The
Masters Competition
Heaven is watching, quietly tuned into the "Masters Competition." But this isn't a golf game. This is more reality based. All of heaven is watching to see which master we will choose, which master we will obey. Will people give themselves over to the spirits of this world, to greed, jealousy, pride, lust, criticism and anger? Or will they go against the grain of their own nature and choose to let God run their life?
The first commandment states, "you shall have no other gods before Me." God insists that He will not share us with another. Jesus echoed this as He said that no one can serve two masters.
Hasn't that always been true in your life? Has there ever been a time when you put something else ahead of God in your life, and you still grew closer to God and your love for Him grew deeper? It never happens that way. Has there ever been a time when you put God first, and your love for Him didn't grow tenfold?
It doesn't matter which ungodly master you choose; if it's anything other than Jesus, you get the same result. You might look down on someone else for having a master that's inferior to yours. Their master may be drugs or pornography or revenge, and yours is much more respectable, like career or high profile ministry - but you are both dying by the minute.
Jesus says to "Seek first the kingdom of God." That means letting God be your King, letting Him decide how you spend your time and even how you think. Until we seek first His kingdom, we block the grace of God from entering our lives. When we repent and come under His Lordship, everything changes. Growth with God is all about yielding to Him as Master. The masters in your life are always competing for first place in your heart. You get to pick who wins.
At one time, you accepted Jesus as your Savior. Later, you accepted Him as Master over you. Since that time, masters have been playing tag team. Who's in? Who's out? I guarantee you - When Jesus has been Lord, you have been blessed. When He hasn't been Lord, you have been unfulfilled, and become dry and lifeless, and just gone through the motions with God. And lost your love for God and His people. There is no in-between! No one can serve two masters.
God wants to release a greater measure of His Holy Spirit in us. But before He does, He wants to be sure He is our Master. I believe God is allowing "old masters" to try us in this season. Whatever used to own you, whatever used to have your affections, that master is getting some air time lately. I'm not saying you are under its power or oppression - you are just hearing its call and feeling its appeal. It may not even seem all that sinful: cigarettes, soap operas, or secular music, it may be any little thing that seems harmless to you now - but at one point the Holy Spirit very carefully convinced you that it wasn't harmless - it was a stumbling block for you. Stumbling blocks are not big, they are little things that you don't even see. Or it may be a bigger and nastier old master, like drugs or pornography or other addictive behavior. And suddenly you've been thinking about going back to that stuff.
Christianity is not a set of rules; it's a question of who is your Master. You can give ground back to the enemy if you want - you have that freedom. But those who choose to kill their old masters once and for all - and choose Jesus as Master and King - are about to experience the love and grace of God in a whole new level.
Yes, you can choose to go back and let some of those "harmless" things back into your life. But when you say yes to those things, you are saying no to something much greater. God is looking for a people who will choose Him above all things, because He wants to share something more precious than anything else with us.
"God gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him." Before He can pour out His Holy Spirit in greater measure, He needs to bring us to a greater level of obeying Him as our Master and Lord. So if you have been confused lately because old thoughts or feelings or temptations have been going through your head, understand that this is a godly trial. It's a wonderful trial! God is letting you retake an old test that you have passed before! But do be careful. Old masters know your weaknesses. They know how to convince you that there's no harm in bowing to them. And you might feel an automatic impulse to obey them without even thinking - that's what you used to do!
Want to be safe? Run to your New Master! On your knees is where you will slay these old dragons. Embrace Jesus! He is the one and only Good Shepherd. Never give back ground that the Lord has given you; it's ground that He bought with His blood, and with another precious and rare currency: human trust and obedience. If you will resist the old masters, you will be equipped to take new ground.
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