2 Samuel 7:18-29 - David Thanks the Lord

2 Samuel 7:18-29

Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as Thou hast spoken, that Thy name may be magnified forever, by saying, 'The Lord of hosts is God over Israel'; and may the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee. (verse 25-26)

Message: David Thanks the Lord

Time: Second Samuel is set in the land of Israel during the reign of David and follows the course of his forty years as king of Israel (1011–971 BC). It chronicles the establishment of the Davidic dynasty and the expansion of Israel under God’s chosen leader. 

What the Lord is Saying:

David responds to the Lord with a praise to God. "Who am I" stating that he is only a man. This is our response always. God is great and who am I that God would call me to be His forever and to be His vessel and ambassador. His love is extravagant. "Thou art great, O Lord God; for there is none like Thee and there is no God besides thee." He says, "Thou hast established for Thyself Thy people Israel as Thine own people forever." 

God would allow David to plan for a temple for Yahweh, and Solomon would build it. God promises here with David something that will be fulfilled later. As was done with Abraham. The temple is only built when the people fully rest.

In verse 19, David states, "And this is the custom of mankind, Lord God." It is one thing crazy enough that God would bless David and his descendants, but it is something every greater and surprising to him that God would choose to bless those that come after him. Some extend this to Jesus Christ and that seems too radical to lend itself to this statement. And yet the Lord does use some radical language in verse 13 when he states, "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." He first speaks of his son (Solomon) but then extends it to forever. So the idea of David being part of that lineage and spring boarding something that will have eternal benefits for many is not too alarming. 

And here is the thing - God works. He has a plan for His people, but the people do something in response to this - they thank God and praise God for His greatness. "For this reason You are great, Lord God; for there is no one like You." We are a people of thankfulness. 

It is normal for us in life to often want more. It is normal for us to not be satisfied and think there is always something more or better that we should have. Contentment is always a challenge. But we need to be thankful. We need to respond to God with thankfulness and appreciation. David does this. 

And after David does this, he then wants confirmation of it happening. We are a forgetful people. We need to reminded and told again and again. The world is hard and tough and we need that reminder from Him that all will work out. "The word that You have spoken about Your servant and his house, confirm forever." Keep confirming it. Keep reminding me. But not so that I am simply satisfied, though I will be, but ultimately for God to be praised, "so that Your name may be great forever." 

God is going to build David a house. It is needed and God will provide. And praise God that He is doing this. Keep reminding. And I will keep praising. 

Great words. God did it. I thank Him. Tell me again. And I will keep praising Him. 

Summary: David Thanks the Lord for wanting to build him a house, a temple. David asks God to remind him of this blessing God has for him and his descendants and David will continue to give thanks. 

Promise: As we seek the Lord, it is for Him to be glorified while He also provides for us. 

Prayer: God, you are great and worthy of my praise. You promise me much and in response I praise Your name. But I want to hear again what you have promised. And for this I will praise Your name more. And this will continue God. Let more see that life is not about toil and giving and being behind and catching up but there is also reward and God giving us what we need and my response is to keep praising Him. I praise You God. I thank you. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

John 5:9b-14 - The Lame Man's Greater Need

John 5:9b-14

Now it was the Sabbath on that day. Therefore the Jews were saying to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, "Take up your pallet and walk." They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, "Take up, your pallet, and walk?" But he who was healed did not know who it was; for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you."

Message: The Lame Man's Greater Need

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: The next set of verses transition to the Jews. After the lame man has been healed, the Jews criticize him for carrying his pallet, despite the fact that Jesus had told him to, "Take up your pallet and walk." The Jews ask who the man is but the lame man that was healed doesn't know. Later, Jesus finds the man in the temple and tells him now that he is well, do not sin anymore so that nothing worse befalls him. 

Sin is worse than being unable to walk properly. Sin is worse than any other human ailment. Jesus did heal the man and in the process took away from the man what the man thought was his biggest problem. 

Is not this our same problem still today? That is, what we think is our biggest problem is not our biggest problem. Following the pandemic and through the COVID pandemic, it because even clearer that our biggest problem people think they have is their health. It is true that health is focused on life and death on this earth and yet our response to sin or rather how Jesus has died for sin is the biggest issue of the day for it determines where our eternal life will be. 

Even prior to the pandemic I saw this continually emphasized in our prayer circles at church, in that what we brought to the Lord in our prayer requests was most often health related matters. I always thought we were like the lame man, thinking this is what is most important. Maybe because as people, this is the only thing in our lives that we feel we don't have control. And so when COVID hit, and life because so fragile, we proceeded to do at whatever level of person inconvenience - preserve our health. 

And yet Jesus says to the lame man and to me -- "do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you." Our greatest need is to turn from sin, believe in Jesus and move to living each day for Him. 

I've struggled with this - that is - taking something that has been valued greatly in my life and then seeing that something is more important and then wondering how I am to view that which was previously more important. Like what is our response to COVID or any sickness once we establish that sin is more important? I mean, Jesus healed the man. He wanted to give the man something that was important to him. But we must never lose sight in the fact that sin and dealing with sin is most important. 

We still don't know if this man, that Jesus healed, ever became a saved man. He blamed Jesus for having to carry his mat/pallet.  

Summary: Jesus tells the lame man, after he has healed him, that still his greatest problem remains - sin and how the man responds to it. 

Promise: From Tabletalk, "Our sovereign God may choose to intervene and bring about an unexpected physical healing. It is good and right to pray for Him to do so. Yet we must never forget that people need spiritual restoration far more than they need physical healing. As we minister to others inside and outside the church, let us not fail to call people to faith and repentance."

Prayer: Lord, I love this scripture and its application. It is my heart cry that we would value supremely what you value and that would be our focus always. May sinners be founds saved from the wrath to come and sealed with God for eternity. Lord, help me to make this my greatest focus with people. I'm thankful to hear of Bill who took a moment to do this with an employee at Target. I'm reminded of Dion Lear who had a pen with a simple gospel message that he shared often with others. What's holding me back Lord? 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's. 

Psalm 147:5 - Divine Infinity

Psalm 147:5
Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.

Message: Divine Infinity

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

The language that we use to describe God has been talked about at times in 2 different ways: affirmation and negation. Affirmation says what God is; negation says what God is not. Affirmation is cataphatic theology; negation is apophatic theology. Affirmation words are "God is good" or "God is holy." Negation words are "God is immutable" or "God is immaterial."

I think these sort of descriptions of God trouble many people because they are words that cannot be used to describe man and therefore there is a separation between man and God and man cannot completely understand a God who is always or never a certain way.

The passage here in Psalm 147:5 says (God's) His understanding is infinite or beyond measure. No matter how hard we try to think of God as being measurable, He is not. Man has limits. God is infinite. This is hard to wrap our minds together. About God, this means that He can exert His power anywhere at anytime; anywhere on this planet at anytime in our history. He also has the power to though set limits on His creation. Solomon recorded these words in Ecclesiastes 3:11 - He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. We are people of limitations. This is the way God designed it. We have limitations to our understanding of Him.

Although God has no limits there are still things he cannot do. For example, he is incapable of doing evil.

John Gill, an English Baptist Pastor who lived 1697-1771 said:

his understanding is infinite; it reaches to all things, not to the stars of heaven only, as in Psalm 147:4, but to the fowls of the air, to the beasts of the field, and cattle upon a thousand hills; to all on the surface of the earth, or in the bowels of it; and to the fishes of the sea: it reaches to all men, and to all the thoughts of their hearts, the words of their mouths, and the actions of their lives; it reaches to all things past, that have been, to everything present, and to whatsoever is to come; it includes not only the knowledge of all things that are, or certainly will be, but of all things possible, or which he could bring into being if he would; it is concerned not only with the quality and nature of things it perfectly understands, but with the quantity of them; even all things in creation and providence, which are without number and past finding out by men; and so his understanding is without number, and cannot be declared, as the word signifies.

Promise: No act of goodness or evil escapes God's notice. 

Prayer: Lord, there are things about You that I read about, understand and yet don't really comprehend how that is possible. Lord, I don't understand how you listen to my words here and then listen to all the other voices of people throughout this land and how you keep it all together. You are definitely without limits and I don't comprehend it all, but I trust You and I pray that You would help me to continue to be an ambassador for you and I would accept that I don't need to understand everything at all times. Thank you for loving me and knowing my every need. You are holy. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with January being about the doctrine of God.

Psalm 145:3 - Our Incomprehensible God

Psalm 145:3
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.

Message: Our Incomprehensible God

Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.

What the Lord is Saying:

Now the study shifts a little from the doctrine of God to thinking about God's attributes. As this study continues it is hard to not think of our culture and the way in which it approaches God.

As I look at these verses, they express words of God's character. I understand this. I notice often that I often come to God and the study of Him as to what I will get out of that study. Worship in church often is words towards God that connect how He has impacted us. But simply expressing these words - Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised and His greatness is unsearchable - are words I don't think I often express because these words describe a God that is out there. I know that God is meant to be praised but I often still think about Him only in understanding how he affects me.

So I will try to pause this morning to exclaim - Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable. As I do this, I will continue to reflect on the writings of men that have come before me.

The phrase - Great is the Lord - appears 10 times, all in the Old Testament, though 2 times it refers to the greatness of the Lord's anger. Like this verse in Psalm 145, what follows is the words that He is therefore highly to be praised. Lord here is Yahweh.

This is an interesting progression. The Lord is Great and therefore highly to be praised. This greatness is not so much unknowable for we are witnesses every day of the way we encounter His greatness. But it seems to me this idea of unsearchable means that we can never find or locate the end of his greatness. It is unsearchable in that it never ceases, it never stops.

I just wonder if I don't talk about God's greatness very much because I am being affected by the world in which I live that all to often is questioning God and His relevance to our lives. So my focus remains there and somehow defending this rather than taking the time to simply praise Him.

I don't think it is impossible to understand God and what He has done. We know God is great by what we have seen Him, yet the extent of His greatness will never be found out completely. I remember reading that in Genesis 1 all of the creation that God made was considered good. Man and his creation is good, but God is great.

Promise: God is unlike any other subject as we can never master the Lord. And we can never master how great He is and His greatness throughout our world.

Prayer: Lord, you are great. My words to You need to be more expressive. Yes, I am thankful for a new day and for all that you have done for me. I am so thankful for Your hand of providence in my life. But, I am also reminded Lord today of simply pausing expressing that You Lord are great. Your greatness is to be praised. Your greatness is without end. People everywhere comment of your greatness and Your impact on our lives and therefore, how that greatness is visible to us. I'm thankful that I can hear from people throughout this land, from people like Shiva and Martha and James - your greatness is far reaching. Lord, you are great. I see so much that You have done but there is so much more I do not see.

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with January being about the doctrine of God.

Mark 12:28-31 - The Greatest Commandments

Mark 12:28-31
28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”


Message: The Greatest Commandments

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Preface - Jesus has answered his critics questions. Most recently the question was about the resurrection and what it would like to us upon resurrection in the way of marriage. We will not be married. We will have everything that we need in Christ. For God is the God of the living not the dead. His ways are always the same. He is the God of the now, not simply then. He says, "I AM" not "I was." Jesus is in Jerusalem on his way to die and then be resurrected as he has predicted 3 times.

One of the scribes came and heard them arguing - I believe they were discussing, not necessarily arguing. This one scribe comes to Jesus with a reasonable question. This scribe recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him. So this scribe is different from the others, accepting the words of Jesus. When Jesus answers the scribes question What commandment is the foremost of all? his response is actually not real different from anything he has said previously. In fact, when He and the disciples walked back into Jerusalem and Peter saw the fig tree and that it was withered Jesus responds with a two-fold response of Have Faith in God or believe me, believe me what I say and then soon after tells them to forgive their neighbors. The message is a little different but the focus is on God, then neighbor.

This is what Jesus mentions again now in the 2 greatest commandments - Love God, Love Neighbor. That is easily the central message of our lives that really stands in contrast with any other message of this day from any religious body or group: Love God, Love Neighbor. Have Faith in God and Forgive. This is what needs to motivate my life each day. This is it.

I love that message. HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. It is interesting here. RC Sproul comments that we love God in 4 ways - with our heart, with our soul, with our mind, with our strength.

The second commandment is somehow simpler. There is a contrast in the type of love we have for God and the type of love we have for neighbor. It is a given that we love ourselves. We don't simply love our neighbor, but we do it AS YOURSELF. This is very true. We love ourselves. And this love gets greater when we realize who we are in Christ and that God loves us so much.

I was listening to a message yesterday from Tom Nelson of Denton Bible Church, an older message maybe from 10 years ago he did in Matthew and it reminded me of how rules based we are in our lives and how heart-based God is. God is most concerned about our hearts. And this message of loving God and loving neighbors begins in the heart. It can't simply be a rule will follow. But rather it is a condition of our heart. I often struggle to understand or communicate to people what living for Jesus is really about and somehow I think it is this notion that God wants to change our heart, not just change how we do a few things in our lives.

Sometimes i have difficult figuring out what sin I have broken. I get to this point at times where I don't think I've done anything bad but at its core I don't really love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I definitely don't love my neighbor as I do myself. What I want is often what is most important.

Summary - Jesus responds to the question from one of the scribes, a scribe that believed Jesus had responded well to the the Sadducees question. He asks for the greatest commandment and Jesus gives two commandments, thus though there are 2 they are together. We cannot truly love God without loving our neighbor and we cannot truly love our neighbor without loving God.

Promise: Love for God on account of who He is in Himself is the highest form of love that creatures can show. It is love God with all of the power that we can muster; with our mind it is studying His ways and His character as revealed in His Word; with our soul it is means loving Him passionately; with our heart it means loving God from the very root of our being.

Prayer: Lord, first of all, forgive me God for the way in which I have loved you. Each day I seek out first ways to please myself or love myself rather than loving You. Yesterday was church and I find that church is only good if it pleases me, but you remind me that it is about loving You with all that is in my being. So forgive me for thinking that I know better. I want to be in that place to Love you with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I admit I don't know what that looks like much of the time. Help me to know how to communicate this with others. And I want to love others the way I love myself. It's easy to have this love for my wife, but sometimes not as easy with even my kids and then those that I would call neighbors. I should be sacrificing more of myself for them. You are Savior and Lord. You are king. You are Lord of All. I want to praise You.

Mark 10:41-44 - The Greatness of Service

Mark 10:41-44
41 Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

Message: The Greatness of Service

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Preface -After Jesus has communicated that he is headed to die, be mocked, spit on, and scourged, two of his disciples, James and John, come to him and hearing that he will rise again, perhaps pressured as well by their mother, ask if they can sit at his right and left in glory. Jesus immediately shows them that they have no idea what they are asking.

Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. The rest of the disciples didn't agree with what James and John had said to Jesus. That is good. And yet Jesus never said that personal greatness was wrong. It was simply that James and John had misunderstood the role of what it means to sit on right and left of Jesus in glory, and at that moment, perhaps they shouldn't have just been thinking of themselves. But the disciples felt that there was something was wrong in James and John only looking out for themselves and seeking to advance themselves. Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them - Jesus will now use this as an opportunity to teach them about motives and the importance of serving others. Clearly James and John had a motivation of seeking their own and desiring greatness. Jesus will now show them the greatness is (also) found in serving others. 

He begins with - You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Jesus clarifies here what personal greatness means to the believer in Christ or the follower of Jesus. The other disciples, yes they were mad that James and John brought up their own personal greatness desire, but again Jesus will use that situation to describe what greatness means. Here, he takes a moment to talk about the rulers of the Gentiles. In their ruling activity, they use their greatness in order to achieve power over others. Thus, the problem isn't their greatness, the problem is their motivation. Jesus often speaks of what motivates us.

But it is not this way among you. The follower of Jesus is different. This is probably one of the harder things for many people to do and that is make a change in their life based upon their new commitment. When a person follows Jesus their life is now supposed to be different. I experienced when I trusted in Christ on August 10, 1982, one month shy of my 15th birthday. After I prayed I felt this surge of "I can do anything" now. I was elated. I rushed to tell my dad at his office. I can still remember his office, the one on Indian School, and walking into the corner office and his remark was, "Your mother will be so happy." In that moment, I thought all would be different. A difference did result. While a new life began to take shape there were still remnants of my old sinful life that remained. Overall, a person who is in Christ take on the way of Christ, the way of love.  

but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant. Here is the calling card of the Christian: service. Service is often contrary to the way we are trained. Generally, when I think of servants I think of mom's. As the God ordained helper I see them as servants. They serve our families in a way that is distinct and different than the father. Traditionally the father provides while the mother serves. The mother is often in the background, treating others as more important than themselves. Here lies one of the marks of the Christian that Jesus shows is the opposite way of what the world treats as important.

and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. From Ligonier, "Greatness in the kingdom of God comes by submitting ourselves to one another, by looking for what we can give and not for what we can gain." This idea of being a slave to another person has taken on so much disdain in our culture. Slavery, rightfully so, was in a harmful manner a business transaction in which one man's life is purchased and that man becomes a servant to the one that purchased him. Thus, the person had no means to define his own value to the world. The problem was how this was viewed and when people were forced into this way of life. This is different from the words of Jesus. He says, "whoever wishes to be first." There is an idea that greatness is not found in lording your position over others, but instead it is fund by being a servant and becoming a servant to others.

Summary - Jesus turns the tables on the disciples and James and John by helping them see that this desire to be great is not wrong, unless that desire is motivated only for personal exaltation and glory. He shifts the gears and talks about the idea that greatness is not found in lording your position over others or in using your power to make yourself great, but greatness first and foremost is found in being a servant and even the stronger idea of being a slave. It is denying your own way of life in order to meet the needs of others. Jesus would do this soon on the cross. He would be mocked, spit on and scourged as he took on the punishment of all sinners. It was only something that God could do, but a Man had to experience it.

Promise: I should be asking over and over, "what can I do for others," not "what can I do for myself."

Prayer: O Jesus, re-shape me daily into the idea that my life means more when I serve others. I realize that if we all took on that approach all needs would be met. I thank you for showing me these truths continually, for giving me a wife that serves me. You gave me a wonderful mom that served me. Thank you for those shining examples in life. Give me the courage and wisdom to continue serving others. I want this to be my desire, my goal. I want to let you define in me what it means to be first. 

Mark 9:33-35 - Who is the Greatest?

Mark 9:33-35
33 They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Message: Who is the Greatest

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying: 

Preface - Jesus continues his time in Galilee but he now has a new destination as he continues the message of the Son of Man going to die and rise again.

As the disciples and Jesus continue on their journey, Mark records that Jesus continues to help the disciples better understand his message. Jesus uses every opportunity to teach them. At this point, it was men talking about who is the greatest among them. Jesus mentioned previously that he was going to die and rise again. And now in this discussion the disciples are talking about being great, and Jesus reminds them If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. Thus, Jesus flies in the face of the words of the day that speak of being great based upon personal accomplishment, and remarks that greatness is found in being a servant. It is putting yourself out there without the need to be on top.

While this is a simple message it has far-reaching applications. In life we all have a goal to be first or to be closest to those in power. We desire to be identified with the best. Even in my work, there is something about being near the director, the mayor. There is this thought that if those individuals recognize you as someone important then others will see you as the same. People often in these positions put forth an agenda that it is never about them. And it is possible, but the way we view those people remains lofty.

So Jesus in his words reminds his disciples that in your desire to be first, you should really want the reverse. For where God is concerned, the desire to be a servant of all is key. Even in the 2 greatest commandments - love God and love one another - the focus on self is not the priority. Instead there is a focus on God and others. Yet, even as Jesus makes this distinction he acknowledges that people do desire to be great when he says If anyone wants to be first, The issue is what we define as being first.

Spurgeon remarked that, "In Christ's kingdom, the way to go up is to go down. Sink self and you shall surely rise.

Summary - As they arrive in Capernaum, the disciples have already been discussing about who would be the greatest and Jesus quickly steps in to tell them that the desire to be great is normal, but defining greatness is different with Jesus. It is about being a servant and thus being last or not first.

Promise: Greatness if found in thinking of others before ourselves. It is to not think we are every above any task that might seem to be trivial or lowly. It is achieved through humility, through thinking of others first and ourselves last. 

Prayer: Lord, you are holy. You are great. Thank you for showing me that greatness is not part of what I can achieve on my own, but it is being there for the little person and helping those in need. I pray that this would be what I want each day. I pray that I wouldn't mind getting myself dirty but would be willing to do whatever. Just help me to understand this because often I end up doing things rather than asking others to do them. I think I'm being a servant when I'm actually not training others. There is a difference. Help me to see it each day. Thank you for your example of service though.