September 30 - Humility in Duty

        Luke 17:10 - "So when you have done everything you were told to do, you should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

        Recently, my supervisor at work called me while I was working the evening shift. Among other things, she thanked me for being a responsible worker and for doing what I was asked to do, which was sometimes a different task each day. I responded by saying that I was only doing my job.

        In the story of Luke 17:7ff, Jesus is calling us to be humble in our servanthood. After all, God is the Master; we are the servants. He is in control; we are the workers in his kingdom. The same goes for being employees for our company or boss. We have agreed to be compensated a certain amount of money and/or benefits for doing a certain amount of work. Why should we expect anything more? On the contrary, we should follow Colossians 3:22-24, knowing that it is God who we ultimately work for, and who will ultimately reward us. Galatians 6:7 also comes into play here. We really will reap what we sow. If I work to enhance my employers' business, then his blessing will become my blessing. If I increase his earnings, then I might possibly increase my earnings, however without expecting to do so. The opposite is even more true. If my employer loses money, I can certainly not expect to make more.

        So, do what you are required and more, with a humble attitude, and let God take care of you.

September 19 - Feelings and the truth

        Jeremiah 17:9 - " The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"

        2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We live by faith, not by sight."

        Feelings/emotions are a strange topic to discuss. Every moment of our lives is sensory in nature to some degree. How we react to truth, falsehood, and the perception thereof, involves not only the mind, but how we feel about those facts of life and perceptions about those things of which we don't know the facts. We obviously live day-to-day based upon facts of life. For example, I go to work to earn a paycheck, whether I feel like it or not. Because, if I don't go to work, I do not get paid. When I got married, I entered into a lifelong relationship/commitment that just doesn't dissolve because I don't feel like I am married anymore. As Wendy Kaiser once told in a story about a friend whose marriage was on the rocks, "Honey, you better adjust your feelings to the facts."

        When I became a Christian, or just before, I had somewhat of a supernatural tangible experience. However, my faith in God's redemption for me is not based, nor was it ever based, in my feelings or physical experience. The truth of the gospel is founded upon rock-solid facts about God's love and plan for redeeming the world, not about feelings or emotions that you or I have experienced along the way. Remember what Paul said in Galatians 1:8 - "If we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a good news solution, other than the one we proclaimed to you, let him be eternally condemned!" Therefore, if, e.g., the Morman missionaries, or the Jehovah's Witnesses females, come knocking on your door with their different truth, do not be fooled by their emotional arguments based upon a warm feeling that they had when they supposedly met God. The reason is that they point to that emotional feeling as confirmation of a sealed deal. They haven't read Jeremiah 17:9, mentioned above. Truth does not depend on how I feel; it depends upon God's rock-solid revelation.