Servants to the King?

      Jesus talking to His disciples (us)....."You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be among you. But whoever would be great among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Mark10:42-45

      All of us are disciples which means we are  really servants to the body of Christ. Not "lords" over the body of Christ. When we get out of our servant attitude we become more greedy, and that's when we only care about ourselves. Bigger house, nicer car, big TV, new phone, Etc.  We then tend to "overlook" others in this world who are hurting, or hungry, or dying. We tend to think that we can't possibly help, because we have bills to pay from the new couch that we had to have or the vacation that we worked so hard for.

    "This says the Lord God, Ah Shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back and the lost you have not sought." Ezekiel34:2-4

      God's desire is that we are to serve the body of Christ and  when we serve, we should have a heart of a shepherd, where our concern and our care is for the sheep (people) not for ourselves.

Some facts about Ethiopia:
• one out of every 20 children born alive die in their first month of life
• one out of ten die before reaching their first birthday
• one out of six die before reaching their fifth birthday
 The major diseases affecting children under-five, such as acute respiratory infection, diarrhoeal diseases, measles, malaria and malnutrition are responsible for 70 per cent of childhood morbidity and mortality. All of which could be prevented and /or cured.

     I am so thankful that God has called us to adopt. It has opened my eyes to so many things that I chose to over look. Do you realize how rich we are in America? Yes, I said RICH! If you make more then $2 a day, then you make more then most people in the world. Did you know that  there are children in this world who are dying because they have no food or clean water to drink? Did you know that my son does not have a birth certificate? That they will guess how old he really is and that they will just make up a birthday? How would that make you feel to not even know when you were born? I know that there are so many children dying all over this world and not just in Ethiopia. The Lord just led my heart there so that is why I am talking about it.  I would like to make something very clear though. We are NOT adopting this child because we want to "save" him. We are adopting because we want to have another son, God is the one who happen to lead us to a country with so much poverty. I can't pretend any longer like it's not there. (Proverbs24:12)

  Are we as Christians doing a good job of shepherding our sheep or are we fattening our selves?


"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep~ Jesus (John10:11)
   
Father, forgive me for always turning the focus from you to myself. Father look after our son and all the other children in this world who may feel like there is no hope and will one day see that their hope lies in you. Lord I am so thankful for the depths of your power and grace. Father I know that we are all sinners and fall very short of your glory, but may we commit ourselves to truly serving you on this earth until you return. May we strive to put you at the center of our lives everyday and may we repent the times that we do not. May we experience more and more of your holiness as we grow closer in our relationship with you. In Christ name, Amen!