Bond servants

Demetrius begged his owner “I just want to be your bond servant. I give back my freedom, my freewill to you; please allow me to serve you all the days of my life!”

Titus was extremely fond of Demetrius and over the years he had become like part of his family. As the jubilee was fast approaching he had looked forward to giving Demetrius back his freedom. Demetrius was born in Corinth and was captured in a border war seven years earlier in the northern territories. He was one of the lucky ones who had been well treated by his master and wanted to remain as a house servant. 

“Please allow me to stay with your family. Put a ring through my ear and I will serve you all the days the Lord has granted me.” said Demetrius as he set down the tray holding this morning’s sweet honeysuckle, tea and flatbread.

Titus smiled as the request of his servant resonated through the quiet morning air. He smiled and instructed Demetrius to find a hammer and awl while he retrieved a gold ring from the house’s strong box. Titus gently placed Demetrius’ ear onto the doorpost of his home as the awl was driven through his earlobe with one smooth swing of the hammer. 

Titus inserted the gold ring through the hole he had just made and closed the ring with another quick swing. Martha, one of the other housemaids, quickly and tenderly anointed the wound with virgin olive oil as Titus ordered the entire house to prepare for a celebration!

This short word picture of a grateful slave and a kind master is not so different from the relationship that all Christians should have with Jesus Christ. We were all once lost in the world’s battles, captured by the enemy and bound, fettered to the sins of our old life. 

Jesus, our Lord and Master, has graciously invited us to receive freedom from the bondage of our old life that so easily ensnares us. As we accept His gift of forgiveness we are taken out of the world through our new birth and then allowed to make a conscious choice to be obedient to our Master or continue living in bondage.

Just as the nation of Israel stood on the east side of the Jordan River looking out over at the Promised Land, we too must decide what we will do with our new found freedom. God was giving them Canaan and all they had to do was to be obedient to their Master and totally posses it. However, they decided not to totally trust in God and failed to occupy the entire land they were promised.

We too have entered the resurrected land of freedom in Christ and have access to all the blessings and promises that come with it if we will obediently occupy God’s sovereign territory. Living for Christ means to become a bond servant and to willing give back our rights, our freedom in order to serve our Master. In this way we will possess the entire resurrected life promised to us by God.

 Because we have freewill, we must either continue to live selfish lives that only serve our flesh or surrender our lives to our Lord to be set apart for only His glory. The choice is ours; to become bond servants or to continue to serve other idols and gods.

Today can be our day of jubilee where we make that choice to follow Him! Our first step is to begin by surrendering our secret places, thoughts and habits to the Holy Spirit. Through His power we can become free from the chains that bind us to our flesh. In this way we are not only entering the Promised Land but also occupying every promise that has been prepared for us.

In our story, Demetrius was so grateful for his Master’s love and kindness that he made the choice to give back his freedom and serve his Master for life. In the same way, it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance and a life that is truly holy, set apart and pure. 

Repentance is a fruit, a gift of the Spirit which only grows as we continue to stay connected to the True Vine. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Don’t be discouraged when pruning season arrives as it is a necessity in order for us to bear much fruit. If we could repent in our power and strength by living perfect lives then we wouldn’t have any need of a Savior?

God loves us and that is why He sent His own Son into the world to purchase us out of slavery to sin. Be set free today and drink from the Living Water.

Battle plan

 Moshe chopped up the cilantro, garlic and jalapenos for the salad.  His style of cooking was spicy as well as a bit on the hot side. The church’s kitchen was small and there was very little space for more than one cook. Sofia was a wonderful beautiful woman who had taken over the preparation of the church’s fellowship dinners for the past two years. She was extremely stressed this afternoon as she kept trying to work around Moshe who had a cutting board, several sharp knives and salad fixings spread out over most of the kitchen’s limited counter space.

 

Everyone looked forward to the Wednesday church dinner as it was always a pleasant way to spend a night worshipping God, fellowshipping with others and sharing a wonderful meal together. Moshe was new to the fellowship and wanted to help out anywhere he could. Providence had brought both cooks together this particular evening as God began to test their patients.

 Preparing meals for large church crowds is what Sofia was gifted at and she was use to running the kitchen her own way. Moshe was a very talented chef in his own right who also knew what he wanted to accomplish and was well on his way to accomplishing that goal. It’s been said before that too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the broth. Soon, both cook’s patients were beginning to show signs of breaking down as they began to fight and bicker over the evening meal preparation. 

Unfortunately, this story ended in the wrong way. Sofia held her ground and insisted that Moshe leave the kitchen to her. Moshe was offended that his help was not wanted or accepted and decided to back out of the kitchen and eventually left the church. If this story sounds familiar to you, don’t worry you are not alone. Many churches go through similar scenarios where feelings get hurt as people strive to hold their territories. 

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians’ church body he states in verse twelve of chapter six “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” 

We are engaged in an unseen spiritual battle that rages on all around us. Because the nature of this battle is in the spiritual realm we cannot prosper by fighting it in the physical world by using our own flesh. In fact, that is our enemy’s battle plan to get us to fight in the flesh where we are not using the arsenal of spiritual armor and weapons that God provides for our use.

Satan is our enemy; make no mistake about it. His battle plan has been tested and proven to be successful time and time again. He knows the weaknesses of human beings and that is where the front lines of this spiritual battle is taking place. His battle plan / strategy are to first divide us then conquer by tempting us to fight in the flesh.

When we lack unity in the Holy Spirit we are cut off from central command and wander around aimlessly; essentially being sidelined from the fight. Paul also advises us in chapter two, verse three “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count other more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” 

Jesus, was quoted in the gospel of John, chapter seventeen, verse twenty-one “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” 

 Jesus clearly lays out our battle plan for every person which is to be unified as one body in Christ. As long as we stay connected to the One True Vine then the Holy Spirit can continue to empower us through the battles of life. His unlimited power and resources is our greatest asset, however, we must remain in fellowship with one another to keep the sap flowing through the vine.

Like the effects of kryptonite on superman, the following list of wrong behaviors will sever us from God’s arsenal essentially sidelining us from engaging in the battle:  adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like. 

Many hands make the work easier so get others involved and remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. Stay in the battle by keeping unity within the fellowship and continue walking in the Holy Spirit.

Cracked cisterns

Water, the quintessential component of life, is so necessary that without it your body will begin to shut down after only four days. Our bodies are composed of sixty percent of it and every cell in our body needs it to continue the many processes that keep us alive.
 

The earth’s massive oceans comprise over seventy percent of our planet’s surface. They are not only a fertile source for food, our atmosphere’s oxygen supply but also supply fresh water to our villages and communities. God’s hydrological cycle begins by forming clouds through the process of evaporation that eventually and graciously deposit fresh water over the many mountain ranges on our continents.

Our oceans were designed as earth’s buffering system to regulate many complex systems that keep all life flourishing. Unfortunately, the human race has used this precious resource to deposit their waste, allowed overfishing and radioactive material to contaminate them. 

Many concerned scientists, environmental activists and citizens are troubled at the apparent lack of concern among all nations of the world. It is becoming very obvious that our ocean’s delicate balance is being overloaded with pollution and may be reaching the tipping point of no return. 

As the new industrial revolution continues to spiral out of control, the dumping of radioactive waste is being allowed to continue in countries around the world, the consequences will be catastrophic for all life on earth.

While the word picture I have just painted is indeed full of darkness and despair, unlike a Kinkade portrait which is filled with the hope and light, there is yet still hope. The redemption of mankind as well as the earth has already been accomplished and the curtain on the final act is about to go up for the last call.

The nation of Israel, all children from the twelve sons of Jacob, was commanded to worship only the One, True and Living God who is the Fountain of Living Water, the Well with the Holy Name. 

Unfortunately, like all of us, the nation of Israel turned their backs on God and began to worship other contrived gods of heavenly and earthly origins. God’s design, to use Jacob’s children to reveal His plan of salvation to the entire world, was derailed as men allowed greed, power and lust to draw them away to the deception of false gods and idol worship.

“Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate," says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns-broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

This text, found in Jeremiah chapter two verses twelve and thirteen, lists two destructive acts committed not only by the nation of Israel but all humanity. The world has indeed turned their backs on the source of life and instead dug for themselves cisterns-broken cisterns, which cannot hold water.

Since the very beginning of creation God has promised that it would be Him who would correct the mistakes of mankind. His answer has always been the giving of Himself in the form of the Messiah or Savior to reverse the original generational curse on mankind.

God sent His only begotten Son into the world to purchase mankind out of slavery. How did God accomplish this? God chose to send Himself into our world, to be born of a virgin, live a life free from sin, which then paid the ultimate price to redeem us all.

Jeshua once told a Samaritan women, who was sitting with Him nearby a well, that He was the source of Living Water. If she drank water from Jacob’s well she would thirst again but if she drank from the Well with the Holy Name she would never thirst again and live forever.

As the final curtain is being drawn up, the trumpet sounded and an end comes to the two thousand year old intermission, all who receive God’s free gift of salvation are about to be redeemed and restored. Your destiny, as well as the destiny of all your family and friends, rests solely on the act of asking to receive the Living Water from God’s Fountain.  

However, our lives are like cracked cisterns that cannot hold water as we continue to forsake God and dig cisterns of our own making which cannot hold the Holy Spirit. Today is your divine appointment; do not wait for a human solution by attempting to fill the cracked cistern of your own making. Chose Jesus, the Living Water of life and live forever by coming to the Well with the Holy Name.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”