i think servants make great leaders! If we are sitting at home studying our scripture, not moving out to where we can give away what we’ve got, what good is the work God does in our heart? What good are our doctrines of faith if we aren’t exercising those doctrines we’ve secured from scripture beyond the church, our safe place to operate? Jesus made Himself of no reputation, He was and is the ultimate servant-leader.

Robert Greenleaf wrote, “The servant-leader is servant first… Becoming a servant-leader begins with the choice to serve and to serve first. Then conscious choice brings us to aspire to lead. The servant-leader is sharply different from the one who is the leader first… The difference becomes apparent in the care taken by the servant first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more independent and self-sufficient, more likely themselves to become servants?”

It seems so many either want to stand at the top of the leadership pyramid or want nothing to do with leadership. So many want to be the leader but rarely does anyone want to be the servant…. and i don’t mean “servant” in the sense of being a slave, bowing and scraping, bound and miserable in a dark hole somewhere, carrying a load which causes him to faint, but a servant, as in one who makes provision for others… like ministers, ambassadors, and in the military, a lieutenant.

i believe more servants should come forward as leaders, and that we should be more inclined to prefer servant-leaders… that is probably not a very popular view, especially when so many in the church believe they should be the leader, but have never really given themselves to understanding the concept of being a servant. Since society seems so corrupt, many believe the best thing is to disappear into some secluded place looking to avoid being in the center of things, avoiding leadership altogether. Often, we want to just dispose of any old societies which don’t seem to work and plant seeds for new ones. But, it doesn’t appear much thought has been given to the problem of where the new seed will come from or who the gardener will be to tend it all.

i believe it a trying business for the everyday servant to become a leader, frighteningly vulnerable for the leader to be a servant first, and quite challenging to others that a follower insists on being led by a servant. Hear that and hear again – “frighteningly vulnerable for the leader to be a servant first, and quite challenging to others that a follower insists on being led by a servant.”

How does anyone in leadership understand the needs of the people if that person has never personally known the needs of the people? There is a legitimate need for righteous leadership, and i don’t mean people who simply exercise power and tell people what to do. God has a better idea. i believe, for many, their use of power is to get power, but a true, God-inspired leader uses power to serve the followers, and serves with clear and honest intent.

1 Corinthians 14:7-8, “Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?”

There are some in the Church who say we don’t really need leaders…but just because i’ve been hurt by poor leadership doesn’t negate the need for leadership. Even animals have leaders, and in scripture, the only ones without leadership, were locusts, and they were a curse. The few i have met who say we don’t need leaders, i’ve dubbed, “The NLL’s”, for “non-leader leaders”. They want people to gather but yet they themselves avoid the leadership role although they subtly direct without actually directing…it’s not that they aren’t qualified because they are. There is just something in them which prevents their devotion to consistently showing up and having something prepared, something which prevents them from a consistent and repeatable responsibility to build up people who are healthy, wise, freer, more independent of the world, and more dependent on God… the kind who are inspired to go out, motivating and encouraging others to be servant-leaders also.

i do also ask myself the question though, what’s worse, no leadership or poor leadership? One is an off-key, blaring instrument, and the other is just wind in the tree tops.

In Acts 9, a guy named Barnabas had the nerve to endorse Saul, who was renamed Paul, and from that time on Paul was accepted among the church. In Acts 11, Barnabas, who was servant to the church in Jerusalem, was sent out to, i suppose, validate the happenings in Antioch, which was an 18-day walk from Jerusalem. Barnabas, a servant-leader, found the news to be true of the conversion of many to the gospel of Christ. Acts 11:23-24, “When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.” Barnabas promoted health, wisdom, freedom, independence from the world and dependence on God. He was a “good man”, and not in the sense of just doing good things, but “a good man” because of the character of God which was living and active in his heart. He was full of the Holy Spirit and faith, qualities servant-leaders must possess.

We, as followers and servant-leaders need to respect and be loyal only to authority deserving of our allegiance… devotion, and voluntary true-heartedness, are purposely given to followers by leaders in response to the clearly evident servant stature of the leader. Did you get that? Hear it again – “devotion, and voluntary true-heartedness, are purposely given to followers by leaders in response to the clearly evident servant stature of the leader.”

To whom and what, exactly, are most of us pledging our allegiance? Consider carefully and honestly please. That concept is important and precedent-setting in how we, as the church, gel together and act as a coherent group, and these are the days when we really, really, actually, actually need to get this and know to whom or what we pledge our allegiances.

i believe the church needs individuals who are servant-leaders, not because they are smart and have many degrees, not because they are charismatic and can bring in lots of people with lots of money, not because they preach good sermons, make great music, sing great worship songs, or because they have a sense of personal power, but because they are proven and trusted as servants.

In Mark 10, James and John, the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus and basically said, “We want you to do whatever we ask.”… Jesus took a servant’s position and asked them what they wanted Him to do for them rather than be incensed that they would have the nerve to make such a demand. I consider it to be greatly presumptuous of James and John to do such a thing, b-u-t then, i believe Jesus taught them to be audacious in their prayers, and He did say, “… whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son,” in John 14:13… Anyway… then Jesus, being the servant-leader that He was, responded saying, “You guys have no idea what you’re asking.” In verses 43 and 44 He goes on to give them wisdom and some prophecy, saying,” … whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the leader of leaders, shall be servant of all.”

Jesus was telling them that they shouldn’t be making their way to the top of the mountain to become the greatest among men, but they should be making their way to the bottom of the mountain to be servant-leaders, supporting and encouraging others… leading from the bottom up, not the top down. Those who lead from the top down stand in sharp contrast to the servant-leader who leads from the bottom up.

Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Many today claim to “further the gospel”… and yet all they seem to do is make a reputation for themselves. Could it be that their idea of “further the gospel” is different from God’s idea of “further the gospel”? What does “further the gospel” look like to you?

It seems, at the core of all the controversy in the world around us, many people seem to only want attention, fame, fortune, and influence. And yes, incredible as it sounds, there are people who see themselves as “influencers”. Many people feel small, minimized, and unimportant, so to have a moment of fame, attention, and recognition is very attractive… but to me, this is not the mind of a true servant. i believe, and this is just what i think, a servant holds in low regard that someone would know their name, a servant does not desire to have others bow down before them … a righteous servant finds joy in service alone. I never said it was easy, but it can be done thru the transforming power of the blood of Jesus. Oh yes it can!

Many years ago, much to my disappointment, the Lord, very plainly, told me to lose my name, to stop putting my name on works, writings, or music… just stop telling everyone who you are, and stop hoping for recognition and validation from other people. He said to tell them who He was, what He was doing, and where He was going, and if i would do that, i would see huge results from the work of my hands.

In Matthew 8 a leper came to Jesus and said that if the Lord was willing, he (the leper) was confident Jesus could make him clean. Jesus, basically said, “Yep! i am willing,” and immediately the leper was made whole. Then Jesus did something so contrary to what others may advise… in verse 4 He told the man, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

In John 7, the brothers of Jesus figured if they were Jesus, they’d be out declaring themselves, making a name for themselves, getting money and glory for all they were worth, so they encouraged Jesus to do the same thing, saying, “no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” Sort of like saying, “You should get some publicity for yourself… don’t you want people to know who you are and be famous?”

From this, i gather, by the example of the Lord, the servant-leader doesn’t chase after fame or fortune. To me, it is enough that the King of the Universe knows my name and counts me as His own. For me, that was not easy to come to, but, to a degree, it is enough that He’s spoken to me. Of course i still struggle because all of the social constructs of today are geared towards getting fame and fortune, and i can’t help but live in the world which i live in. But slowly, i’m losing the need to be recognized. Most times it’s joyful, but occasionally, only occasionally anymore, i feel chaffed to blood a little. It doesn’t mean that we, the servant-leaders, don’t occasionally sit at home alone and bemoan our sad selves because we feel as though no one is listening and no one cares… the fact is… if God has asked you to give of yourself, as He assuredly has, then our approval and endorsement comes from the Lord, not men, and it is sufficient. Not an easy lesson to learn friends, but it can be done.

Let’s get our precedence in the right order as servant-leaders. If people come to your meeting, it’s not because you’ve got something amazing that has been generated of yourself, but because the Lord drew them there. You didn’t go get them, God brought them. Like Tommy Tenny said, “If the Kingdom of God came because we have great buildings, excellent teaching, first-class preaching, rocking-good music, or amazing song choruses…we would have long ago entered into Heaven’s gates.”

If the Lord has given you something to do, do it because He asked you to, not because anyone will recognize or validate you.

Do the numbers. i recently got these statistics from an advertising media expert, so let’s look at the statistics from Face Book… for example… less than 1% of the people we, quote-unquote, “friend” will actually look at what has been published there…. and less than 1% of that 1% will even respond…so IF we’re waiting on someone to give us kudos, unless God brings those kudos around, it’s highly unlikely anyone will endorse us….we must learn that our personal relationship with Christ is truly sufficient to supply all our needs according to His riches in Glory, and that includes emotional and mental needs too. IF we are waiting for the endorsement of men for us to be “OK”, if we are waiting for the approval and affirmation of some “higher authority” to be “OK”, to do what God has already asked us to do, odds are good that we’ll NEVER be “OK”. What more do we need than God’s endorsement? … if He asked us to do something, we HAVE His endorsement. Why do we need another man to endorse us in order to be validated anyway? Think about it. Church, let us be brutally honest with ourselves and get to the root of that.  Stop telling everyone your title or gifting, go and DO it. Stop telling us all God has called you and you are a prophet, or pastor, or teacher and go out into the world and DO it; leave your safe place…and go out to BE and DO what the Lord has asked of you … let go of your name and title and BE the servant-leader the Lord has called you to be. You can do this!

Personally, i’ll testify that i have indeed cried to the Lord, and i do mean with tears, crying that no one was hearing what He gave me… many times it seemed no one cared if they ever heard my name again… that for all the talents He had given me, the whole lot seemed to go nowhere and do nothing. i have cried a river of tears over my sad, victimized self… oh, poor me, huh? … sitting with my feet in the window, weeping, wishing God would do something other than what He was doing.

And why was i weeping? Because somewhere within me was a need to be known and recognized, a need for people i admired, to admire me too. Shortly, i came to a crossroads though, one where i realized that my name never set anyone free, my name never healed anyone, had never parted an ocean, or caused the weather to obey… nor had my name ever liberated anyone from sin. There at the crossroads of reality, i made a choice to be a servant, to lose my name, and promote the welfare, health, and well being of others, and above all, to live out God’s values and standards above my own, promoting, exclusively, Jesus as the Name above all names. If, indeed, there is only one name under Heaven (Acts 4:12), then who am i to tag my name in there in hopes of getting a little credit? Yes, it is a serious struggle, and even, to this day, from time to time, sometimes, i still experience those feelings a little, though only occasionally and with greatly reduced intensity. But what is real here?

My feelings, or the word of God? If we are to be servant-leaders we should not n-e-e-d people to make us feel like a King or Queen, but to make ourselves of no reputation, giving our lives as a ransom for those we serve. (Philippians 2:7)

Now….right there is an interesting word … “ransom”. i have read that the word “ransom” precisely translates from its origin as “To loose from bonds” – which transliterates into English as “to liberate many from misery” and  “giving a gift to secure favor”, and isn’t that what the servant-leader does? Servant-leaders are meant to pick up the work given to them and accomplish their task, without complaint, without fear, and without anger. Seems an impossible task you say? But it can be done. By the blood and resurrection of Jesus we have the power and authority to BE the people of God, rightly representing our King to a dying world.

Jesus is our example: Matthew 12:18-21, “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally, he will cause justice to be victorious. And His name will be the hope of all the world.”

In the Old Testament, the prophets spoke of Jesus as a servant. Zechariah 3:8, ‘”Hear, 0 Joshua, the high priest, You and your companions who sit before you, For they are a wondrous sign; For behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.”

Please, bear in mind, again, i’m not talking about a servant as in someone who is some servile, spineless, groveling person, doing all that bowing and scraping stuff. Being a servant doesn’t mean you cannot also have a position of authority, name, or even fame… The true Kings and Judges of God in the Old Testament were also called Servants. However, servants do not and shall not (present and future, a statement and a promise) follow after selfish gain, servant-leaders instead follow after peace, compassion, love, long-suffering, self-control, and courage (to name a few) … these are not only attributes every servant-leader follows after, but also the character properties we give to those who follow. God bestowed the title of “servant” on those who were Godly people, ambassadors of the Lord, called and sent to accomplish some service….it was a title that was meant as honorable, endearing, and as an intimate friend. Our faith in Christ as servant-leaders is not a system or a structure gleaned from a book on “How To Be A Servant-Leader in 10 Easy Steps”, no. It’s a relationship of rising fountains of the Lord’s continuous good intent flowing in us who believe.

Every one of God’s chosen were called his servants…if we look at each one’s character, they were all servant-leaders. Genesis 26:24, “I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” Jeremiah 46:27 “But do not fear, 0 My servant Jacob; In Joshua 1:2 God called his man, “…Moses my servant”; 1 Kings l1:38  says,  “….as  David  My servant did…”;        Isaiah 49:3, “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant,0         Israel…”; even Jesus is referred to as  “servant”  in  Isaiah  42:1 and Matthew 12:18, “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.” They were all servants in the sense of “those as meant to serve.”

Job, God’s servant, never cursed God. Joseph, the servant always kept his eye on the prize and never let his circumstances dictate his mood. The disciples sang praises in jail. There is not time to write about every servant of God who faced hardship before accomplishing the task at hand, but all were servant-leaders, as servants who served those within their sphere of influence.

Philippians 2:4-8, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

An attribute of a servant-leader is that they automatically respond by listening first… they know that true listening builds strength in other people and is essential in resolving conflict.

Another true mark is if a conflict arises and needs to be resolved, the servant­ leader understands that the process of change starts inside themselves, not out there in everyone else. We start with a “fearless moral inventory” of ourselves, not our neighbor. Our problem with other people is not other people but with ourselves… it is not a problem of trouble, but how i react to trouble.

Do you have a heart to serve? Read your Bible. If we want to know Jesus, the servant-leader of all servant-leaders, we can start by studying Him in scripture. “Et vobis amicis meis? ubi es?” And you my friends? Where are you?

Let us become not just leaders, serving from the top down, but servant-leaders, serving from the bottom up, encouraging others to become healthier, wiser, freer, more independent and self-sufficient, and more likely to become servants. We may likely have to learn to lead from the back, you know. Stand up church, it’s time to get to your feet.

 God has given Jesus a crown of glory and honor and a good name, and having put everything under the feet of the Son, Jesus has dominion over all the works of His hands, including all animals, creatures, all birds and insects, all things which travel the pathways of the sea, in the earth, under the earth, and all the Heavens above. The name of Jesus is excellent in all the universe! i read once that the Father loves to hear us saying the name of His son… Jesus. His Name in my mouth is like tasting something delicious and sweet. i consider all of the Lord’s doctrines, values, instructions, and requirements … to be right and righteous and no one can bend them to become something other than what they are.

 All things point to Jesus…resonating and vibrating down to the molecular level at the righteous speaking of the Name of the Son, Jesus, the Christ of God. Indeed the Line of Choosing is becoming more evident as the Lord gradually blows away the clouds, which have concealed, until now, the most definitive line that has ever been drawn….the Line Of Choosing…. drawn with the finger of God, etched in eternity.

Eugene Peterson says “I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. 4 Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?

5 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods, bright with the dawn of Eden’s light.”

 Jesus is the Lord and God, never merely A lord, or some diminished, minimized version some would call “a God”. We are never God in any capacity and Jesus is always God in ALL capacities. There is never a time He is me, and never a time when i am Him. He is always God, i am never God.

John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made.”

Jesus IS The Name, Ha’Shem, Yeshua-Moshe and everything points to Jesus,  as Lord and God, and will not be diminished by the opinions of men.

Today we are each where we are, and some of us may not have much but what we do have we’ve got a lot of it.

 The value of a good name, according to God and scripture, is something worth being ambitious about. A good name commends us to God… and in His eyes, a good name is highly valuable and preferable above money and good deeds. Being wealthy doesn’t get anyone a good name … sure, it may appear a wealthy person is loved and needed, and may even win favor and peace with those who oppose, but in the end, if things don’t go well and all that money goes away, what are the wealthy left with but their name. Wealth does not get us favor with God. Luke 12:15, “And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things possessed.”

As we’ve seen concerning other topics, if we speak of a good name…. in order to see the contrast, we must also, briefly, address the contrary of a good name. If we’ve lived a life and gained a name that speaks of corruption and malice, if the government is oppressive and tyrannical, if a lawyer is known to be deceitful, if church leadership is shown to be corrupt in doctrine or in life, insufficient in scholarly studies, or possibly even downright profane, then people will be afraid to even deal with them.

In 1 Kings 12 there was a guy named Jeroboam who had become king. According to 1 Kings 14: 16, it says that the Lord, “… shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.”

Jeroboam made a name for himself all right, one which no one wanted. Can you imagine that it is written down for all time, forever, that almost every time your name is mentioned, it is followed by, “… who made others to sin”? Obviously, that’s the wrong sort of name any of us want for ourselves, and neither do we want to follow after any leadership like that.

How many kings, queens, or military leaders, how many captains, or government leaders, have been left and deserted to stand alone in their time of great need because they had been too sharp and unmerciful….and even to those who don’t personally know them, their name went before them and set the precedence? That would be terrible!

For those who have gotten an evil name for themselves, it would seem when they die, no one will regret their departure, no one will be sad, and that is truly sad.

Though many in leadership have done a lot of great stuff, even if that person is successful and has many things, if they don’t have a good name, i don’t believe there comes much lasting good with their gifts. Proverbs 22:1 1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.

So, you and i as believers, and i think it’s safe to assume, we all truly want a good name…. it probably shouldn’t be a name that’s either mispronounced, or one people make fun of, and definitely not a name like Adolph, Jeroboam, Jezebel, or Saddam. The underlying truth is that when we talk about having a good name or losing a good name, in reality, we’re talking about the impressions that people associate with that name – which would be our reputation. i am supposing it’s true that you do want a good name, don’t you?

Proverbs 8:18, “Wealth and Glory accompany me – also substantial Honor and a Good Name.”

 Not only is Jesus a good name, but it is also the Best name. In the Name of Jesus, we live and move and have our being….not in our name, not in the name of Paul, Peter, or John, not in the name of a famous person somewhere or the name of a star or constellation, and neither in the name of the wind or the universe …. but in the Name of Jesus. In His Name we have life and have it more abundantly. His Name alone accomplishes righteousness, His Name, unaccompanied by any other name, changes governments and shifts the Heavens. His Name alone heals the afflicted, the lame, and the blind, in solely His Name is our salvation….it sets things straight beyond the atomic level.

When we speak to mountains and they move, it’s not because we are so great, it is His voice in ours that does the moving, and if they don’t move it’s due to a lack of His voice in ours. Friends, the mountains only respond to the speaking of the Son.

In the Name of Jesus… in His Name…. there is repair for broken minds, cracked emotions, and barren hearts. If we break the Name of the Son of God down to the letters, and then to the letters in the letters, there are endless libraries of wisdom and understanding available to anyone who would know him. Moreover, not just the letters but the “white letter”, which is the part surrounding the letters, there is endless beauty even between the letters of His Name.

 In His Name there are patterns for us to live by:  patterns of prayer, hope, and the pursuit of righteous things; there are patterns of honesty, truth, action,  and devotion. If people need those things in their lives, in the Name of… The One… change to possess those fruits is available. In Jesus, The Name, there is the pattern of the Tabernacle and even the candlestick pattern points to the Son of God.

The Name of Jesus alone shatters discord and confusion from the east, like the rising sun breaking the grip of night,  He is purity incarnate,  manifested in silence and in the rising song of the morning. The universe has no independent power to do anything other than His will…..from His Name flows clear knowledge, wisdom,  and peace.

 In The Name of the One, the EverLord and One King, the Lord will establish the standard on the walls of Babylon; Ha’Shem will make the guard strong and will set up the watchmen.

There is more than a passive vision in His Name, more than just casually gazing at something, more than a casual observation, more than just noticing some detail or watching from a distance. In Jesus’ Name there is clear, sharp vision for whomsoever will see, in His Name is our faculty, vision, and perception.

Acts 4:12 is the truth, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 In the  Name… that is “THE” Name…Jesus, Yeshua-Moshe, there is divine grace and life, in Him is the door of light and life. John  14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Did you catch what  He said there?  He’s saying it wasn’t that  He knew A way, but that He, Himself IS the way,  and that  He didn’t just know  A  truth,  that  He, Himself IS the truth, and He isn’t only knowing how to get A life,  but that He,  Himself  IS the life. That means the path that we should follow is alive,  there is life in the path God has laid out for us, because “THE  NAME” IS  the path. That means the truth we live by is alive, He is the living, breathing, thinking,  action-taking truth….more than just something we know, the truth is a person. Life is more than just breathing and choosing… “the life”, not just A life, but THE  LIFE is a  person and our lives are vibrant and alive because He is vibrant and alive and without Him we would have no vibrancy or livingness. By His Name we move from being inanimate to becoming animated, alive in Him. We live and breathe in THE NAME of Jesus.

 In the Name of Jesus, God dressed the naked…..in His mercy, THE NAME clothed Adam and Eve. In His Name is the whole house, inside and out and there will never come a time when we feel like the walls are closing in on us. Scripture begins and ends with an act of kindness because kindness is at the root of God’s heart… in His very name is spelled out Mercy and  Grace beyond the vanishing point. without God’s mercy the universe would not exist. His name is like a wave rolling out into the universe, the action of beginning, and the wisdom of nourishing us till we are complete. His Name brings all things to completion and maturity.

His Name brings out the songbird in each of us, which is like a bird that is just crazy happy with melody and shines in each of us. There is joy in Heaven for everyone who returns and comes home.

 In His Name we find our righteous attitude, how we lean in our heart toward God, the pitch and yaw of our being. His Name is kindness overflowing and loyalty, Ch’esed, we are redeemed in His Name. In the Name of Jesus we have our pathway and door, His Name affords us the right to choose and there is fresh, every day, the opportunity to return as a penitent who’s come home; In His Name we breathe more than air, we breath divine breath and we find our connection between the world and Heaven procured by the nails through the extremities of Jesus when He was nailed to the cross – behold the nails which act as the link between the finite and the infinite, His Name is the bridge across the asymptote. Let us catch the vision of WHY the Name above all names is a name we should be related to, and why God says a good name is above diamonds and rubies.

 The Name of Jesus is our sustenance and armament, it is the armor we wear day and night which deflects the darts of hell; alone His Name is life and divine grace which satisfies all the law that we would be found alive, clothed, and in our right mind; In His Name we possess our sword and become a container for His goodness which we pour out on the world.

 The Name, Jesus, is the name through which we work and worship, it is our hands, feet and effort, in His Name we have a safe place to be, Jesus is our sanctuary. Isaiah 56:5, “Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters;  I will give them an  everlasting name That shall not be cut off.”

 In The Name, Jesus, there is actualized potential, the tendency for us…each as individuals …. to make reality of what we potentially are ….or… by the power of His Name we are not who we were but who we will be in Christ; in His Name the courage to go forward is there with an inclination to teach others about Jesus, whois revealed to be loved, yet not revealed as a mystery to be discovered; it is a seed, it is fruitful and continues on into forever,  bearing the fruit of the  Spirit in all those who accept the seed of His Name, Jesus the Son, and because of The  Name which is alive in us,  He has poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:6-7.

 In His Name and BY His Name is support from God who is our shelter, it is a pillar for the weary to rest against, shade from the heat of the sun of this life and refreshment while in the battle against evil.  His  Name is  a  shield,  Ephesians 6:16 “… the shield of faith with which you will be  able  to quench  all the  fiery darts of  the wicked one.” With His Name comes our prophetic sight, insight,  hindsight, and words of knowledge which are available to all believers who live in His Name.

In His Name is expression, or “a voice” so to speak….the power to vocalize God’s heart… His Name empowers us to breathe definition and explanation…. our voice is joined with His voice to even speak across continents. Colossians 3:16-17, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

 His Name represents the relentless pursuit of the lost and a door to come home again for those who have wandered away….they have a choice between having strength in Him or being degraded by the world. His Name affords us the option to return….it is first….. top…..the champion which crowns the glorious pillars of the altar of redemption. By the Name of Jesus, who is the Word and the standard, in His Name alone is the divine revelation which is tied to the divine, bottom-line character of God.

John 14:7, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

His Name IS the mark and sign, the monument of all monuments,  a  cross on which the Son of God was crucified for our sins…..the very monument,  whose character was worked in the heart of God from the foundations of the world. His Name possesses all the Aleph-Bet. And, above all and through all, The NAME is the face, embodiment, and personification of love … He IS love and in Him, by Him, and in His Name is love everlasting,  which reveals the  Greatness of our  God and  King Jesus, The Name above all names.

 Psalm 29:2, “Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the  LORD in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 34:3, “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 66:2, “Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.” Psalm 68:4, “…sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And rejoice before Him.” Psalm 72:17, “His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun.” Colossians 1:17-20, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

 i read somewhere that what we do or say usually burns an impression in someone’s mind of who they think we are and what they think of us and our character. It is an impression that is difficult to change or erase from their memory. The value others put on our name often dictates how we will be treated by them. It is possible your name may even affect job placement; i can even testify that my name seemed to dictate how i was treated in school…. it even navigates who will agree to marry us. Others’ opinions and thoughts, when our name is mentioned,  have a  lot to do with who we are, and who we will be. Your name may be very important, but above your name and all names is The Name, Jesus, Son of God, Yeshua-Moshe, YAH. No one may remember my name, but God remembers me and will never forget for my name is written on the palms of His Hands. And you? How is your character reflected in your name to others and even before the Lord?

This has been Outposts, a little cool jazz and some contemplative conversation. This evening’s topic, “The Name” may have been a little metaphoric at times, and i do realize i said the words, “The Name” a lot, but after all, it is a name i never get tired of saying…Jesus, my Jesus.

 Consider His Name …. THE Name….ponder on it, roll it around in your head, say His Name out loud so your ears can hear what your mouth is saying. Not just “Him”, not “the man upstairs”, not just “God”, but Jesus. Psalm 148:13, “Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.”

Let yourself take a rest this week, find your composure, be careful what you eat lest it steals your health….sometimes we have to give ourselves what we need, not just what we want……think, “what can i do to help myself?”, and take action.

i don’t know about you, but sometimes…sometimes i am just so very tired of struggling. Oh and how often it just seems my days are filled with one little struggle after another….. just tedious …. so many things in a row are “almost but not quite” and it’s so very irritating. It’s like whenever i’m in a hurry the world around me goes into slow motion….. maybe i’ve got to duck into a store to quickly get something, and it feels like everyone is taking forever to decide even the smallest decisions…. if they are going to get this brand or that brand all the while their cart is blocking the isle and you’re thinking to yourself, “They are all virtually the SAME! Just pick one!” But we can’t do that, so we smile and just practice our virtue of patience, all the while we are broiling inside.

We are “the strugglers”. i fully believe where there is no struggle, there is no progress, and there is no strength; where there is no struggle there is no maturity, no learning to endure and persist which are two very important functions if we plan on continuing to breathe air. i believe most people who never have to struggle with life and everything is handed to them are typically very immature ….without struggle in life there would be no empathy, we couldn’t relate to other people’s trials, their rejection, abandonment, or not being loved.

i hope you will all take to heart some of what is shared … sometimes all we need is a little place to set our feet against in order to make course adjustments for important changes over the long run.

The topic is struggling and those in the Kingdom of God who struggle forward, whom i’ve dubbed “The Strugglers” for their valiance and passion to find some way to wrap their fingers and hands in the robes of God Himself. We struggle to get up a hill and not fall backward, and then we struggle to get down the same hill trying to not fall forward. Even so, the value of struggle is immeasurable and valuable.

Psalm 95:8, “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,” …..a more literal translation of the words  “harden your hearts” is a picture of a yoke with teeth that is heavy and oppressive biting into the very core of Israel’s heart… there was an argument between them and the Lord….it was a struggle of epic proportions while wandering in the wilderness. To harden your heart would mean to refuse to hear and see…. and if you did hear and see, you would refuse to do the wisdom….all born out of the poison of bitterness and iniquity while resenting God for the struggle.

Having wisdom and doing wisdom are often very, very different things. i think to myself sometimes about how often the Lord extends me wisdom and i don’t listen…i have no idea why i don’t listen…i really don’t know …. even so, my unbelief that God is speaking to me or my rejection of His wisdom always complicates my daily struggle. HA! You’d think i’d know better by now, you know?  God extends us wisdom to relive some of our struggles, not only that but He often simply clears the path in front of us providing us times of easy progress for a bit. In fact, for all we do NOT see and hear, there is no telling the obstacles the Lord removes from our path which we don’t know about. In His kindness, He helps us through our struggles.

The Bible is chock full of strugglers…. those who made, in one fashion or another, forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction. It would be easy to point out general things like war because everyone in every war is obviously struggling over something. But i’d like to be a bit more focused on significant individuals whose struggles made an eternal impact on our lives today.

Elijah always struck me as this incredible tower of courage, exercising such confidence in God. In 1 Kings 18, he acted with such certainty…..it’s as if he knew exactly what to do, where to do it, and with whom…..he seemed to have such assurance as to how everything was going to work out, going forward like a man who was so sure of his steps….it was downright majestic.

In 1 Kings 18, he did that whole thing with the prophets of Baal….it was like, no problem, he was the perfect God’s-man in the moment. But, when the prophets of Baal were all dead, and he heard that Jezebel had decreed that he would be dead by the next day, it says in 1 Kings 19:3-4, “….Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4  Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life…”

There was a terrific struggle going on inside him. On one hand, he was determined to accomplish the intent of God’s heart, but on the other hand, he was gripped by fear and ran away to the wilderness and lay crying under a tree for God to kill him. Elijah was one of the strugglers, just like you and me.

By and by, the Lord sent an angel to get him up and give him food…. in his struggle, the Lord made a way. Elijah was strengthened and found the courage to rise again and continue on. “Continue on” is the key phrase.

Douglas MacArthur said, “The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle: the roar of the crowd on the one side, and the voice of your conscience on the other.”

The path of least resistance is one of the greatest lies we will ever believe. We live in a world that makes so many things easy for us, that we begin to live as though the easy way is the best….always. If i’m sitting in a coffee shop with a cup of caffeine, a computer, and a cell phone, and can access any information or contacts I need without moving, i think i’m happy. I can listen to any music in the world that I want to with just a few clicks, see what any person or organization is up to with just a few more, order anything I might need online, or watch whatever I want to watch.

In a world where so much is so easy, the deciding factor in what I do becomes what I WANT. And let’s be honest if given the choice between doing what I want and what I don’t want, I’m always going to lean towards what I want.

What I have come to realize though (sometimes quite painfully), is that what I WANT is usually not the same as what i NEED. In fact way too often, what i NEED is exactly what I do NOT WANT. So what becomes one of the most regular and life-defining choices is the choice between taking the easy path to what I want versus the difficult path to what I need. Struggle becomes an active choice rather than a life necessity. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes disaster hits and we are thrown into struggle without any say in the matter, but day-to-day, struggle is usually something we have to choose.

i realize that you, like myself, get so, so tired of struggling with everything it seems. For example, i have to go to Walmart, and i have to park so very far away, and it’s so hot and my feet hurt and i’ve got a headache, and, and, and…. just choosing to get up and walk to the store is a struggle. Once i get inside it seems it’s a day of all days when everyone seemed to need to return stuff, get their prescription filled, or had to bring the entire family to the store….as if the entire city came to THAT store at THAT moment….just incredible; some people stand in the aisles as though they are the only people shopping on the planet, their kids are screaming, and it seems everyone has a bad attitude, not to mention the old guy on a little go-cart who is running into people on purpose because they are in his way. It is nothing short of a struggle just to be there. Sometimes i think it would be easier to go deer hunting with nothing but a short rope than to struggle with people.

BUT!  Without struggle, it is impossible to grow. Muscles do not grow or strengthen without stress and without being pushed to their limits, and neither do people. We need struggle … as bad as we don’t want it, we neeeeeed struggle in order to become stronger … without it, we slowly deteriorate….we literally have dystrophy.

i think to myself occasionally, “But Lord why oh why do i have to struggle THIS much and for so long it seems?” In the middle of struggle, it seems time slows down to a torturous tick for someone’s delicious thrill of watching us struggle. Of course that isn’t true, but when in the middle of struggle, our conflicts just seem amplified.

Mark 4:36-38, “Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “We are going to die here! Don’t you even care?”

Those guys were in such a struggle, trying to be considerate and not to wake the Lord up while simultaneously trying not to die at sea. And don’t you know they struggled against their thoughts of asking for help or not. Obviously, they believed Jesus could rectify the situation, but the panic in them…” Don’t you even care?” indicates a terrific internal struggle. The Lord is aware of our struggles and just because we don’t necessarily see or hear it, He is moving mountains and shifting the Heavens on our behalf.

i believe Herman Melville was correct when he said, “Hope is the struggle of the soul, breaking loose from what is perishable, demonstrating its everlastingness.” Jesus was the real deal. He was, is, and will be the standard of authenticity, and everyone who met Jesus met with their own incredible internal struggle, thinking, “Who IS this guy?”, “When He’s around it just upsets my little world.”, or “Why is He here? Who does He think He is?” John 7:11-12, “Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” They were people who struggled with who Jesus was and what He represented. His straight-up honesty and authenticity was unnerving to those who lived an inauthentic life, spoke non-credible words, and were unconvincing in their actions. He was authentic, real, honest, trustworthy, and lived with His entire heart committed to the purposes and values of the Father.

i read somewhere that authenticity has a high price. It could cost your career. It definitely costs you the path of least resistance. Authenticity dooms you to a life of struggle; to a life of risk; to a life of uncertainty, rejection, and danger. It takes the spoon full of sugar away from the medicine so that you have to taste the bitterness of what you need when it goes down. It takes the disguises away so that you see the monsters in the darkness around you as well as the ones in your own mind. It feels the sting of trial and the bloody sweat of conflict rather than the comfort of the cushioned facade, and it makes you stare failure in the face rather than avoid it.

So as painful as it is, being authentic and real brings struggle, and struggle brings growth. When life is easy, growth is a struggle, but when life is a struggle, growth is easy. You may be in a place where life is smooth sailing, or you may be in a place where life is incredibly difficult for reasons outside of your control.

Yet, even so, we the people, are the strugglers. We struggle to be convincing in a very unconvincing world. We struggle to be credible in a very non-credible world with a very non-credible government, doing very non-credible business. We struggle with illness and go to doctors who often see us as dollars rather than people who are ill. We go to schools where the entire facility is often no more than a business and when they tell us they care, we struggle, because we, so often, find them very not believable.

i can assure you, the Lord is the most authentic and genuine person in the universe. He is trustable, believable, and faithful light years above anyone or anything on this mud ball we call Earth. Where there was no way, God has made a way. When we were bound, slaves to sin, chained in darkness, Jesus made a way. Without struggle, the little chicken would never live past the breaking out of its shell, without struggle we would have no heroes or champions. Without struggle, we would just be cruisers and posers with no character content. Friends, God has given us the courage to struggle and win. We, the strugglers, who believe in Christ as Savior, are more than conquerors, and to be a conqueror requires struggle.

Listen for the struggle in this scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, “But in all things, we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

Do you hear the struggle places, the places of conflict and the victory? How often do we, like Paul, find ourselves in situations where we are pressed to have patience? Constantly. When Paul was in heartache, in grief, in desperation for food and shelter, when he was beaten and incarcerated he struggled with life and people, yet he was more than a conqueror. Through God’s gift to us of strength, wisdom, and perseverance, instead of responding like a spoiled little kid who had never faced adversity, Paul exhibited not bitterness and wrongness of character but as it says in Galatians 5:22-23, he lived out the life of a righteous example, “….the fruit of the Spirit….love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

2 Cor 12:7-10, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” Then Paul writes, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong”

Friends, we are the strugglers, living through a life that sometimes is so very trying. And oh isn’t it easy to say that if we didn’t struggle we wouldn’t be strong, but then how much more difficult it is to actually get strong because we struggle. We all have days where everything seems just tedious.

Enduring and persisting in the face of struggle are crucial to learning, because learning is a hard and messy business.

Consider the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, wow, now that’s got to be one of the most heroic survival stories of all time.

Have we wept over our sin? Do we cry over the sinner? Where am i willing to go if God requests it of me? Am i willing to yield my self-indulgence to God in order to gain Christ? Those are all points of choosing and struggle. A man assured me, vehemently, not too long  ago that it is not God’s desire that i be poor, and in fact, God wanted me to be wealthy and if i was poor it was my miserable lack of faith that made it so. Oh my, what a lie! What a struggle because, often, most of us don’t find ourselves being filthy rich and are living regular lives. We are not the focus. God’s point is HIS SON and that the Lamb would have the reward of His suffering….and this  bloodsucking, vampiristic doctrine of prosperity breeds listless complacency born on the wings of fatness to take up an issue against God when our agenda doesn’t happen…even to the point that a pastor of a large church told me, “you can’t go to church if you don’t have any money, and if you don’t have any money, you might as well just not go.” and he was serious, all jesting aside. What a struggle in us those words can cause. This is not good! i have been witness to hearing another pastor stand up and rebuke the spirit of indebtedness on his congregation, city, state, and nation and then 10 minutes later inform everyone that the church was “now able to put your tithes and offerings on your credit card if you’d like.” What??!! This is incredible! i was thinking “am i really hearing this?!” While people were struggling against being slaves to debt, they were being called back to enter into debt. Even so, we struggle against all odds to be the people of God, never-the-less.

There were men of God many years ago who left their homes to go with God where ever He would lead. Many got on a ship to a destination in April of one year only to arrive at their destination in May of the next year… and that was only just getting there. (would i do that? Probably not. Am i even willing to hear it?)  They didn’t have any books written, no support base of people pledging money, no tape or CD ministry, no booking agent, no advertisements no posters or schedule of meetings for when the “great man of God who holds many titles” would arrive. They didn’t have a marketing committee to promote them. Many were rejected by the local board of deacons, many had no “mission board” endorsements, no one knew them in the place of their destination most of the time, many times they didn’t even speak the language, and they suffered cannibals, disease, insect hordes, bad and poison water, repetitive rejection, slavery, imprisonment for no reason that made sense many times, they were burned out, burned down, beaten, whipped, and even thrown into holes under the city which were then closed up and they were forgotten, and that’s just a start. But yet these early examples of the carriers of the gospel message pressed on with the call of God on their  lives. They struggled forward and today we call them heroes of the faith…and for me, they truly were. Yet, standing out as THE reason among many reasons, they considered that Jesus Christ was more important than they were…they knew we don’t deserve Christ but He deserves us, and they went forward that the Lamb who was slain from the foundations of the world would have the reward of His suffering. Amen.

i am proud of my struggle for the Gospel to go forward with the call of God on my life. And you? Where are you in this? Stand up church, it’s time to stop feeling sorry about your struggles and stand up in the name of Jesus. Be strong and courageous!

Friends, In the middle of all our struggles let us not lose heart. i’ve said before that i believe that one of the biggest difficulties in America is loss of heart.

2 Corinthians 4:15-18, “For all things are for your benefit, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary struggles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

We are the strugglers, those who endure and persist in the Lord regardless of the struggles and conflicts. Don’t lose heart, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and remember, strength will rise when we wait upon the Lord. Wanna be strong?… then you’ll have to learn to wait, but while you’re waiting you’re getting stronger and stronger.

Breathe man, breathe, after all, you are in the grip of His grace. Drive carefully and watch out for your neighbor. i’ll talk to you next time. Amen.

A few years ago, in our home fellowship, a continuing topic of discussion for a while was about the attributes of God, why we need them, and how they are a life-giving imperative in the lives of all Christians everywhere – all day, all night, all the time.  One man occasionally commented that we needed to spend our time only in intercession and prayer.  He eventually just came straight out and asked, “Why are we spending our time talking about this?!”

i suppose he didn’t exactly see the value of knowing God’s qualities nor did he seem to have an interest in understanding the value of the Lord from another facet besides intercession and prayer.  Either way, due to his comments, i was motivated to not only discover as many of God’s attributes as i could, but to also make a list of what was under God’s banner of intimacy, and what our King imparts to us if we’ll take the time to be involved with Him.  The Lord shares Himself with us so that we can come into the likeness of the Son.  According to Romans 8:29, those who believe in Christ are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, and being conformed to that image means we take on His attributes.  Incidentally, the word “conformed” means to be “pressed and squeezed into shape” … meaning coming into the likeness of the Son of God is not always moonbeams, merry-go-rounds, and candy canes.

One of the things God gives to us of Himself is, what i would call, modeling.  God models for us how to act, when and how to have grace, what is His idea of kindness, courtesy, obedience, sacrifice, timing, integrity and privilege to name a few.  Also, in the Bible is a host of other characters who model how we should NOT act, what we should NOT do, attitudes we should NOT have, and even some subtle discussions of detrimental intent which opposes righteousness.

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          God’s view of things is radically different than ours!  Instead of using Christ as our model, i believe a large part of our country listens more to the bland and shallow “beautiful people” which our culture promotes in order to sell us on ourselves.  More often than taking advice from God Himself and His written word, many seem to listen more to any and every celebrity who might appear on a television or radio talk show.  Ahhh yea, the media seems to have become, what i call, the great “discipler”.

But if we’ll listen to and follow after the Lord, being diligent to study the Bible, God has indeed extended us all sorts of models: role models for example.  The Lord gave Paul as a role model.  Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”  Paul urges us to take note of those whose lives imitate Christ as is pointed out in Hebrews 6:12 – “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Above that, though, Jesus is the ultimate role model.  He modeled how to surrender to being obedient to every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. He is THE model whom we should ultimately fashion ourselves and lives after.  He is the self-emptying, humble, and obedient Christ of God.  Jesus modeled right relationship with God all the way to the cross.

Most of us have parents whom our lives have been modeled after to one degree or another.  How many of us have said, myself included, “I’ll never be like” her or him?  Regardless of our declaring who we won’t be like, whoever raised us has imprinted on us their life habits, thinking patterns, goodness and badness, for better or for worse.  i think to not have any of our parents’ attributes is probably inescapable, short of God doing a mighty work in us.

Let me also add, that in following Jesus, getting to know Jesus, listening and being obedient to Jesus, using the life of Christ as our pattern for living, we slowly come into the likeness of the Son.  And let me certify, the change that comes with following after the Lord can be radical.

Speaking for myself, i’ve even had people ask me if i am actually related to my brother or sister because they say i am nothing at all like them.  At that, all i can say is God has made me different and my likeness is more of my Savior, and not after my biological family … and for me, i don’t know about you, but i do know about me … i consider that miraculous and a wonderful thing.

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In the entire New Testament, Jesus modeled unity for the Body of Christ.  i heard a man say once, “Unity in Christ was the absolute necessary evidence of the gospel at work.  Redemption that does not redeem, that does not cause a Philemon to accept the runaway slave Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, is merely soft, ugly mush.  Redemption that does not actively practice forgiveness, that does not crush ‘complaining’ against and ‘arguing’ with one another in the Christian community, mocks the word of the Lord.”  Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

God extends to us a model of how we should behave ourselves.  Jesus modeled the importance of forgiveness by forgiving us who believe; then He takes it further by saying in Matthew 6:14 – “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”  The Bible also extends to us models of how we should not act.  Like in Luke 20:20, there were those whom are shown to be of disrepute, where it says, “they who pretended to be honest.”  Friends, i’m absolutely worn out on pretend honesty and the facade of genuine sincerity where there is no genuineness to it.  Jesus modeled honesty and it wasn’t for nothing.  If we want to live in a culture of honor, it would seem honesty is absolutely a main ingredient.  Not only did Jesus model grace and honesty for us, He also was the perfect example of good boundaries.  Good boundaries make for solid relationships, in fact a distinct lack of boundaries is usually what destroys friendships, and inspires criminal thinking.

In Luke 10, Jesus tells a story with six different character types.  All are examples of people of today as well as at that time in history. Which one are you, the victim in the ditch, the exploiting thieves, the priest and Levite who were concerned some of the victim’s bad ju-ju would get on them, the Samaritan who extended himself to help the victim, or the inn keeper who would help the man, but only for a fee?  Which one are you?  Can you be honest about that?  Which one have you modeled your life after?  In the overview of the entire parable, Jesus was also one of the characters, doing more than just helping, but literally giving His life for us.  Be honest now … which one of those characters do you think your life is modeled after?  After all, the idea is to come into the likeness of the Son.

One of the most significant models God has given us is the model of marriage.  This model starts at Genesis, “In the beginning,” and concludes in Revelation with, “The grace of Christ be upon all God’s people, AMEN.”

God gave us the model for those who get married in Mark 10:6-9.  He gave us a model of what NOT to do once we ARE married as shown in the decline of Solomon in 1 Kings 11:1-13.  Jesus modeled commitment, love, and devotion … God’s love and commitment are most amazingly revealed in the four gospels, in the stars, in all the earth, and from cover to cover in the Bible.  God knows the end from the beginning.  The character of the cross was worked in the heart of the Son from before the foundations of the world was laid, so from the beginning to the end God models for us marriage as seen in His actions toward us whom He loves.

The Lord gave men a model to draw from on how to treat their wives in Eph 5:25, in fact all of Eph 5:25-30 IS the model.  “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”  Now, let me add the unspoken rest of the story.  The wife ought not to take advantage and manipulate her husband while he’s busy laying down his life.

1 Timothy 3:2-3 gives men the model on how they should conduct themselves within the marriage and outside the household.  Prov 12:4 models for women a vision of God’s intent on who she should be to her husband and where it all goes if she is a disgrace.  And, of course, we can’t leave out the model woman of Proverbs 31.  The story of Ruth is a wonderful study of how women should model themselves.  In fact, the same word Boaz used of Ruth’s character – calling her “worthy” or “noble” in Ruth 3:11 – is the same used in reference to the Proverbs 31:10 woman, naming her character as someone of great virtue, strength, and courage.

James 1:27 gives us a model of how to act towards widows and orphans, and that we should help the helpless, the orphans and widows.  The Lord is generous and we should be as He is.  Instead, we often model ourselves after other people instead of the Lord, who modeled a standard for us that we should act like Him.  Eph 5:1,“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”  Jesus revealed to us how children should treat their parents in Luke 2:51-52.  We see it outlined again in Eph 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”  A poetic model of how to treat our parents is also seen in Prov 1:8-9, “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers.”

Oh my, do you see it all?!  God has so amazingly laid out for us the models of how we should conduct ourselves in business, in marriage, in righteousness and holiness.  The Lord God Almighty did not commission the book called the Bible to be written just so we could ignore His models for our conduct, character, and conversation.

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Above the models of modesty spoken of in 1 Corinthians, or of wisdom in Proverbs and in Matthew … above Paul’s model of stewardship in Colossians, and above multitudes of scriptural models of persistence, diligence, righteous justice, mercy, creativity, faith, and fairness … Above all of these and hundreds of others God has given us so we would know what to do and how to act … above all that, the Lord has called us to be models ourselves; models after Jesus.  We are to be image AND reflection, meaning not only how we look, but also in how we act.  Not that anyone can become Jesus, but we can certainly set our eyes on being like Him.  He calls us to become role models for the world.

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  Letting your light shine before men doesn’t mean we go around slamming people with the gospel.  It means, and hear this:  it means to live a life which has a constant upward pointing to the sovereignty of God.

N.T. Wright wrote:  “the path to  God himself is seen in Jesus Christ!  That of giving yourself away, of generous love which constantly refuses to take center stage.”  You’d be surprised how far your work in the Kingdom will go if you’ll stop putting your name all over it.

God has also revealed to us other models – models of those whom we should NOT act like:  think Balaam, Ahab, Jeroboam who made Israel to sin, or Korah, or Cain.  It is very important that we know who NOT to model after, but i believe more importantly, we need to know to whom we SHOULD.

God gave to us His only Son, who was, in the flesh, the reflection of the Father in Heaven.  Jesus said in John 14:9 – “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  And John 8:19 – “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”   In other words, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen Him, and if you know me, you know Him.

Who are your heroes?  Who have you modeled your life after?  Do most of us even know?  If we don’t, what can we do to help ourselves become all that God has called us to be?  And right there is a big AMEN.  Think about it…

John 13:14-15, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”  Washing feet is more than a towel, pan of water, and scooping the water across someone’s feet.  That’s too small and falls far short of what the Lord intended.  Go over and mow their lawn, bring your wife coffee in the morning, do the dishes, go clean someone’s house or weed their garden, be consistently kind and graceful to your parents.  Tell others about the goodness of God instead of the badness of men. That kind of stuff is washing feet.  That is modeling the character of the Lord.  Condemnation never liberated anyone from immorality or depression.

Jesus is our model and frame, the singing light who lived and died on our behalf.  He gave Himself for us and asks us to give ourselves to Him, to model His heart and life, accomplishing the Heart of the Father that all those who believe in Christ, would come into the likeness of His dear Son, Jesus.

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Thank you for taking a few moments in time and space to consider with me the possibilities of God’s infiniteness living in us.

Be strong and courageous, pray for your neighbors, drive carefully, and step into the model of righteousness God has given you the power and authority to do.  Be blessed my friends, be blessed.