Michael continues that when we spend time in His presence in meditation on His word, we’ll develop an intimate relationship with our Lord. Then when our verticals (the relationship between you and God) are aligned, our horizontal relationships will be blessed. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. When His delight is our delight and his good pleasure is our good pleasure, then it is God who works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. What is our heavenly Father’s good pleasure? The Lord said, “I have no greater joy than to see that my children walk in truth.”
The disciples wanted Jesus to serve them and give them places of honor in Heaven. Jesus asked His disciples, “are you able to drink the cup that I’m about to drink? And to be baptized into the baptism into which I’m about to be immersed?” The disciples said, “yes Lord”. They didn’t know what Jesus was asking them. They could not yet perceive truth from a spiritual perspective because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given unto them.
The greatest blessing is not in being served. Calling them to Himself Jesus said, “the ones who compete for power in this world, lord it over those whom they have power to control.” Worldly power seeks to control others. Controllers find their self-fulfillment in their power, prestige and authority over others, to effect their own self-serving will. Jesus said, “but it is not so among you”. Servants of Christ don’t seek to exert power over others. Whoever wishes to be great among you must be servant of all.
The truth of the Word of God is paradoxical in an upside-down world. To go up we must become low. To be exalted we must be abased. In our own weakness, we find strength in the Lord. He that is last will be first. The true leader is not the one who commands from the front. Instead he serves his people from a heart of love. Jesus Christ is the ultimate servant-leader. He gave His life as a ransom for many. The blessing is not in the praise of men and women, but in rejoicing in the Lord.
A servant of the Lord says, “Lord come help yourself to my life.” The joy of a godly servant is to present his body a living sacrifice wholly and holy acceptable unto the God as his reasonable act of praise and worship. The servant’s heart beats according to the rhythm of his Lord’s pace-maker. He is attuned to his Master’s heart’s resonant frequency. His utmost desire is, to serve his Lord. His prayer is, “Here am I Lord, send me. Thy wish is my command.”
Through the trials of life, God tempers us through the crucible of fire and pressure. You think that you deserve to be in the starting lineup of life, but some things you can only learn on the bench: You’ll learn to put your fellow man first and to cheer for their success. You’ll learn to support others and encourage them to do their best. Most of all, you will learn to serve from a heart of meekness, humility, and the love of God. In an upside-down world, Jesus’ words still ring true today: “the last shall be first and the first shall be last. He that is chief among you must be servant of all.” Why? Because when we love others we love our Lord Jesus Christ for He has said, “in that you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.“
May this prayer of Saint Francis also be our prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life ...
that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of Thy grace! In the name of our living Lord, Amen
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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