The Master

Yes, the Lord is our Master.
No, the language is not too strong.
He formed us, He molded us, He breathed into us. Our Master is our Maker.

What does our Lord not own?
Our Master owns us.
Our Master bought us.

He purchased us with blood.
He created us, and recreated us.
He redeemed us.

We are back in His hands.
We bow our hearts in His presence. We are His possession.
We owns the heart, the will, the emotions.

He is Master.
He is a good Master.
He is kind, gracious, compassionate, merciful, slow in anger, and great in patience.

We are our Master's children.
But we are also our Master's slaves.
We are not our own.

The Master brought us into His house.
We are made joint heirs.
Our Master provides His slaves with everything we need to live.

Our Master is also called Provider.
He provides everything we need.
He holds back from us anything which would harm us, but does not spare in lavishing His goodness upon us.

We are trained by the Holy Spirit to listen to the Shepherd's voice.
We were once sheep without a Shepherd.
But the Shepherd came down to search for us. And He continues to relentlessly search for us.

We are found, because He sought us out.
He moved towards us, while we moved away from Him.
And now we praise our Maker, our Master, our Provider, our glorious Shepherd!

Bow and submit. Our Lord is our Master.

Our Sins 2

Help us Father to take off another mask today.
Help us to have the boldness and courage to allow another fig leaf to fall to the ground.
Be patient with us, and remember that we have come from the dirt.

Hear us now, for You are kind and gracious to Your children.
Remember the work of Your Son, and look upon us with compassion.
Help us to decrease today so that Your image may increase in this world.

Our sin today is envy
Our sin today is jealousy
Our sin today is coveting
Our sin today is griping

We thank You that You wash us in the sanctifying waters of purification.
We thank You for the fire that burns off the impurities.
Let me praise You, You are holy.

Let it ring from within,
Let my heart sing it with conviction,
May it echo from the caverns of my still hallow heart,
"Praise and bow to the Holy Lord."

Our Sins

We are Your children, but we are no saints.
Ok, maybe we're saints theologically speaking, but we certainly act as unredeemed sinners.
We are Your church in America.
Wonderful sinful America.
"In God We Trust," we say tongue and cheek as we puff out our arrogant chest. Mine the furthest one out of them all.
Oh, the sin. The sin that makes us blind.

Favoritism
We speak to those in our circles and ignore those outside.
We visit the "important" people in the hospital, but quickly delete the emails from others asking for prayers in their sickness.
Elders and people from other boards we try to have as friends. Everyone else can get lost.
If you are powerful, "well, nice to meet you," and you greet and shake with a warm smile. Everyone else it's ok to walk by.
We have doors so that we can close them, and never think to keep them open.
All the poor, all the oppressed, all the marginalized are pushed out of mind.
But still we insist that our hearts are open to the Word of the God and to our neighbor.
There is no end to the favoritism in our world.
There is no end of favoritism in the church world either.

But our sins do not stop there.
We have forgotten how to pray on our knees.
We have almost forgotten how to pray altogether.
We have become too distracted by other things to care enough to diligently sit at the feet of Jesus.
Our unity is now in shambles and our world no longer turns to churches for hope.
We have run out the pastors who preach truth and replaced them with administrators and event planners.
We now rule with fear, rather than gaining followers by respect.
We have ways of shutting up the people with pesky voices calling us to pray, repent, and fast.
If you are a blade of grass that sticks up from the rest, but ready to be cut down by the people who hold the scepter of power.
We often muffle Jesus' voice.
We are guilty of the ugliest sins.
Lord forgive us of our sins, and turn our hearts to Yours.