Click to watch Gotta Serve Somebody

“You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you may like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls.

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody,

Yes indeed, you’re gonna have to serve somebody,
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” © Bob Dylan 1979

Do you know the song?

Bob Dylan gave his life to Christ and in 1979 came out with an album called, Slow Train Comin’. What a great album.  Gotta Serve Somebody was certainly one of the hits on the album. The message is very simply – No matter who you are you have to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

I thought of this song recently when I read Luke 4 about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness by Satan. I have been asking the Lord to help me see a pattern in this encounter – higher level issues we can identify with in our lives. The obvious lesson we need to take away from Jesus’ interaction with His enemy was the fact that Jesus refuted every temptation of the enemy with scriptural Truth.

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Three enticements, three truths with which Jesus responded to the enemy’s temptation.

So, are there 3 key temptations that we similarly face? Yes, I think there are…

It all has to do with who you’re gonna serve – because you gotta serve somebody.

The first temptation is to use the gifts God has given us to serve ourselves. Satan was tempting Jesus to use His gifts and abilities to serve Himself. “Turn these stones into bread.” No, I am not going to use my talents and gifts to feed myself. I am going to feed on the Word of God was His reply.

All of us have that same temptation: Will you use your gifts and abilities to feed yourself? Will you use what God has given you to get the approval, the affirmation, the validation, the encouragement, the support, the love that you long for? Or, will you find your life only in God, in His words of life? Will you believe what He says is true, or will you look for the approval of others?

Will you use your gifts to serve yourself, or to serve others?

The second temptation is to serve the enemy, not God. Will you use all that you are and all that you have to build God’s Kingdom, or the enemy’s Kingdom? Do you want the fame and fortune this world/the ruler of this world has to offer at the expense of the life God has for us and for others through us? What does it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his soul?

Are you serving the enemy by pursuing the things of this world?

The third temptation is very subtle: it’s to get God to serve us. Do you expect God to do what you think He should do? Do you expect that if you do certain things then God should do certain things? A+B=C? Hey God, I have done this and this and this, you should be doing this for me – you owe me! That is expecting God to serve you.

Do you expect God to serve you?

We can choose to serve ourselves. We can choose to serve the enemy. We can choose to expect God to serve us. But none of those leads to life. Only one road leads to life, and that is choosing to serve God.

As Bob Dylan so eloquently stated, you’re gonna have to serve somebody. The devil wants you to serve him, serve yourself or expect God to serve you, but life is only found in serving God. Serving God is that for which we have been created.

Gotta serve somebody: let’s serve the One who gives life.

John 12:25, 26

“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”

John 14:23

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’”

Luke 4:8

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’””

How do you eat? Do you eat for flavour or for fuel?

I know, it’s really not simply a matter of one or the other, it is always a combination of the two. However, we tend to have a propensity in how we eat. Do you feed yourself what tastes good, or what is good fuel? Do eat based on the flavour you are craving, or do you eat based on what your body needs to be fueled up?

I realized last year that I primarily ate for flavour. Sure, I tried to eat a fairly balanced diet. At least for dinners Anne ensured I ate a balance meal. But when I was left to my own devices – or perhaps more aptly stated as, “my own vices” – I did not fuel my body well. Oftentimes my food choices were simply based on the flavours that I wanted to enjoy.

If I didn’t feel like eating, or didn’t have time to eat, I wouldn’t. Sometimes all I would eat during the day was a tall, skinny, free-pour caramel macchiato with a toasted bagel and butter. Or, I would skip breakfast and eat a large restaurant bought lunch.

I never really considered what I needed to ingest to fuel my body well, to feed this miraculous mechanism we call the human body. I ate for flavour not for fuel. And, the effect on my body was obvious. I was fat, out of shape, ran out of energy in the afternoon, and didn’t have the stamina to do life energized at a fast pace.

That all changed when I began to eat to fuel my body and started saying no to some of the flavours I was desiring. I now try to eat the same thing for breakfast every morning: it’s a specially designed shake rich in fruit, grains, nuts, matcha and protein powder. This, combined with regular exercise and better food choices, has resulted in weight loss, greater energy, no more downer afternoons, and an ability to do life at a fast pace.

I have begun to recognize that we can approach scripture the same way we approach food. We can either ingest scripture for flavour or for fuel. We can nibble on scripture to see how it tastes. If it ‘tastes good’, if it is alive and encouraging, we will eat a little more. However, if it is tedious and not particularly alive we don’t really eat much.

If we don’t fuel our spirits on scripture we experience even greater effects than what we see in our bodies when we don’t fuel it well. If we are really negligent in fueling our bodies we get sick and die. Fueling our spirits is no different.

If we do not fuel our spirits with scripture we begin to lose hope, faith, strength, courage, freedom and life. We grow spiritually sick and begin to live day to day simply hanging on hoping things will get better, and not really filled with all the life the Lord has for us.

Scripture is alive. We need to ingest the Truth regularly or we will not be truly alive. We will not be spiritually energized. Eating scripture regularly to fuel our spirits leads to good spiritual health, while nibbling on scripture irregularly leads to poor spiritual health.

Bottom line: the Word of God fuels us. We need to determine to fuel our spirits well by ingesting scripture regularly. By ingesting it I mean reading, memorizing, meditating on, or studying it. Initially committing to do this can feel more like duty than delight. However, as we commit to fuel ourselves on the Truth, the Spirit of God shifts our hearts.

As we feed on the Word of God our tastes change. Initially it may not taste like what you are hungry for, but as you choose to fuel your spirit on God’s Word you will shift from duty to delight. Choosing to feed yourself on scripture to fuel your spirit will create the healthy spiritual growth you desire.

Let’s feed on the Word for fuel, not just for flavour. Let’s fuel up on Truth and not just look for what tastes good.

Hebrews 4:12

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Joshua 1:8

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

James 1:22

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

Matthew 24:35

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Psalm 119:105

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

That’s it! I see it now! It is so simple, yet so diabolically effective.

I had been asking the Lord for insight into the strategy of the enemy in our lives. He has already given me insight into the lies of the enemy, but I was looking for the next level of revelation.

Months ago I had the great privilege of skyping with a well-known author about my book, The Lies That Bind. He had offered to give me some feedback to help me improve my writing. He gave me some very helpful input into how I organized my thoughts in the book. Good book, but not a great book. He suggested that I need to organize the book differently.

One of the nuggets of wisdom he gave me was to try to categorize the lies of the enemy. In the book I share my “Book of Lies”, which is simply a long list of the lies that the enemy has whispered into my heart over the years. These are lies that we can all empathize with because we have all heard them. The enemy’s whisper campaign of lies is his primary strategy to steal, kill and destroy the Truth the Lord has for us.

Truth is the basis upon which our lives in God must be built. Jesus said it is the Truth that sets us free. He also said that He is the Truth. And, He told us that He will send the Spirit of Truth to guide us in all Truth. Appropriating the Truth is imperative for us to live the life Jesus has purchased for us.

Our life in God is found in the Truth, so our enemy – the Father of Lies – has implemented a whisper campaign of lies to keep us from getting hold of the Truth. His overall strategy is the whisper campaign of lies, but I was wondering if there are categories of lies that could give me insight into his tactics.

Yes there are.

I have been asking the Lord about this, and musing over it, for months. And then, the light bulb went on…

Divide and Conquer.

The enemy’s lying tactics are to divide us and conquer us.

The dividing tactic in the whisper campaign of lies is to alienate and isolate you:

“You don’t belong. No one cares. No one wants you around. You are all alone. You don’t need anyone. You can’t trust anyone. You can’t trust God.”, etc. These lies are meant to alienate and isolate you from Christian community.   They are designed to get you living life alone – away from the input of others; away from the input of people who can help bring Truth into your situation.

Dividing lies separate you from Christian community which makes you even more vulnerable to Conquering lies. Like Clint Eastwood said, “A man alone is easy prey.”

The first tactic in destroying you and your faith is to get you alienated and isolated.

The conquering tactic in the whisper campaign of lies is to demean and diminish you:

“You are not good enough. You are not smart enough. You are not talented enough. You don’t have what it takes. You will ultimately fail. You have nothing to offer. You are a loser. You are a failure. You are trapped. You are a bad leader. You are weak and small. You are insignificant.”, etc.

These lies destroy your faith, hope, courage, strength, and freedom – your very life. Your spiritual enemy’s ultimate objective is to destroy you. That is very tough to do if you are walking in community with other people who believe the Truth and are walking with Jesus filled with the Spirit of Truth. The input of others counteracts the lies of the enemy.

However, when you start walking alone feeling alienated and isolated, you will begin to swallow hook, line and sinker the lies sent to demean and diminish you. Soon you have no faith, hope or strength left, and you will have been conquered.

We must recognize the tactics of the demonic whisper campaign to divide and conquer. We must walk together as allies in Christian community encouraging each other daily in the Truth that sets us free.

Hebrews 3:12, 13

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

3 John 3, 4

“It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”