Matt,

I hope this text message finds you doing well.  As for me I am very interested in moving forward in the healthiest way possible.   I am hoping that you are open to some dialogue so that we can come in agreement on what exactly has been done and what we should do moving forward.

    I understand from your perspective I may have violated some of Amazon's internal policies.   I am open to discussion so I can understand exactly what policies I am not in alignment with and I would like an opportunity to correct my actions and get right with Amazon's policy.  I believe in Amazon's mission to become the earth's most customer centric business and look forward to doing what I can to fulfill that vision.   Unfortunately I may have violated some of Amazon's internal policies and I am very interested in knowing how I might resolve my situation in a way that benefits all parties involved.

    I am anxious to tell you why I believe my Bias for Action in the case of renting vehicles to Amazon DSPs was fully in line with serving our customers.    I do feel that going forward all parties actions need to be in alignment with Earning Trust and Being Right Alot.   I do not wish to harm Amazon, only preserve the entrepreneurial spirit of the work place.  We should always seek to do better, and when we place administrative policies in place which may prevent our ability to operate optimally , I  think we should review those policies which could be preventing us from serving our customers.   

     These are unprecendented times and there is a great deal of emphasis given to serving our customers well , especially in light of many of our customers only means for getting critical supplies is through our service.   It is in the challenging circumstances that we all must stand up and do the right thing for our customers, ensuring safety and quality are in the forefront of all we do.    We should never compromise those key attributes which ensure we are able to faithfully serve the best interest of our customers.

     I believe my leadership style can be adjusted to ensure I am displaying the God honoring attributes of a servant leader.  One who puts the good of the people ahead of the good of the company. The way Amazon has handled the pandemic is a good example of that.  The men and women of Amazon have put themselves in a servant role.   Amazon has reciprocated with policies that puts the employee's safety and well being first, only second to serving our customers well.   My hopes are that we can find a mutually agreeable way to move forward so that we can continue to Have fun, Work Hard, and Make History.

Following Christ: a servant first

 S- Hebrews 12:5 (Nasb)

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are punished by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”

O - I have never been one to back down from discipline,  God has put in me a spirit of excellence, and sometimes the confidence I display does not show the humility that Christ displays.   I am competitive and sometimes that causes me to make choices that are unwise.  However, the Holy Spirit is given to me to make wise decisions,   often time decisions that are opposite to the thoughts of the world.   I am called to do good works and sometimes that means I need to show others the path to righteousness by teaching them what not to do.   The Holy Spirit is my counselor, but I must heed His counsel or fall short of God's best for my life.   I have an obligation since I have made myself a slave to Christ, to behave in a way that honors Christ.  I am not to be boastful but rather humble myself before leaders that God has placed before me.     

A-  The application for me is to recognize that God has put a spirit of excellence in me, and I am not to take advantage of this but rather humble myself and be the greatest servant of all, because the first shall be last,  I am to do so out of love for God and His kingdom, storing up treasure in heaven and not in this world.  Though my flesh may fail, God's spirit in me will never fail. Since I have been made whole in Christ, I must guard my heart and my actions.  For out of my heart my words and actions will come.   First to serve Christ, then to show humility.  I am to serve those Christ love, for the building up of believers and not the tearing down of people.   He has not given me a spirit of timidity but one of strenghth, so I should guard my testimony by sharing all I have for the building of His kingdom and service to His will. 

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this scripture that you have revealed to me.  May my words be pleasing to you and may my actions honor you.  I pray for the right words to live today better than yesterday, always seeking your best in life.  I pray you give me righteous words to provide and serve your people.  Help me to be the leader, teacher, and man of God you have called me to be.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Restored by Christ's sacrifice and sanctified by His grace

 S -  Hebrews 9:24-28 (NASB)

24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been revealed to put away sin [w]by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

O -  Christ is our High Priests and reconcilliation offering.    Once and for all, he paid the price for our sin,  and fullfilled the law.  He did so at the appointed time in accordance with God's plan to restore His creation once and for all.    Now this is the true revelation of who God is and His plan for us, that He sent His one and only Son to die for all of our sins, so that we may come unblemmished into the presence of the Lord, and be sanctified and restored, washed white and once again turn toward the good shephard to follow Him in His ways.  

A -  I am coming to understand the greatness of God's plan and His sacrifice.   Now while I have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus,  dieing to my old nature and being filled with the Holy Spirit I have re-entered the Holy of Holies and am in communion with God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.   Having been reconcilled and restored I walk in His righteousness ,  restored but yet I still retain the scars of my sins (just as Christ did )  as a reminder of where I came from.    So in all things I give thanks for the restorative power of God's grace and mercy.  I must recongize until the time of Christ second coming I am His disciple, walking in a manner that gives Glory to God and leaves no room for the devil who still operates in this dominion with impunity, vulnerable only to Christ and His word.   So it is with the knowledge of the enemy and the scripture that I fight these battles in this world with God's word as my sword and shield.

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your restorative power and grace.  I pray that you help me to resist the wares of the devil and walk in my calling as your servant ,  walking in the steps you have laid before me.   Help me to operate in this world, but be not of this world.  Help me to remember my scars, but not be controlled by them.  I pray all of this in Jesus Christ name. 

Be Imitators of God

S - Ephesians 5:1-5 (NASB)

Be Imitators of God

5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved [a]you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God [b]as a fragrant aroma.

3 But sexual immorality [c]or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among [d]saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness [e]or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or [f]impure or greedy person, which [g]amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 

O - God loves and pursues all His children so that they might come home and live in His abundant mercy.  Christ came to die for our sins and draw us back to the Father,  He is the Way , the Truth, and the Life.  All who confess their sins, and follow Him are called according to the purpose He has laid out before them.   But it is sexual immorality, greed, and vulgarity that corrupt me, and therefore I must stop this idolatry in my life, it does not come from God but from a childhood scar that I have tried to cover up.

A- The application for me is to repent and turn away from my sinful ways and run to the Father who is waiting for me to confess, repent and worship Him alone.   My wife who has already forgiven me has exhorted me through the Holy Spirit in her.    I need to heed here warning to repent and turn away from my sin. 

P - Dear heavenly Father, help me not to grow numb from my sin that I might be uncomfortable with impure thoughts and words so that I might despise the seed that Satan has planted in me.   Help me to resist the Devil's temptation and seek your Holy Spirit who will guide and comfort me until I come home to receive my inheritance in Heaven.

Christ alone is the WAY

 S - Eph 2:1-10   (NASB)

2 And [a]you [b]were dead [c]in your offenses and sins, 2 in which you previously walked according to the [d]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the [e]sons of disobedience. 3 Among them [f]we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, [g]indulging the desires of the flesh and of the [h]mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead [i]in our wrongdoings, made us alive together [j]with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the [k]boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [l]this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

O - In the beginning I was dead and walked in my offenses and sins against God.  I walk alongside the devil in disobedience of God.    My flesh led me astray and I did not deny it any fleshly indulgences,  which transformed my mind to one that no longer sought the Lord's righteous ways.    God, however throughout all time has had a plan to show us his boundless unwarranted forgiveness through His Son ,  Jesus, who died for our transgressions.   It is by Faith that I have received this gift from God, through His Son.   For God created us in Christ Jesus, for good works,  which He had prepared in advance for us so we would know the Way.

A -  The application for me is to reject the tempation of my flesh, and transform my mind and heart through Christ's redemptive power, through the Holy Spirits wise guidance, and through the fullness of God's grace, which is set apart for those who know and submit to His plan for their lives.   Redemption is here now,  tranformation into the likeness of Christ is an eternal process.  The world has not overcome me even though I had succumb to it, but Christ in me has overcome the Kingdom of Satan, who rules the hearts and minds on earth through temptation and trickery.  

P - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for today's lesson.  I receive your Truth and ask that it would set me free from the bondage of season, and that I would seek your spirits guidance from here on forward.  Jesus you are in me and are greater than He who is in the world. For I haven't nothing to fear,  only Christ alone saves, and I will follow Him.

Righteous through faith in Christ

 S-Romans 9:   (NASB)

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but the righteousness that is [y]by faith; 31 however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it [z]by faith, but as though they could [aa]by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,

And the one who believes in Him will not be [ab]put to shame.”

O -    Even for the Israelites,  faith is much more important than good works.   God gave the Israelites the law, and generation after generation they pursued righteousness through good works.   Each was even given a role in fulfilling the law,  the Priests, the Levites, the warriors, some were prophets, others Kings.   All of this was their effort to live up to the law, while still not truely following the law; this was due to their lack of faith and not their lack of effort.   Jesus came to fulfill the Law and through faith in Him we are given the tools to live righteously.  So it is faith in Christ that we are able to live a righteous life.   

A - The application for me is to recognize that as a child of God I have a choice to live by faith or to live by works.   I am a man of action who loves checking things off of a to do list.  That is not what Christ is looking for.  He is looking for a relationship, which can only be developed through faith in the reality of who Christ is in me.   

P - Thank you Lord for today's word,  may it be sealed to my heart and grow my faith in You so that each day I might walk in righteousness.  I pray all this in Jesus Christ name, Amen.

The war within me

 S - Romans 7:14-28   (NASB)

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold [s]into bondage to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then the [t]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God [u]in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in [v]the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner [w]of the law of sin, the law which is in [x]my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [y]the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

O - I never thought of the Law as spiritual and sin as flesh but it makes sense now that the Law was written that we might understand God's spiritual law that we must follow according to God's spirit and that when we don't we are sinning in our flesh which wages war inside of us against the law.   For good intentions are neither flesh or nor spirit but an idea in our head that either will lead us to sin or to righteousness.  For we may want to do good but find ourselves giving in to the flesh and therefore sin.  We may want to give into the flesh but through the spirit of God in us are able to overcome the thought and live righteously. 

A -  The application for me is to understand the Law in my mind and let it guide my thoughts toward the righteous spirit in me.  However when my flesh rules and I allow sin to arise in my thoughts, all the inner spirit that lies in me reject the wants of the flesh and instead reject the sin and resolve to live righteously.   

P - Dear heavenly Father thank you for giving me this revelation of the war that wages within me.  Help me to lean on the righteous spirit of Christ which resides in me to make decisions which overcomes the sinful nature of my flesh.  I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.