Thursday, May 14, 2020

The Christian life is Different

“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘ We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” Luke 17:10 

The servant carries out the master's will. The servant doesn’t tell the master what to do. The servant does not choose which tasks to perform for the master, nor does the servant suggest days or times when it would be convenient to serve the master. The servant's function is to follow instructions. The master, on the other hand, gives directions. The master does not tell the servant to develop a vision that will guide the master. The master is the one with the vision; the servant's task is to help fulfill the master's purposes. We are the servants; God is the Master. We tend to try to reverse this! God's revelation of Himself, His purposes, and His ways depends directly upon our obedience. He may not reveal today His intentions for the next five years, but He will tell us what our next step should be. As we respond to God's revelation, He will accomplish what He desires, and He will be the One who receives the glory. Our fulfillment comes from serving our Master. The world will encourage you to strive for positions of authority and power. God wants you to take the role of a servant. As God's servant you should have no other agenda than to be obedient to whatever He tells you. God does not need you to dream great dreams for your life, your family, your business, or your church. He simply asks for obedience. He has plans that would dwarf yours in comparison (Eph. 3:20). - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

Maybe it just because of being around so many Pastors in my life, and the kinds of leaders that I have in the workplace, and those whom I have talked with outside of the workplace, but this devotional seems to me to be spot on. 

Have been told what I must be like, that I should become like, in this world by both Godly men and those who aren't. 

Been told what I should be doing, should be believing, should be listening to. 

However, all a Christian's life comes down to is this: werr you obeying God's Word? As a servant of Christ did you obey?  

I have never purposed in life to be a Leader, yet in many instances that's what God had me do.  I am certainly a hardwired troubleshooter.  Of that, I have no doubt, it's how God made me. 

Yet I still have people telling me to this day how I need to be.  In the workplace I have been told that I am both great at what I do, but am not the kind of leadership material they want to lead on a permanent basis. 

I am reminded of a scene in a television show that most workplaces need to learn.  That they shouldn't want people to blindly follow orders but to analyze the situation and take steps appropriate for the circumstances.  Unfortunately in today's world you get leaders who themselves have forgotten how to really lead.

In the Bible Jesus tells and shows how leading is to be done.  To become great, one must become as a servant.  There's books to be had on the subject of servant leadership.  

So many so-called Churches think that to engage people they need grand visions of what they are wanting to do for the next several years.  Where is that in the Bible?

It's an interestingly subtle reality in life that from the moment you began to understand words and learned to obey or disobey them your life's direction is started.  You are guided either forcefully or gently in a direction in life.  

But at some point you are told to choose a life path.  Either you realize this yourself or others tell you. The truth is for a believer is it's to come from what God directs you. 

We don't need visions of what a Church ought to be like or be doing. 
We don't need to know everything about our lives in where it's going or what we will be doing. 

We need to trust and obey what Jesus is doing and follow Him.  In our personal life and professional life.  Look at the Biblical examples.  Joseph had many job changes but what does it say of his situation? The Lord was with him. David was anointed King but wasn't established as king for a very long time because he was very firm in that it was not his place to stretch out his hand against Saul. He knew what his future was to be but he had to wait on God to make it happen. He didn't form a committee to figure out a 5 year plan to take his place as king. 

The Church is the body of Christ. Not the head.  Jesus is the head.  In your physical body the head makes the decisions. It rules what goes on with all aspects of your body.  Realistically, any part of the body that isn't doing what you want or need it to do is called an illness or a cancer.  Cells that do not follow what the body is supposed to be like are called a cancer. When parts don't do what they are supposed to, we see a Doctor. 

In our lives as believers we are to obey and do what God wants the body doing.  Both as part of the body of Christ in the Church and personally as individuals.  

Our lives as believers has as part of its reality that we are strangers and aliens in the world.  Our homeland is Heaven, not here. Our allegiance is to Christ.  Our example is His to us in the Gospels. 

We are to do all we do as unto the Lord. 
In our thoughts and actions.  In our daily lives and as part of the body. 

The other reality is the world will not get it. 
They cannot understand the things of God because they are Spiritually discerned.  The Bible tells us that outright. 

We change the world through our obedience to Christ.  Through our prayers for others and our servant attitude towards others.  Not through blatant rebellion and anger outbursts. 

I may never achieve a standard that the world says is right for a position or job. Matters not.  I work for my Savior.  Whether it was scrubbing toilets or waxing floors to what I do today with my hands in electronics.  I am to do everything for the glory of God. 

So look at your life, are you living in obedience or are you trying to create your own future and aren't waiting on the Lord?

The outcome can either be success through obedience or 40 years in the wilderness.  Look at the difference in the Bible. 

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