You saved me from myself- lyrics from a song I heard that stood out to me. We need Jesus to save us from ourselves don't we?
Self gets in the way of so much.
What's this mean-- Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
We understand what following someone means- to us it's not truly literal we don't have Jesus walking about to follow physically in that respect, we have to follow His teachings, His ways. But what about that denying self. These are Jesus' words. If ANY man will come after Him they must deny themselves. What are we to deny ourselves?
Strong's Lexicon: Deny - ap-ar-neh'-om-ahee - To deny utterly, that is, disown, abstain: - deny.
Disown, abstain self. We can insert lots and lots of *things*, we can say oh that means to deny ourselves alcohol, food, sex, friendship with the world, deny ourselves worldly pleasures but is that what it's saying? Did Jesus say that if any man will come after him they had to deny themselves things? Do you think it's implied? In the context of the reading Peter was rebuking Jesus after Jesus began to tell the disciples about what He was going to suffer soon. Peter couldn't fathom the things Jesus was saying would come to pass. He didn't want to believe that Jesus, the Messiah, would suffer. The Messiah was to come and save His people, to be exalted, full of power and greatness, not be hurt, ridiculed, and killed. Jesus told Peter this-- and it's a very STRONG counter rebuke.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Peter was savoring the things that weren't of God, worldly things like glory, power, exaltation of the world; Peter wanted Jesus to come into His own to be famous and recognized by the world as the Son of God, the King of Kings. What was the response of Jesus? He called Him Satan! Could there be any stronger rebuke? He called one of His disciples Satan because he wasn't focused on God, and God's plan for men here and now on earth. He was focused on the world then and there and what it had to offer. Aren't we the same? Don't we pray to God to make our lives here and now simpler, easier, richer. We look at the lowest of the low on our earth today and how they live in deep poverty we can't imagine and we don't want to live anything like that and we think Jesus should keep us from being the lowest of the low and even Jesus said the poor would be with you always. That's fine isn't it? As long as we're not among the poor. Seriously. He told the rich young ruler what?
Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Sell that thou hast and give to the poor- thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me. The very idea of selling all that he had and giving the money to the poor was appalling to the man, why? Because he had GREAT POSSESSIONS. He wasn't being asked to give up something meager, but he was being asked to give up GREAT POSSESSIONS. He wanted to know what he needed to do to have eternal life and he was already following the commandments but he was doing so in the comfort of great possessions- those possession meant more to him than eternal life. Do you think it'd be the same if eternal life was a reality to Him? Seriously? It's possible isn't it? We believe in eternal life but we tell ourselves that we have to live for here and now. We gather our great possessions and they ARE great when we compare them to the poor and their possessions. We gather our great possessions and we comfort ourselves by saying God understands. When hardships come and our possessions become endangered we feel as if we've gained God's disfavor some how and we're being punished, he's allowing Satan to hurt us. Do we stop and think for a moment that maybe God is trying to strip away things in our lives that are meaningless in comparison to eternal life in Christ? To be poor, to be without a home, without the ability to pay the bills for our cars, our entertainment, our abiity to communicate through phone and internet, to have things taken away makes us want to cry in fear for our losses and we agonize over what we're going to do without the ability to have these things because we just can't imagine our lives destitute of them- we'd be failures, we'd have failed to live as we believe we need to live not to be filthy rich or successful but in our minds to just get by with a few comforts. It's a terrifying thought to be without our great possessions, we've found security in them. It's even more terrifying to imagine losing out on eternal life because we are so wrapped up in ourselves we can't even contemplate giving up anything, denying ourselves anything. We pat ourselves on the back and think of all the things we want and deny ourselves already and we say that's enough denying. We tell ourselves God doesn't REALLY want us to deny ourselves things, that's foolish cultish talk.
Christ tells us this--
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Deny himself- take up his cross- follow me.
What does it mean 'take up his cross'? Strong's has this to say--
A stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively exposure to death, that is, self denial; by implication the atonement of Christ: - cross.
Figuratively exposure to death- that is SELF DENIAL.
Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
As long as SELF rules us and our lives we are in danger. Those words from the song are so true....
You saved me from myself.
We need to be saved from ourselves. Self has to die and Christ has to live. Today if Christ asked you to sell all that you had and give it to the poor and follow Him, what would you tell Him? God help us, please help us, because we might just find ourselves with the young man in sorrow who couldn't fathom selling His great possessions not even for eternal life.
We need to take up our cross and even if we can't imagine giving up our possessions meager or otherwise, we need to take up the cross, denying ourselves- our selfish wants and desires, our selfish need to put our supposedly deserved needs before those of others because we work so hard, we do so much already. It's not easy to do away with self and only by the grace and mercy of Christ will we be able to do it at all. While Satan has our minds wrapped up in some sins of ours we are finding hard to give up he's keeping us caught up tight in the bindings of selfishness, of self-first, of self so much we think it's normal to consider our selfish needs first and foremost.
Please LORD, please! Save me from myself!
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, please save us from ourselves.
Amen.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Be Watchful
Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Be watchful. What's it mean to be watchful?
watchful (wòch´fel) adjective
1. Closely observant or alert; vigilant: kept a watchful eye on the clock. See synonyms at aware, careful.
2. Archaic. Not sleeping; awake.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Be awake, be aware, alert, vigilent, observant, careful. Christ tells us to follow Him and His way to eternal life. Remember--
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
We are blessed by reading, by hearing, by keeping what we are told to and Christ would have us be watchful. It's so easy to become complacent in our walks with Christ. So easy to fall into a routine of praying, studying, praising God. Routines aren't so bad but if we're not careful they lose their honestly and what was once done out of a heartfelt love and joy can be done by habit. We need to be careful that we don't focus on our selves which is all too easy to do. We don't feel like doing this or that, or we feel like doing that but not this. We have to realize what we have in our relationship to Christ is special and like any relationship it needs to be nurtured. There are all sorts of relationships even those which grow stale, you hear tell of couples drifting apart after the years and often they drift so far apart they find other relationships. This is the sort of thing that needs to be guarded against. We have to be watchful- awake to our personal, spiritual walk with Christ. Am I advocating that there must be a giddy sense of happy, happy all the time or something is wrong? No. It's not the emotional high that is sought. What is needed is the deep abiding realness of the relationship we have as Christ's followers and a daily life that reflects that relationship.
We need to often remember how we first came to Christ- the real knowledge of Him as our personal Savior. We need to repent when we lose sight of our Lord as a real, living part of us. Regulating God to a corner of our lives that does not impact our daily existence yet we call ourselves Christians means that we've lost that newness, that first real knowledge and acceptance of Christ's grace, the forgiveness He offers to each of us, cleansing us from sin and bringing us up to new life in Him. We can never forget that we are sinners in need of the grace of God, never. We can never forget that without Christ we are nothing.
Life is going to be hard, and there will be many tears and much tribulation but Christ will see us through it all if we hold fast to Him.
May the grace and mercy of Christ be a reality to us as we live each day in His amazing love.
Amen.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Be watchful. What's it mean to be watchful?
watchful (wòch´fel) adjective
1. Closely observant or alert; vigilant: kept a watchful eye on the clock. See synonyms at aware, careful.
2. Archaic. Not sleeping; awake.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Be awake, be aware, alert, vigilent, observant, careful. Christ tells us to follow Him and His way to eternal life. Remember--
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
We are blessed by reading, by hearing, by keeping what we are told to and Christ would have us be watchful. It's so easy to become complacent in our walks with Christ. So easy to fall into a routine of praying, studying, praising God. Routines aren't so bad but if we're not careful they lose their honestly and what was once done out of a heartfelt love and joy can be done by habit. We need to be careful that we don't focus on our selves which is all too easy to do. We don't feel like doing this or that, or we feel like doing that but not this. We have to realize what we have in our relationship to Christ is special and like any relationship it needs to be nurtured. There are all sorts of relationships even those which grow stale, you hear tell of couples drifting apart after the years and often they drift so far apart they find other relationships. This is the sort of thing that needs to be guarded against. We have to be watchful- awake to our personal, spiritual walk with Christ. Am I advocating that there must be a giddy sense of happy, happy all the time or something is wrong? No. It's not the emotional high that is sought. What is needed is the deep abiding realness of the relationship we have as Christ's followers and a daily life that reflects that relationship.
We need to often remember how we first came to Christ- the real knowledge of Him as our personal Savior. We need to repent when we lose sight of our Lord as a real, living part of us. Regulating God to a corner of our lives that does not impact our daily existence yet we call ourselves Christians means that we've lost that newness, that first real knowledge and acceptance of Christ's grace, the forgiveness He offers to each of us, cleansing us from sin and bringing us up to new life in Him. We can never forget that we are sinners in need of the grace of God, never. We can never forget that without Christ we are nothing.
Life is going to be hard, and there will be many tears and much tribulation but Christ will see us through it all if we hold fast to Him.
May the grace and mercy of Christ be a reality to us as we live each day in His amazing love.
Amen.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
He That Overcomes
Rev 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations
Charity, service, faith, patience and works.
Jesus says these are all good things- these works. Doing good. We all know what it means to do good and to do evil, and the many areas in between. People believe all sorts of things. Some believe doing good will earn them grace. Others believe doing good means living a life as Jesus would want them to live it, yet grace comes from God alone. And still others believe that good or bad, anything they do matters not because words won't earn you grace.
Jesus says these are good things- the works. Jesus says those who keep HIS works till the end will have power over the nations, meaning they will be in the minority among the few that are saved compared to the many who aren't.
When we live in Christ our good works are His works they're not our own, He works through us and all glory goes to Him. We have to hold fast, we have to overcome through Christ. We need to being loving, giving, believing all with patience.
May God bless us with these gifts and forgive us our selfishness which results in so much wrong doing in the little and big things. By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may we find life in Him and overcome as He would have us to overcome through Him, keeping His works until the end.
Amen.
Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations
Charity, service, faith, patience and works.
Jesus says these are all good things- these works. Doing good. We all know what it means to do good and to do evil, and the many areas in between. People believe all sorts of things. Some believe doing good will earn them grace. Others believe doing good means living a life as Jesus would want them to live it, yet grace comes from God alone. And still others believe that good or bad, anything they do matters not because words won't earn you grace.
Jesus says these are good things- the works. Jesus says those who keep HIS works till the end will have power over the nations, meaning they will be in the minority among the few that are saved compared to the many who aren't.
When we live in Christ our good works are His works they're not our own, He works through us and all glory goes to Him. We have to hold fast, we have to overcome through Christ. We need to being loving, giving, believing all with patience.
May God bless us with these gifts and forgive us our selfishness which results in so much wrong doing in the little and big things. By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior may we find life in Him and overcome as He would have us to overcome through Him, keeping His works until the end.
Amen.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Repent
Rev 2:16 Repent
metanoeo
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
compunction (kem-pùngk´shen) noun
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt. See synonyms at penitence.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing. See synonyms at qualm.
repent (rî-pènt´) verb
repented, repenting, repents verb, intransitive
1. To feel remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; be contrite.
2. To feel such regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it: repented of intemperate behavior.
3. To make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one's sins.
We are told to repent- and repentence is to think differently- to feel a sense of guilt, to understand our wrong doing and our need of Christ's forgiveness for the wrongs we commit against Him.
God is love, out of love God gave us life and a chance to keep the life He's given us but only through His Son. God claimed a people as His and offered them life through Christ, revealing to them what life in Him and in His Son is all about. The love that He is, is revealed in His laws which only have what is just and good in them. The basis of that law is to love Him and love each other. When we sin we are transgressing the law- we are ceasing in some way to love Him or each other. We are told to repent... to think differently. To understand our need of God fully in that repenting. Admitting that to think only of ourselves, to live selfishly, is wrong.
Repent. Feel remorse for the wrongs we've committed. Repent. Asking God to forgive us for our wrongs and seeking Him fully through His mercy and grace, now and forever.
Repent.
Repenting allows us to recognize our need of God, the unrepentent feel no need of God. Repenting admits to our unworthiness, not repenting admits to no need of understanding our unworthiness. We need to recognize that Christ is all, that without Him we are nothing. Without the connection of God and man together we are left to flounder helplessly on our own filled with a false sense of self-sufficiency. Yet of our own selves we cannot rid the world of sin. We try to contain those who commit sins we find detrimental to our society in our prisons, yet even that does nothing to rid the world of sin, we've just taken the society sinful and caged them without ridding the world of anything. To think that a world filled with sin is acceptable and all there is, is to deny God and what He intends for the world. Only through God will a world without sin ever be realized, a world with true love for God and each other.
May God help us all to feel the intense need to repent, to admit to our need, to think differently setting aside our self and seeking God.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever!
Amen.
metanoeo
met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.
compunction (kem-pùngk´shen) noun
1. A strong uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt. See synonyms at penitence.
2. A sting of conscience or a pang of doubt aroused by wrongdoing or the prospect of wrongdoing. See synonyms at qualm.
repent (rî-pènt´) verb
repented, repenting, repents verb, intransitive
1. To feel remorse, contrition, or self-reproach for what one has done or failed to do; be contrite.
2. To feel such regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it: repented of intemperate behavior.
3. To make a change for the better as a result of remorse or contrition for one's sins.
We are told to repent- and repentence is to think differently- to feel a sense of guilt, to understand our wrong doing and our need of Christ's forgiveness for the wrongs we commit against Him.
God is love, out of love God gave us life and a chance to keep the life He's given us but only through His Son. God claimed a people as His and offered them life through Christ, revealing to them what life in Him and in His Son is all about. The love that He is, is revealed in His laws which only have what is just and good in them. The basis of that law is to love Him and love each other. When we sin we are transgressing the law- we are ceasing in some way to love Him or each other. We are told to repent... to think differently. To understand our need of God fully in that repenting. Admitting that to think only of ourselves, to live selfishly, is wrong.
Repent. Feel remorse for the wrongs we've committed. Repent. Asking God to forgive us for our wrongs and seeking Him fully through His mercy and grace, now and forever.
Repent.
Repenting allows us to recognize our need of God, the unrepentent feel no need of God. Repenting admits to our unworthiness, not repenting admits to no need of understanding our unworthiness. We need to recognize that Christ is all, that without Him we are nothing. Without the connection of God and man together we are left to flounder helplessly on our own filled with a false sense of self-sufficiency. Yet of our own selves we cannot rid the world of sin. We try to contain those who commit sins we find detrimental to our society in our prisons, yet even that does nothing to rid the world of sin, we've just taken the society sinful and caged them without ridding the world of anything. To think that a world filled with sin is acceptable and all there is, is to deny God and what He intends for the world. Only through God will a world without sin ever be realized, a world with true love for God and each other.
May God help us all to feel the intense need to repent, to admit to our need, to think differently setting aside our self and seeking God.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever!
Amen.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Perfect Love
Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer
Tribulation-poverty-hardships of any sort
We can't let fear rule us.
Perfect love casts out fear.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Fear hath torment- so true. No fear is good fear. People say fear has it's place and it does in the sense of being caution more than fear. Anyone that has been afraid - truly afraid understands the way it makes a person feel. That feeling is unpleasant to say the least. To hold onto fear is to deny that God is more powerful than what is causing that fear.
Perfect love, God's love does cast out fear. God casts out fear.
Faith in God, belief in His love.
May God grant me the faith I need in Him so that the fear that threatens to overwhelm me is cast away under His almighty, eternal love.
By His Grace and Mercy, in Christ now and always.
Amen.
Tribulation-poverty-hardships of any sort
We can't let fear rule us.
Perfect love casts out fear.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Fear hath torment- so true. No fear is good fear. People say fear has it's place and it does in the sense of being caution more than fear. Anyone that has been afraid - truly afraid understands the way it makes a person feel. That feeling is unpleasant to say the least. To hold onto fear is to deny that God is more powerful than what is causing that fear.
Perfect love, God's love does cast out fear. God casts out fear.
Faith in God, belief in His love.
May God grant me the faith I need in Him so that the fear that threatens to overwhelm me is cast away under His almighty, eternal love.
By His Grace and Mercy, in Christ now and always.
Amen.
Monday, November 16, 2009
First Love
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Keepeth the sayings-- readeth, hear, keep.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
We must remember the newness of our walk with Christ. We all have it, or most do. The moment in time when the revelation of Christ's love and forgiveness became a very personal connection. When we forget the realness of that moment and allow it to be overcome by time and various tribulations great and small, then we forget the power of the cross in a personal way. We can't let ourselves forget the truth as it was discovered by us. When we do find ourselves forgetting we need to repent, to remember and recapture the zeal, the truth in our hearts and lives. When we forget the love of Christ and the results of that love on a personal level then we forget Jesus and when we forget our Savior, we are lost. We must ever look to the One who saves us.
By His Grace and Mercy now and FOREVER!
In Christ's Amazing Love.
Amen.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Keepeth the sayings-- readeth, hear, keep.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
We must remember the newness of our walk with Christ. We all have it, or most do. The moment in time when the revelation of Christ's love and forgiveness became a very personal connection. When we forget the realness of that moment and allow it to be overcome by time and various tribulations great and small, then we forget the power of the cross in a personal way. We can't let ourselves forget the truth as it was discovered by us. When we do find ourselves forgetting we need to repent, to remember and recapture the zeal, the truth in our hearts and lives. When we forget the love of Christ and the results of that love on a personal level then we forget Jesus and when we forget our Savior, we are lost. We must ever look to the One who saves us.
By His Grace and Mercy now and FOREVER!
In Christ's Amazing Love.
Amen.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Servant of God
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
The angel said to John that the things that had been said to him were to be believed and trustworthy. The Lord God of the holy prophets- all the prophets throughout all time, the Lord God of those holy prophets sent his angel to John to reveal to God's servants, those who claim God as their Master, the events that would happen in due time, their appointed time.
Are you a servant of God?
Mat 20:26 ...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Joh 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Joh 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Joh 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
God is love and in that love He is all that we can imagine love to be, the perfect love in pure unselfishness. Jesus, sent of God, His Father, came and ministered unto us. Jesus, Lord of Lords; King of Kings, our perfect Savior took on the role of a servant and ministered to His disciples.
So often we see in life the *boss* being catered to. We don't have servants like they did a 100 years ago, where one in every 12 or so households had at least one domestic servant. Only the very rich have servants and they're called hired help, maids and such, rarely servants. Servant has is a term that is used to reveal a lower status to a master, you can't have a servant unless you have a master- right? And in our very imperfect, sin-filled world throughout time servants have been the lower class, used and abused, though not always abused. Servants by virtue of their servitude were beneath their masters, meant to cater to their needs. Slaves were the same yet without the liberty to leave their master at the end of a period of servitude. Slaves were property kept indefinitely as such. Throughout time it has been this way and the very idea of a master serving the servant is ludicrous. It totally twists the whole grand design of what's what. It's like the boss telling a worker to sit in their chair while they go do the worker's work. It's something that is hard to comprehend.
God is our Master, we are his servants and yet Jesus, Himself, God's Son made Himself a servant and told us to do likewise. Meaning what? What message was Jesus trying to give to us? That we are here to serve one another, not better one another. That we are to give rather than receive. That we are to not esteem ourselves greater than any other. Serving one another reveals the life of Christ who came to serve, to reveal the true self-lessness of LOVE. He lay down His life for us.
We are the servants of God, He is our Master. To serve Him we must emmulate Him as He has asked us to do.
By His grace and mercy, may we truly be the servants of God, allowing Him to reveal Himself to others through us. May we take on the role of a servant of God, allowing our Master to guide our lives in all things.
Amen.
The angel said to John that the things that had been said to him were to be believed and trustworthy. The Lord God of the holy prophets- all the prophets throughout all time, the Lord God of those holy prophets sent his angel to John to reveal to God's servants, those who claim God as their Master, the events that would happen in due time, their appointed time.
Are you a servant of God?
Mat 20:26 ...but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Joh 13:12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
Joh 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Joh 13:14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Joh 13:16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Joh 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
God is love and in that love He is all that we can imagine love to be, the perfect love in pure unselfishness. Jesus, sent of God, His Father, came and ministered unto us. Jesus, Lord of Lords; King of Kings, our perfect Savior took on the role of a servant and ministered to His disciples.
So often we see in life the *boss* being catered to. We don't have servants like they did a 100 years ago, where one in every 12 or so households had at least one domestic servant. Only the very rich have servants and they're called hired help, maids and such, rarely servants. Servant has is a term that is used to reveal a lower status to a master, you can't have a servant unless you have a master- right? And in our very imperfect, sin-filled world throughout time servants have been the lower class, used and abused, though not always abused. Servants by virtue of their servitude were beneath their masters, meant to cater to their needs. Slaves were the same yet without the liberty to leave their master at the end of a period of servitude. Slaves were property kept indefinitely as such. Throughout time it has been this way and the very idea of a master serving the servant is ludicrous. It totally twists the whole grand design of what's what. It's like the boss telling a worker to sit in their chair while they go do the worker's work. It's something that is hard to comprehend.
God is our Master, we are his servants and yet Jesus, Himself, God's Son made Himself a servant and told us to do likewise. Meaning what? What message was Jesus trying to give to us? That we are here to serve one another, not better one another. That we are to give rather than receive. That we are to not esteem ourselves greater than any other. Serving one another reveals the life of Christ who came to serve, to reveal the true self-lessness of LOVE. He lay down His life for us.
We are the servants of God, He is our Master. To serve Him we must emmulate Him as He has asked us to do.
By His grace and mercy, may we truly be the servants of God, allowing Him to reveal Himself to others through us. May we take on the role of a servant of God, allowing our Master to guide our lives in all things.
Amen.
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