Eagles fly effortlessly and most naturally.

SERVANTHOOD by Dr. Jim Strickhausen: Show me a true servant and I will

show you one whom God truly cherishes. To serve is to love the unlovely
help the helpless befriend the lonely rebuild the brokenhearted soothe the
sick bless the poor raise up the downtrodden seek the lost and comfort
the dying. Pride demolishes people, while servanthood builds them up. A "servant
leader" is beyond the world's comprehension. And beyond many Christians'
comprehension too.
Jealousy sentenced Jesus to the cross.
Mark 15:9-10 KJV - But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto
you the King of the Jews? For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him
for envy.
Jealousy is the reason for most acts of character assassination.
Proverbs 27:4 NIV - Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand
before jealousy?
While Jealousy may try to consume another, it never fails to consume the one in
whom it dwells.
Job 5:2 KJV - For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
Proverbs 14:30 KJV - A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the
rottenness of the bones.
Jealousy in others will cause them to misinterpret you.
Acts 13:45 KJV - But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with
envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blaspheming.

Jealousy inside another DRIVES them to slander or mistreat you. Jealousy is a

DRIVING force, an insatiable fire that wants to burn and consume.
Acts 17:5 KJV - But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto
them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all
the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring
them out to the people.
An immoral fling leaves a permanent sting.
Adultery: An evening of pleasure is not worth a lifetime of pain. (Mike Murdock)
Immorality in The Ministry: A NIGHT-TIME of PLEASURE is not worth a
LIFETIME of CENSURE.
Immorality ends in Harsh Reality.
God doesn't command against sexual immorality to keep us from temporary fun,
but to keep us from permanent pain.
God doesn't say that SEX is dangerous. God says that SEX outside the context
of marriage is dangerous. Fire is good inside the fireplace. Water is good inside
the river banks. Wind is good below a certain speed. Likewise, Sex is good inside
the boundaries of marriage. Outside these boundaries, however, and sex is akin
to a natural disaster!
Hollywood is lying to our children about how much fun sex is outside of marriage.

Sex is over-rated in our society. Lets face it, you can only have sex but so much.
Most of anyone's waking moments are NOT engaged in this activity except but
for a very small percentage of their time. One may be able to overload an hour
long television program or a two hour long movie or a minute long internet site
with sex, but sex CANNOT be truly engaged in that same proportion of time in
one's own life. So all the sexually satiated medias of our day are simply one big
FANTASY that can NEVER be attained to. They are a puff of smoke... a lying
vanity... mere hype to turn a buck!

King David learned two things from his murderous conspiracy against Uriah and
his adultery with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. First, that God can and does forgive
murder and adultery. (Psalm 51) And second, that there are certain long range
consequences set in motion by such sins that cannot be reversed, only endured
by God's grace. (2 Samuel 12: 7-14)
All sins can be FORGIVEN, and for many the consequences cancelled or at least
softened. But some sins have such a "domino effect" and create such
complications in this life that the consequences can only be ENDURED day to
day by God's grace.
You cannot talk doubt and fear at the same time you are believing God for
something. The double talk will cancel your faith. You MUST align your words
with your heart if you are to see the promised results.
I cannot TALK LIKE A VICTIM and LIVE LIKE A VICTOR at the same time. My
speech would betray me.
Ps 107:2 KJV - "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy."
I must TALK VICTORY before I EXPERIENCE VICTORY!
Psalm 91: 2 KJV "I will say of the LORD!"
I must BOAST on God and His promise rather than GRIPE about my problem.
Praise is TALKING UP GOD. Complaining and whining is TALKING UP the devil.
I must fill my heart with God's Word, then boldly speak it out of my mouth.
What saith the Word of God about my situation? That is what I will say about it
too!

What saith the Bible about me? That alone is what I will say about myself!
Dare to ask BIG THINGS from God... what do you have to lose?
Ephesians 3:20 - "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." ASK BIG &
IMAGINE BIG! Imagine the answer as you pray. Imagine how it will be after the
prayer is answered. As you pray, THINK about where you are GOING TO, not
about what you're GOING THROUGH. SEE the answer in advance. Imagine
what it would FEEL LIKE to have God do this for you. Go through the motions of
how you would act if you already had it. Yes, how would you act as if you already
had it? Act like THAT after you've prayed! Let the Holy Ghost inside you take you
into the future of your answered prayer. Let His power paint an inner picture of
your victory as you pray!
How are we to act towards a brother or sister in Christ who refuses to repent of
their sinful lifestyle, who stubbornly rejects all help and godly counsel, and
persists in some rebellious sinful lifestyle? SIMPLE: Obey 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
and 2 Thessalonians 3:13-15! 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 KJV - "I wrote unto you in an
epistle NOT TO COMPANY with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the
fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for
then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you NOT TO
KEEP COMPANY, IF ANY MAN THAT IS CALLED A BROTHER be a fornicator,
or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; WITH
SUCH AN ONE NO NOT TO EAT... THEREFORE PUT AWAY FROM
YOURSELVES THAT WICKED PERSON." Now the same verses from "The
Message" translation: "I wrote to you in my earlier letter that YOU SHOULDN'T
MAKE YOURSELVES AT HOME AMONG THE SEXUALLY PROMISCUOUS... I
am saying that YOU SHOULDN'T ACT AS IF EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE
WHEN ONE OF YOUR CHRISTIAN COMPANIONS IS PROMISCUOUS or
crooked, is flip with God or rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and
predatory. YOU CAN'T JUST GO ALONG WITH THIS, TREATING IT AS
ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR... God decides on the outsiders, BUT WE NEED TO
DECIDE WHEN OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE OUT OF LINE AND, IF
NECESSARY, CLEAN HOUSE." 2 Thessalonians 3:13-15 - "But ye, brethren, be
not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, NOTE
THAT MAN, AND HAVE NO COMPANY WITH HIM, THAT HE MAY BE
ASHAMED. Yet count him not as an enemy (Greek - do not hate him), but
admonish him (Greek - warn him) as a brother." So, in summary, how are we to
handle a longstanding Christian friend or a grown Christian child of our own, if
they choose to persist in some sinful lifestyle? CUT OFF ALL FELLOWSHIP AND
CONTACT WITH THEM, AND TELL THEM WHY YOU ARE DOING IT AS A

WARNING! This is not to say we should sever relationships with every Christian
who stumbles and gets tripped up into some sin by the devil. To do so would be
against God's counsel in Galatians 6:1 which says, "Brethren, if a man be
overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of
meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." But the scriptures we
have quoted above are telling us how to act towards a Christian who doesn't
even try to recover themselves, who spurns all help, who defiantly rejects the
advice and prayers of counselors, and who boldly parades their sin as if they
were not accountable to God or anyone else. THIS KIND OF BELIEVER IS THE
ONE TO BREAK ALL FELLOWSHIP WITH, in hopes that God will get their
attention and they will not lose their relationship with the Lord altogether.
Notice that the prodigal son's father in Luke chapter 15 did not argue with his
rebellious son when he wanted to leave. I am sure that the father had tried over
and over again to help the young man and to model a godly lifestyle before him.
But the prodigal's father eventually DISCERNED that his son's rebellion and
stubbornness had gone too far. He knew that his son was going to have to learn
his lessons the hard way by going all the way down to the pig-pen. So the father
simply let him go and had zero contact with his son until he came to his senses
again. The son at this time had zero respect for his father anyhow and was now
self-absorbed with his own agenda. The father realized that his son would have
to RUN HEAD LONG INTO AUTHORITY LIKE A MACK TRUCK, and he had to
trust the Lord to keep his boy alive during the process. He knew he had a
covenant with God that said, "I will bring back your children from exile." He
indeed awaited expectantly for his son to return in his right mind, but was also
realistic about the time that might be required for God to work the sin out of his
son's heart. He saw that his son had surrounded himself with the wrong people,
and that it would take the Holy Spirit to open his child's eyes over a period of
time. This was a hard path to take, for the father's heart was tender toward his
son. But it HAD to be done if he were to ever see his son again! The prodigal's
father was forced to take the TOUGH LOVE strategy, as we would term it today!
The tough part? Weeks, then months, and then maybe years passed. And the
Good News? It worked! The very second his boy came to his senses and
showed fruits of repentance, the father SHOWERED the now grown man with
mercy and forgiveness, instantly restoring him to a place of dignity and
belonging!
To heal your hurt, find someone else hurting and heal them!
It never ceases to amaze me how, when I forget about myself and concentrate
on helping someone else, I am the one who gets blessed!

The more I think about myself, the more miserable I become. The more I lose
myself thinking about Christ and others, the happier I become! Imagine that!
It takes Internal Metal to earn an Eternal Medal!
Retreating to a QUIET PLACE indoors or outdoors is often necessary to hear
from God. Psalms 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God..."
Our souls yearn for SERENITY & TRANQUILITY, yet there is so much clutter and
clamor surrounding our lives. Our only hope then is to steal away into the arms of
our Father, there to pour ourselves out to Him, and in turn letting the Father pour
Himself back into us.
A Great Attitude towards life has to be CULTIVATED. It's not that some are born
with a good disposition and others are not. Rather a positive attitude is a choice
that an ordinary person has made over and over again, until it finally begins to be
ingrained into that person's character and personality.
God wants my Gratitude, not an "Attitude."
Only the Word of God can cure a case of the "tudes."
Stop dragging your past into your future! Choose to forget your bad experience;
everyone has them. Decide to forget your recent failure. Count it all a learning
experience! In Philippians chapter 3. Paul said that he only practiced ONE
THING... FORGETTING HIS PAST & FOCUSING ON HIS FUTURE!
Two ways to try to get out of your trouble: DIG your way out! The natural
approach. -OR- GIVE your way out! The supernatural approach. Look how our
Father God got Himself out of trouble. He had lost His crowning creation,
mankind, to sin and Satan's domain. Talk about trouble! God had some trouble
on His hands. How did He get out of that trouble? He gave! He gave His best! He
gave His all! He gave His one and only Son, so that He could have more. The
natural reaction to trouble is to try to DIG our way out, but the supernatural
response is to GIVE our way out of trouble. So in times of trouble we should
open our hands even more and be even more generous with our money, our
time, our love, our listening ear, and our good deeds!

The Father wants my Time with Him even more than my Things to Him.
I am not what I do, I am Who I know.
My life is not what I do, it's Whose I am.
The bondservants of the Old Testament willingly chose to serve their masters for
life rather than to go free, by offering their ear to be nailed through to the door by
an awl. This forever marked the servant as belonging to that master. "Lord Jesus,
go ahead and nail mine to Your Cross! Let me be forever branded as Yours!"
What God Commissions, God Provisions.
What God Initiates, God Perpetuates. What Man Initiates, sooner or later
Expiates.
The only Stuff I can take with me to Heaven is the Stuff I send ahead of me... my
tithes, offerings and obedient giving.
Something is wrong with our generation: In the typical office workplace, you will
observe many more people's desks prominently displaying photographs of their
children than photos of their spouse. Many desks only display photos of their
children, and no photo whatsoever of their wife or husband, even if they are still
married. THIS IS ALL UPSIDE DOWN... OUR FIRST LOYALTY AND PRIDE
HERE ON EARTH SHOULD BE TO OUR SPOUSE... THEN, AND ONLY THEN,
TO OUR CHILDREN! I realize that this goes contrary to our present culture... but
our culture has gotten all messed up! Whatever happened to men viewing their
wives as the most treasured possession in their lives? Whatever happened to
women so adoring, admiring and respecting their husbands that they wanted to
talk about them all the time?
We owe it to ourselves, to God, and to those around us to stay fresh and rested!
A fatigued person is not very much FUN to live with!
I have made this observation about the male gender. Once a man begins to
wander from his home, he is easy prey to the devil. When a man begins to falter

in his loyalty to the family God has given him, he begins to forfeit the
accountability, warmth, and protection that his family unit has afforded him... and
now he has lost his crown that covered his head, and the devil has a turkey shoot
with the man's mind. The scriptures bears witness to this observation as well in
Proverbs 27:8 - KJV "As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that
wandereth from his place." NLT - "A person who strays from home is like a bird
that strays from its nest."
As one of my pastors said, "JOY THROWS A PARTY!" Anytime. Anywhere. For
any reason! Over and over again!