Who/What Do You Serve?
Matthew 4:10
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
My Experience, Strength
& Hope
The big question today
is this: Who or what do you serve? For a person who has struggled with
addiction in the past yet calls themselves a born-again Christian, this has
been a difficult question to answer at times. The passage above makes it clear.
We are to worship God alone and serve only Him.
When we become addicted
to something in the natural realm like a drug, food, cigarettes, alcohol,
busyness or some other thing that is pulling at our attention, we begin to
worship and serve it – we then serve the created rather than the Creator. Jesus
knew very well who the number one person was to be in His life – it was His
Father in heaven. He worshipped no person, place or thing. He only worshipped
God in heaven – His heavenly Father – your Father and my Father.
People who are addicted
to something are basically saying without mouthing the words that they worship
the thing they are addicted to. They serve it by subjecting themselves to its
influence and power in their lives. They run to it for comfort rather than God.
And when it runs out they will go to any length to replenish it. If it is food,
people will eat until they are sick – ask me how I know this. Or they will
drink until they pass out or puke, or both (been there, done that, threw away
the T-Shirt!) But at the end of it all, they are only left feeling physically
ill, mentally exhausted and spiritually empty.
Christians have God – a
powerful heavenly Father who can satisfy their every need. He never forsakes
us. He will never turn down a cry for help. Imagine how joy filled He would be
if we went to Him before a binge of eating or getting drunk or drugged up and
said something like this, “Lord, I am hungry right now, but I don’t know what I
am hungry for. I’m just hungry.” Or something like this, “Lord, I am thirsty
right now. I need a drink. Help me!” Or what about this – “Father, I am hurting
right now. I don’t even feel comfortable in my own skin – will You help me?”
There are numerous
verses in the Bible that make it abundantly clear that when we call on Him in
our time of need, He will be right there for us. Often, we just don’t get quiet
enough or sit still long enough for Him to begin to do what only He can do to
ease our troubled hearts. Jesus told us not to let our hearts be troubled, but
until the addict gets a hold of that truth - the fact that they can take that
troubled heart to the Lord and He can calm it, they will continue to struggle.
He can make everything look and feel different when we get in His presence.
One of the things I have
discovered is that when I slow myself down and relax, it becomes easier to sit
with the Lord and receive from Him. But I have to get out of the busy mode. In
fact, busyness has been a greater stronghold in my life than food ever was! We
need to just sit and get quiet. Many will find that the minute they sit down,
they will start crying. And that’s OK. Obviously there is something inside that
needs to come out. We need to allow the Lord to pull the pain out and rub His
healing balm all over the wound that is oozing.
After a while, doing
this will bring a rush of peace over us like a gentle wave of soothing warm
water that just rolled over our heart and soul. That’s the Living Water. I have
found that following the food plan - unless I am away from home and cannot for
some reason, I want to stay on the narrow path His good plan for me. Why?
Because I feel so much better when I do. When I treat my body right by putting
the right kind of fuel in it, I get the best results. I rarely walk away from a
meal feeling uncomfortably full. I do not struggle with heartburn from too many
carbs, and my body functions and eliminates waste so much better. Spiritually,
I am at peace. It is the same with drinking and drugs, etc.
Anything that we are
putting into our bodies that is not good can quickly become something we serve
if we are not very careful. We can get to a place where we are worshipping the
food, drug or drink instead of the Lord, and it can happen very quickly. There
is a very fine line between worshipping something or just taking it for what it
is and moving on. We must exercise self-control over outward things at all
times.
Even the weekend before
I wrote this, I went out to dinner with my husband and on another occasion, we
went out for breakfast. Sadly, I must admit I went a bit overboard and came
away feeling uncomfortable from both meals. The Lord immediately got to work dealing
with me on those issues right away as you can imagine. Getting to a place where
we can lay down any desire to ‘splurge’ once in a while is the goal here. I
have become so accustomed to eating a smaller number of calories and such
healthy food that my body just screams at me after I eat too much, as if to
say, “What are you doing!?!”
In the end, we must
choose to worship God with everything we are and have. With every aspect of our
lives we must show Him that He is our first and most important love. We must
also show Him that we are here to serve Him with our whole heart – not just a
part of it. I am here to take you along on my journey of success. When I face a
challenge, I will be honest so that it might help you in some way. We are in
this life together and called to support one another. We are here to love each
other. If I do well, I need to share my strength and hope in Christ with you.
If I missed it, I know I can share that too so that maybe you will see better
what not to do or how it can help you in the future.
Let’s do what the Master
told satan: “Worship
the Lord our God and serve Him only” – together! Praise His
name forever! We can see that in saying this sentence to the devil, Jesus was
applying faith in the word of God. And did the word work for Jesus? Yes!
Believe it because it did! Upon hearing those words of God spoken out in faith
from the mouth of our Savior, the devil had to leave Him. The enemy cannot
stand up against the word of God – no matter who is doing the talking.
Scriptures from This Message…
Exodus 20:1-6
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy
God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy
unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Deuteronomy 6:14
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are
round about you.
Isaiah 44:6
Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer
the Lord of
hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Revelation 2:4
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy
first love.
Remember what you felt like when you first fell in love with Jesus. Go
back to that place in time and then increase it. Our love for Him should be
ever increasing, more and more in this life.
Luke 6:46
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love
the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot
serve God and mammon.
Matthew 19:16-22
And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good
thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life,
keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no
murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not
bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I
kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be
perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.But when the young man heard that saying, he
went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Proverbs 25:28 (NIV)
Like a city whose walls are broken through is a
person who lacks self-control.
2 Peter 1:3-11 (NIV)
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and
goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious
promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to
godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep
you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and
blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your
calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never
stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In unusual situations or away from home, what should we do?
John 2:5
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
Mark 12:30
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first
commandment.
Important Points to Remember:
·
There is only one God –
there is NO other.
·
God/Jesus/Holy Spirit
should be our First Love at all times.
·
Jesus wants to be our
Savior and our Lord/Master.
·
We cannot serve 2
masters at the same time – if we even try we will fail.
·
We can call on the Lord
in any trouble at any time.
·
He is the Lord who heals
us – all the time, every time.
·
Drawing near to the Lord
is the first and best place to go.
·
Spending time with Him
gives us rest – in our soul and spirit.
·
Jesus has already given
us His peace – all we have to do is to receive it by faith.
·
When we are in unusual
situations, all we need to do is ask the Lord how to handle it ahead of time,
and He will be glad to help us. Then, whatever He says, do it!
·
Our number one purpose
and function in this life and the next is to love God with everything in us.
·
Remember that we are
here to serve God and help and serve each other. Love God, love our neighbor –
what life is all about! *Read 1 Cor. 13:4-8 to reinforce what love does. It’s
not a feeling.
Important Questions to Ask Yourself:
·
Have you made Jesus your
Savior but neglected to make Him your Lord/Master?
·
What have you been
placing in your heart and life as more important than the Lord?
·
Will you seriously look
at this in the coming days and make a decision to lay them all down so God can
be elevated to the number one position in your life?
**If you would like to join our weekly call, please send an email to the following:
The3rdJohn2Program@yahoo.com
Be blessed!
Hanny Stearns
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