I am a servant and not Lord

From: February 26, to March 3, 2008

Pastor: Edith Cruz

STUDY: # 531 Topic: “I am a servant and not Lord" Matthew 20:25, 26

As believers we were born to be servants. Sometimes people who appear to be serving God are called servants, but they don't last very long doing what they’re doing. The truth is that a servant is always a servant. God has wanted us to be servants. As servants we are slaves that do what the Lord tells us to do. The servant cannot do what he wants. In fact, he is always being corrected. There isn’t anything better than deciding in our lives what 1 Corinthians 9:19 says, "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” Paul was made servant of all in order to reach the largest number of lives for salvation. He did it for the well-being of others. Only the person that knows what should be done is the person that can decide to be a servant, a slave of the Lord. Nowadays the message that is taken is not the one of being servants but the one of governing to be lords. Our mind has to stumble with the Lord Almighty. The goal nowadays is to become a pastor, but for this many days of fasting and prayer are needed. One should not desire to be a pastor just to be the lord of the church, but to be a servant and to serve many. Then, if there is something we need to watch out for is ourselves. The servant does not have his own ideas in the Kingdom of God, and is not the governor or who makes plans, because Heaven has already planned what we will do as servants even before the foundation of the world. What we have to look for is what God has for us. Our map is in our knees; as long as we pray we will know what to do and where to go. A servant can never say: "now I am not able to, I would rather do it later because I am occupied in my own purposes." A servant will launch in complete trust in the one who planned our lives. Be careful, many want to live their purposes the 24 hours of the day. We have much to say with our mouths, but not everything is true. A servant is obedient because he has recognized that he is a slave, that he cannot do things on his own but under the will of God. How can we work in justice if we don't recognize that we are slaves of the Lord? Those who have recognized that they are servants will always do what the Father has wanted. We are not slaves of our will, but of the Father's will for our lives. The servant walks and submits in humbleness. It is a pleasure to live in the will of God. When someone makes a mistake and becomes “a lord” things don’t go well and he begins to complain. When he walks as “a lord” he begins to put burdens on others, and when things don’t go well he becomes frustrated. How willing are we to become servants? We are free in Christ, but servants of God and of all. A calling from God is not a call from mankind. 2 Samuel 11:1 David forgot that he was a slave of God and instead of going to war he stayed resting in Jerusalem. We sometimes have a thousand reasons or excuses to avoid becoming slaves, but a slave doesn't analyze what he has to do. What happens is that sometimes we have not developed our spirit, we haven’t given ourselves completely to our Master and we forget that every day we have to surrender to Him. Before, we were slaves of the flesh, of sin. When someone is not a servant, then he is idle. When one is "a lord" he cannot overcome the flesh. David’s mind became corrupted, he was no longer a servant but "a lord" and God punished him. 2 Samuel 12:9 God punished David for his sin. As long as we are servants and slaves we will walk under the will of God and no harm will come to us. We need to hear the voice of God. We are not anything but servants so that no evil, pests or punishment

will come to us. If something we should learn it is that we have been born to follow instructions and not live our lives as we please because we don't have capacity to do so. I Samuel 15:11 Saul had the heart of a king, but the king continued to be God who chose him and the one who gives the instructions. The problem is that when we don't obey the Word of God we think that what’s in our thought is the best and it is not this way. God is the one who has made plans for our lives to be servants. As servants there are many things that await for us to do. Preachers on television have projected men as kings. Watch out for vanity. When people disobey, the Word of God is discarded. This is the problem when we don't know how to follow instructions as servants. Saul began to ride on his horseback and receive embarrassments; he and his family were killed. That is the problem, disobedience. We continue to be servants at all time; we are enslaved for the Lord. As slaves of God there is no death or plague, although there are difficult days. Then, we can understand what is said in Matthew 20:26-28, that we have come to serve. God asks from us what He wants us to give Him, and not what we don’t have. God has given us to conquer and to reach others. Paul refused that freedom to win others. A servant walks with a low head. We must not seek to be served and not serve. As slaves we should love and not expect love from anyone. If we continue to demand love we will never be slaves. Matthew 18:1 A child is asked to do things, then, we have to be like a child. If we can’t be like a child but rather our thoughts are so full planning according to our desires, then God cannot use us to do anything for the church. With our ambitions we don't know what we’re asking or what we want. A slave does what he is asked to do, what God wants to give us. Corinthians 1 3:5 Let us be like a child so that we can learn how to receive instructions on behalf of God. We are servants of Christ. Paul said to be a servant. Wanting to be a lord creates a great problem because there is competition, jealousy, and there is no control and it can even lead to kill a best friend. What we have comes from God. For that reason, we cannot be lords, because then envy will come. We are all the same. When one wants to be a lord there are disagreements, quarrels, disputes, jealousies and it can destroy anyone. By feeling powerful there is no longer a desire to be a servant. Let us be very careful. Let us begin to discipline the body physically, because then we will learn discipline in everything else. I Corinthians 1:27-31 God chose us as the foolish and weak of this world to put His will in us, to undo this world and to give Him all the glory. To God be the glory. Amen.