God exalted him to the highest place..

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

What keeps you so busy that you do not have time for worship?  Is it the job? It is a hobby? Is it something you do for fun. Could it be a busy schedule with the kids? There are many barriers that can pop up between God and us. In many instances, they are barriers we put up by ourselves.

We miss so much when we are out of touch with God. We can arrive at that position so very easily. It's usually one little slip, just one distraction. That one thing can quickly lead to another, which leads to another, and so on and so forth. Satan has a vested interest in keeping us out of touch with God. He has a purpose in distracting our attention from Jesus. Jesus deserves our focus, our attention, above all else. His Father exalted Him to the highest place.When we forget that, we lose sight of what is really important. We lose out on so much. And it is up to us to get our focus back. We put the barriers up, we can take them down. It also takes diligence on our part to keep those barriers down. There is an ally we can call on. We can call on God, through prayer to help us. We have faith through the Holy Spirit and we can ask for help in keeping our faith. We have to take the time to spend it in prayer. We have to dig in and "gitter done!" God is waiting. Jesus is there for us. We just have to place Jesus in the proper location in our priority list. He is #1.

PRAYER: Lord, there are times in our lives when we are lax in our worship. We can become easily distracted. We lose sight of the light of Jesus. Help us to overcome our frailty. Help us to put on the armor of Christ to become impervious to these distractions. Help us to be more faithful by filling us with faith. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen

He humbled himself...

Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

There is a lot of press lately covering the trial of 5 soldiers accused of murdering civilians in Afghanistan. This news sharply contrasts with the bit of scripture above. I know the story of one of these young men. He is my son. And he humbled himself to serve his country. As with most things in life, there is more to the story than appears on the surface.

I am profoundly grateful to God for this opportunity to serve Him in this manner. It takes my mind off some other things in life that are distracting. This verse in Philippians hit home today. Probably not for the reason some may think. But it is what I needed to see and this time and place in life. Thank You God. We are all thankful that Jesus was obedient to death. he died for all mankind. He was the sacrifice that reconciled all mankind to God. Forgiveness was offered to all. He died for you and I. That can cause some to feel a sense of guilt that drives them away or misdirects their beliefs. We should feel guilt, but not to the point where we lose sight of the marvelous gift we have been offered. We need to accept the guilt and move forward with our lives. Gratitude is to be embraced instead of hanging onto the guilt. Martin Luther had to confront his sense of guilt in order to move forward with accepting the beautiful gift in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We too need to do that.

The Apostle Paul puts this in perspective in Romans 5:6-9 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!"

All too often we forget that soldiers offer up their lives so that others may live free from oppression. It is often a life of sacrifice. Not all handle it well. Just as you and I have good days and bad days, so do soldiers. When we seek to pass judgment on their service is serves us well to remember Christ. "He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Maybe there is a balance that escapes most people. But I rejoice in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And I am humbled by the sacrifice of my fellow brothers and sisters in arms.

PRAYER: Father, today we ask for Your love, Your peace, and Your comfort for all who serve their country. They sacrifice much so that we can enjoy the freedom to worship You O God and not a false god. You are a God of love and compassion. We ask for Your love to be poured out upon all who stand in harms way. This we ask in Jesus name. Amen

But made himself nothing...

Philippians 2:5-7 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.

Serving the Lord can be at times very interesting. And watching others serve the Lord can be equally interesting and disturbing. It can be very tempting to take on an air of self importance when one is serving. However, just the opposite should be the case. More of Jesus, less of us.

When we reflect upon the life and service of Jesus we can see one very marked character attribute. It is the attribute of humility. You do not read in the Bible of instances where Jesus was pompous, or arrogant. You do not read of cases where he put his needs above those he was serving. He was there because His Father sent Him. He was fulfilling the will of His Father. In healing the sick, the lame, and the blind, it was not about him. It was about serving others. It was about spreading the love of His Father to the many. He was not elevate, rather His Father was raised up. When He cast the demons out of people, he would not permit the demons to speak of Him (Mark 3:12). He reached out to those who served the will of God embracing them as His brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35). Those who choose to serve the Lord should take counsel from Mark 7: 6-13. It is not about us, it is about God. Pride is a dangerous pitfall. It has tripped up many a servant. I know from my own experience that one should not let praise go to your head when serving. I was given that word of caution and have taken it to heart. The temptation is great, the risk is huge, and the reward is nothing. We who serve make ourselves nothing and the one we serve is made everything. Being praised for doing a good job serving can be discomforting. My suggestion is to offer thanks for the praise and to suggest that to God be the praise. It is a subtle reminder to you and it lets those who are praising you know that it is not about you. It is all about the One We Serve.

PRAYER: Lord of Hosts, thank You for the many opportunities we are offered to serve You. We are provided spiritual gifts to further Your kingdom. We use those gifts is serving our fellow man, and in serving You. Help us dear Lord. Help us with the faith we need to remain humble in our serving and mindful of who we are truly serving. Let there be more of You and less of us. We ask this in the name of the One who served all in humility. Your Son, Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen