Servants

Matthew 23
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one
is your Master, even Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall
humble himself shall be exalted.

Have we tried to climb the corporate ladder saying if I can accomplish this or accomplish that I'll do….The thing of it is the more money you get the more stress you have. There isn't real happiness in that. Whatever job we have, we are to do it unto the Lord.

The word "master" in the first part of verse 10 refers to a taskmaster. A taskmaster should not bare down on others; it's the opposite that we should do as a Christian. We are to help others. God expects us to come together in love. Why? The greatest among us is to be the servant. The older Christian helps the younger….and on and on. We must work together. When we lift up self, sooner or later we'll be abased. We'll topple and we won't get up and say "I want to go through that again." We are to be humble for the humble shall be exalted.

Why do Christians then suffer? God protected Job. Satan told him to pull back the hedge and God agreed to do so. Job suffered. Paul had a thorn in the flesh that he suffered with day and night–maybe it was to keep him from getting the big head. Circumstances made him give glory to God and not trust in himself.

It rains on the just as well as the unjust. If it didn't, people would come to church for the "free meal." That's what Jesus told the crowd. They weren't coming to see the Son of God, their Savior. They were coming to see the miracles of food and eat. They wanted him to get them out from under the Roman rule. That's not why he came. He came to give spiritual liberty.

Isaiah 61
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my
soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself

with her jewels. 11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the
garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD
will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Verse 10 tells us to rejoice no matter what we face. If you're a sinner, Jesus is the answer. If you're saved and going through a hard time, Jesus is the answer. It's not about how we feel as a Christian; we are to praise God anyway. Only God can liberate us. We need to stop reading the Bible at face value–just reading the words and not taking in what it says. Verse 10 says to "greatly rejoice." Let's put ourselves aside. If salvation is about how we feel, then it's a mighty weak thing. No matter what we face, no matter how we feel, WE SERVE A MIGHTY GOD. The same God that helped Samson is still alive today. The problems of the world were here when we were born and will be when we die. Face them by rejoicing in God. Our relationship with God is about how much we're willing to do for God–all the way to being a servant. When we see others down, we lift them up. When we are blessed financially we help others in need.

Verse 11 talks about what a bride and groom wear and how "decked" out their garments are. God has given us the garment of salvation. When we stain it we are to go the Calvary and get the sin stains removed. We can't hide it from God. We are expected to keep it clean. More is required of an older Christian than a younger, but both need to strive to keep a clean garment, for we have a robe of righteousness. We traded in our sins for a robe of righteousness.

It's not about us; it's about our relationship with God and is more than verbal. It is serving.