אדונים

Another awesome morning of worship and learning from God’s Word today. I am unbelievably blessed with an awesome church family. This morning the Name of God we studied was “Adonai” - this means Master, Lord, Owner. This has a bad connotation in American society - automatically making us think of the use of blacks as slaves. But, in the context of God as our Master, our Lord, our Owner - it takes on a whole new meaning. God created me - He didn’t create me for ME. He created me to be His.

• Life isn’t about me - it is about my Master.
• I belong to Him, it is my job to listen to what He says.
• Everything I have belongs to my Master and is for HIS use.
• My one goal is to please my Master above all else.
• Every day when I get up my ONE GOAL is to LIVE MY LIFE IN A MANNER PLEASING TO HIM!

Pastor Marty told a story from a book by Ann Spangler - I couldn’t get it all written down but googled it and found the story and what she said about it: here

Imagine that you have inherited a large box filled with diamonds. Along with the box you've also inherited a million different keys, with no indication of which one will open the box. According to the rules of the inheritance you are allowed to try one new key each day until you discover the one key that works. So you start with the most elegant-looking one in the collection. Day after day, you try one key after another, but nothing works. Finally on the one-millionth day, you try the smallest, most corroded key of the bunch, and, of course, it works. Suddenly you are a multimillionaire, rich enough to fulfill your heart's desires. There is just one problem. To use every key, you would have to live to be at least 2,740 years old!

Now consider the story from a different angle. Instead of starting with the most impressive key, let's say you decide to approach the problem counterintuitively by starting with the least attractive key. Bingo! It works. You have instant access to an enormous fortune, more than enough to support you for the rest of your life.

The point of this fanciful story is this: If we want to find the one key to everything good in life, we will need to approach the problem counterintuitively. Instead of operating by instinct, we will operate by faith. Instead of striving to do what we want when we want, we will strive to do what God wants when he wants. As we do, we will begin to understand that his lordship will not diminish or impoverish us but that it will bless us in surprising ways. Astonished by all the good he does in and through us, we will be able to echo the psalmist's praise: "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

“Lord it is my prayer that I would live my life every day in a manner that pleases You. Help me to live counterintuitively, not operating by instinct, but by faith, not striving to do what I want but strive to do what You want. May my life simply be an instrument of Your grace.”

In the Name of Adonai,

Sherri