The Servant of All

The ranking system. So not cool --- people base your importance on your position in your family, school, church and city. Everybody is equal, so what is the ranking system all about?

Humans naturally like to be more important, and more valuable. But most people seeking high value and importance are seeking those things for the wrong reasons. They don't seem to realize that the more powerful you are, the more people you serve. And the more people you serve, the lower you are on the scale.

Jesus was the most important of all, and yet at the same time, he was the servant of all. Psalm 118:22 says,

The stone rejected by the builders has now become the corner stone. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous to see.

The cornerstone is the most important of all stones because it supports all the other stones. Jesus was the chief corner stone, created the universe for goodness-sake! His is the cornerstone! And yet, He serves us all, He holds everything together for us. He makes everything work for good for us In fact, most of the stuff he does is for us.

Anyway back to the ranking thing. In a church, everybody looks up to the pastor, they all count on him to show up to church on Sunday morning. He basically works for the congregation. While the one person in the back of the sanctuary is on the verge of deciding whether to commit to Jesus or to not. This person is serving no one, therefore, he is the most important.

What I'm trying to say is that if anyone wants to have any sort of importance at all they must be willing to be just as much a servant as they are a leader. And if you serve, know that you are important though you may not see it yourself.

Miracles

There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail,
It's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles,
You can achieve
When you believe,
Somehow you will,
You will when you believe,
You will when you believe.

Stephen Schwartz (1948 - )

This is one of my favorite songs, not only because it's beautiful, but because it is true. I am reading Acts right now, so I'm reading about different times where miracles have happened like when Peter healed the crippled man. Like many, I used to think it was impossible to perform a miracle myself.

But one day, my dad's friend Darren (we called him Doughnut because I couldn't pronounce his name when I very young), had hurt his ankle and had to walk with crutches. My sister and I were so young then, we had infinite hope that if we merely laid our hands on him, prayed, and commanded his leg to be healed, he would be able to walk. So we did just that. The very next moment, he could walk. We were amazed!

After that, I was always confident that I could pray for anything and I would get it. But then my cat, Mr. P.C. (Mr. Personality Cat or Mr. Privileged Character --- it depends which of my parents you ask) died. He was my best friend, and it was so sudden. The doctors think he died from a stroke. Whatever.

Anyway, for the next ten hours or so, he was in a box in the garage. I prayed my heart out for him to come back to life. The only reason my parents kept his body out was because I was so sure he would be resurrected. That "resurrection" never came. I barely even remember, but my parents buried him in the backyard late that night in the rain, in a flower bed. My heart was shattered that I would never see him again.

Even though I was so young back then, the grief was overwhelming. Why hadn't God answered the way I wanted Him to? I don't know exactly why, but I do know that He does have a reason for everything. And His reason is good enough for me.

Trapped

Sometimes I feel trapped. Trapped in and limited to this one world, one life, one body, and one perspective. Being a human, I can reach out, but I can only reach so far. I need more, a sense of something different.

This is when the spiritual realm comes in. Something that no one can see or hear, but we can sense it.

But who said only humans can sense it? Well, I used to have a cat named Iris. One time, we were praying for a friend in our living room. Towards the end of the prayer, Iris had a sudden and total change of character. Her pupils covered her eyes entirely. She was almost baring her teeth, and she made a horrible growling noise as she warned something to get out...or else. Then, with the deathly look on her face, watched something unseen move across the room. Finally, whatever it was, a demon, an evil spirit, exited. After this, all was normal. This is how the story goes as told by my parents so many years ago.

Something supernatural had happened then. The spiritual realm was temporarily tapped into. And we had God-given power to eliminate "the thing."

This was not the first time something like this has happened, nor will it be the last. The moral of the story is that we have power to do things that may seem impossible at times, but nothing is impossible when we call on the Lord Jesus.

My Friend, the Bible

Sometimes I feel empty. Really empty. So I'll just wander around my house trying to find something to do. I'll end up upstairs, then downstairs, then upstairs again. I can't explain to anyone how I feel. No, I'm not bored. There are plenty of things to do, like the laundry, email, feed the cats, read, work on my blog, but something's missing. Maybe I have an idea, maybe I don't.
This particular day, Saturday, October 5th, 2007, I am tired, and bored, too. But it's more than that. So I decided to conquer another chapter of that big, black, leather covered book on my desk. Yes, you guessed it: my Bible.
Sometimes reading the Bible means stepping out of our comfort zone. No matter how scared and uncomfortable we are, we need to be brave enough to learn our faults and correct them. The Bible has a way of pointing out the things we've done wrong, but it also compliments us of the things we do right. I don't know about you, but I feel good after reading the Bible. Every time. It's supernatural, hearing voices from centuries ago.
Written by man, the Bible can't possibly be perfect, can it? Well, the text no. But there is a perfect, God-inspired message inside the imperfectness of the mortal-written book: love.
The Living Word, my partner, and my friend forever.

The chapter from the Bible that I read is: Psalm 48.