time, I do what I do, to make myself feel better about myself.
And there in lies my problem.
If I am doing what I do for selfish gain, or for self gratification, I do my work in vain.
It's not bad to get kicks from doing what I do, to enjoy my work, but that should not be my full motive.
Strange isn't it? God gives us passions, desires and gifts and tells us to use them, but when I use them only to gratify self, I come up empty, discouraged and frustrated.
The reason is this: God gave all of us gifts. He told us to use them to do what? BRING HIM GLORY.
If I do what I do completely for selfish motives, then my friends, I labor in vain.
My labor also loses purpose, because deep inside the being of every believer is the desire to please their maker. And the longing with me is  a deep black hole when I stray away from my God designed purpose.
The think about being One with Christ is that when you stray for Him, you leave the best part of yourself behind. All things begin to lose the purpose and meaning because in all honesty, nothing fulfills me like He does when I act and move in the center of His WILL for me.
I long to live my days out in constant Spirit led service. TO know that my purpose runs deeper than "making it through the day."
I think we all feel this way.
The difference between what I say and what the world tells you is this... WHO is at the center of the picture when the day is done? When the audience stands up to applaud when the good work is done, who do we point at for the glory? God.
I point to Christ, the one who sustains me, fuels me, makes me, and breathes purpose into me.
When I start a day in my own strength, I end my day lifeless on the floor, worn out from all my doings. But if I instead, start my day out asking the Lord to fuel me in all that HE has planned for me, my day begins with Holy, God given purpose.
Now that I recognize the difference, who would ever chose their own way? And yet I do....
There are days my carnal flesh just simply takes over, and I long to hear the crowd shout my name rather than His. Forgive me Lord.
I forget that I live for an audience of One.
SO today and I sat in His presence, and He breathed His life giving hope, truth and joy into me, as I reflected on His word, I was reminded once again of why I do what I do, and who I really am.
I am an ambassador for Christ, who gets to sit in the presence of the King and do His bidding. I am blessed to have such a position. I am truly blessed because He gave me a position of weight. I get orders from the King, and live each day to bring Him so much glory with how I do what He has asked me to.
Then at the end of the day, the King sits and encourages me, He tells me what a beautiful child I am, and HOW much HE loves me.
Only He can give me the true fulfillment I don't just want, but NEED.
While on earth, it can be hard, because we cannot see all that He is doing with us, and through us, sometimes we catch a glimpse of what He is doing IN us, but regardless, we are nearsighted, shortsighted and easily discouraged.
SO in light of what I know to be true about me, and also what I know to be true about HIM, I stay close to the Father, do His bidding, and when the job is done, I kneel down low so you can only see Him.
Here I find my purpose, hope and joy.
And when Jesus takes me home, my joy will be complete! But until that blessed day comes, here I stand, in honor of my audience of ONE.