Servant or Master

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi (Phil. 1: 1).

James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jas. 1: 1)

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1: 1)

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ (Jude 1)

Notice what all these writers said in their opening statements? They all stated where they saw themselves positionally as Christians. They saw themselves as servants. Some translations say slaves or bondservants, but the meaning is the same, they saw Jesus as their Masters and themselves as servants of the Master. We can say we are Christians till the proverbially cows come home, but do we see ourselves positionally as servants of Jesus. In the Western culture we do for ourselves, we do what we want, when we want, how we want, doesn't matter if someone gets in our way, we will plow right over them because "hey, they are in the way of what I want." Sometimes we say "need" but really it's what we want. This explains A LOT of our selfish behavior, motives, talk, etc...so much that we look at the New Testament and look at our lives and wonder "Hmmm, why do their lives look different that mine?" The reason...they saw themselves as servants of Jesus, not the other way around. Yep, you heard me! We get to the point where we see Jesus as doing our bidding so we can get what we want. If we started looking at ourselves as the servants and Jesus as the Master, our lives would be much different! They would be filled with peace, joy, unselfishness...the fruits of the Spirit!

Take Away...

Start looking at yourself as servants and not masters. When you see yourself positionally as servants of Jesus, the way it is suppose to be, your outlook and behavior will start to change!

A Curse and Coloring Books

Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow,
so a curse without cause does not come to rest.
Proverbs 26:2 (NET)

I still get amazed at how messed up we humans can take what God made so simple and make it so complicated. God has not made living this Christian life difficult, but somehow we humans think we need to add to what God has made and we totally mess it up, in fact, we make things rather spooky. For example, I just recently heard about coloring books and how some of the pictures are cursed. For the non-Christian yes this would be a problem, but as Christians we have the protection of God! In Proverbs 26:2 it says a curse without a cause does not come to rest. As children of God, there is not any curse that will affect us because we are God's children, therefore there is no cause to curse us and therefore if there is a curse, it will not land on us.  "SO WHAT" if that coloring book or whatever you are watching or doing has a curse on it...it isn't going to affect you! We've got to take the spookiness out of Christianity, live the life God called us to live and that is walk in peace, love, joy and not be going around like we are some kind of religious police finding all the things that can "get us." Truth of the matter is there is so much out there the could "get us" that we would drive ourselves crazy trying to protect ourselves from it all. The good thing is we don't have to, God is already protecting us! You don't even have to ask for it because He is already doing it!

Take Away...

Stop trying to find the things that are out to get you and live your life the way God intended, in peace, joy and love...He is already protecting you!

Stand and Shut Up!

For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand
Ephesians 6:13(NET)

When we face a problem, a lot of times God has us do something. Then when we don't get the results that we want, we try to do more than what God was asking us to do. When Paul told the Ephesians that "having done everything" they were to stand. This means that once you have done what God has asked you to do, you are to stand...not sit...but stand, and not only stand, but to stand firm...unwavering, solid, being kept intact. This means that in that "standing time" we don't waver in our trust that God is taking care of the situation. We don't complain about how long this is taking, we don't worry that God won't take care of it, we don't pout when it isn't going our way, we don't talk about it and talk about it and talk about it over and over and over to our friends, neighbors, the people we work with...we are told to STAND! And really, for some of us, that should be STAND and SHUT UP! If we would put as much effort into standing firm and being patient as we do into worrying, complaining, and talking about our problems...we would get through those standing times with ease. It all really comes down to a trust issue, and that is trusting God to take care of the situation, whatever it may be.

Take Away...

When faced with an issue, do what God is telling to do, and when you have done all He has told you to do...stand firm and shut up!