No snow, but lots of gentle rain in our neck of the woods today.

It is 1828 and very dark outside, the clouds hold the sky in and the stars out.  It is hard to believe than next Sunday at this time, it will still be light out.

I don’t much care for day light savings time, my feelings either we do it all year round or not at all – but I don’t have much say over it.

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1 Timothy 5:9-10 “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”  KJV

Another one of those verses that is often misquoted.  Money is not the root of all evil, it is the love of money that causes man to deny the laws of God and focus on becoming wealthy.

But it is not the only love that can supplant God in our hearts.  Many things can interfere with our relationship with Him.

Love of money is of course already noted, but power, prestige and position can be just as deadly to our spirit.  

“Things” of all nature can ease its way into our heart and before we know it we have forced the Holy Spirit to live in the attic or basement of our heart where we don’t have to hear Him when He talks to us.

Psalm 37:34-35 “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.”  KJV

The best leaders understand what their charges are going through.  They do their best to ease their burdens, to help them at every turn.

While there are times a leader, a boss or someone else in charge has to exercise his authority over others – he does so with humility and a desire to get the best for and out of the individual.

It is very easy to have people hanging on his every word, to ‘do’ things for them that could be easily done themselves – and the leader has to be careful about ‘eating’ up that devotion and demanding it as his worth.

What a leader does with his power, authority and position can make him stronger and more subservient to God, or it can drive him away from God and focus on his own ego.

Jesus showed all of us the way to be a leader, the way to live our lives so that when we are given responsibility of command we can do so without letting our own personal self-worth get in the way.

Yes, rank has its privilege, but when it demeans another person he has stepped away from service to God and more on service to himself.

Mathew 20:25-27 “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

²⁶ But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

²⁷ And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:”  KJV

When we aspire to bigger and better things, whether in our job or some other endeavor, we need to remember that Jesus did His job with love.

He was firm, at times He had to say what needed to be said in a forceful manner, but those things were done to glorify God, not to destroy the man.

He challenged the Jewish leaders of the day because they were no longer listening to God.  Instead of listening to Him and contemplating what He had to say, they killed Him.

When we do the same kind of challenges, we want to make sure we are right – to abuse our authority, power or position to enlarge our own self-esteem or at the benefit of someone else will cause our soul to have great distress and in the end we will come before the real authority and be judged on that conduct.

Doing our best, seeking and receiving honest promotions are well within God’s desire for our lives.

But when that is what we focus on, to the detriment of our relationship with God, we cannot be a true leader, only a puppet of our own desires.

Later, Art (-: