Working for the Master
Greetings and good morning brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This morning we will ponder our lives as we seek to understand the meaning of working for the Master.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Working for the Master
"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." John Chapter 17, Verse 5.
While Jesus lived on earth, he performed many miracles. He comforted the down-trodden, healed the sick and fed the hungry--even five-thousand men, women, and children. He truly went about doing good. He promised us that if we would believe in Him, He would give us eternal life. And now it is our turn to take up the work of winning souls for the heavenly Father through the power of his love, patience and mercy.
It is a joyous occasion when we begin working for the Master. We feel good and everything is wonderful. We are surrounded by loving people who believe as we believe. We sing and pray and worship and give thanks for our salvation. We think we have mastered the meaning of the great commandment Jesus gave us: love God with all your heart, mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself.
But we are dismayed when we come to a junction in the road and Jesus turns off the smooth road of feeling good onto a rocky road filled with potholes of evil and bridges of sin. We're stunned to discover that the spirit we thought we had has left us. This is not what we had in mind, even though He told us as He continues to, "Let him who would be great become server of all."
We realize that the love Jesus freely gave us can run out when we relate to some who do not love Him. We're amazed to discover we have no real patience or mercy when ministering to evildoers. But still we want to follow the Master. We retreat into prayer, asking for the spirit to return and discover that we really never understood the true nature of it. We had only glimpsed love's true nature against a tall mountain of faith. We pray for the return of the joy that had elevated our spirit but find that we must rediscover joy as we work for the Master. We pray for Jesus to deliver us, but he reminds us that the struggle is part of His work: giving love to those who are unloving, showing mercy to those who haven't experienced its soul-saving meaning, and showing patience to those who are impatient.
Gradually our persistent faith pays off. We grow in our understanding of the spirit. We find that as we struggle to show love we receive the love of Jesus; as we struggle to show mercy we receive mercy. As we struggle to show patience we become filled with patience, and as we labor with Jesus we share his peace that passes all understanding. As we struggle up that mountain of spirit attainment, our valleys of sorrow narrow. As we look back over the rocky road of our past, we see that the potholes of evil are now filled with goodness. The bridges of sin have been replaced with the bridges of love. We now fully understand that the smooth road of pleasant surroundings we first traveled on was the work of others. The rocky road we encountered was the starting point for our work with Jesus to begin.
We are no longer troubled, for now we are filled with the true spirit of love, mercy, and patience. We know that the more difficult the work, the greater the need for love, mercy, and patience. The more spiritual work we accomplish, the more we become like the heavenly Father, who is love, mercy, patience, goodness and far more. We have mastered the technique of working for the Master.
This concludes today's message on the meaning of working of the Master. We hope you find
something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
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By Dr. James Perry
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Working for the Master
