Our Loving Master

Deuteronomy 15:16-17
But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant.


How wonderful to be the master whose slave choose to stay on for life! That someone would rather stay in your service, as a slave, than go out and be free would say much about your character, wouldn’t it? People walking down the street would see the big hole in the servant’s ear and think to themselves, "Wow! His master must be a wonderful person - loving, caring, good, and kind. He must take good care of his servants!" And all the other servants would look upon him and wish they were in his place - wishing that this man’s master was their master.

So, the question must be asked; are we living lives that reflect the love and goodness of our Master to all those around us? After-all, that is what Christianity is all about, isn’t it? Bending our knee to God, and giving Him our lives. And He takes us, and instead of putting an awl through our ear, He places the Holy Spirit in our hearts - we are marked, sealed - we are His for life. We become His holy temple.

It’s a glorious thing, really. Because just like the servant in this passage, we understand that we are so much better off under the care and guidance of the God of this universe. He really is a good and kind Master - much better than all the rest, I’m sure most of us could attest to that. Better to be a servant in His house than a king in our own, right?

So we give to Him our all. We give Him the absolute right to make all the decisions in our lives (at least in theory, if not in perfect practice). And if that is the case, then every area of our lives should be marked by Him. Everything - every little think we do should have His seal of approval on it. Our entire lives should be marked for all to see.

So the question still remains - do those around us see, not us - the servant - but rather the loving, caring, good, and kind Master who has won us over, and stolen our hearts? Do they look upon us and think upon Him? Do the wretched slaves of drugs, pornography, greed, anger, alcohol, fear - all the slaves that walk the streets each day look at us and see that we have a Master who is far better than the one they serve? Do they long to be in our place?

I am continually drawn back to a quote by Oswald Chambers that says, "You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make them homesick for what you have." Let us each live such glorious, passionate, joy-filled lives that every person we come into contact with will yearn and ache for that which we have discovered. Let us, through our lives, call the wandering, the tired, the lost home again.

Jesus Weeps

John 11:32-37
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"


When Jesus sees us weeping, He is deeply moved in spirit and troubled. When He sees our trouble, He weeps with us. Big or small, monumental or trivial, He weeps with us.

I wonder how difficult it must have been for Martha and Mary to see Jesus, finally, and to see Him weep. I wonder what must have been going through their thoughts. Surely they understood that He had the power to heal Lazarus when he was sick, and yet, He chose to stay away. I wonder if they questioned the validity of His tears and sorrow, when they must have known that He could have fixed it . . . had He only come earlier.

And yet, the greater glory and the greater joy came in that He did stay away, and chose not to simply heal Lazarus, but to resurrect him completely. The great glory and joy came in His time, with His plan.

With great ease, I can shout from the roof-tops that I will trust in Jesus no matter what, as long as things are going my way. But the moment I’m in a situation that is contrary to what I desire, my voice gets a little weak.

When our prayers are seemingly left unanswered, and things aren’t turning out as we had planned, that’s when we test the mettle of our faith. It is in these moments that we see whether we truly believe that God knows best, no matter what. There are few situations more difficult than those that we know God can "fix," but chooses not to. We want to say, as many did that day at the tomb of Lazarus, "Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept _________________ from happening?"

Whatever we face – the loss of a job; a tragic illness; a debilitating handicap; the loss of a child, or not having one at all; whatever the misfortune, Jesus feels our pain, and He weeps with us. We must remember that. But more importantly, He intends to use the situation for His great glory. That is our joy. That is our hope. Our hope is in Jesus, and Him glorified. Otherwise, our vision can be blurred and we can lose sight of that which keeps us going – Love, our great and powerful Almighty God.

Preserving Life According To God's Word

Psalm 119:35-37
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.


This last summer, I discovered the joy of running. I generally take my dog with me, so we can both get some exercise, and she keeps me company. We both end up completely exhausted when we’re done, but she probably runs about twice as far as I do. While I find my destination and run with that solitary goal in mind, Augustine, my dog, follows every whiff and whimsy. She’ll race ahead of me, only to find a patch of weeds she must discover and mark, only to end up with a thorn in her paw. I remove it and keep running. By this time, she’s so far behind me, I have to pull her along. She very rarely ever runs straight, she would much prefer to run to the left, then to the right – to run too far ahead, or get too far behind. Anything that can catch her eye will get her attention until something else comes along that looks more interesting. By the end of our run, her tongue is hanging nearly to the ground, and her new focus has become every puddle or spray of water she can find.

God has taught me much through all of this. The biggest thing that He has shown me is that while I (the runner) represent Jesus in my life (OK, get the laughter out – I know I’m far from the likeness of Jesus. Just follow me on this one), Augustine represents me (see, that’s more like it, isn’t it?). You see, Jesus goes along, steadily moving closer to the goal, while I am off checking out everything that catches my attention – goal? What goal? Give me glittery, pretty, and fragrant. Thankfully, Jesus always has a hold of my leash – He will never let me go, no matter what kind of bush or bramble I get stuck in. And I have to wonder how many times He has to leave the narrow road to come out into the thicket and rescue me.

How much easier would my journey be, if I would just stay one step behind Him, letting Him lead the way?

Worthless things. So much of what we chase after is worthless, completely worthless. In the end, it will just be a pile of ash, so why do we bother? We need to keep our focus on Him – our great reward, our Bridegroom. But that’s easier said than done, isn’t it? Verse 37, above, is a great memory verse – every time we find our thoughts wandering to those worthless things, we can refocus our minds through scripture. That is why it is so important to memorize. Who knows where we’ll be the next time we follow our noses instead of our Jesus, and will we be able to stop, flip open our Bible and find a passage that fits our situation? Probably not. But when we memorize scripture, the Spirit uses that to "restore us to vigorous health and life in His ways." (Psalm 119:37b amplified version)

So, let’s start together – "Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word." Psalm 119:37. Use the version you’re most used to, or look through other versions, and see if there is something that seems to fit you better. Just get the Word plastered in your brain, so we can focus on that which is worth everything.

His Grace Is Sufficient

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

As I sit here, staring blankly at my computer screen, I find myself engaged in conversation with God. "God, I don’t know why you have me doing this. I don’t know what I’m doing; I’m really not educated for this sort of thing, or skilled in any way that would make me the right choice for this job. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to share today." To which I feel Him reply, "That’s why I chose you. Because there is no way that anybody could see anything but My hand at work." And so He brings me to the verse you read above, and I start typing.

Feeling a little less than adequate? Have a problem? Tired? Spread too thin? Running out of patience? Stuck in a rut that just seems to be getting deeper? Whatever the problem, whatever the weakness, whatever the strain, or malady, or sin, or blackness, God intends to use that in our lives for His glory, to display His grace and power to us and to those around us.

What could be more glorious than an impossible situation that is declared a victory, not because of anything we did, but because we couldn’t, so God did? What is more amazing - an educated man doing what comes naturally, or a simple, uneducated fisherman, speaking with authority and power, and converting thousands?

So let’s go ahead, and boast in our weaknesses. Thrill at every way we fall short. Thank God for each and every thing we can’t possibly do. Because whatever weakness we’re facing today, we can find comfort in this - the God of the universe gave us each and every one so that His glory and power could be displayed in and through us. Amen!

Armor Of God

Ephesians 6:10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.


What a rich passage of scripture this is! It never fails to teach me something each and every time I read it. Let’s see what we can discover today, shall we?

First, I love that it tells us that we need to put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes – when, not if. So, first, we need to know and always keep in mind that the day of evil will come. A day when we are called to stand "against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil."

This passage tells us that with the full armor, having done everything, we will stand. But there are no promises if we only manage to get on one or two pieces of the armor. We must have in our lives truth, righteousness, readiness with the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the Word of God. They all work together, complementing and completing each other. Is there anything you’re missing? This is definitely one check-list we should double and triple check!

Second, I love how this passage tells us that the shield of faith can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one – not some, or even most, but all – every single one. There is nothing that Satan can throw our direction that faith cannot extinguish. Yes, faith is that important.

Third, I notice that everything on this list is defensive, to protect us, apart from one item – the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." That is the only item that is a weapon – the only thing we have for our use that can aid us in fighting off Satan. We can actually fight back with the Word of God. Ah, but we cannot use it if we do not know it, can we?

This is where I think that so many Christians are lacking these days – we do not know the Word. We know parts of it – I bet every single one of us could quote John 3:16, but we do not know it. We need to know its stories, its insights, its precepts, how it all weaves together. We need to be able to see the broad strokes and the finite little details. We must get to know the Word of God, the Bible, and in the process we will get to know the Word made flesh, Christ. It is in knowing the Word that we will have at our use, in our scabbard, so to speak, a weapon so powerful that Satan doesn’t stand a chance against us!

So, let’s dig in, and build our arsenal – Satan won’t know what hit him!

Learning From Christ

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.


It’s so easy, isn’t it, to listen to what others believe regarding life, regarding faith, regarding Christ. We listen to the eloquent words of our pastor or Bible study teacher, and then go on our way making a firm decision to live a better Christian life, according to what we just learned. If it makes sense, then it must be true. Meanwhile, we haven’t even bothered to go to the Word to see that what we heard stands firm in the truth of God.

We have a guide at our fingertips – always ready, always available. God gave us His Word to teach us, to guide us, and to help us see the truth, and subsequently the lies, we are taught. I would hope that none of you takes my word and runs with it. Subject it to the Light. Let the truth of Scripture shine through it, to reveal its truth or lies, whatever lies therein.

We must, however, be sure to let the entirety of Scripture enlighten us – not just a verse or two, taken and twisted to say what we want it to say. That is how we get caught up in lies to begin with. We must seek to know all that the Word has to say on any given topic. While we may learn only bits and pieces of an entire puzzle, the bits should at the very least resemble that of the whole.

We cannot let anyone else tell us what to believe, how to live, how to walk by faith. They can challenge us, encourage us, and help to pick us up, but we must learn from the Scriptures. We must learn from Christ.