To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— “. . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . .” (Matthew 23:8).

Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.

“You call Me Teacher and Lord . . .”— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. “. . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . .” (Hebrews 5:8). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness of it—a relationship where all we know is that we are His to obey.

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September 22, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, right now it feels like my prayers are hitting the ceiling and falling back down. I wait for answers and hear nothing but silence. Then I think it is because I have crossed some invisible but sacred threshold of your patience but I do recall the limitless and overwhelming mercy and grace that is your salvation. I try to keep my eyes on you, and not my circumstances but the circumstances are magnified and you don’t seem to be anywhere in sight. If I hear Romans 8:28 one more time, or recall that I am to wait on the Lord, I do not know what I will do. I am looking for you Lord as my ever present help in times of trouble.

And God says…”I am here, I have not moved. And I have not moved or removed your circumstances because you are exactly where I want you to be. You are exactly in the center of My will for your life at this time. What is the worst that can happen if you simply trust Me to meet all your needs? You may discover that the needs you thought were so very important were not all that important, or you will find that I will provide you with all that you want and need or…I will allow you to trust Me more and more and more as you wait. Remember, your ways are not My ways, your ideas are not mine, yet. You are transformed into the image of Jesus as you surrender your will to mine. That cannot occur as long as I respond to you exactly when you think you need Me to respond. You cannot wait on Me to respond to Your will, you must wait on Me to reveal My will for you. Remember, it is not your happiness that is the goal, it is your holiness…..and I will complete this work in you.”