Weekly Devotion with Beckyjohn- DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)vvv

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE PLACE OF POWER IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER?

• It takes a very deep faith to survive fame. Ideally, the fame can be used to spread the Gospel and make an impact for Christ, but that‘s hard to sustain when you‘re in a culture that demands the opposite if you want to stay on top (Dale Hudson)
• A Christian man should so shine in his life that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel (Charles Spurgeon)
• Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that (Martin Luther King, Jr)
• An understanding of Scripture that fails to answer the hard questions about how to involve ourselves productively in one another’s lives is no real understanding at all (Larry Crabb)
• As the children of God, our every word and action reflect on our Father for good or for ill. Jesus told his followers, “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8) (Jim Denison)

Text: Revelation 4: 1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. . . Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹ Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

In the recent past (August/September 2022), among the last of the funeral rites marking the end of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and life on earth, was the removal of the objects that symbolized the monarch’s power. The Sovereign Orb which is a gold globe featuring a cross symbolizing that the monarch's power came from God; the imperial state crown- a priceless collection of tens of thousands of gemstones collected over the centuries by British kings and queens; and the Sovereign’s scepter, that had been used at every coronation since 1661, were removed from atop the coffin.  These were objects with deep history and meaning to the Queen’s reign and the royal family’s history. The Archbishop's last words before the body was taken to the grave for burial. He said: “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.  Think about power that the longest serving British monarch represented, yet when her service on earth ended, so did her power. ‘Sister Elizabeth committed to the grave as a simple Christian’, accountable to God for how she used the opportunities that were given to her in her lifetime. That is the fate awaiting all of us. Serve God as a simple Christian aware that it not possible to serve the Lord with your crown on.   This reality is what Reginald Heber (1826) summarized in the words of the hymns, ‘Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea’.

The Queen’s funeral and burial is one reminder that symbols of power that human beings come up with are only useful on earth and are left on earth. Power, that intangible ability to influence another or others is either ascribed or achieved. Ascribed status is a position in society which is the result of a fixed characteristic given at birth, such as gender, race or social class. For example, the Queen did not need to do anything to be the British monarch that gave her many privileges. Achieved status refers to the status level that an individual has earned through work, education, luck, social climbing, and so on. All human beings have power potential either ascribed or achieved. One is a mother/father, teacher, older than another, manager, pastor, doctor, politician, judge and so on.  Each status has symbols that indicate to others what it is: the dressing, title or use of space or a combination of the symbols. The symbols used are designed by the people.

Eternity with God requires completely different symbols, such as uncontested love of God and love of neighbor.   ‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’ (Revelation 12:1-2). The temptation to use power to define and evaluate self can be very deceptive. If tough love is needed in the body of believers, it is in speaking the truth that releases people from the trappings of power. It is uncomfortable to repeat the truth of God’s word to a people in love with the world. The world has trappings of power that can be very deceptive.  Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way to the Father, expressed displeasure over cultural prescriptions. He challenged the pious religious people who were sure of themselves – the priests, Levites scholars, prayer/intercessors who felt they were not like other people. The desire to be identified as special may reflect the need for affirmation. Demanding recognition and praise are signs of deep need. Matthew 23:8 ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ No human power can fill the God created void that only God can fill.  “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every [person] which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal),

HOW TO LOOSEN THE GRIP OF POWER IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS

Know and submit to the King of kings – The greatest desire/ prayer for each person in the relationship should be to love the Lord-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Luke 10:27);  ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). That love of God is nurtured by feeding on the word of God and obedience. When the love of God is deeply entrenched in the core of an individual, it becomes the lens through which everything else is viewed. The vision of life for one who is submissive to God, is to use every resource, opportunity, and gift for the best interest of the kingdom of God. To use what God has given to dominate others or feed the greed instincts or compare self with others is a form of blindness. In a culture where the education system, and other structures of the society orient people to compete against each other rather than cooperate, the desire to control and outdo others is nourished, making the ground harder for the word of God to be effective (Luke 8.4-15). The Christians in such a culture have to be more reflective as they allow the word of God to renew their thinking particularly as it relates to use of power. You serve people best when you know who you really are.

Be filled with the Holy Spirit – The fundamental human dispositions and characteristics that include ways of thinking, feeling, and acting is to expand territory which seems to be inbuilt as indicated in the creation story. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. . .” (Genesis 1:28). Jesus’s view of using power was very different from the understanding of the disciples (Matthew 20). Even as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the disciples were asking questions that revealed they had not understood the use of power in the kingdom of God (Acts 1). It was not until the power from on high filled those who were in the upper room (Acts2), that their view underwent a paradigm shift. The power of the Holy Spirit made the disciples bold and driven by what honors God instead of being men pleasers. The Holy Spirit is your teacher and counselor. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).  It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to mind, but he relies on the Christian to put God’s Word in mind. That’s why you need to get into the Bible. When you read, study, and fill your mind with God’s Word, you are storing up truth inside of you—truth the Holy Spirit will bring to mind at just the right time. When tempted to be jealous that an opportunity has opened for another in an area, we have an interest in, the Holy Spirit reminds you that ‘God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”’ (Hebrews 13:5). It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes the word of God light and lamp (Psalm 119:105), instead of relying on fear, or anger. There is a need to recognize that feelings are not based on reality but on perception. One can feel not loved yet she is loved. A holy Spirit directed person acts on that reality and that is what makes loving your neighbor a possibility. Love of God is what allows the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and draws us to Jesus. That is what keeps us from the magnetic attraction of sin.

Choose what to focus the mind on – God has given human beings the mind which activates the ability to learn, think, choose, and reason, which is the essence of being human. While the ability to think makes us human, it goes deeper because our thoughts become a reflection of who one really is: choosing to meditate on the word of God that requires God’s people to love the neighbor as one loves self- (Matthew 22:39). The Pygmalion effect refers to a type of other-imposed self-fulfilling prophecy that states the way you treat someone has a direct impact on how that person acts. If another person thinks something will happen, they may consciously or unconsciously make it happen through their actions or inaction. It is the power of mental concentration “What you look at you will become. When you read the word of God, meditate on it, you become what it says”. The greatest desire for the Christian should be to have the mind that was in Christ.

Understanding the cultural prescriptions of success – How people define success inspires their actions and mental orientation. The symbols used in society as indicators of success, things, positions, or relationships matter. The gender relationships and roles need to be examined and reflected on. Are the symbols that society uses the same as what God uses to evaluate success? That distinction can make a difference between spending eternity with Christ or being eternally lost. When the focus of a people regarding what they consider success convey a version of Christianity opposite of God’s intent, then it is perversion of the gospel and unconsciously nullifying the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Christian life is lived through those who identify as Christians. Those who profess to be Christians make the faith be perceived as uptight and judgmental. Remember, when the external world drives a person, the person ceases to be in control. The power that arises from a relationship with and a mind renewed through the word of God enables people to come up with prescriptions that dignify and make every member of the family and community productive. How people meet their foundational needs should honor God, inspire and dignify God’s people and result in the ability to be innovative. Whether people are meeting as church or community members, openness, trust and expressing desires should be done in a way that honors the feelings of others. Complaints should be listened to, examined and appropriate action taken. An attitude of gratitude should be encouraged. It takes courage to love deeply and multiply the talents God has given. When scared, remember “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else is more important.”

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples ‘Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one’ (John 17:11).   John Piper points out that the hardest work in the world is to change the minds and hearts of fallen human beings and make God so precious to them that they count it all joy when trials come, and say in the end, “To die is gain.” The desire to demand recognition and praise is a sign of deep need that should be recognized and go to God instead of using people. Self-praise and desire to dominate others or make resources scarce so that one is made to feel needed ends up perverting the gospel. The temptation to use the power opportunities given to meet one’s unmet needs is real. It is the presence of God that meets the need and so submitting to God is what makes the power productive. The power constructed by people as they live with one another is most useful when one submits to God’s power. At the end of the day, we all return to our Maker as the Queen did. The Living God oversees what happens in the world, and it is to Him we need to bow. As we relate with one another we need to tremble before a God whose thoughts and ways are far above our thoughts and ways about what a truly good life is and how to live it., What goes to the Maker is what should concern us. There is accountability of how the symbols were used while on earth.  When the symbols of power are removed and the body returned to the soil, do you realize that it is not possible to serve God with your crown on?

 “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” (Oswald Chambers)