Choosing Between Divine Command and Human Approval: Who Do You Serve? 4-24-26

Who is Your God/god?

In continuing with the faith messages, I believe the Lord wants His people to have an awareness of how far off course some may have gotten by putting their confidence in people rather than putting their trust in God.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.  It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes (Psalm 118:8-9).

From my experience over the years the Lord has allowed me to see how many people look more to a specific leader than to someone else who has the same answer or even more knowledge. But because of the leader’s so call status, they believed whatever was told to them without searching it out for themselves.

Example: Many years ago, when a person was sharing Biblical truths with me that were different than what had been told. I said:” That’s not what my pastor said” Then it was brought to my recall that I wanted to know everything possible about the Lord, and this is the scripture that I learned at the beginning of my walk with the Lord: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6).

The Lord has been filling ever since through personal study, the Holy Spirit a phenomena teacher and other means. Although the Lord had me in different churches, for thirty three years I had the same teacher. This caused stability and maturity because I was not tossed to and from by every wind of doctrine.

That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting (Ephesians 4:14). Despite my weaknesses, my hearts desire is to please the Lord.

Back to how some people feel when it comes to certain leaders. Paul warned the church at Corinth.

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field; you are God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:4-9).

This is something else the Lord wants every one of His children to remember; no one person is greater than another. Although those placed is leadership seem to have a higher calling than others, they are not greater. As a matter of fact, they should exemplify humility. They are called to serve, not to be served.

 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:26-28, also found in Mark, chapter 10 and John, chapter 13).

Betty A. Burnett ~ burnettministries.org