"So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' " (Luke 17:10)

The servant carries out the master’s will. The servant doesn’t tell the master what to do. The servant does not choose which tasks to perform for the master, nor does the servant suggest days or times when it would be convenient to serve the master. The servant’s function is to follow instructions. The master, on the other hand, gives directions. The master does not tell the servant to develop a vision that will guide the master. The master is the one with the vision; the servant’s task is to help fulfill the master’s purposes.

We are the servants;_ God _is the Master. We tend to try to reverse this! God’s revelation of Himself, His purposes, and His ways depends directly upon our obedience. He may not reveal today His intentions for the next five years, but He will tell us what our next step should be. As we respond to God’s revelation, He will accomplish what He desires, and He will be the One who receives the glory.

Our fulfillment comes from serving our master.

The world will encourage you to strive for positions of authority and power. God wants you to take the role of a servant. As God’s servant you should have no other agenda than to be obedient to whatever He tells you. God does not need you to dream great dreams for your life, your family, your business, or your church. He simply asks for obedience. He has plans that would dwarf yours in comparison (Eph. 3:20).

by Henry T. Blackaby

In Philippians 3:10-11 the Apostle Paul said: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

And indeed, being "in Christ" Paul became a new creation where his old life passed away and all things to him became new (2 Corinthians 5:17). He experienced God's resurrection power -- and he lived it out!

Paul's experience of God's power was so complete in Christ that he assured the believers in Ephesus (Eph. 1:16-22) that the same power God exerted to raise Jesus from the dead was likewise given to those who believe. Paul's prayer for them is a prayer for us all:

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe" (Ephesians 1:18-19).

Now this month we experience Easter! On Sunday we remember and meditate on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! May we on that day encounter Him, and in the urgent days ahead, aspire with even greater fervency to share in His suffering and become like Him in His death that he might live out His resurrection power in us and through us!